2005-04-24

VOL. 3 ISSUE 17

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BUSINESS 19

WORLD 9

Siobhan Coady on being accountable, Liberals included

John Crosbie on why to vote for a non-Liberal government

‘In the driver’s seat’ Province not ruling out developing lower Churchill on its own: Danny Williams JAMIE BAKER

P

remier Danny Williams says just because government is listening to interest from outside parties on developing the lower Churchill doesn’t mean the province can’t or won’t look at going it alone.

Williams says the expression of interest process is in place to gauge possible development proposals and to weigh available options. If, in the end, the best possible scenario involves the province taking the lead in developing the $4.8-billion project, Williams says he’s willing to look at it.

“If we are able to do it on our own, then absolutely. I’m sure the people of the province would like to have it as a totally owned, operated and built project by the province — that’s not an option that has been ruled out,” Williams tells The Independent.

“What we’re hoping to do in going through the (assessment) process is see what’s out there, and see what the best possible proposal for that project is so we can get the maximum benefits.”

Government received 25 proposals in response to the worldwide call for expressions of interest to develop the project. Williams says about 10 are comprehensive proposals.

All submissions are currently being reviewed See “We’re having,” page 2

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Money was literally thrown at us — there was money for everything from infrastructure to agriculture down to special products, etc.”

— Irish journalist Eamonn Farrell on EU’s role in creating the new Ireland. See page 3.

SPORTS 25

The puck stops here Life Story . . . . . . 8 Paper Trail . . . . . 8 Crossword . . . . 18 Business. . . . . . 19 Events . . . . . . . . 24

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Chief Richard Deering has called in the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the force.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Ontario police called in Actions of Royal Newfoundland Constabulary under microscope involving Lamer inquiry and escort probe: sources ALISHA MORRISSEY

T

he Ontario Provincial Police have been called in to conduct investigations into internal matters involving the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, The Independent has learned.

At least one of the matters centres around evidence and testimony presented at the Lamer inquiry into the wrongful convictions of Gregory Parsons, Ronald Dalton and Randy Druken.

Officers with the OPP are scrutinizing the inquiry as it relates to the Constabulary. “(It’s) partially related to the commission of inquiry in regarding

actions of member or members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, but again since that one is ongoing I cannot provide further comment,” says David Truax, a detective inspector with the OPP. He says the probe is based on a “previously conducted investigation,” but refused further comment.

“The Ontario Provincial police has been requested … to conduct an investigation involving an internal matter and that investigation is currently ongoing so further comment would be inappropriate.”

A long-standing memorandum of understanding between the OPP and Constabulary allows for the Ontario force to be called in to carry out independent investigations.

Staff Sgt. June Layden, spokes-

woman for the Constabulary, says Chief Richard Deering felt it necessary to call in the outside force. She says she’s unaware of any details relating to the investigation.

Bill Collins, lawyer for Randy Druken, says he’s heard nothing about an investigation. Nick Avis, counsel for the Lamer inquiry, refused comment.

Two internal Constabulary sources tell The Independent the OPP officers are conducting a second probe relating to a 2002 investigation by the Constabulary that explored links between organized crime and prostitution in the St. John’s area, as well as the possible involvement of several “high-profile” people.

The Constabulary’s investigation into the city’s sex trade — primarily escort services — was halted

early in 2003, “partway” through the course of the operation, Layden told The Independent last fall.

She said the Constabulary’s file on the case is “always open to review,” adding there were no plans at that time to call in another police force.

Three separate probes have been carried out into the initial Constabulary investigation — two internal, and one by the RCMP. “There is prostitution happening in St. John’s, but it could not be substantiated that it was either linked to organized crime or that any individuals of high profile in the city were availing of prostitutes,” Layden said last fall.

Cost was also a factor in cancelling the investigation.

See “Three separate,” page 2

Fifty coast guard jobs to sail across Gulf JEFF DUCHARME

T

Coast guard vessels routinely line the harbour in St. John’s.

Rhonda Hayward/The Independent

he St. John’s-based Canadian Coast Guard vessel Wilfred Templeman has lost out to the Alfred Needler, based in Dartmouth, N.S., and will likely be taken out of service as Ottawa upgrades its fleet — leaving only one offshore research vessel on the island’s east coast.

St. John’s will lose one of its two coast guard vessels and 50 jobs — two crews of 25.

The 2005 federal budget gave DFO $276 million to build and retrofit a number of vessels. The coast guard, which falls under the jurisdiction of the federal

Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), had to choose between the Templeman and Needler to continue with research until a new vessel is built.

The Needler was chosen because it’s a younger ship and technically superior to the Templeman. Once constructed, the new vessel will be stationed in Dartmouth and replace the Needler.

Yves Villemaire, director general of DFO’s fleet, says there’s still an operational assessment to be done, but from a technical point of view, the Templeman is the lesser of the two vessels.

“The technical assessment (has been) concluded ... and we were informed the Needler is the better of the two vessels at this time,” Villemaire tells The Independent.

Wayne Fagan of the Union of

Canadian Transportation Employees, which represents coast guard crews, says the jobs that will be lost to Nova Scotia are high-paying positions that will have a noticeable effect on the economy.

“There are going to be programs impacted,” says Fagan. “There are going to be negative impacts on the fishery at a time when we need (science) most.”

Loyola Hearn, Conservative MP for St. John’s South and federal Fisheries critic, says the decision to reduce the fleet in St. John’s and keep a ship in Dartmouth — the home riding of DFO Minister Geoff Regan — is politically motivated.

See “Pound of flesh,” page 2

APRIL 24, 2005

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Three separate investigations carried out From page 1 An officer who worked on the case disagreed with the decision to terminate the investigation. The officer felt there was enough evidence to lay charges.

As a result, the three separate investigations were carried out.

The third review — which lasted four months, ending in June 2003 — was carried out by the RCMP at the request of the province’s Justice Department.

The RCMP did not recommend the laying of charges.

Prostitution charges are rare in the St. John’s area, with less than a handful laid since the late 1990s.

Prostitution isn’t as blatant in the province’s capital as in other East Coast provinces like Nova Scotia, where hookers are known to walk downtown streets.

Much of the province’s sex trade is said to be carried out through massage parlours and escort services. There are eight escort services listed in the 2004/2005 telephone book — compared to 25 the previous year.

Contacted by The Independent, Tim Buckle, head of the association that represents Constabulary officers, says he couldn’t comment on the OPP investigations.

The Constabulary has complained in recent years about severe under funding, leading to a recent decision by Deering that the force would no longer respond to alarm calls without a key holder present.

Deering has said the biggest issue facing the Constabulary is a lack of staff.

‘We’re having a hard look at it’ From page 1 by two assessment committees within government and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. Williams expects to have those assessments concluded in two months, barring any unforeseen problems.

“It’s a matter of going down through those proposals and seeing what is a match or a fit and narrowing it down to a short list and then getting into a due diligence process,” the premier says.

“We’re getting it all on the table so we can have a look at it all and we’ll pick, a la carte, what the best ingredients are to put together the best project.”

Dean MacDonald, chair of Hydro’s board of directors, says the company did not submit a proposal to the EOI process because “the proposals are submitted to us — it wouldn’t make sense to submit one to ourselves.”

But, like Williams, he says the idea of the province developing the project is one that could still be entertained.

“We’re having a hard look at it,” MacDonald says. “It has its attractions if we were in a position to do it, but it’s not something we can say definitely yes or no to at this stage.

“What this is all about is getting the best possible deal for Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Williams says the proposal submitted

by Ontario, Quebec and SNC Lavalin — the only proposal known publicly at this point — actually had a second option that proposed a “standalone Newfoundland and Labrador project.”

“It was Ontario, Quebec and Lavalin, or, if Newfoundland and Labrador goes it alone, Newfoundland and Labrador and Lavalin — that’s what was proposed,” Williams says, adding the province must get its finances in order before even considering taking on such a massive project.

Because the province has never been in the financial position to independently develop the lower Churchill, Williams says all negotiations have been undertaken with the province in the position of weakness.

That factor, he says, is what makes tough fiscal choices and things like the Atlantic Accord of huge importance.

Those moves, along with opening the door to the world, changes the province’s bargaining position considerably because it puts proponents “in competition,” Williams says.

Premier Danny Williams

Paul Daly/The Independent

“It’s an open call to say we’re here, we have a world-class asset, and it’s clean energy — now come and tell us if your interested and what you can bring to the table,” Williams says. “We are then in the driver’s seat, we sit back and it allows us to leverage the best project with the best proposal to maximize the

benefits for the province.

“We have all options open.”

Besides proposals, Williams says the expressions of interest process has also revealed new potential, long-term customers — which is crucial to securing project financing — and brought leading engineering experts to the table.

‘Pound of flesh from Newfoundland’ From page 1 Hearn says it’s a case of Regan taking “his pound of flesh from Newfoundland.

“It is simply because of the manipulation of ministers,” says Hearn. “Some of those guys, their only claim to fame ... the only way they represent their people is (by) getting them little goodies.”

Federal documents show Ottawa set the “latest retirement date” of the Wilfred Templeman at 2006 and 2011 for the Teleost, the two Department of Fisheries research vessels currently porting in St. John’s. Both the Alfred Needler (stationed in Dartmouth) and the Wilfred Templeman are more than 20 years old.

Villemaire says DFO is changing its focus to ecosystem management and that means proximity to the Grand Banks — where most of the research on fish stocks is usually conducted — is less of an issue.

“What (DFO staff) have indicated to us is that they want these offshore research vessels to focus on ecosystem fisheries, which take place in various parts of the gulf and off the shores of Newfoundland, but the vessels will operate throughout the zone and not exclusively off Newfoundland,” says Villemaire.

Federal Fisheries received $276 million in the 2005 budget to build five new vessels — one offshore scientific vessel, and four smaller mid-shore patrol vessels.

Money was also allotted for the refit of a single ship.

Currently there are three scientific offshore vessels in Atlantic Canada and one in B.C. Each ship has a crew of approximately 20. The Teleost will undergo a major retrofit.

“The coast guard expects to be able to absorb all the employees affected by this. We are looking at this from a national perspective,” says Villemaire.

Only a handful of ships in the coast guard fleet are less than a decade old — built in the 1970s and ’80s. The fleet has 104 ships, with 45 being classified as “large vessels.” That

number will eventually drop to 95. The Shamook, an inshore research vessel, is also stationed in St. John’s and its retirement date is slated for this year. The icebreakers Henry Larson, Ann Harvey, J. E. Bernier and cutters Sir Wilfred Grenfell, Leonard J. Cowley and Cape Roger also call St. John’s home. The J E. Bernier was slated to be taken out of service in 2004 and the Cape Roger is to face the same fate in 2007. There are four multi-tasked lifeboats stationed across the island.

Villemaire contends stationing the vessel in Dartmouth won’t impact search and rescue missions because that’s a “secondary role” for the scientific vessels.

“The net effect on the capacity of search and rescue, nobody can say because we may actually have more resources in the water than we have right now since we’ve added some lifeboats recently in Newfoundland.”

Lifeboats, however, are limited to mid-shore operations.

Regan has already gone on the record calling for the ships to be built in Canada, something that could benefit shipyards in Marystown and St. John’s.

Currently the fleet spends much of its time tied to the dock in St. John’s because of mechanical problems or scheduled maintenance.

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APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

Mrs. Earth to you

Gaia principle teaches globe is a living, breathing thing — humans may be making it sick

By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

A

pril 22 may have been Earth Day, but given her problems, Mother Earth may need more than 24 hours of attention.

Pagans believe in earth, fire, water and air — Mother Earth and all she provides for life to exist.

“We, as human beings, are not separate from the earth,” says Erin Piatt, a pagan living in St. John’s.

“We cannot separate ourselves from environmental issues ... it’s not a matter of saying ‘It’s not our problem.’

Because we live, because earth is our home, it’s our problem.”

Earth Day is celebrated each year around the globe to generate environmental awareness.

“It’s nice that exists,” says Piatt, 26, a pagan for 10 years. “It’s nice that people pay attention to it, but it shouldn’t just be one day out of the year.”

In the 1970s, British scientist James Lovelock, while working at NASA and searching for life on Mars, published a theory that suggested the earth is a breathing, living entity whose ecosystems work in harmony to sustain and perpetuate life. Lovelock named his theory after the Greek goddess of the Earth — Gaia.

Jennifer Porter, who teaches religious studies at Memorial University in St. John’s, says Lovelock’s theory has roots in science, although some question just how deep those roots go.

“He wasn’t putting forward a spiritual hypothesis, he was putting forward a scientific one,” says Porter.

Lovelock’s research — which Porter

describes as an “epiphany” of sorts — was panned by fellow scientists, but many adopted his teachings and it became celebrated as the Gaia theory.

“So what we have is an entity — which may or may not be self-aware — but nonetheless is a being in its own right and we are part of the system,” says Porter.

Lovelock’s theory suggests natural disasters are the Earth’s defense mechanism when it becomes overpopulated and its existence threatened.

“And in polluting the environment ... we are throwing our body, the body of Gaia, out of whack,” says Porter. “So the only response that Gaia can have is to respond in order to try and reestablish her equilibrium.”

She says the Gaia theory is just that — a theory.

“I don’t necessarily believe that the earth is a spiritual entity, but I don’t disbelieve it either,” she says. “It’s a beneficial, powerful view because if you understand yourself to be children of the mother or cells in the body, you have a relationship with the earth which is absent in the western scientific model.”

The reclaiming movement began in San Francisco late in the last century.

Pagans and wickans have fought to stop the destruction of forests and reclaim what human beings have destroyed — Mother Earth.

Piatt says reclamation takes ecology to another level.

“They’re sort of taking activism into a sacred role, a sacred warrior even,” says Piatt.

The First Nations belief system has always been based around Mother

Earth — giving her thanks and treating the land with reverence and viewing it as a sacred trust.

But much of the new found interest in Mother Earth and protecting her began during the generation of peace and love, says Porter.

“There are people who base their entire spiritual lives around a connectedness to nature and that’s something that you didn’t see prior to say the 1960s,” says Porter. “It’s become not

only just a few people living in a commune somewhere the way it might have been in the ’60s to being a mainstream, dominant subculture.”

Piatt says some pagans believe the Earth is currently in a crone phase — similar to a withered old woman.

“That it’s going to keep deteriorating until something happens, (until) our society fails and then it will be reborn again,” says Piatt.

Those who believe in the Gaia theo-

ry, says Porter, feel that Gaia has been relegated to the role of janitor — taking care of humans and the environmental mess they create.

“There’s a sense that we owe a great spiritual debt to the earth because she’s much more spiritually evolved than we are and we have to really work on sense of spiritual development so that we can go to the next spiritual level and no longer keep Gaia trapped in a caretaker roll.”

‘Money was thrown at us’ Huge European investment gave Celtic Tiger claws; Accord money could have comparable effect in Newfoundland and Labrador

A overall view of Dublin with Tara Street, Dart Station and traffic on the quays.

By Jamie Baker The Independent

E

conomic experts like to compare Newfoundland and Labrador’s situation to Ireland and how the economic Celtic Tiger was born. But one of the key elements in the Irish kitty becoming the economic animal it is today was the billions of dollars the European Union invested in the country.

Critics say that may be what’s missing in the province’s attempts to rise to its feet.

Eamonn Farrell, a well-known journalist with Photocall Ireland, says numerous factors contributed to Ireland’s economic revival, but few were as important as the major infusion of European Union cash, which, among other things, helped the country upgrade its crumbling infrastructure.

“Money was literally thrown at us — there was money for everything from infrastructure to agriculture down to special products, etc.,” Farrell tells The Independent. “The money we got from the EU played a big part in helping us develop our infrastructure to a level where we could compete to attract industry here, in particular, the American IT industry.

“We would not have had the Celtic Tiger in the timespan that we had it — if we ever would’ve had it — without that funding.”

While no such dollars are expected to pour into the province from mainland Canada, Premier Danny Williams says the province is hoping to turn a similar corner with new monies that will come as a result of the new deal on offshore resources.

“The funding that went into Ireland from the EU, if you look at it on a per

11.59.X4” INDEPENDENT

Graham Hughes

capita basis, the half million people we have compared to Ireland’s population, the $2-billion infusion we recently negotiated with the Atlantic Accord certainly is comparable to what went into Ireland.”

While Ireland and this province may have a lot in common, Williams says there are some fundamental differences, starting with the fact Ireland is a country. Countries, he says, can exert more control over their own destiny and resources, while provinces must work within the framework of the Canadian government.

Ireland’s timing, Williams says, was also crucial because the country got in on the ground floor of the information technology industry.

“They recognized the opportunity in the IT sector and got in on the leading edge of it,” Williams says. “They created a favourable business climate, they

created incentive for businesses, and they placed venture capital in areas where it was needed.”

Another factor worth considering, Williams says, is the fact labour, government and communities work together to achieve common initiatives rather than wasting time fighting amongst themselves.

Political parties, he says, work together throughout the life of a government and only bring partisan politics to the table in election periods — a phenomenon known as Civil War Politics (which result in no extreme right- or left-wing politics) in Ireland.

“That attitude in Ireland of everybody pulling on the same oar to lift the country to a different level, and then moving into your contested political side as you get close to an election is a great approach,” Williams says. “They know they don’t have to be distracted with the time-consuming side of petty partisan politics … it would be wonderful if that attitude was here.”

Catherine Foley, a writer of fiction and poetry and a journalist with The Irish Times, says the European Union money did improve things like roads and transportation, but in the beginning she says there was great unease and debate in Ireland about the influence of the European Economic Community.

“Many questions were raised about identity, about progress, about what we would loose and what we would gain,” she says. “Fear was at the core in some instances; fear of change, fear of foreign influences and practices, fear of the unknown.”

Although the economy appears vibrant, Foley says she still has “grave misgivings” about the Celtic Tiger. She says there is still serious poverty — both materialistic and spiritual — in many of Ireland’s urban centres, and the country still has a largely secular society.

“We’ve lost many things that were precious — a sense of community in

many places, a sense of faith, a sense of who we are as a people among many people, a sense of the past, a sense of tradition and a sense of the value of those who are older.”

Farrell says another major contributing factor to the economic renaissance in Ireland was getting women in the workplace. He says a lot of Irish culture and law was such that most women stayed in the home while the men dominated the workforce. But in joining the European Union, Farrell says those traditional practices changed, allowing women to become more independent in both their work and their spending. In essence, he says they became “true consumers.”

While the Ireland story is one of economic success, Farrell says he doesn’t expect to see the European Union follow the Ireland mould by pouring vast dollars into other countries anytime in the near future.

“To a large extent Ireland has benefited in a way from the European money that probably no other country did or probably ever will again,” Farrell says. “When we went in, basically, Ireland was almost looked at as being a unique experiment.

“I don’t think countries like Germany and France are prepared to invest again to the same extent they did before in bring a backwards country like Ireland up to speed.”

Back in Newfoundland, Williams is confident a similar economic turnaround can and will happen, but it won’t be overnight he says. The big goals, he says, are making things happen through smart investing within the province and identifying opportunities to build a sustainable economy — in much the same way Ireland identified IT as its niche.

“They came in on the crest of a wave and they rode it all the way into the beach,” Williams says. “What we’ve got to do is pick the wave, get on it and move in from there.”

APRIL 24, 2005

4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Trout plan on the hook

T

The new Stena Line Superferry, Stena Adventurer, the longest ferry ever to operate on the Irish Sea routes, passes the Poolbeg Lighthouse on its way out to sea after paying its first visit to Dublin, having completed the 10,000 mile trip from Korea where it was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Photocall Ireland

Can’t compare

Ferry rates in Europe more competitive, better services than Gulf crossing

By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

doesn’t offer similar services and discounts to attract more passengers.

He answers his own question.

“I think now the answer is fairly obvious: in the last couple of years the board of directors of Marine Atlantic have been told that they have to operate the company on a cost-recovery basis,” Parsons tells The Independent, adding the Crown corporation sees raising rates as its only option to recover more money.

“I don’t think they are much into marketing, quite frankly. They have never seen the link … they see it as a transportation link and not a tourism link.

“They’ve always seen it principally as moving freight.”

Parsons says services on the Gulf ferries — which include a “Taste of Newfoundland” menu, tourist-information kiosks and ice cream parlours — aren’t comparable with other jurisdictions.

Roger Flood, CEO of Marine Atlantic, says marketing has always been a priority, but adds when it comes to improving services the corporation plans to stick to the basics for now.

“We’ve really concentrated our efforts over the last year or so on trying

A

n Independent investigation shows Gulf of St. Lawrence ferry rates aren’t cheaper than similar routes in Europe and onboard services on the other side of the Atlantic are better and companies offer discounts.

It costs a family of five adults $212, plus tax, to travel one way in a car on a Marine Atlantic ferry across the Gulf from North Sydney, N.S. to Port aux Basques. The route is 154.5 kilometres.

At the same time, a family of five adults driving the same size car would be charged $144 Cdn to travel on the Color Lines Ferry Services ferry between Denmark and Norway, a distance of 145 kilometres.

The European package also provides a $20 discount if the trip is booked online. Rates are also cheaper depending on the day of the week travelling.

Other European ferry companies offer buy-one-get-one-free packages and other travel incentives.

Kelvin Parsons, Liberal MHA for Port aux Basques and a former Marine Atlantic employee, questions why the province’s link to mainland Canada

to get the basic services improved as much as we can and when we get that done we’ll certainly look at some of the extras,” Flood says, adding European ferry services aren’t comparable because people don’t use those services to “get from point A to point B. It’s an excursion.”

“We’re a different type of service … you can’t be both.”

To date, Flood says tourism numbers are on par with last year, although freight numbers are up.

Transport Canada commissioned a study in 2004 on Marine Atlantic that asked how to make the service more efficient. Parson’s says he attended the meetings and heard people make suggestions about ferry rates — a contentious issue for years. He says most people believe crossing the Gulf should cost no more than driving the same distance. Parsons says marketing was also a hot topic in that Marine Atlantic should offer special rates in the off-season — like many trips in Europe.

Flood says the only way Marine Atlantic would offer discounted rates would be for tourists in the off season.

“A tourist, they plan it (a vacation) and they come in once a year and go out once a year. So it’s not a matter of giv-

ing them two-for-one sales or something like that,” he says. “If we could find a way to increase that tourist business in October and April or May that would certainly be attractive to us.”

Parsons says he’s always advocated that large groups should get a discount.

Sports teams, for example, can’t afford to cross the Gulf for tournaments.

He says catering to truckers that move freight means accommodating to their schedules and needs, while tourists spend the “real” money.

As for offering a tourist more amenities, Parsons says he doesn’t see it happening soon.

“It would take a major, major change in brain thrust to ever get beyond that,” he says. “You’ve got to imagine now, we’ve got a federal government who’s telling this board of directors what their mandate is, so until you change that mindset of being a mover, a conveyor of freight, we ain’t getting anywhere near that.

“It’s a tough job, you can’t please everyone all the time, but if you’re not prepared to try to please anyone — even part of the time — then you’ve got a big problem.”

A Gulf ferry link is guaranteed in the province’s Terms of Union.

he federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans proposed trout plan for 2005 may end up shelved after a public outcry over changes to the season and bag limits.

“They came out in strong numbers to let DFO get a clear message on this,” Berkley Slade of DFO tells The Independent.

Slade says taking the plan to public meetings this year was a first, and he calls it a success. He expects the final decision whether the plan goes ahead will be made next week.

“It’s given the department a clear message that really the regulations that are there, they feel that it’s not jeopardizing conservation.”

Among the more controversial proposed changes was the closure of the sea-run brown trout fishery for six weeks — March 15 until May 1; the closure of the brook trout season for two additional months in the fall; and extending the rainbow trout season by only two weeks.

The plan also called for the creation of two management areas — the Avalon and the rest of the island. Daily bag limits of 12 brook trout or five pounds, six sea trout or two pounds plus one fish, and 12 rainbow trout or five pounds were also proposed.

Rick Maddigan of the Salmon Association of Eastern Newfoundland says anglers have no idea why DFO even wants to change the former management plan.

“There’s no real problem with the trout fishery, this is much ado about nothing” says Maddigan. “There’s really no great change in the conversation of our trout stocks in the last 10 or 12 years.”

Maddigan says the changes have been based on opinions — not science — since DFO hasn’t had a trout biologist stationed here for decades.

Slade says he understands the concerns, acknowledging even the working group that put the plan together wasn’t in total agreement.

“In trying to defend changes in the absence of science on a precautionary (level), it’s very difficult.”

Maddigan says the new rules, if they come into effect, will cause an uproar or lead anglers to simply break the law.

— Jeff Ducharme

Pilot processing planned for Churchill River minerals; company stakes 144 more claims

By Jamie Baker The Independent

V

oisey’s Bay won’t be the only place in Labrador where minerals will be processed this year.

Markland Resource Development

Inc., a company that made a substantial mineral find along the Churchill River bed last year, plans to put a pilot mill into operation near Happy Valley-Goose Bay this summer. The mill will be used to test the resource and make concentrate samples of the minerals — including titani-

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um, iron and zircon.

While the operation will be comprised of a small test mill, Graeme Scott, Markland’s managing director, says it will play a substantial role in determining the future of the project.

“It’s nothing big, but it’s sort of the last step, pending environmental assessment of course, towards making the mining decision,” Scott tells The Independent. “We’re quite confident about what we have up there, and now we’re going to start making larger samples to send to some of the end users to see the market we have for the product.”

The company spent this past winter conducting further drilling and testing of the area, and Scott says the results have been “equal to or better than the results

we had before.”

The company has also staked another 144 claims in the area, covering an additional 50 square kilometres.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay mayor Leo Abbass says the project is hotly anticipated in his community, especially given the uncertainty the local economy has faced in recent years with downsizing at 5 Wing Goose Bay. “We were pleased with their initial results, and now they’ve verified their results and they’ve started to look at a little test processing … this is good news for people in central Labrador,” Abbass says. “The more news we hear like this, the more encouraging it is because on a lot of other fronts, we’re not getting a lot of encouraging news.”

As reported in the April 17 issue of The Independent, one of the possible stumbling blocks to any full-scale processing operation going ahead is the lack of available power.

Abbass, among others, is concerned about the provincial government’s expression of interest document used to solicit interest in the lower Churchill project, largely because it shows no plans to provide any extra power to the region.

“In the expression of interest (document), no reference was made to increasing the power supply in Labrador at all — we’re not hearing anything.”

While the project is still in the exploration phase, Scott says availability of power could factor heavily into any decision the company might make with regards to processing minerals.

“Certainly one of the reasons this project is attractive and, hopefully down the road, economic, is the long-term availability of inexpensive power in Goose Bay. “It’s obvious that, yes, low cost power is available, but now it’s a matter of if there’ll be enough of it with the power projects that have been proposed up there.”

Abbass says secondary processing is the key to reaping the full benefit of any natural resource.

“We know there are resources out there and we don’t want to see these resources just taken — we want to see processing and we want to see jobs for the people in this community,” Abbass says. “We are prepared to work with this company to see what we can do to help with their operations and to look at the benefits we, as a community, can reap from this.”

With the project still in the initial stages, Scott says it’s too early to say how everything will unfold. But he says the company is aware of the struggles faced in central Labrador and of the benefit a mining operation would have on the economy.

They’ve also put a website in place (www.marklandresource.com) for anyone seeking project information.

“We stated right from day one, part of the project is the straight economics with the possibility of cheap power and a big resource,” Scott says. “But there is also (available) infrastructure, a workforce and a community that really needs an industry like this.

“We’re taking it slow, our backers are very faithful, and we’re trying to go forward.”

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

High seas shell game Russian trawler cited for under-reporting shrimp; countries most often caught illegal fishing won’t be represented at overfishing conference in St. John’s

By Jeff Ducharme The Independent

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States have confirmed that wo weeks before the federal they will send government ministers to government’s much trumpeted participate in the round-table portion of international overfishing confer- the conference. ence in St. John’s, a Russian-flagged Most of those nations are not major vessel has been caught in the centre of offenders of fishing regulations on the species shell game on the high seas.

Grand Banks.

The Matrioska was cited for misDavid Bevan, assistant deputy minisrecording its shrimp catch on the Grand ter of DFO in Ottawa, says the conferBanks by 12 tonnes. The 12 tonnes may ence will address a problem that’s have actually been made up of turbot, a becoming a global issue. He estimates species under tight fishing restrictions. that 30 per cent of the world’s total The trawler was issued a second citation catch of fish is taken illegally. for failing to properly label its catch.

“We have had a significant wake-up The Matrioska, which lands in Spain, call with the moratorium,” says Bevan. was boarded by Canadian fishing in- “It’s unfortunate that we were too late spectors on April 17. The Russian gov- for the cod. ernment immediately ordered the vessel “I think around the world the St. to return to its Spanish port for further John’s experience is probably used as a inspection. It’s expected to arrive there warning signal for all countries, for all this week. As of The Independent’s managers of natural resources, fish in press deadline, Canadian officials had- particular, and for all regional fish mann’t been asked to join in the investiga- agement organizations.” tion.

Critics charge the Northwest Atlantic Morley Knight, director of conserva- Fisheries Organization, which regulates tion and protection with the Department fishing outside the 200-mile limit, is of Fisheries and Oceans, says enforce- powerless, unable to enforce the quotas ment officers suspect turbot — which it sets. the vessel was fishOttawa calculates ing before turning its that in recent years attention to shrimp foreign fleets have “I think around the — may have been increased their catch world the St. John’s under-reported. The of illegal species — same vessel was experience is probably including cod and cited in 2002 for American plaice — used as a warning misreporting its to as much as 15,000 catch of cod and tursignal for all countries, tonnes. American bot. plaice was processed for all managers of To date this year, at the fish plant in 12 fishing citations natural resources, fish Harbour Breton that have been issued to Fishery Products Inin particular, and for all ternational five foreign vessels shut outside Canada’s down late last year. regional fish manage200-mile limit — At that level, fedment organizations.” three citations less eral Fisheries Minthan were issued in ister Geoff Regan all of 2004. has said fish stocks David Bevan The upcoming face “virtual destrucconference on high tion” in as little as seas overfishing is slated for May 1-5, three to five years. although the countries most often cited Over the past decade, more than 300 for illegal fishing won’t be represented citations have been issued against forthere. eign vessels. Most of the citations were Russia, Spain and Portugual will not issued without publicity, often against be sending government officials to take boats that have been cited frequently but part in the conference, entitled The face no penalty in their home country.

Governance of High Seas Fisheries and Fishing advocates in this province the UN Fish Agreement — Moving have repeatedly called for Canada to Words into Action. The European take custodial management of the Union, which represents Spain and Grand Banks, a move Ottawa has been Portugal, will be sending ministers reluctant to take. under its flag.

Foreign fishing outside the 200-mile To date, only the European Union, limit impacts fishing in Canadian Denmark, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ice- waters in that groundfish stocks, which land, India, Indonesia, Japan, Marshall are migratory, don’t recognize the imagIslands, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, inary dotted line.

T ‘There’ll be nothing left standing’ West coast fishermen, processors threatened; protest defused at Woody Point plant

By Jamie Baker The Independent

S

mall boat crab fishermen and processors on the province’s west coast claim they’re being threatened by fishermen from the east coast.

Many fishermen and their union are insisting boats will remain tied up in protest unless and until the provincial government backs down on its new raw materials sharing plan. Premier Danny Williams has said the province won’t be backing down. “Government has set its policy direction in this area … we stand by this policy,” he told reporters last week.

Meantime, small-boat fishermen on the west coast have said they have no choice but to break ranks and pursue the crab fishery.

As a result of that stand, west coast fishermen say they’re feeling the heat from big boat fishermen on the province’s east coast.

Dave Callahan of St. George’s has been buying crab for a fish plant in Woody Point.

He says he received a threatening phone call on the evening of April 14, warning him against buying crab in the area. Callahan says he assumed the call was from a local fishermen wondering if, in fact, the Woody Point plant would be buying crab and what the price might be.

“I said yes, I’ll be buying as soon as the fishermen get their traps in the water and this kind of thing,” Callahan tells The Independent. “He said ‘Don’t bother to waste your time because you won’t get the first load off the wharf.’

“I asked what he meant by that and he said, ‘You read between the lines skipper — there’ll be 50 or 60 of us coming from the east coast and whatever’s there, there’ll be nothing left standing when we’re done with you.’”

A local small-boat fisherman, Deon Bennett, also of St. George’s, got a similar phone call from a person who warned he wouldn’t get his catch ashore.

“I guess they got wind we were going to do some selling crab and that someone was going to buy, so it was just a few hard cases saying that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Bennett says. “It’s a hard going on. I heard they were going to send out a busload of people to protest and bar off the parking lot and stuff like that.”

On April 20, Callahan says fishermen from the east coast made good on their promise to protest when a contingent showed up at the Wood Point plant, effectively shutting the operation down.

The situation was defused quickly without incident.

“They came in pick-up trucks and blocked off the road — there was about 50 or 60 of them, and they came from the east coast,” Callahan says. “They’re pretty determined … to tell you the truth it’s unnerving to see they’re that determined. It plants a seed in your mind that you might have something to worry about.”

“But I guess they must have seen some reason in what they were told because when they spoke with people at the plant, they talked some common sense into them, and they left peacefully.”

EAST VS. WEST Callahan says the industry is coming down to an east coast versus west coast mentality.

While most larger boats fish on the island’s east and northeast coast, Callahan says the west coast crab fishery is comprised almost exclusively of small-boat fishermen.

“Over here, the biggest crab boat you’ll find is 34 feet 11 inches — there’s nobody over here with the big quotas you see on the east coast,” Callahan says. “I think the biggest quota in our bay is 11,000 pounds.

Other than that you’re talking about guys with 8,000-pound quotas, working in an open boat and doing what they can to survive with a crab and lobster licence.”

Bennett says small boat fishermen

“aren’t even on the map” to larger boat fishermen on the east coast. He says west coast fishermen are put in the awkward position of wanting to support the union protest, while at the same time, needing to survive on a small quota in a small boat.

“It is an east coast versus the west coast issue,” Bennett says. “There’s two ways to look at this — you have to look at the union side, which is the right thing, and you have to look at smallboat fishermen like we have here on the west coast. Most of them want to fish.”

Callahan and Bennett say while they understand the situation and what the union and fishermen are fighting for, they also have a living to make.

And they refuse to be intimidated by fishermen or anyone else from the east coast.

“If you want to come over here, you better come big and you better come plentiful. It’s the same distance for us to travel out there as it is for them to travel over here,” Callahan says. “Exactly how determined is your million-dollar boat captain coming here to try and make a point versus the smaller fisherman that has to look at half his income being wiped out? How determined do you think those small boat people are?”

“If there’s someone out there that’s going to buy crab, I almost have to be a hypocrite and go fish and sell my crab,” Bennett says. “I have two children and a family to feed and I have to make a living. The union can do what they want to do. If it’s there and I can fish it, I’m going to fish it.”

The raw material sharing system, a two-year pilot project, caps the amount of crab each plant can process. Under the plan, the caps for each individual plant will be decided by an arbitrator in relation to the proportion of available crab in each region. In essence, each plant will receive a guaranteed amount of crab.

Government officials say the system ensures regional stability as a result of a more orderly fishery; fishermen and their union say it hands industry control to processors.

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, APRIL 18 No Report TUESDAY, APRIL 19 Vessels arrived: Maersk Placentia, Canada, from Terra Nova.

Vessels departed: ASL Sanderling,

Canada, to Corner Brook.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20 Vessels arrived: Maersk Norseman, Canada, from Hibernia; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, from Bull Arm; Maersk Chignecto, Canada, from White Rose; Burin Sea, Canada, from Hibernia.

Vessels departed: Maersk Placentia, Canada, to Bay Bulls; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, to Terra Nova.

THURSDAY, APRIL 21 Vessels arrived: George R. Pearkes, Canada, from Sea; Sir Wilfred Grenfell, Canada, from Sea; Cicero, Canada, from Montreal.

Vessels departed: Maersk Norseman, Canada, to Hibernia; Hamilton Sand, Canada, to Little Bay Islands.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22 No Report

APRIL 24, 2005

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

OUR VOICE

Turn off the life support I n the days immediately following the July, 1992 closure of the northern cod fishery, a fish plant owner on Newfoundland’s east coast made this rather bold statement: “The fishery should be taken off government life support and allowed to live or die on its own.”

Indeed, much of what’s wrong with the beleaguered fishery can be traced to politics.

Fish plants were built in every nook and cranny of the province by politicians eager to please their constituents.

APPETITE FOR FISH More plants meant an appetite for more fish to process, which meant more pressure on the resource. Our fishermen, natural born fish killers, got even better at it. Bigger and better fishing boats were built and licenced to fish further offshore, on spawning grounds during spawning seasons.

The fish didn’t stand a chance. The cod stocks eventually vanished and fishing effort transferred to other species — shrimp and crab.

The 2004 crab fishery alone was worth $301 million. An estimated 5,000 fishermen supplied 55,356 tonnes of crab to the province’s more

than three-dozen licenced crab plants.

This year’s quota has been set at about 50,000 tonnes. The crab fishery officially opened April 9, but most fishermen are vowing to remain tied up over the province’s latest attempt to repair the industry — which brings us to today, the here and now.

Fishery Minister Trevor Taylor’s controversial raw material sharing plan, a two-year pilot project, caps the amount of crab a plant can process.

The cap for each individual plant will be decided by an arbitrator in relation to the proportion of available crab in each region. Each plant will receive a guaranteed amount of crab.

Government officials say the system ensures regional stability as a result of a more orderly fishery; fishermen and their union say it hands industry control to processors.

The upside: raw materials sharing allows some stability in that it sets a price for crab across the board, eliminating bonus payouts and price wars. The plan, government claims, creates a more orderly system that addresses issues related to the strength of the dollar, market, inventory, resource challenges and over capacity.

The plan also provides a certain amount of regional security in that a community with a small plant doesn’t have to worry about being “outbid” by a larger processor in another area.

The downside: no free market. Fishermen can’t shop their product around to land the best possible price. Few businesses can dictate what they can buy and for how much. Processors end up with more control by being guaranteed a certain amount of crab, taking bargaining power away from fishermen.

The plan also removes any incentive for processors to buy other species from fishermen such as mackerel, pollock, flounder and lumpfish. In the past, processors have been inclined to purchase less lucrative species because they wanted access to a fisherman’s crab.

The plan also means plants have no room to grow. While the plan maintains processing levels, it also means there’s no room to “move up,” especially for smaller processors.

The standoff has begun.

SLOWING TANKERS Fishermen have slowed tanker traffic in Placentia Bay and disrupted the proceedings of the House of Assembly. Premier Danny

Williams vows his government won’t back down and withdraw the plan.

So who’s right?

The government’s attempt to stabilize the industry and ensure product is fairly distributed around the province is a form of social engineering. In effect, the Williams government is playing with a free-market economy. Such moves in the past, most notably by former premier Joey Smallwood, have met with little success.

The market will always do a better job than government. The market is king in determining what will work and what won’t.

At the same time, if government pulls back and allows the industry to decide its own destiny, much of rural Newfoundland will undoubtedly be in for a rough ride.

In the end, the rough ride cannot be stopped.

The crab resource is in decline; groundfish stocks remain in desperate shape; shrimp prices aren’t what they once were.

The province would be better advised to direct its efforts to ensuring stocks rebound.

The fishery should be left to sink or swim on its own.

Turn off the life support.

YOUR VOICE

‘Don’t be fooled by the Michener award’ Dear editor, Your six-part, cost-benefit analysis of Confederation must have ruffled a few feathers in southern Ontario. It presented in a researched document what many Newfoundlanders have felt in their bones for decades. I have lived in Toronto for 38 years and I have seen this area boom, year after year, with no resources — other than what is, in fact, second-rate farm land, while the rest of Canada (apart from Alberta) stagnated. Newfoundland and Labrador seems to be consigned, forever, to the bottom of this heap.

It reminds me of a comment Napolean was supposed to have made about the old Austrian Empire, that it was like an “old servant maid that everybody raped.”

It seems to me the Rosedale/Bridal Path gang of Toronto feels “their” Canada paid good money (despite all propaganda about Newfoundland being a “basket case,” etc.) for Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949 through forgiveness of war debt etc., and so through hook or crook they’re going to maximize the return on their

investment. The best hope that I can see is from capital investment from outside the country, from the U.S., Europe or Asia. But given the strangle hold that the banks — all based in Toronto — have on the Canadian economy, that should prove a difficult and very frustrating process.

And don’t be fooled by the Michener award nomination rubbish; it’s their standard way of dealing with an antagonist. They may initially try a little brow beating and bullying, but their favorite method (especially if they feel their adversary is well prepared) is flattery and bribery.

This might involve Canada Council grants, Orders of Canada, Governor General awards and so on. If this does not work they may resort to less subtle methods again such as whipping up the Toronto riff raff in a smear campaign. No matter which way you can be sure of one thing — in the end you’ll end up with your pockets picked and the good old boys from central Canada laughing all the way to their banks.

Joe Butt, Toronto

Bardot’s racist remarks Dear editor, I read with disgust and anger about the antics of anti-sealing activist Brigitte Bardot in the April 10th edition of my favourite newspaper, The Independent.

The only thing missing from this otherwise fine article, and from most international press coverage, is Bardot’s multiple convictions in France for inciting racial hatred.

These convictions date back to 1997 and were as a result of Ms. Bardot’s constant racist attacks on the Muslim minority.

She was charged for saying, amongst other things, “... my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.”

Her 1998 conviction was the result of a comment about the growing number of mosques in France “while our church-bells fall silent for want of priests.”

She has also attacked gays, whom she says, “… moan about what those

ghastly heteros put them through,” and in one of the most outrageous statements I’ve ever seen by a celebrity, compares French prostitutes to foreign-born prostitutes: “Our lovely, kind street-walkers have been replaced by girls from the east, Nigerians, travellers, transsexuals, drag-queens, bearers of AIDS and other friendly gifts,” I hope the people of the world hear what Ms. Bardot has to say about those who share not her skin colour, country of birth, or religion. If Ms. Bardot is to be a symbol and rallying point for those afflicted with an overinflated sense of moral superiority who like to attack the seal hunt, then her racist remarks and attitudes must also be made part of the public record.

I find these remarks revolting and I wonder how many animal rights protestors share this twisted view of the world.

Wallace Ryan, St. John’s

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

P.O. Box 5891, Stn.C, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, A1C 5X4 Ph: 709-726-4639 • Fax: 709-726-8499 www.theindependent.ca • editorial@theindependent.ca The Independent is published by The Sunday Independent, Inc. in St. John’s. It is an independent newspaper covering the news, issues and current affairs that affect the people of Newfoundland & Labrador.

PUBLISHER Brian Dobbin MANAGING EDITOR Ryan Cleary SENIOR EDITOR Stephanie Porter PICTURE EDITOR Paul Daly

All material in The Independent is copyrighted and the property of The Independent or the writers and photographers who produced the material. Any use or reproduction of this material without permission is prohibited under the Canadian Copyright Act. • © 2005 The Independent • Canada Post Agreement # 40871083

The Independent welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words in length or less and include full name, mailing address and daytime contact numbers.

Letters may be edited for length, content and legal considerations. Send your letters in care of The Independent, P.O. Box 5891, Station C, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5X4 or e-mail us at editorial@theindependent.ca

Party pooper T

here aren’t many retirement parties in the newspaper business.

No sir, reporters don’t usually last long enough to collect a pension.

They drop dead at an early age of a heart attack or stroke or some other side effect of the ink that infects our blood.

That, or they take the easy way out — public relations, a.k.a. the dark side, with its seductive fruit of higher pay, reasonable hours and reduced stress surrounded by the distasteful pit of manipulated truth.

Journalism is a hard racket. It’s all well and good to write a great story or produce a kick-ass paper, but then you’ve got to do it again, and again, and again. A town may shut down for a snowstorm, but not a newspaper — reporters rarely get to enjoy one of life’s sweeter pleasures, a snow day.

A print reporter’s work is always on public display; there’s no hiding your output, no slacking off on a Friday afternoon, not when there’s a deadline looming, an editorial hole to be filled.

The day ends when the story is told, not a moment sooner.

Bernie Bennett didn’t speak to new reporters for the first year they were on the job. He covered courts for The Evening Telegram, meaning he was out of the office for most of the workday.

He rushed in at 4 p.m., tie windswept over the shoulder of his sports coat, bowed his head over an available keyboard for 45 minutes or so, and was out the door having a smoke before 5 p.m. with three or four stories churned out.

Bernie was a fascination to cub reporters who took three or four hours to rewrite a single press release (and there were at least three or four of them to do in the run of day). The cubs would stop what they were doing to take in Bernie’s two-finger dance on the keyboard.

“Is it your one-year anniversary yet?”

Bernie would grumble to the cub that dared speak to him before then, his eyes never leaving the keys he never stopped pecking.

“Come back and talk to me then.”

Reporters spent their first year of life wishing they were in their second.

RYAN CLEARY

Fighting Newfoundlander Which brings us to the day in late February, 1996, that Brian Tobin smashed his cell phone to bits against the roof of his election bus.

Tobin had descended from 16 years in Ottawa on high to finally lead this place to the Promised Land. It was the middle of the provincial election campaign and Tobin was travelling on the west coast.

Late in the afternoon of a relatively quiet day, Tobin took a call on a cellphone. His rising voice and animated gestures soon drew the attention of the lone reporter on board. The call ended with Tobin whooping and hollering and tossing the phone in the air, bouncing off the roof of the bus and shattering on the aisle floor.

To a young reporter, such outbursts were as exciting as all get out — almost as wild as witnessing Clyde Wells take the Lord’s name in vain during the ’93 election. Of course, no one could blame him, striking teachers were rocking Wells’ campaign bus at the time like a baby’s cradle and screaming “Clyde lied” at the top of their disrespectful lungs.

The day ends when the story is told, not a moment sooner.

“Call your newsroom and tell them to hold the front page,” Tobin said. “This is big news and you’ll have it first.”

Turns out that Falconbridge, the first company to bid to buy Voisey’s Bay from Diamond Fields Resources, had promised to build a smelter, refinery and processing mill in the province — a commitment that Tobin was after.

The numbers to the newsroom couldn’t be dialed fast enough. The phone rang what must have been a dozen

times before Bernie answered.

“Newsroom,” grunted Bernie, obviously frustrated there was no one else around to pick up the phone.

“Bernie, who’s around on the desk.

I’ve got a big story.”

“Who’s this?”

“It’s me, Bernie — Ryan, I’m on the Tobin bus on the west coast.”

“Ryan who?”

“Bernie, come on. Falconbridge has promised to build a smelter, refinery and mill in the province.

“This is big news, don’t you know?”

Said Bernie, “That promise won’t mean a thing if Inco — and not Falconbridge — ends up buying Voisey’s Bay.” Just like that, Bernie, who never stopped pecking at the keyboard first nor last, had burst the balloon that reporters, especially young ones, are said to live in on the campaign trail.

Bernie retired a few years ago, and what a party it was. Politicians and police officers, crooks and crackpots — all people Bernie had written about over the years — stood side by side in celebrating the man, the reporter.

The respect came from all sides, quite a feat for a journalist to achieve in this day and age. A retirement party that won’t soon be forgotten; a reporter who will live on in the cubs he had a hand in raising.

Which brings us to another point.

Craig Westcott, current affairs editor with the St. John’s Express, appeared earlier this week before a Senate hearing on media concentration.

The Express and Telegram are owned

by Transcontinental. Westcott says he fears the restrictions placed on Transcontinental when it bought the papers were “too loose” and The Express will be killed off.

Bernie would probably shake his head if he heard what Westcott had done. He would have smiled too, at Westcott’s balls. Only downside is Westcott likely ruined the chance of yet another retirement party.

Ryan Cleary is managing editor of The Independent. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

‘There’s whacked, and then there’s lying’ T he medicine made me do it.

Lately there have been a lot of lame excuses floated for public consumption by folk who are in a world of trouble and looking to weasel out of it. Twice recently we have seen medication touted as an excuse for poor or dishonest behaviour by public figures.

Like many of my generation, I have a working knowledge of recreational pharmaceuticals. Sadly, as we age, many of us are beginning a journey of discovery with that other realm of pharmacology — those medications you take to actually get better. As someone with some expertise in both fields, I feel I am qualified to make a few observations.

I know why people who are in trouble are using this excuse. First of all, there are actually some people stupid enough to believe them. For the rest of us, these excuses throw a convenient veil of politically correct doubt over the issue. It isn’t nice to pick on sick people.

It isn’t nice to pick on Jewish people

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason

either. A native leader from Manitoba, David Ahenakew, claimed the reason he went on a vicious hateful paranoid rant about Jews to a reporter was because of his diabetes. Oh please. I was surprised the Canadian Diabetes Association didn’t issue a press release. That remark was an insult to diabetics everywhere. I know lots of diabetics. None of them are nasty morons.

Clearly, Mr. Ahenakew is a nasty moron. I am guessing the medication and wine story is what he and his lawyer cobbled together to get him through this.

He needs a better lawyer. You would think being a member of a visible minority himself would have wised him up — but no. Racism is a great evil. Mr. Ahenakew, like many before him, has

proven there are idiots from every walk of humanity.

Jacques Corriveau is having trouble with his medication too. He’s the guy who testified at the Gomery inquiry that he had difficulty recollecting having lunch meetings where he negotiated contracts for over $8 million. He apologized to Judge Gomery, noting that he had been taking some medication that has been playing tricks with his memory. He was very courteous. He smiled at everyone.

Everyone smiled back. Why? It isn’t nice to pick on sick people.

It isn’t nice to rob the taxpayer either.

Can’t remember? What utter nonsense. I could chug a forty of Jack Daniels, smoke a bag of weed (that new stuff the kids smoke nowadays that I don’t like because it puts me on my ass) and take a double hit of Purple Microdot, smear maple syrup all over myself, tear open a pillow and cover myself in feathers and march naked down the middle of Duckworth Street and I would still remember if someone came up and

offered me a contract for eight million bucks.

I would remember it for the rest of my life.

So would you.

Furthermore, after taking all that … ummmmm … medication, you might find me hiding deep inside a cold dumpster, buried in garbage, naked and shivering, but you won’t hear me raving about Jews, or blacks, or aboriginals.

There’s whacked, and then there’s lying, and I know the difference. For those of you who have lived chaste and blameless lives, you are just going to have to trust me on this one.

Too much medication is not an excuse.

It’s a lie. A convenient, lawyerly, spineless, condescending, politically correct lie. A calculated lie. A lie that shows the contempt with which the liar obviously views us. Steal from us, and then trot out a half-baked, smarmy, contemptuous lie.

Show us what a vicious idiot you are, and then blame it on the medication.

Corriveau even admitted he lied to the

press.

He got caught lying to a reporter and his response was, “He (the reporter) had no authority to make me tell him the truth.” Read that statement again.

Don’t want to talk to a reporter? Say no comment. Don’t lie.

I know I wrote a column about lying just a month ago, but it seems to me the public standard is dropping quickly. We have all had “too much medicine” at one time or another, and done stupid stuff. (I imagine friends and acquaintances smiling as they read this, and saying to whomever they are with “Did I ever tell you about the time Morgan …”)

But there are limitations to what is excusable behaviour while under medication. And there are limits to our credulity. What are those limits? I offer Mr. Corriveau and Mr. Ahenakew as shabby sentries, standing way outside the boundaries of acceptable behaviour for the rest of us.

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com

TAXATION STATION

YOUR VOICE Media should cover own backyard Dear editor, Disappointing is the only word I can use to effectively describe the media coverage of this year’s Canada Post National Curling Classic. The event planners have to accept some responsibility for that, as well as poor marketing of the event. That aside, isn’t it the duty of the media to take care of their own locals first? There were 12 teams from across the country and as far away as the Northwest Territories. This province was competing for a national title and no one really covered it — that’s insane.

I took it upon myself to contact several media sources to try and get them on the move and behind the event. I was met with a lot of maybes, no straight answers, and a great amount of sarcasm by a certain high-ranking

member of NTV who told me these curlers weren’t worth NTV’s time.

I was insulted and disgusted with the tone and attitude he took with me to the point that I seriously had to sit down and think about whether I wanted to support a local station that doesn’t support locals. I don’t care what it is, all I know is that if there is any kind of national sporting event and Newfoundland is being represented then the local media should be giving it full attention.

The sport of curling is growing immensely in popularity and shouldn’t be shunned because it isn’t broadcast on a national sports network.

Maybe Canada Post should hire Brad Gushue. Just kidding.

Jason Pike, St. John’s

Newfoundland more than a ‘business deal’ Dear editor, There’s just no need of it!

I am so baffled and disappointed that Fisheries Minister Trevor Taylor and Premier Danny Williams believe they have the authority to fabricate a crisis in the crab fishery and hold what’s left of rural Newfoundland and Labrador hostage at this critical time.

It’s unfortunate our politicians have forgotten we live in a democracy and they were elected to represent first and foremost the people of our province.

It’s also sad we remain naive and gullible to the tactics of politicians and business and are foolhardy enough to believe they have our best interests at heart. What a farce!

This scheme exclusively favours and gives control of the crab industry to the province’s fish processors and radically takes away the rights and freedoms of our fish harvesters. Who gives our provincial politicians this legal authority? How can they control and sell what they do not have jurisdiction over? ’tis a mystery.

The federal government decides the quota and issues licenses directly to the harvesters. Processors selling for export are also under federal jurisdiction. The federal authorities gave the harvester their licenses and freedom in the market place as a direct result of acknowledging federal mismanagement and destruction of the cod fishery.

Even from a purely ecological standpoint the fishers maintaining control is prudent for the survival of crab as a species.

There is definitely more to this provincial policy than meets the eye!

Our fishers are an independent, skilled, non-replaceable labour force that should be given the respect they deserve — not treated as unworthy and

held in such contempt.

Meanwhile, our government abuses its authority by siding with business and not respecting the fisherman even enough to invite them to the decisionmaking tables. We did not elect a government to bully us and without compromise take away our pride, rights and freedom.

Every spring the scene has become so predictable. Specific processors will not reasonably negotiate a fair crab price and will stall the fishery through their greed and lack of fairplay toward the fishers in their very own communities. This painful process every year causes the fishery to begin much later than it should and compromises the quality of crab and reputations of our fishers in the overall industry. This is one real concern that is quite preventable. Sure the processors risk their money, but they have also acquired great wealth. The fishermen, for a moderate return, risks not only their boats and gear but also their very lives.

This is a serious political/business game being played with the fishers’ lives and they have the right and even the responsibility to protest.

The real crisis for Newfoundland and Labrador is about the unyielding, narrow-minded attitudes and actions of the present government. We are more than a corporation or another business deal.

We are flesh and blood, communities, families and a people of spirit. I see great unrest and hardship if our elected government does not begin to take the higher road and quickly mediate this and all other future situations in a more compromising, respectful and equitable manner.

Kathy Noble, St. John’s

The mailroom of the Revenue Canada, St. John's office is busy as the deadline for filing 2004 taxes quickly approaches. Paul Daly/The Independent

‘You shall not steal’ Dear editor, While in the Ottawa/Quebec area this past January, I did some searching to further my information on hydroelectricity in Labrador, and in Quebec.

My main objective was to apply this to the very great concept of engineer Tom Kierans — namely, shared hydropower concept with Quebec.

This is a critical, and integral part of his plan(s) for the fixed-link tunnel. It is vital to the future development of this island.

We have to accept the wellresearched and established fact that there is no more hydropower to be developed on this island. Either we get more reliable, low-cost hydropower from Labrador or build more taxpayersubsidized Holyroods.

The vast amounts of hydropower still undeveloped in Labrador are almost entirely in the hands of the Quebec provincial government and the federal government.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest informed the prime minister that Quebec would not be joining in on the new national power grid. No doubt, in my mind, this continues to give Quebec the power to strip us of our power heritage at the Quebec-Labrador border. As they have been doing (legally), stripping us of the upper Churchill goods that are ours, for the last 33 years and will continue until 2041 and, most likely, by the language in the contract, forever.

To illustrate just how corrupt, immoral, criminal, discriminatory and patently unfair this contract is, allow

Tom Kierans

Paul Daly/The Independent

me to quote from the late Pope John Paul II’s new Catechism of the Catholic Church, where in his discernment of the seventh commandment in paragraph 2409: “Even if it does not contradict the provisions of civil law, any from of unjustly taking and keeping property of others is against the 7th commandment: thus deliberate retention of goods lent or of objects lost; business fraud; paying unjust wages; forcing up prices by tak-

The vast amounts of hydropower still undeveloped in Labrador are almost entirely in the hands of the Quebec provincial government and the federal government.

ing advantage of the ignorance or hardship of another.”

You shall not steal.

Thus Quebec, with its armed arm of Hydro Quebec, has stolen my parents, mine and my children and now my grandchildren’s heritage forever and a day. We signed this bill from hell, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

And the insanity continues, with INCO bringing all its nickel concentrate down from Voisey’s Bay to Argentia — but forgot the 200-plus megawatts required for the pipe-dream smelter and refinery were left behind in Labrador.

One would have to be loco, a simpleton like Snook or Buddy Wasisname to swallow that pig-pen pap!

We seem to revel in stupidity. How could anyone self efface themselves by calling themselves newfie and that we live on a rock.

Since 1964, when Quebec took possession of all that water and bottom, and since 1949 we still have not grasped, nor understood the needless surrender of our continental shelf, the Grand Banks, with its world-class source of protein and minerals.

In closing, it seems our karma will always be — we cannot recall our past; and we are doomed to repeat it!

To those steadfast, mindless fools who say we should forget about the upper Churchill and move on, I would like to quote the late president John F. Kennedy: “We become the masters of our history, and not the servants to it.”

Carl Powell, St. John’s

915 Topsail Road, Mt. Pearl 364-2423 Toll Free: 1-800-349-6999 email: sales@tuckeracura.com

APRIL 24, 2005

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

‘Come ’ere Clocky whiles I clocks ya’ bathroom mirror, a strange smell wafted in.

Walking around the basement, making exaggerated sniffing noises, my nose twitched with each A savage sniff. Still, the smell remained a mystery. As time went on, the smell became even more punjourney gent. Since the rest of the family had already left, the house was empty and there was no secs a teenager, short of a small explosion, ond opinion to be found — maybe it was just an getting out of bed was next to impossi- early-morning delusion. ble. The snooze button on the alarm Then a wisp of smoke caught my eye — a pilclock was always just a swat away. And swat it low had ended up on the space heater. Not havI did — repeatedly, brutally in fact. ing done well in science class and thus not havAlarm clocks lasted about as long as Bic ing a full comprehension of combustion and its lighters as they often ended up launched across principles, I grabbed the pillow and received a the room shortly after going off (my room was rather shocking refresher course on the laws of an alarm-clock graveyard). Eventually, the combustion. alarm clock had to be placed as far away as posWhoosh! sible while still within earshot so as to force me With a fresh breath of oxygen, the foam pilto get up and walk across the room to shut the low burst into flames. For what seemed like an infernal thing off. eternity, I stood there with this pillow-turnedA student at the Massachusetts Institute of torch in my hand, neurons firing frantically Technology has come up with an interesting searching for the next brilliant move. Stupidity twist on alarm clocks and snooze buttons. Gauri was compounded by urgency as the burning Nanda has invented an alarm clock that rolls foam began to melt and drip onto my hand, and away and hides after the snooze button is hit the worse, the brand new, and very flammable, carfirst time. Called Clocky, the shag-covered pet beneath me. alarm clock randomly moves to a new place It must have been side-splitting to watch as I each time it goes off, forcing ran through the basement fransleepers to track down the little tically searching for a place to buzzing bugger — come ’ere put this flaming, dripping pilStupidity was comClocky whiles I clocks ya. low. I went left, then right, “The idea really was to use pounded by urgency then left again — looking like technology in a more playful a rabbit caught in a cage full of way,” Nanda said in an as the burning foam snares.

Associated Press interview. “It’s My brain froze in terror as began to melt and drip visions of me standing in front sort of like a hide-seek game.”

Please, there’s nothing playof the family house on a winonto my hand, and ful about the incessant droning ter morning watching it burn of an alarm clock that can’t be worse, the brand new, to the ground leapt to mind. turned off because it’s gone into With the pillow at armshiding. I’m all for smart appliand very flammable, length and in full burn, I began ances — those that cook and to run with no apparent direccarpet beneath me. tion in mind — just run, someclean on their own — but this invention is downright evil, how running seemed to be the sadistic even. answer. This, apparently, was “I’ve been known to hit the snooze bar for a also a bad idea since the resulting wind sent the couple of hours, wake up two hours later and be flames ripping up my arm, burning all the hair, completely shocked,” said Nanda. singeing eyelashes and licking at eyebrows.

Just such shock and awe happened to me one I looked left. I looked right. morning years ago when the alarm clock went Then I saw it, there it was gleaming white and off, sending me into a panic. A relative had died offering salvation as it had done so often before. and I was supposed to be on the road by that Across the floor I ran, molten foam dripping hour, on my way to the funeral. When my eyes down my arm and on to my bare feet — the toifinally focused on the clock’s glowing LED let, it was my only hope. numbers and my brain registered the signifiAfter a muted splash and a cloud of smoke cance of each digit, absolute terror set in. rose from the bowl, it was all over, disaster had Pillows and the like went flying across the room been averted. With a simple flush, house and as I tore off to the washroom to get ready. eyebrows had been saved.

It was a chilly winter morning and a baseboard heater was keeping my basement room Jeff Ducharme is The Independent’s senior writer. warm, but just barely. While staring into the jeff.ducharme@theindependent.ca

LIFE STORY

‘A great educator’

JEFF DUCHARME

Beatrice Tabea (Ford) Watts 1932-2004

A

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY

By Bert Pomeroy For The Independent

S

he was one of Labrador’s most beloved daughters, a pioneer by any standards who was widely known for her gift of teaching and overall wholesome character.

“She was a rarity,” Labrador Senator Bill Rompkey says of Beatrice Watts. “She had much ability and personal strength, a person who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind … and she’d never get upset.

“She always had a twinkle in her eye.”

Born to Joe and Rosie Ford on April 1, 1932, she spent most of her life working to improve the lives of others, Rompkey says.

“She was a great educator, who was very proud of her Inuit culture,” he tells The Independent.

“There may have been other Inuit teachers, but none with the qualities she had.”

She left her home at Black Island in northern Labrador at a young age to attend the Moravian boarding school at Nain. Strongly influenced by her parents and her teacher to continue her education, she was sent to North West River to complete Grade 11 at Yale School, before attending Memorial University, where she trained to be a teacher. She returned to Nain to teach, but would soon find her way back to North West River.

Ron Watts remembers a young Watts when the two attended high school at Yale, but it would be years later before they found each other. “I went in the Navy in 1951 and came back to North West River in 1956,” he recalls. “We were married a year later.”

The two raised a family of five, while she pursued her calling. When her youngest child was four, she resumed her teaching career at Yale and was eventually appointed principal.

A few years later — following the 1974 Royal Commission on Labrador, which noted that schools in northern Labrador had little or no native language instruction and used a curriculum that focused very little on the region and its people — she was appointed to a supervisory position with the Labrador East Integrated School Board.

“She played a key role in helping to bring back the Inuktitut language and preserve the Inuit culture on the north coast of Labrador,” Rompkey says.

While with the school board, she was responsible for initiating classes in Inuktitut, as well as training other native teachers. Eventually, she was appointed as a field work co-ordinator for Memorial’s teacher education program in Labrador, which allowed native teachers to remain at home to complete the necessary courses to become certified classroom teachers. She later served on the advisory board of Memorial’s Labrador Institute of Northern Studies.

Throughout her life, she received recognition and awards for her dedication as an educator, advocate and volunteer. She served on many boards and committees throughout Labrador, the province and nationally — working on women’s issues, preserving Labrador’s heritage and promoting human rights.

In recent years, she served as a member of the Labrador Inuit land claims negotiating team where, Rompkey says, she played “a leadership role.” She was eventually appointed to the committee established to oversee the Inuit ratification process for the final agreement.

The chair of that committee, Carol BriceBennett, remembers her as a gentle person, whose common sense and shrewd judgment “helped to retain an appropriate perspective and approach to conducting the vote on the agreement.”

She played an active role on the committee, Brice-Bennett says, always willing to offer suggestions and advice to other members.

“She was always ready to do the work that needed to be done, and made sure it would be done well,” she says.

Two months prior to the ratification vote, on April 26 of last year, Watts died after a short battle with cancer.

“Because of that closeness and the particular qualities she brought to the committee, we were profoundly upset that she wasn’t able to participate in a process that she worked so hard to fulfill,” Brice-Bennett says.

“Her vote should have been the first one.”

PAPER TRAIL

What lies beneath

By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

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w w w. b e l t o n e . n l . c a

oastal Newfoundland and Labrador is a breeding ground for stories about what lives in the deep blue sea, and newspapers in the province have always been eager to pass on tales of the unusual and extraordinary.

The Harbour Grace Standard published a story in its Aug. 18, 1933 edition about a fishing crew that learned all about the biodiversity of the sea.

The sword-fishing crew of the V.L.R. fought a four-hour battle off Glace Bay, N.S. with what they thought was a huge swordfish.

Capt. Sam Osborne spotted the fish and harpooned it easily enough, but the massive size of the fish made it difficult to bring aboard the boat.

After several attempts, two crewmen went out in a dory to haul in the thick line attached to the back end of the fish.

The fish dragged the dory two miles away from the boat. The crewmen finally exhausted the fish and hauled it back to the ship.

Once on board, the fish immediately jumped off again, but after viewing the fish for only a brief second the captain realized he wasn’t hunting any ordinary swordfish. On the fourth attempt at hauling in the fish the captain killed it and brought it ashore where it was displayed for the entire community.

The fish — described as half shark, half swordfish, although with no sword — was 10-feet long and weighed about 800 pounds. It had two rows of teeth and five fins and sets of gills.

“The body bears old scars,” and “the meat is darker than tuna meat, almost as dark as beef,” the article read.

Even older fishermen didn’t know what to make of the fish, although it was assumed the fish was an exotic shark following large schools of mackerel in the area.

In the April 9, 1980 edition of The Reporter, a Stephenville-based newspaper, the front page displayed a photo and story of a 55-foot sperm whale found on a beach near St. David’s.

The dead whale was identified by marine biologists from St. John’s who went to the west coast to have a look and collect samples for scientific research.

The region’s wildlife officer said he had no idea how or if the carcass was to be removed, which worried some people in the area.

“Some residents of nearby St. David’s have expressed concern that the whale may create quite an odour problem in the not too distant future,” the story read.

Another whale of a tale, in the April 5, 1909 edition of the Trinity Enterprise, was called, “Anchor

dropped in whale’s mouth.”

The story told of the “rather unusual” occurrence of the British steamer Esperanza de Larrnaga dropping anchor in Trinity Bay only to discover the anchor didn’t catch.

Thinking the anchor had landed in a bed of mud and would eventually settle, the crew went to sleep. In the morning — after the boat had drifted seven miles out to sea — the crew pulled up the anchor to find out why it hadn’t stopped the boat.

“The anchor brought up a mass of mud and other substances,” read the story, “and by close examination it was found to be bone from the mouth of a monster whale.”

A story ran in the July 17, 1954 edition of the Bay Roberts Speaker about an odd fish turning up in the cod traps belonging to Frank Porter and George Bishop. When the pair returned from fishing that summer morning they brought with them a front-page headline: “Huge shark caught at Port de Grave.”

The trap, set off Brigus, was damaged beyond repair after the 28-foot long fish — weighing in at almost four tonnes and about five feet in diameter — drowned after getting caught up in the netting.

“Fishermen got the liver and fat of the shark and towed the rest out to sea, as it is of no value.”

INDEPENDENTWORLD

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 24-30, 2005 — PAGE 9

Paul Daly/The Independent

Prime Minister Paul Martin during his June federal election stop in St. John’s.

Martin is asking too much The prime minister’s plea leaves more doors open than it closes OTTAWA

By Chantal Hébert

B

y putting a January expiry date on his minority government, Prime Minister Paul Martin has made a snap June election the lesser of two evils.

At first glance, Martin’s request for an eight-month reprieve — as extraordinary as it may be — would seem to be a reasonable one.

After all, what are eight more months in exchange for the definitive word on the sponsorship scandal through the final report of Justice John Gomery?

But the fundamental question is not

how Gomery, after months of hard was not the result of the work of an work, manages to connect all the dots obscure cell operating behind the back of the ruling party. of the sponsorship While the sponsorship affair.

When he does If Martin gets his reprieve, money was possibly diverted by only a few, it report at the end of there will be other does seem it was enjoyed the year, no one by many, at every level of seriously expects demands coming both the Liberal Party of him to exonerate the Liberal party of from inside and outside Canada in Quebec.

Indeed, some of the responsibility in the scandal. the House of Commons. descriptions of the inner workings of the party put On the contrary, forward by former with every passing week of testimony, it has become Liberal officials over the past few days speak increasingly clear that the squandering to a way of life rather than a series of isolatof millions of dollars of public money ed incidents.

And so the real question is whether Canada can afford eight more months of weak, vacillating government, liable to bend the way of every passing wind in its desperate quest for an electoral comeback.

Already last night, NDP Leader Jack Layton made it clear that he would only see the government through this difficult patch if Martin rewrote his budget.

The issue is not whether Layton’s demands are legitimate but whether this is the way Canadians want the country to be run — by a government that has a knife put to its throat by every popular group that comes its way.

See “Martin let his ministers take” 10

The solution to corruption: elect a new, non-Liberal government

W

ith the testimony of Jean Brault, president of the ad agency Groupaction, there is revealed what appears to be a massive pattern of corruption up to the high levels of the Liberal party and government.

Brault testified to hundreds of thousands of dollars of bogus transactions designed to benefit the Liberal Party of Canada from 1994 to 2002, with most of the illegal campaign contributions involving hiring “employees” — who, in fact, worked full-time on Liberal party activities — or paying invoices for Liberal party campaign expenses (never declared) or making untrace-

JOHN CROSBIE

The old curmudgeon able cash donations to Liberal officials.

In exchange, Brault said, he received millions of dollars in federal advertising contracts while kicking back to the Liberal party.

When PM Paul Martin now spins the need for audits by the Gomery commission, he ignores the fact that you can’t audit records that aren’t

there and that money laundering launders the paper trail so the crooked money doesn’t appear in the books.

Crooks don’t write cheques. Bags of money left in restaurants don’t have file numbers.

The real issue is whether Canadians, having had a Liberal government for so long, now find that no one in the governing Liberal party, whether led

by Jean Chrétien or Martin, is prepared to accept responsibility and accountability for anything the Liberal government has done in the past or will do in the future.

Will Canadians, after 138 years of democracy, accept such behaviour or

condemn and punish it?

Remember, Chrétien regretted nothing and excused the outrageous behaviour, patronage and corruption now revealed before Judge John Gomery, as necessary to keep Canada united. If this did keep Canada united for a few short years, the grave danger today is that this Liberal corrupt behaviour could result in the victory of Quebec separatists.

Canadian citizens and voters have to make clear whether they are prepared to tolerate such corruption in public life, or whether they are, as some think, apathetic.

Chrétien accepts no responsibility

for any of these events, nor does Martin, even though Martin was the finance minister from Quebec and agreed to setting up the original $50million discretionary national unity reserve for Chrétien’s use in 1996.

After that, Martin heard no evil, saw no evil and spoke no evil until the auditor general’s report forced him to react.

I believe Canadians want the truth.

They can have this by electing a new, non-Liberal government.

The Martin government now attempts to defend itself by suggesting See”voters must share blame,” page 10

APRIL 24, 2005

10 • INDEPENDENTWORLD

Vietnam lifts veil on war

LIFE STORY

VIETNAM Reuters

I

Ajmal Pashtoonyar in Afghanistan.

Away from the horrors Afghan-Newfoundlander Ajmal Pashtoonyar returns to his native land — and finds a country struggling in transition

By Ajmal Pashtoonyar For the Independent Editor’s note: The recipient of a World University Service of Canada refugee scholarship, Ajmal Pashtoonyar left Peshawar, a city bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, in 1998 — and moved to Burin. He went on to complete studies at Memorial University. After six years in Newfoundland, he says “Canada is home, and Newfoundland is home in Canada.” Recently, Pashtoonyar went home for a visit. This is his story.

A

fter more than six years, a month ago, I stepped back into Afghanistan. The famous Torkham gate, where the Durand Line separates Afghanistan from Pakistan, is again a testament of a significant moment in Afghanistan’s and world history.

In the last century, this valley witnessed British colonials from India, the Red Army of the Soviet Union, millions of Afghan refugees, Mujahideen from Afghanistan and many other Muslim countries, militias of warlords, and the Taliban.

Today, at the dawn of the 21st century, this border town is home to an outpost of American forces, stationed in a well-fortified fortress surrounded by high mountain peaks.

Yes, Afghanistan is evolving. This evolution is not just limited to politics and economy. It encompasses religion, education, culture, and other social fibers of the Afghan society. Overall, the changes are positive, however, many underlying issues are not yet fully addressed.

These issues, common in many postconflict regions, will require time, peace and security, sustained resources and firm commitment from Afghans and non-Afghans to ensure long-term recon-

struction and pave the way for prosperity in Afghanistan.

Similarly, the pace of change and reconstruction varies, depending on whether it is an urban centre like Herat or Kabul, or a village in eastern or southern Afghanistan.

Self-construction of individuals is moving at a far greater pace than reconstruction of the country. Government is poor; however, some of its citizens are much richer than the state itself.

Of the many fields I visited, not even a single poppy flower is visible this year.

Farmers have cultivated wheat or other crops — but no poppies — in an effort to stop Afghanistan from becoming a narco-state.

As I travelled across from Torkham to Jalalabad and then to Kabul, the sight of graves was common and evidence this country has gone through much human suffering.

I had constant flashbacks of witnessing similar sights in Bosnia. But here, most of the graves are of smaller size (mainly children), given the fact Afghanistan has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.

Another visible change I witnessed in Afghanistan is the prevalence of cellphones. A country which recently only had a few thousand phone lines, today is home to millions of cellular connections.

Literally every household has a cell

phone. In remote areas with no electricity, people have bought generators or car batteries for recharging their phones.

Education has become a priority for many families in Afghan villages, where it used to be discouraged. Even with fewer teachers and limited school supplies, most boys and girls are going to primary schools in these areas.

Eastern Afghanistan cultivated a record number of poppy crops last year.

Of the many fields I visited, not even a single poppy flower is visible this year.

Farmers have cultivated wheat or other crops — but no poppies — in an effort to stop Afghanistan from becoming a narco-state.

Indeed, this sudden drop will help anti-narcotic efforts and greatly reduce, if not eradicate, drug production in Afghanistan.

I must add traffic in Afghanistan is not just a means of transportation but also a nightmare for travellers. On highways, more people are killed and injured in Afghanistan today in trafficrelated accidents than by small arms.

It is stressful, especially in cities where roads are in terrible condition and are overcrowded with cars, buses, donkeys, horses and armed carriers of coalition forces. In midst of this one also has to coup with dust and pollution.

There is a hope for a better future of Afghans. This sentiment echoes in the hearts and minds of every Afghan — young and old, male and female. But past experiences of abandonment by the international community and the power struggle, which led to war and hardship, are also fresh in their minds.

Every positive change is therefore another step forward for a better future, away from the horrors of the past.

Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Please e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca.

n the lead up to next week’s 30th anniversary of reunification, Vietnam is providing new insights into how it won the war.

In books and media reports, Vietnamese people can read about stories ranging from the moral dilemma female soldiers faced in fleeting love affairs on the notorious Ho Chi Minh Trail to Ho’s impatience with delays in getting messages about the war.

The plight of Vietnam’s women soldiers is perhaps one of the most poignant issues unveiled in the run up to the April 30 anniversary.

They went to war in their early 20s, returned home past the usual age for marriage and found few suitors because of the many men killed in a war that left the country with a population imbalance of far more women than men.

Ngo Thi Quan, 62, lives in a village known as “husbandless hamlet” with four other women who suffered the same fate.

The five have no husbands, no children and no relatives, so rely on each other and the goodwill of others.

From 1965, she worked on the Ho Chi Minh Trail disposing of unexploded bombs dropped by American warplanes.

During the war, Quan’s happiest moments were when “soldiers came marching down the Trail,” she sa in an interview with the Vietnam Economic Times.

“Wartime love was so nice,” Quan says. “A warm glance or a hasty collapse of hands was enough to express one’s love.

“But when we returned home we realized our beauty was fading,” Quan recounts.

Retired General Hoang Minh Thao, who led an attack that unexpectedly took the town of Buon Ma Thuot in 1975, leading to the end of the war

If Martin gets his reprieve, there will be other demands coming both from inside and outside the House of Commons as a host of groups — from a spooked Liberal caucus to the provinces, the municipalities and others — try to take advantage of a wounded federal government.

If anything, the rush of government announcements of the past few weeks is only a taste of what is to come.

To make matters worse, there is the fact that the prime minister has lost control of the warring factions within his party.

FIGHTING AMONGST THEMSELVES Canadians are now treated daily to the sight of Liberals questioning the integrity of other Liberals, inside the hearing room of the Gomery commission, but also outside it.

As aggressive as they may have become, the opposition parties do not even come close to inflicting on the prime minister and his closest associates the kind of hits visited upon them by fellow Liberals over the past few days.

With the heat of the Gomery commission on the Liberal establishment rising daily, there is no end in sight to this feuding and to the toll it takes on an embattled government.

Finally, there is Martin’s remarkable lack of presence in the minority Parliament.

For the bulk of the past week, as his government was undergoing the worst crisis of its short life, Martin let his ministers take the brunt of opposition attacks in his place in the House.

Neither Brian Mulroney, nor Jean Chrétien, for all of their faults, would ever have been caught missing in action.

But Martin’s absence in Parliament is not merely physical.

NO RESPECT The sheer fact that he had to bypass the House to speak to Canadians last Thursday night speaks to his increasing incapacity to command respect among his elected peers.

That is not about to improve. Neither the Bloc Québécois, nor the Conservative party showed any signs of faltering in their election resolve in responding to Martin.

On the contrary, they took full advantage of their prime-time television opportunity to build their case for an imminent election, as did the NDP in its own way with its demands for budget concessions. The NDP bid ultimately amounts more to the foundation of an argument to defeat the government next month than to a bargaining stance.

Under the cover of a debate about Martin’s role in the sponsorship affair, the debate on Parliament Hill has shifted dramatically this week. It has moved on to the larger question of whether this prime minister still has the capacity to govern in the national interest.

Nothing Martin said during his national TV address to the nation was conducive to concluding that this is so.

Reprinted with permission from the Toronto Star.

FINAL OFFENSIVE The choice of Buon Ma Thuot as the battle to set off the war’s final offensive was made over the advice of some who wanted the opening attack to be either on Hue or the South Vietnam capital Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City.

The government Vietnam News Agency (VNA) has also opened its archives, saying at least 258 of its reporters, photographers and cameramen died in the wars against the French and the United States, most of them in the American conflict.

Foreign language editors sifted western media reports for clues about U.S. military operations while the agency’s battlefield reports and photographs of new American weapons was crucial for military planners.

“The analysis proved essential to the national leaders’ strategic decision making,” former VNA Director General Do Phuong says.

But Vietnam’s rigid chain of command could cause trouble for VNA, leading once to an angry call from Ho Chi Minh whose advisers had told the news agency not to bother the leader with news because he was ill at the time.

“Does VNA still work with me?

Do you listen to me or to security?”

Ho demanded and then slammed down the phone.

Voters must share blame for Liberal scandal From page 9 all wrongful activities were conducted by a few people, unnoticed or unseen by the party leaders.

But how can Martin think he has the “moral authority to govern” when he has been in conflicts of interest, when he advanced his own interests with respect to Canada Steamship Lines’ use of Barbados as a tax haven, saving CSL (his company) many millions of dollars in Canadian taxes?

Why did the government state that CSL benefited only $137,000 from government business while Martin was Finance minister and later have to correct this to $161 million? Not a coverup, Martin said, but a bureaucratic error.

How did it happen that Lansdowne Technologies, owned by CSL, was

Martin let his ministers take the brunt From page 9

just 55 days later, revealed that North Vietnam’s leaders had believed it would take two more years to win the war.

General Thao tells the Vietnam News his surprise victory had much to do with fake radio messages that misled his opponents about the target of his attack, causing them to reinforce elsewhere.

He ordered his force massed around the town to only use light fire when they ran into enemy troops to convince them his numbers were small.

The areas for the east end of St. John's include: Elizabeth Ave west Lemarchant Rd./Lime St. Gower/Bond St. Signal Hill Rd. Churchill Sq. area Fox Ave. area Airport Heights area

dropped off the list of declared assets in Martin’s blind trust after 1995, while it continued to receive millions of dollars in government business?

Another oversight?

If Canadian political life is to be improved, the electorate has to take an active interest in the current state of Canadian politics and correct the one-sidedness.

The solution to the sponsorship scandal and the present Liberal corruption lies in the hands of ordinary Canadian voters.

As Bertram de Jouvenal wrote recently, quoted by Beryl P. Waisman of Montreal, “A society of sheep will give birth to a government of wolves.”

Will Canadians leave in power a government of wolves or will they restore competition, honesty and integrity to public life?

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTWORLD • 11

APRIL 24, 2005

12 • INDEPENDENTWORLD

WORLDIN BRIEF Glaciers in retreat

Famous wolf shot ANCHORAGE (Reuters) – The alpha wolf that led a famous Denali National Park pack in

Pre mie r Le agu e

LONDON (Reuters) – Most glaciers on the Antarctic peninsular are in headlong retreat because of climate change, a leading scientist says. A study using aerial photographs spanning the past half century of all 244 marine glaciers on the west side of the peninsula

pointing up to South America found 87 per cent of were in retreat.

Alaska was shot and killed by a hunter recently, causing dismay among activists who say wolf hunting should be made illegal.

The dead wolf was the alpha male of Denali’s Toklat family, a group of wolves that’s been studied for more than six decades and often seen by visitors to the national park.

Launch delayed MELBOURNE, Fla. (Reuters) – NASA has delayed the shuttle launch allow more time to review safety assessments and design changes, program managers say. NASA has marked May 22 as its new target date, but additional delays are possible.

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German cannibal sentenced BERLIN (Reuters) – A top German court has ordered the retrial of a cannibal who killed and ate a willing victim, saying his manslaughter conviction in the bizarre case of sexual fetishism was too lenient.

“The conviction, only for manslaughter and not for murder, does not stand up to legal review,” the Federal Court of Justice said in a statement, upholding an appeal by prosecutors.

Armin Meiwes, 43, was sentenced to 8-1/2 years in January 2004 after a gory case that both fascinated and repulsed Germany and the world.

Meiwes admitted to killing a Berlin computer specialist that he met via the Internet.

The courts initially spared Meiwes of a murder conviction because the victim was a willing participant in the bizarre crime and had asked to be eaten.

Prosecutors appealed, saying Meiwes should have been found guilty of murder as he had killed to satisfy perverted desires.

Defence counsel Harald Emrel urged the lesser “killing on request,” a form of illegal euthanasia that carries a maximum five-year sentence.

INDEPENDENTLIFE

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 24-30, 2005 — PAGE 13

Road scholar

After years of touring, The Fables’ Glenn Simmons spends more time working on his music in the comfort of home HOPEALL, TRINITY BAY

By Jamie Baker The Independent

ing how to use the recording gear and writing at the same time.

“I’m not ready to take on clients yet, but that’s the plan.” o Glenn, what do you think of Putting his own original work togethtoday’s music business?” He er, he says, is a different experience — probably expected the ques- especially since he’s used to writing to tion. fit the groups he’s played with over the Wrapping both hands around his cof- years. fee mug, former Wonderful Grand Band “I’ve had stuff others have recorded guitarist and current Fables front man and things I’ve written for the Fables and Glenn Simmons leans in and furls what not, but not everything fits the his brow as if he’s about to deliver a very Fables mould. I do all kinds of different serious state-of-the-union styles — what I’m speech on the music doing now is not pop, industry. it’s not rock, it’s not “Music is Instead, he breathes a country, it’s all of sigh, sits back in his chair those things.” subjective, it’s and shrugs his shoulders.

With advances in Much of today’s music is a modern technology, like vision. Some lot about image and performers are able to people can see, money — with talent often record and edit their a distant second — and music at a much lower others can see Simmons knows it. cost — not to mention But he’s also been a lot of it can be done OK and others around long enough to with a souped-up can’t see at all.” know how the music busihome computer. ness works, and there’s not Simmons says lowGlenn Simmons much anyone can say to ered costs and added change it. convenience is good Simmons is always realnews for many of the istic and “matter of fact” when dis- province’s talented musicians. cussing the industry. Maybe that’s why “Most of the editing work used to have he’s been able to make a living at it for to be done at a bigger studio, but now I the past 30 or so years. can do it in my home. Buildings are an “Commercialism … I try not to let it expense that gets passed on to the client bother me,” Simmons tells The in many studios, but doing it at home Independent. “This business can be an eliminates that. injustice of great proportions, but that’s “The guitar has always been my main how it is. tool, so when I get my recording work to “Music is subjective, it’s like vision. the point of comfort where I am with a Some people can see, others can see OK guitar … that’s what I’m aiming for.” and others can’t see at all. Some people Though he’s enjoying his time at know music, some people know some home, with his own music, Simmons music and others don’t know anything — hasn’t given up on performing with a but they all buy music.” group — far from it.

Simmons should know. One of the He still does regular shows throughout more influential award-winning musi- the province and across Canada (includcians in this province’s colourful history, ing a recent jaunt to Ontario) with The he’s been at the heart of some of Fables, and he’s even formed a new ’70sNewfoundland’s most popular musical style group called The Accessories with acts, toured extensively, worked as a pro- Pardy, Paul Kinsman and former ducer and done everything from com- Wonderful Grand Band drummer Paul mercial jingles to session and back-up “Boomer” Stamp. work.

The Accessories have already done He’s played on albums by Terry Kelly back-up for Jim Fidler and Hynes, and and worked with Ron Hynes on his wild- they’re planning a June show at the Fat ly popular album, Cryer’s Paradise.

Cat on George Street in St. John’s.

These days Simmons works at home in As much as he still enjoys the energy Hopeall, Trinity Bay, putting together a of performing, Simmons says spending recording studio with fellow musician eight days a week on the road is not Byron Pardy and compiling an album of something he has much appetite for anyhis own original material. more.

Putting the studio in his home, he says, “I’m not getting any younger and was an easy decision. being on the road is hard work, you get “I wanted to be able to get up in the little sleep and it’s a lot of time away morning and just walk right into it,” from home.

Simmons says. “This (recording) stuff is “I want to just relax while working on just out of the box for me, so I’m learn- my music right here at home.”

“S

Glenn Simmons

Paul Daly/The Independent

LIVYER

‘Glad to see the finish line’ Boston Marathon latest athletic feather in high school principal’s cap

By Jamie Baker The Independent

F

air warning to students at Holy Heart high school in St. John’s: if you want to catch principal David Cooper, you’d better have exemplary stamina because you could be in for a long run.

Cooper was among a handful of Newfoundlanders and ex-patriot Newfoundlanders who ran in the Boston Marathon on April 18. Not only did he finish what is widely regarded as the world’s most famous marathon, but he exceeded his own personal goals.

Aiming to finish the 26-mile jaunt below three-and-a-half hours, he polished up in just under three hours and 14 minutes.

“It was a great experience — I met

my expectations,” Cooper tells The Independent. “Going into a big race your goal is probably a little different than it would be for a local race. At the start, with all the other runners, you set your goals a little lower. You know you have to run with all those folks, so you can’t just go and run your own race.

“It’s certainly different than our own provincial marathon just for sheer numbers. Boston has 20,000 people running and hundreds of thousands of people on the sidelines cheering. They’ve been doing it for 109 years so they have the formula down.”

Over the course of such a long race, many runners talk about “hitting the wall.” They’re more than halfway there when their bodies literally scream for them to quit.

But at age 48, Cooper, an educator for the past 25 years, is probably in better shape than people half his age.

Although this was his first crack at the Boston Marathon, he’s been running marathons for the better part of 15 years and he trains regularly — he was at the gym on a stationary bike just a few days after the marathon.

As a result of experience, training and proper pacing, he says he was glad he didn’t hit the infamous wall.

“Any marathon, around 20 miles or so, you’re looking forward to the finish.

A lot of it comes down to training and pacing and experience, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the finish line but I didn’t hit a point where I hit the wall people always talk about.

“I was glad to see the finish line,

David Cooper

without a doubt, but there wasn’t a point where I wanted to give up.”

Of course, Cooper did have some extra motivation to finish the race in as fast a time as possible. Although his run coincided with a student exchange to Boston — which concluded the Friday

Rhonda Hayward/The Independent

previous to the race — he was only able to get one day off to take part in the marathon.

That meant when he finished the race, he had to literally run to the airSee “No regrets at all,” page 15

APRIL 24, 2005

14 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

‘We need new blood’

DFO’s new regional science head says department doing ‘good science’ in spite of budget cuts — always room for improvement

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

J

ulian Goodyear leans across his desk in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, overlooking Quidi Vidi Lake and much of St. John’s. He lowers his usually animated voice.

“Can you imagine now, someone (a fisheries scientist) who has devoted their professional life to this, turning on the radio,” begins Goodyear, the new director of science for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Newfoundland and Labrador region.

“And all he hears is people complaining ‘There is no science,’ or ‘The science is no good,’ and on and on.

“I tell you, I know there’s great science being done here.”

DFO has been publicly criticized for years for not spending enough on science, for slashing research budgets and not replacing scientists as they retire. The health of groundfish stocks, such as cod, has actually declined since the closure of the commercial cod fishery in the early 1990s.

Critics have argued that science should have been beefed up, not thinned out.

More reductions are ongoing, through the federal expenditure review process — aimed at reducing DFO spending by a total of $154 million by 2010. Over $16 million of that is to come from the fisheries science and stock assessment section.

Though money will be leaving the department, Goodyear points to some that will be coming in — $30 million announced in February’s federal budget for an Atlantic salmon endowment fund; another $28 million is available over two years for the first phase of the federal ocean action plan.

“I’m just not sure people are getting the complete picture,” Goodyear says.

“Yes, there are positions that we’re not going to fill as people attrit (short for attrition) out of them.

“Based on the science that we expect to be doing in the future, we may not be filling a position that we were very prominent in a few years ago. But we’re going to be filling

Rhonda Hayward/The Independent

Julian Goodyear

positions in other arenas … some people are replaced, others are shifted around. We’re going to need people with strong academic backgrounds, with a strong business background.

“We need new blood in the organization.”

At the same time, Goodyear says, new programs are going to have to be implemented to retain experienced “middle-aged scientists so they don’t lose interest” and head to other organizations and leave the province — which has been the trend.

Goodyear figures he’s four or five years from retirement.

The Carmanville, Notre Dame Bay native says he always knew he wanted to be an engineer — and a sailor, in his family tradition.

He did both, and has worked as a hydrographer, senior scientist, and commanding officer of a research vessel. He held senior positions in

Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Newfoundland. He was the director of hydrography and, most recently, the regional director of the Canadian Coast Guard for four years.

Eight weeks ago, he moved home to Newfoundland, and into his new office.

“I think my roots will come out in spades in my conduct here,” he says.

“I am a native Newfoundlander and, like everybody else in this province, the fishing industry has impacted all our lives.”

Goodyear’s already got a long list of short- and long-term goals for the department — all of which aim towards developing and managing a sustainable fishery.

He’s excited about the announcement of a new research trawler, which should be ready for the high seas in four years.

The scientist stresses he’s focused

on the future, preferring not to look backwards.

He will say fisheries surveys are done differently now than in the past with new technology and a broader, ecosystem-based approach, which examines interactions between species.

“We are taking a more precautionary approach these days,” he says.

“There is enormous pressure on the resource now, as there always has been.

“I’m a relative newcomer to the world of stock assessment. Fisheries science is complex, but I think it’s fair to say yes, now we have a good handle on what’s happening …”

Goodyear’s other main goal is to further develop partnerships between government, the fishing industry, and the academic world.

“During periods when you have to look at, and now you have to, look at

every penny that comes into the organization, and anyone that’s not partnering today, you know they haven’t been squeezed enough.”

There’s more to forging partnerships than sharing resources, equipment and facilities — and saving money.

By involving universities and the private sector in developing processes and goals, he continues, “you increase the level of trust … with more understanding between the parties, you’ll get information in a more timely manner, and reduce waste.

“I think partnering arrangements will do a lot to resolve any conflicts that may exist right now.”

There’s a “major project” this year, a shrimp survey in partnership with the Northern Shrimp Research Foundation in which industry will be responsible for acquiring the fishing gear and oceanographic equipment; the Fisheries department will take care of quality assurance.

“It’s a joint project in which the department will be doing the steering,” Goodyear says, “and the industry will be doing most of the rowing, if you get my drift.”

Goodyear admits partnerships like this are not necessarily easy.

“Sometimes there is reluctance to be open and honest,” he says. “But we need transparent communications … and we need to maintain the integrity of the data, we can’t let biases creep in.

“But I don’t see why we should be afraid of any joint partner.”

As for the long-term future of the province’s fisheries, Goodyear says there will always be challenges — and there will always be a resource to manage.

“Fishing is going to be, and continue to be, a major component of the economy of this province,” he says.

“I’m only focused on fisheries science. It’s important that I do good science so we can make sound decisions to ensure the sustainability of the fishery in the province.

“I know we have the expertise to do this. Everybody in this building knows how important science is.”

Happily ever after Brave Jack and the Unicorn

By Janet McNaughton Illustrated by Susan Tooke Tundra Books, 2005

B

rave Jack and the Unicorn is children’s author Janet McNaughton’s first picture book. In clear, simple prose it relates the story of Jack, third and unwanted son of an old widow, neither as handsome as his brother Tom, nor as clever as his other brother Bill. “Jack is nothing but a fool,” the two siblings often lament and leave to him the most undesirable chores.

But Jack is not one to be brought down by his circumstances. When his brothers do not return from seeking their fortunes, Jack sets out to retrieve them at his mother’s request, his sole inheritance (the other two had insisted on fine clothes and animal transport as their proper due) a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese.

“Shag that,” one might have told the miserable old woman and left her in order to find a home where he was appreciated, but Jack is a nice boy who “always had a kind word for everyone,” and so he does the old woman’s bidding.

Along the way, Jack encounters various circumstances in which he is able to assist others in their trials. While eating lunch, for example, he notices some ants and, thinking they might be hungry, feeds them crumbs from his loaf of bread. Their queen visits him in a dream and bestows upon him a magic whistle. “If you need help, just blow this whistle and we’ll come,” she tells him.

After several other encounters over the course of his travels, Jack eventually comes upon a farmer who tells him of the plight of a princess. Her parents are dead and she is under the care of a magician who “has decreed that she must marry before she takes the throne.”

Suitors must overcome three challenges in order to win the hand of the princess; those who fail are forced to labour in a stone quarry.

Our hero arrives at the magician’s castle and is presented with the three challenges. First, he must separate an entire roomful of wheat from the grains of sand that have been mixed in. Next, he must scale a mountain of glass to

MARK CALLANAN On the shelf retrieve a flower that grows at its summit. Finally, he has to find a unicorn that hides in the forest.

Jack is able to overcome all odds only with the assistance of those he had showed such great compassion to in his travels. If there is a moral to this kind of story, it lies in Jack’s exemplary behaviour — “one good turn deserves another” or any number of similar maxims might apply.

The narrative itself is not a revolutionary take on the Newfoundland folk tale — it employs most of the expected conventions and sequence structures — but it’s not a bad reworking of the form

The narrative itself is not a revolutionary take on the Newfoundland folk tale — it employs most of the expected conventions and sequence structures — but it’s not a bad reworking of the form either.

either.

Jack is a little too boringly affable, if you ask me. I’ve always thought of a good Jack as pleasant but with some craftiness to his character, or as the archetype is described in the introduction to Folktales of Newfoundland (one of several sources McNaughton drew upon in creating this particular story), “fairly good-natured, although offhand, truculent, and cheeky.”

Once this archetypal Jack is “able to outwit his tormenters,” the text continues, “he often becomes aggressive, decisive, and ruthless, meting out punishment and death with apparent unconcern as he seeks revenge, and especially when those who have wronged him are people with power and/or authority and who exploit that power and authority for their own ends.”

Our magician fits the bill of unjust oppressor pretty well, and while Jack is not the one in this case to visit due punishment upon him, he meets a fit ending all the same.

The illustrations for Brave Jack and the Unicorn are rendered in a realist style with acrylic paint on watercolour paper, which gives the colours a washed-out appearance.

Though not unskilled attempts at portraiture (the characters are painted from real life models), Susan Tooke’s illustrations don’t have much going for them besides anatomical accuracy — specifically, they lack the spark of life that makes good children’s illustrations such a joy to behold.

The most interesting feature of her paintings, to my mind, is their settings. Individual pieces are set in places ranging from Pouch Cove to the Tablelands and various points in between.

So despite the castle and the princess, it is never in doubt where the story is taking place.

It’s interesting to see Newfoundland’s oral tradition of story reinvented and refocused for a younger audience, but sad too to think most of that audience will probably only come to know it through books. Overall, Brave Jack and the Unicorn proves decent reading.

There are just enough light touches to make it clearly a book from here without taking away from a universal appeal.

Mark Callanan is a writer and reviewer living in Rocky Harbour. His next column appears May 8.

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 15

An accelerated course in movie madness TIM CONWAY Film Score The Amityville Horror Starring Ryan Reynolds (out of four)

I

n 1975, while searching for their dream home, George and Kathy Lutz happened upon the deal of a lifetime. In Amityville, Long Island, they found one of the oldest examples of Dutch colonial architecture — and it, surprisingly, fit into their budget.

Of course, with George being a contractor, he could spruce up the place by himself. But his line of work also enabled him to reasonably estimate the building’s market value, which was substantially higher than the asking price.

Looking a gift horse in the mouth is one thing, but when you’re paying for it, no matter how little, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious, caveat emptor and all that. So it was that George posed the critical question to the realtor, regarding the fire sale price of the goods in question.

The answer, as many of us are aware by now, was that a disturbed young man had shot and killed his entire family there a year before. Overcoming their initial shock, George and Kathy resolve to look to the future and the good times they and their family could enjoy there.

For most of us the story would probably run the course of renovation nightmares, but George and Kathy have another tale to tell. The book The Amityville Horror came out a few years later, to be followed by a motion picture of the same name.

Thirty years after the Lutz family purchased the house, we have a remake of the film creeping into town, although this one’s hauling a bit more baggage than its predecessor.

The actual people involved in the story find themselves at odds with the filmmakers, and there’s at least one lawsuit floating around out there.

Moreover, there’s a nagging spectre of authenticity hanging over a movie that claims to be inspired by true events that a decade ago were exposed as a hoax.

The phrase “inspired by” tells all, for this isn’t a documentary. If the events in the film actually occurred, a motion picture on the subject, even a sequel, would feature only Hollywood’s biggest names, both in front of and

One of the most famous houses in the history of cinema, 112 Ocean Avenue is a main character in The Amityville Horror.

behind the camera.

Canada’s own Ryan Reynolds steps into George Lutz’s shoes this time, playing a warm-hearted guy who turns into a sinister madman. He’s believable in the role, without going to the heights Jack Nicholson did in The Shining.

Unfortunately, while he does an occasionally decent job of portraying increasing levels of rage, the story doesn’t offer the opportunity for him to accomplish this smoothly, so each outburst is dramatically worse than the previous one, with episodes connected by unconvincing brow furrowing and angry mugging for the camera.

While the film’s quick pace is one of its assets, George seems to have taken the accelerated course in movie madness, which affects his credibility.

Otherwise, if you’ve seen a preview

Sahara Starring Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz (out of four) Just as The Amityville Horror will do the job if you’re looking for a creepy haunted house picture, Sahara will suffice if all you’re looking for is an adventure film, set in exotic locations, offer-

‘No regrets at all’

Test of time In picking a column topic, I generally just write about whatever’s on my mind that particular week. This week what’s been on my mind is a certain hellish demon that stalks me during the day and haunts me during the night.

No matter where I go and what I do, this demon’s threatening presence consumes me and rapes every rare moment of peace that comes my way — a time bomb that subtly ticks in the corner of my consciousness, just waiting to annihilate my sanity; a massive black cloud that looms over my days, casting its dark shadow over even the brightest parts of my life.

This demon, my friends, is exams.

You may think I’m being over-dramatic and, of course, a lot of people have to deal with exams at one point or another. That’s true, I admit, but if everyone had to deal with chopping off a limb every now and then, would it be any less painful? No. Exams have caused some interesting behaviour on my behalf. For example, I stayed in on a Friday night, studying at school. Bizarre. At about 11 p.m., I realized I still had six chapters to cover before my micro-economics exam at 12 p.m. the next day.

To put this in perspective for you, it had taken me four days to cover the first four. I started to panic and couldn’t focus long enough to read an entire sentence. By midnight I was crying and by 1 a.m. I was having my once-a-term flip out, which naturally prevented me from actually covering the six chapters that were causing me the problem in the first place.

The fact that I miss about 35 per cent of my classes probably doesn’t help matters. I also do a lot of hiding behind the good-under-pressure excuse, which basically just means that I’m a terrible procrastinator.

I do, however, know a ton of keeners who live at the library, all term, and still have mental breakdowns at this horrible time of year. It seems to me the more seriously you take school, the more worried you are about the outcome of all your studying. I guess nobody likes to waste his or her time. I find myself constantly surrounded by young men and women who walk around looking like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

It can’t be healthy. If stress is as bad for us as I’ve heard, I know a few people who are in some serious trouble.

for The Shining, you’ve gotten the gist of the story here. Barring that, if you’ve seen half of this year’s crop of horror pictures, you’ve already seen most of what this film has to offer, and six months from now, when discussion of a certain scene pops up in conversation, you’ll likely have to think before you can be certain which film it came from.

From page 13

VICTORIA WELLS-SMITH Hip A guy at the computing support desk at the MUN library joked with the guy in front of me about deleting his account. When the guy just starred at him blankly and silently, Mr. Tech observed “a sense of humour is wasted on anyone in exams.”

That’s obviously a fair statement as I haven’t seen any of my friends even smile for a week. The sun is just starting to rescue us from that awful, awful winter, and we are all forced to endlessly turn pages in the many quiet corners of MUN. I don’t think it’s natural to do nothing but read and write for two weeks straight.

Quick note for any teachers who might be reading this: I think a huge factor in exam stress is the fact these exams are usually worth half of our final mark. Knowing that you can go into an exam with a half-decent mark, and end up blowing the course is a bit scary.

Quick note for any students who might be reading this: the other night (when I should have been studying), I went out for drinks at the Bull and Barrell. I felt better.

Anyway, that’s what I have been thinking about all week. I promise to be more exciting, come next column. cvwellssmith@hotmail.com

port.

“I finished the marathon, got on the subway, went back to the hotel and collected my bags — no time for a shower or anything — and I made it to the airport with no time to spare,” Cooper laughs. “I managed to get there, had to overnight in Halifax, but I made it to work Tuesday morning. You do what you have to do I guess. While many people were working I was running the Boston Marathon, so I have no regrets at all.”

Aside from running, Cooper also spends a lot of time biking. During Easter break, while other mere mortals were lapping up chocolate bunnies, he was on his bike pedalling through Washington State on his way to Vancouver.

He’s biked across Colorado, and he’s already making plans for a trip this summer.

He credits some of his “participaction” to wife Jennifer Harris.

“My wife is quite keen for that sort of activity also — she does a lot of running and she does a lot of the bike trips. I wouldn’t be able to do them alone.”

As for balancing physical activity with the day-to-day rigours of his job, the former teacher, administrator and guidance counsellor says it’s all in a day’s work — and play.

“It’s nice to have a bit of variety in what you do and I’ve certainly been fortunate enough to have that.”

Penelope Cruz stars as Eva Rojas, a beautiful and brilliant doctor who believes a hidden treasure may be connected to a larger problem in Sahara.

ing a bit of action every now and again.

Based on Clive Cussler’s novel of the same title, Sahara features Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt, the hero of a series of the author’s novels.

Accompanied by his lifelong best friend, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn), Pitt endeavours to recover lost historical artifacts to return to their rightful owners. Sounds vaguely familiar.

Having just completed such a mission, Pitt gets wind of the whereabouts of a civil war era ironclad battleship, and sets off to find it. Along the way, he and Al cross paths with Dr. Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), of the World Health Organization, who’s trying to locate the source of a potential epidemic on the African continent.

As expected, the two quests become more closely linked than it would initial-

ly appear, culminating in a spate of saving the world from imminent destruction.

McConaughey and Zahn are a couple of charmers, and one could argue the camera was invented more than a century ago so most of the bugs could be worked out of the technology by the time Penélope Cruz came along.

Between the three of them, we’re often distracted from the film’s numerous shortcomings, especially the uneven story and frequent implausibility, but it becomes increasingly obvious that their collective charisma isn’t being exploited to the fullest.

On the other hand, without it, Sahara would just lay sprawled in the sand.

Tim Conway operates Capital Video in Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His next column appears May 8.

16 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

APRIL 24, 2005

IN CAMERA

Every pet has its day There’s a simple way to cut down on the estimated 200 dogs and 2,000 cats put down each year at the St. John’s animal shelter — adoption. Animal control officers used to be known as dog catchers, not anymore. Today, they’re busy educating the public on how to be responsible pet owners.

Photographer Rhonda Hayward and senior writer Jeff Ducharme recently spent an afternoon at the shelter.

This is their report:

By Jeff Ducharme The independent

S

ometimes the dog really does have its day. Ten years ago, Rose Gillingham, an animal control officer with the City of St. John’s, found out just how true that adage is.

Returning to her van, she found herself locked out. A dog had jumped in the vehicle, hit the door lock and seemingly had a little joke at the expense of its nemesis — the dog catcher.

“I was just outside and he decided to jump in ... it was funny after it was all over and I was in the van,” Gillingham tells The Independent.

She says the days of the dog catcher are long gone.

Animal control officers actually spend more of their time talking to owners about their animals and delivering notices when a dog or cat owner breaks the city’s animal control bylaws.

“We’re not there to just come down on them, tell them what they’re doing wrong. If they need help we can suggest something. If the dog is roaming or barking, maybe there’s something we can tell them to do to stop that.”

Located on Ruby Line, the shelter’s current location is only temporary until its moves to a new location on Higgins Line in June, a new home that will double the size of the shelter and allow staff to focus more on educating pet owners and finding abandoned pets new homes.

Wild dogs regularly make the evening news, but cats roaming the streets, living wild in the city, are far more of a concern to shelter manager Candice King.

“The dog issue isn’t nearly severe as our cat issue,” says King.

The shelter regularly takes calls from residents complaining about neighbours’ cats that wreak havoc in the garden, but animal control officers are too busy dealing with the population of wild cats that inhabit the city.

“They are not taking priority when we got sick and injured and mommies and babies outside who need shelter.”

Those cats also reproduce if they’re not caught, adding to a problem that’s already out of control.

“There’s so many cats that have been either abandoned or have grown up outside that they’re feral cats, or wild cats,” says King, pointing out two six-month old scrawny, scraggly kittens recently picked up after a landlord found them abandoned after the tenants vacated the apartment.

King says there are thousands of wild and abandoned cats wandering the streets.

“Unfortunately, if they’re wild, their chances of getting a home are a lot slimmer,” says King, adding kittens always have a chance.

Perched atop the cat cages in one of the small rooms is Toby. He’s as big as a small dog and has a look that lets people know who’s in charge of that room. Many of the cats wander freely through the various feline rooms. Toby is only one of the characters that inhabit the shelter — searching for a new owner. Abbey, the shelter cat, perches on the front reception desk, welcoming visitors and soaking up attention.

“Obviously the control aspect will always be part of the job, that’s the big reason why we are here, but we are also so much more than that.”

The shelter is trying to change its public image from a place where animals are brought to be euthanized to a place where residents can come to adopt pets. The fee to adopt a cat is $30; $50 for a canine. Those adopting through the shelter must sign a contract stipulating the pet will be spayed or neutered and the animal will be taken to a veterinarian within two-working days of adoption.

But there’s a side to the city’s shelter that none of the staff want to talk about —euthanizing pets.

“Somebody has to take in these animals and unfortunately then we do have to put some of these animals to sleep,” says King. “That’s not a choice we (like to) make, it’s a necessity because we’d be a shelter the size of St. John’s if we weren’t going to put any (animals) to sleep.”

Every Tuesday and Friday a technician comes in to euthanize the animals — shelter animals, and pets that can no longer be cared for by their owners. More than 200 dogs and 2,000 cats are put down each year.

Shelter employee Lisa Janes works mainly with the dogs.

“Every Tuesday and Friday I hate this job.”

APRIL 24, 2005

… hopefully

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 17

APRIL 24, 2005

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Female deer 5 One way to swing 8 South Cooking ___, Alta.

12 Retained 16 Pelvic bones 17 What’s cooking 18 Major cultural figure 19 Out of the storm 20 Young salmon 21 Related to the appreciation of beauty 23 Phone starter?

24 Fertile 26 “___ and monarch forth ...”

27 Votes in 29 Pull ___ (3 wds.)

31 Coffin stand 32 B.C. Kootenays town 35 Unit of work 36 Pioneering Canadian brain surgeon 40 Small particle 41 ___ chance!

42 Nfld. realist painter 43 Broadcast 44 French vineyard 45 Celt 47 “___, order and good government” 48 Pinnacle 49 Violinist Jascha ___ 51 Voting place

52 Word of contempt, once 53 Sewer’s line 54 Butt of jokes 55 State on L. Erie 56 Noise made by partridge 58 Like slugs 59 Dramatic domain 62 Tilt 63 Leg joints 64 The Way the ___ Flies (MacDonald) 65 She wrote Garbo Laughs (2003) 66 River of E France 67 Loud 68 French law 69 Bucks preceder 70 Does slowly (2 wds.)

72 One who runs to sit 73 Norma and Carmen 75 Whittle one’s vittles 76 Orillia folk festival 78 Struck with dread 81 Chopin, e.g.

82 Among 85 Inventor of 5-pin bowling 86 Accelerated (2 wds.)

89 Trompe l’___ 91 Part of B.A. 92 Birthday dessert 93 Snack 94 Use hip boots, per-

haps 95 Onion cousin 96 Weeded 97 Ripen, as cheese 98 It runs downhill DOWN 1 Quick swim 2 King of Norway, once 3 Cork’s country 4 Bitter remarks 5 Makes lunch for 6 TLC providers 7 Nfld. fishing village 8 Belgian city 9 French play part 10 Japanese carp 11 Pregnant (Fr.) 12 Mohawk holy woman: ___ Tekakwitha 13 Kind of power: abbr.

14 Hide 15 Ball-holders 17 Grand ___, N.B. 22 Suspend 25 Alien craft 28 Remaining 30 Shade of blue 31 Sandy shore 32 To, to Teutons 33 Tours to be?

34 Home to many Acadians after 1755 36 Nfld. poet E.J. ___ 37 Like a well-matched

couple: made for ___ (2 wds.)

38 Peru’s capital 39 Sketched 41 Moroccan city 42 Big flower 45 One of four on the floor 46 $$ dispenser 47 Works of P.K. Page 48 Gobi’s continent 50 Fiddlehead, e.g.

51 Prickly plant 52 Word of relief 54 Lamb’s cry 55 Discoverer’s word 56 Dressed 57 He’s named in a will 58 Bear’s muzzle 59 Start of a threesome 60 Indian music form 61 Young hawk 63 Author of The Man from the Creeks (Klondike gold rush) 64 E. ___ 67 Fixer-upper phrase 68 Singer McKennitt 69 L’Anse aux ___, Nfld. (World Heritage Site) 71 Polish port 72 Feeler 73 Pizzazz 74 Greek letter

76 Small motorcycle 77 Temporary stop 78 Inland Asian sea

79 Circular ocean current 80 Detest

TAURUS - APRIL 21/MAY 21 There is no point pushing yourself beyond your natural limits, Taurus. How productive will you be if you injure yourself or get exhausted? There is no one keeping score.

GEMINI - MAY 22/JUNE 21 Like many people, you have doubts from time to time. This week, you are feeling very vulnerable. Rest assured that you'll pull through and tackle this mountain of feelings.

CANCER - JUNE 22/JULY 22 If someone in a position of authority is critical of your work this week, don't let it get to you, Cancer. He may be secretly envi-

ous of your talent and not one to mind anyway.

these feelings. Trust that everything will work out for the best.

LEO - JULY 23/AUG. 23 Try to see the humor in this week's events, Leo. Even if things don't seem a laughing matter, make the best of the situation. Friends will think you a little nutty, though.

SAGITTARIUS - NOV. 23/DEC. 21 If you want an endeavor you've been planning to be a success, you are going to need help in the finance department, Sagittarius. Look to Leo for guidance.

VIRGO - AUG. 24/SEPT. 22 Make a conscious effort to be more grounded this week, Virgo.

Lately you've had your head in the clouds and that is no way to make it through your daily activities.

LIBRA - SEPT. 23/OCT. 23 Even though you have a lot on your plate, don't say "I can't" when someone is ready to tack on more work this week, Libra. You can handle it if you put your mind to it.

SCORPIO - OCT. 24/NOV. 22 Your attitude is negative, Scorpio.

You must figure out what is bringing you down and put a stop to

87 Eastern way 88 Coton de Tulear, e.g.

90 Skippered

POET’S CORNER

WEEKLY STARS ARIES - MARCH 21/APR 20 Some people will not like what you plan to do this week, Aries, and will be quite vocal about it.

Don't let it worry you because these people don't have the power to stop you.

81 Lapdog, briefly 83 Lick and paste 84 Fundy phenomenon

PISCES - FEB. 19/MAR 20 Not everyone is honest, Pisces, so keep track of your finances carefully in the weeks to come.

Someone close could be cheating you.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS APRIL 24 Chipper Jones, Athlete

CAPRICORN - DEC. 22/JAN. 20 Someone you are close to will change his or her plans at the last minute. To say the least, you won't be happy about it, but realize that you must deal with the situation anyway.

APRIL 25 Tim Duncan, Athlete

AQUARIUS - JAN. 21/FEB. 18 Don't expect a straight answer to a simple question from someone this week, Aquarius.

It's not likely you'll get one.

This person will be very evasive instead.

APRIL 28 Jay Leno, TV Host

APRIL 26 Jose Pasillas, Drummer APRIL 27 Schae Harrison, Actress

APRIL 29 Jerry Seinfeld, Actor/Comic APRIL 30 Willie Nelson, Singer

TO ONE WHO LOVES HER GARDEN

By Georgiana Cooper INTO the dawn, Hushed as a suspended note, You hear and you go wrestling With the last year’s growth; Pushing and pulling at roots Grown out of bounds.

Pruning a little here, A little there — Listening for a robin waking In a neighbour’s tree.

Small miracles of life Make gentle impress On your inner self.

The young, green things Feel soft among your fingers; And some, more vigorous with life, Push hard against your hand.

You hear God’s footsteps As He comes, To cultivate with you, Your garden plot.

A 1950 poem first published in the Poems of Newfoundland, a book edited by the late Michael Harrington.

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 24-30, 2005 — PAGE 19

Capt. Tim Paschke, Capt. Dan Franklin, Staff Sgt Joe Thayer and Capt. Jason Wright, members of the U.S. Airforce 67 Special Operation Squadron; "Night Owls" based at the RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. say St. John's is a welcome layover destination.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Military tourism St. John’s and Gander airports benefit from air force traffic from around the world

By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

companies immediately call hotels and restaurants to set up reservations and transportation.

“They are selling the same product at the same price, report commissioned by the St. John’s but the way they compete for business with the miliInternational Airport Authority reveals the tary traffic is to provide a range of services to the permilitary aircraft that touch down locally in the sonnel that you would expect for a fuelling company run of a year are worth an estimated $20 million in to provide,” says Collins. business.

He says Gander’s airport sees most of the military Mayor Andy Wells says the airport has done well business in the Atlantic provinces at a rate of 40 per pursuing “military tourism. cent — compared to St. John’s at 30 per cent — but the “I’ve made it quite clear to the airport authority that two communities aren’t in competition. while they’ve done a tremendous job, that if they want “There’s lots of business to go around and I think any help from the City of St. John’s … I’m certainly both Gander and St. John’s have been beneficiaries.” prepared to assist them,” Wells tells The Independent.

Gary Vey, president of the Gander Airport Authority, “It’s great business b’y.” couldn’t provide impact numbers on the town from An estimated 1,200 military aircraft — each with an military air traffic, but he acknowledges the airport estimated 13 passengers on board — touched down in makes millions of dollars from the planes.

St. John’s last year for refuelling He says the town isn’t impacted and technical work. the way St. John’s is because most “There’s lots of Passenger layovers bring in the passengers don’t stay over night real cash. like they do in the capital city — business to go Keith Collins, president and CEO although Gander does have one of the St. John’s Airport Authority, advantage. around and I think says each plane is worth $14,000 in “We have these huge runways fuelling, landing and other fees. and huge handling facilities here both Gander and Should passengers stay overnight and lots of places to park airplanes, — when they do they spend $220 where St. John’s is a bit weak on St. John’s have each on average — each plane can that area.” been beneficiaries.” be worth as much as $18,000 a day.

Vey says airport fees have an While 92 per cent of military impact on the town, but because the Keith Collins business comes from the United authority doesn’t often compile States, the airport also sees military numbers — let alone numbers that planes from Britain, Germany, would relate to the community — Belgium, Spain and a few from mainland Canada. he can’t give a good estimate.

Collins says military personnel from the States like “We could put that information together but it would the city because the airport is considered a downtown be tedious work,” Vey says. “We do keep records of it, airport, and there’s a wide selection of amenities. but we don’t look for that type of information in the “They particularly enjoy the night life.” records.”

Fuelling companies like Irving, Esso and Shell also He says the military that do stop in Gander are mostwork to make the city an attractive destination. When ly from the United States and Britain. Almost no a plane calls ahead to say it will be arriving, the fuel Canadian planes touch down there.

A

On being accountable T

he one thing I would never, ever want to do is go to jail. Yep, I’ll stick to the straight and narrow to make sure that never happens. The fear is in me and it should be in you if you are on a board of directors. I am more focused then ever on corporate governance. Please don’t roll your eyes and turn away, lest you find yourself on the wrong side of a shareholder.

This past week Deloitte chartered accountants hosted a seminar for notfor-profit organizations on corporate governance. It was very well attended

SIOBHAN COADY

The bottom line with over 60 people spending the morning talking about the less-than-exciting topic. But it is the topic that is most resonating in the corporate and not-forprofit world on the heels of the bankruptcies of Worldcom and Enron.

The world of business has changed and the processes we thought were stel-

lar five years ago do not stand up to the scrutiny of today.

Government and security regulations speak to the issue with more frequency.

The Canadian securities commission recently announced proposed changes that move publicly traded Canadian business more toward the Sarbane Oxley rules of the United States. On the not-for-profit side, there are proposed new rules of governance now before Parliament.

What of good governance? Good governance ensures accountability and defines the division of powers between

management and directors. I think it gives a road map on how to find the direction you want to take. It gives clear instructions on when to turn, when to turn back and how to go forward.

Once you have these basics rights you can do what really is important to your business and not have to be concerned with the processes that make it all happen. Everyone is informed; everyone knows what they are doing and how to do it.

A key element is a solid code of conduct that speaks to the duty of the directors, including the duty of care, knowl-

edge and diligence. You must also ensure to avoid conflict of interest by having proper disclosure. Review your terms of reference for committees and set a board calendar that ensures periodic review. Establish the processes for monitoring and accountability.

Directors will never be in trouble if they ensure good governance and good accountability.

And now for a little rant …

Forgive me, but I have to have my say about the Gomery commission. In See “No party” page 20

APRIL 24, 2005

20 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

Pumping up prices Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to the price of gas

Paul Daly/The Independent

How a litre is broken down On April 12, regular gasoline cost 98.9 cents a litre in most areas of the province.

42.1 cents was the actual price of gas.

39.4 cents went to federal and provincial taxes.

17.4 cents was returned to the oil companies to cover refining and marketing costs.

Source: Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

By Alisha Morrissey The Independent

“What’s most relevant to this market, of course to the consumer, would be the price that they pay at the pump, but our mandate does not ar owners knew it would happen some- cover, does not have in anyway, anything to do day: buck a litre gas. That was last week. with taxation,” says Toms, adding NewfoundThe price has since dipped below $1 a land and Labrador consumers are paying 60.5 litre, although it’s still too high for most con- cents a litre before taxes. sumers.

Dennis O’Keefe, spokesman for the While it may seem as if drivers in Newfound- Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices, says the land and Labrador are paying a fortune every group is more than happy with the formula that time they fill up, there are, in dictates pump prices, but says fact, more expensive places don’t thank the formula for the “They don’t like in Canada to buy gas. quick drop below the dollar Weekly Pump Price mark. regulation. It’s Surveys released by M. J. “That was due to oil compaErvin, an independent firm nies who claimed consumers somebody sitting that collects data from 400 got nervous when the price Canadian gas station dealers rose,” O’Keefe says. over their shoulder a week, shows before taxes, “Oil companies of course … somebody looking most provinces ranged have made the statement that it between 50 and 80 cents for was because of the psychologafter the needs a litre of gasoline. ical barrier of going over a dolMost paid around the 50 lar and they wanted to come of the consumer.” cent mark. This province back under that psychological paid around 60 cents a litre. barrier,” O’Keefe says. “To me Dennis O’Keefe Taxes included, Whitethe companies didn’t do that horse was the most expenfor our benefit — they did it sive place to buy gas with the majority of the city for their benefit.” paying $1.05 a litre. The cheapest place to buy He says when prices went up people stopped gas — taxes in — in Canada was Windsor, Ont., driving as much and that hurt the companies, but where residents paid 81.2 cents a litre. dropping the price also makes the oil companies The price of gas in the province last week look like “good guys” in the face of government topped $1, despite falling gasoline prices in regulations. world markets. The price quickly dipped back to “They don’t like regulation. It’s somebody sitthe 99-cent mark as consumers paid almost as ting over their shoulder … somebody looking much in taxes as they did for the gas. Consumers after the needs of the consumer. in the province waited for the Public Utilities “I think my dirty little mind told me that part Board to begin using its interruption formula to of the motivation was probably an intent to bring down the cost. undermine regulation.”

David Toms, acting director of the petroleum Toms says consumers will still cruise around pricing commission, says prices set by the New looking for the biggest bargain.

York Mercantile Commodity Exchange are what “I used to go around (before the pricing comthe province bases its prices on and the lag mission was set up), whether I was buying or between receiving the numbers and setting them not, people were watching the prices. Where on the 15th of each month is the reason prices they were going from one city block to another rise despite a drop in world prices. there was a big difference. It was almost like a He says if the prices stay 3.5 cents lower for game to see where you could capture the best five-working days the interruption formula bargain and then you were pissed off if you went comes into play, reducing prices. down the road further and it was less.”

C

No party lives in a glass house From page 19 business and in life I try to keep the principle of “don’t fix the blame, fix the problem.” There may be some satisfaction in delivering a scathing blast to someone in the short term who has done wrong but it doesn’t ensure it won’t happen again. The Gomery commission was struck to understand what happened with the sponsorship money and why so much went missing. It will help ferret out those responsible and will hopefully result in the money being returned (not likely) and changes being made to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

If it takes hiring a bevy of accountants to put in checks and balances to ensure that it couldn’t happen again, then let’s do it. If we need to hire a dozen detectives to investigate wrong doings and jail everyone who was involved, then let’s do it. Too often this type of problem goes unchecked in our political system … and no party lives in a glass house.

I thought it was rather brave of the prime minister to strike a public enquiry. He could have placed it all squarely on the last administration and moved on, but he didn’t. He wanted this type of politics to stop. Let’s be brave with him and let the light of day shine on all the wrong doings and let’s fix the problem. We won’t get to the bottom of this if there is an election now. We’ll react to supposition and perhaps the next time something goes astray those in power — of whatever stripe — will hesitate to shine the light in the darkness.

Bottom line in business, in politics and in life is you have to do what’s right. Being accountable is what good governance and good government is all about.

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 21

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

J

erry Jones has been a self-professed “fish geek” since about age eight. His friends still call him Papa Fish — he had a successful stint as a breeder of clownfish a few years ago, in the 1990s.

A devoted hobbyist, Jones has been dabbling in various aspects of tropical fish importing and selling in Newfoundland and Ontario for going on 15 years.

In early 2005, he and business partner David Kearsey — also a tropical fish owner for well over a decade — started renovations on a former framing business on Hamilton Avenue in St. John’s. Last month, Esan Aquatics opened for business.

Front and centre in the store — and plainly visible from the street, as more than one passer-by has noticed — is one of the city’s largest saltwater aquariums. Holding 400 gallons of water, and 10-feet in length, the tank is home to 600 pounds of “live rock” (containing algae, bacteria and other microorganisms) dozens of snails, hermit crabs, and, of course, beautiful, bright tropical fish.

The aquarium took months to get to the stage it’s at now: virtually maintenance free.

Jones has carefully created a delicate balance between the plants, animals and coral. All he has to do is monitor the trace minerals in the water and make sure the timer works on the lights — biology does the rest.

Jones and Kearsey hand-built all the tanks in the store themselves, with a specially designed central filtration system. The years they’ve spent studying and practicing their hobby shows.

“I tried my first aquarium, bought a load of fish, and they were all dead within two weeks,” Jones says. “So I figured I had to do something different.

I left the tank empty for three or four months, did some research, then started out with live rocks, which is the base to a saltwater aquarium.

“From that day on, I was pretty successful at it.”

Jones says he currently has a 130gallon home fish tank, measuring six feet in length. He’s planning to build a new house next year, with a bigger aquarium. His youngest fish is seven years old; his oldest, he’s owned for 13 years.

Jones says that’s not out of the ordinary for a pet fish — if proper care is taken.

Jones’ philosophy when dealing with customers is simple: “I want to let peo-

Jerry Jones

Paul Daly/The Independent

Something fishy It’s taken years of study, patience — and a few casualties — but Jerry Jones is ready to share his knowledge and passion for tropical fish with St. John’s customers ple learn what I learned, without the cost.” He wants to spend time with each customer, answer their questions, prepare them for the road their hobby could lead them down — which fish are going to require larger tanks, which species gets along with other ones, the choices and responsibility of a pet owner.

“You know, I’ve bought eight Yellow Tangs to have one survive, I’ve done that,” he says. “I’ve researched it and found out why. Anything that can happen to a fish has happened to a fish I’ve owned.

“You have to take this hobby step-

by-step. New customers come in who get really excited and they want all these fish at once and I won’t let them have them.

“They get upset with me, like ‘I want that fish,’ and I say ‘you can take that fish but I don’t think you should, he’s not going to make it.’”

On average, Jones says a new customer could expect to spend between $700 and $800 to get an aquarium ready for fish — and it will take a few months to develop, as the live rock provides the foundation and the proper bacteria develops.

In most cases, Jones and Kearsey

import their fish directly from the place of origin, whether it be Fiji, Bali (Indonesia) or Hawaii.

“It’s a lot of fun, but it really tests your patience,” he says. “It’s constantly multi-tasking last week, a shipment came in a week early, which never happens.” He’s been in the store day and night ever since, monitoring each rock and creature. He says it’s his policy not to sell anything unless it’s been in the store at least a week or two and seems to be healthy.

In terms of traffic, the new business is off to a steady start, Jones says. And he says he’ll always be available for

follow up questions and advice — and will even offer fish-sitting services for when people travel or get too busy to maintain their tanks.

“Otherwise, there’s no way (customers) are going to be successful. And if they’re not successful, we’re done,” he says.

“There’s only so many fish you can sell that are going to die.”

As Jones details the habits of the biggest fish in Esan Aquatics’ display tank, it becomes apparent that each individual fish — of the same species or not — has a distinct personality.

Watching this develop, and watching the interactions, is what makes keeping tropical fish “the most rewarding hobby.”

And though he hopes he can soon cut down on the 18-hour workdays, he says he’s determined to do what it takes to keep the business running smoothly — including a lot more reading.

“How can you sell something to someone you don’t know anything about?” he says. “This isn’t a new bed or a new couch, this is a live animal.”

22 • INDEPENDENTSPECIAL SECTION

APRIL 24, 2005

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTSPECIAL SECTION • 23

APRIL 24, 2005

24 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

EVENTS APRIL 24

APRIL 26

• The Bloomin’ Teapot Tea Room holds its official grand opening from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at MUN Botanical Gardens. Call 753TEAS.

• The Anna Templeton Centre presents a series of evening classes to teach effective communications – today: photography. Call 739-7623 to register. Fee per session is $25.

• The Kidney Foundation holds its seventh annual Bowl-a-Thon starting at noon, at Pearlgate Lanes, St. John’s. Call 753-8999.

• The School of Dance Recital at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Call 729-3650.

APRIL 25

• Dr. Priscilla Renouf, will deliver a lecture titled Humans on the Landscape: The Archaeology of Port au Choix at 4 p.m. in room A-1043 of the MUN arts and administration building.

• Ballet Jörgen Canada presents The Velveteen Rabbit at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Matinees and evening shows. Call 729-3650

• The Cormiers perform at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Center, tickets $20, call 729-3650.

APRIL 27

• Reading by Bernice Morgan at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Newfoundland Author Reading Series at the A.C. Hunter Adult Library.

• MIA presents Rising Stars 5 at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Tickets $10, call 7293900 • Folk Night at the Ship Pub with Nadine Hollett and Don Walsh. Open mike, starting at 9:30 p.m., admission $5, call 753-3870.

APRIL 28

• Join the Fairmont Wine Club and taste wines from around the world. Interactive and informative classes, 5:45-7 p.m., Fairmont Hotel, $25.00 per person, call 758-8194 • Reading by Authors short-listed for the 2005 Atlantic Book Awards at The Studio, 272 Water Street, at 8 p.m. Free admission. Readings by Kelly Cooper, Jonathan Campbell, Sue Goyette and Joel Hynes, call (709) 739-5215.

APRIL 29

• Flipper Dinner and Dance, at the Legion in Kelligrews, tickets are $10 and should be purchased in advance. Call 834-2331.

• Writers at Woody Point “Fun Raiser & Dance Party,” 7:30 p.m. at the Masonic Hall on Cathedral Street in St. John’s. Featuring Pamela Morgan, Shelagh Rogers, Ron Hynes, Christopher Pratt, David Michael and the Dance Party of Newfoundland.

• Gearshift: A call for healthy fisheries at home and on the high seas. Meetings in St. John’s and Petty Harbour, continuing until April 30. Call Julie Huntington at 895-0853.

• Home Show 2005 at Mile One Stadium. Tickets $5, until May 1. Free Shuttle Service provided by Metrobus. Call 753-2000.

APRIL 30

• Friends of the MUN Botanical Gardens will hold its annual Spring-Clean up. Call 737-8590.

• The Newfoundland Symphony Youth Choir, St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, tickets $15.

Call 729-3650.

Canadian Progress Club of St. John’s presents

MyBigFat GreekAuction!

18th Annual CPC Gala & Auction Please join us on May 6th, 2005 at The Delta Hotel for an evening of “Opa” as we celebrate Greek culture while raising much needed resources for our worthwhile charities The Vera Perlin Society and The Newfoundland and Labrador Special Olympics.

Complimentary Cocktails at 7:00 p.m.

Greek Inspired Dinner at 8:00 p.m.

Dinner Entertainment by The Perlin Players Continuous Silent Auction with over 70 great items Outstanding Live Auction hosted by Dave Greene Music and Dancing with Billy and the Bruisers Tickets are $100.00 per person and can be purchased by contacting any of the following CPC members: Terry Murphy 834-7402 Chris March 576-1383 Gary Haynes 753-7822 Roger Downer 739-6017 Peter Furlong 576-4208 Brad Marche 728-5146

Win a trip for two to Greece!

INDEPENDENTSPORTS

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 24-30, 2005 — PAGE 25

Mikael Tellqvist and fellow St. John’s Maple Leafs get ready for one of their last games in the capital city.

Rhonda Hayward/The Independent

The puck stops here

Four years after arriving in St. John’s, Leafs’ goalie Mikael Tellqvist ready to take next step

By Darcy MacRae For The Independent

M

ikael Tellqvist didn’t expect to be in St. John’s this long. When the native of Sundbyber, Sweden arrived on the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador in the fall of 2001, many hockey pundits predicted he wouldn’t spend much time in the AHL before earning a spot in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ crease.

But almost four years later, the 25year-old goaltender is still in St. John’s and has yet to prove himself as a No. 1 NHL puck stopper. Despite the fact his development has been slower than predicted, however, you won’t find Tellqvist complaining about his time in the provincial capital.

“I feel I’ve come a long way,” Tellqvist tells The Independent. “When I first came over here I played small.

Now I try to play bigger and control my rebounds better.”

One look at Tellqvist’s statistics indicates he has indeed improved since his

first season with the St. John’s Maple Leafs (2001-02). His goals against average was above three his first two years here, but has dropped to just above 2.6 in the past two seasons. His save percentage has also improved dramatically, much to the delight of the Leafs’ hierarchy in Toronto.

“HANDLES TOUGH GOALS” “Since coming here, he’s learned a lot about positioning and has gained confidence in his play. He’s also more mature in how he handles tough goals,” says Toronto Maple Leafs’ head coach Pat Quinn, who was in town April 20 for the baby buds’ playoff game versus the Manitoba Moose. “By the time he came here, he was starting to develop into one of Europe’s best goaltenders. But the way they play over there is different from the North American game so he had to make some adjustments.”

Tellqvist demonstrated during the April 20 playoff game at Mile One Stadium that he’s now capable of handling the North American game. With his team labouring in the first period,

Tellqvist was called upon to make 15 stops in the opening 20 minutes.

Many of those saves came from in close where he had to deal with the heavy traffic in the crease that is the custom in North America but a rarity in the European pro leagues. He also showed his trademark lightning-quick reflexes are still as sharp as ever by flat out robbing the Moose of what looked like a sure-fire goal late in the first.

With Manitoba on the powerplay, Moose centre Josh Green controlled the puck in the corner along the right side boards in the Leafs’ zone. Green briefly surveyed the scene before hitting a streaking Lee Goren with a tape-to-tape pass on the other side of the ice, setting Goren up for a one timer into what appeared to be an empty St. John’s net.

But before the Moose shot could bulge the twine, Tellqvist slid across the crease, kicking the shot away with his right pad.

The stop brought the Leafs’ bench to their feet, as they showed their goalie they appreciated his efforts.

“He’s a goalie who wants to win,”

says Leafs’ winger David Ling. “You can see that in his play and in his attitude.”

Following a standout career in the Swedish junior and senior hockey leagues, Tellqvist came to North American in 2001 billed as heir apparent to Curtis Joseph in Toronto. Some even speculated he would earn the backup position to Joseph that year, but four seasons later Joseph is no longer a member of the organization and Tellqvist has yet to play a full season in the NHL (he saw action in 12 games in Toronto last year).

GOALIE OF THE FUTURE. Although the Leafs’ organization had hoped Tellqvist would have made more of an impact in his first three years, they insist he’s still their goalie of the future.

“At some time the mantle has to pass, Eddie (Belfour, Toronto’s No. 1 goalie) is not getting any younger,” Quinn says.

“I think Mikael has made that kind of progress. We still don’t know whether he can carry a big load. He has to play 55-60 games, and we’re not sure if he

can do that yet but we’re going to find out.”

If not for the NHL lockout, Tellqvist would have surely been Belfour’s backup in Toronto this year. At 40 years of age and with a bad back, it was unknown just how many games Belfour would have been able to start for the Leafs, possibly leaving the door open for Tellqvist to push for the No. 1 job.

Although that scenario didn’t have a chance to play out, it could easily come about should NHL training camps open on time this fall (assuming the lockout ends before then).

Tellqvist says if given the chance, he will put as much pressure as he can on Belfour for the right to guard the Leafs’ crease.

“Everybody knows Eddie is the No. 1 goalie, but of course I’m going to try and push him so I can get as much ice time as possible,” says Tellqvist.

“That’s a backup’s job and that will be my goal when I get the chance to be up there.”

Darcy_8888@hotmail.com

Trick is to ride the senior hockey wave

H

ats off to the Deer Lake Red Wings. After losing the first game of the Herder final 6-1 on home ice, they rebounded to win the series in a grueling seven-game classic.

Both teams, actually, should take a bow for providing some fantastic hockey.

I know the fans in this neck of the woods were bitterly disappointed when the beloved CeeBees came up short, but it was a wild ride I’m sure each and every one of them would love to do again in a heartbeat.

That brings me to my next point: keep the team together, CeeBees.

BOB WHITE

Bob the bayman A great season, even though it never concluded with the big prize, should still be enough to lure all the guys back again for another hunt for the Herder.

The danger exists the team will disband and CeeBees players — many of whom have played with other senior teams in years past — will find a game with another club.

That would be a shame. Now, there’s no guarantee they’ll even make a return trip to the Herder final next year, because they still have to get by the Shore. And the other teams will no doubt be stronger.

But the CeeBees were right there.

They were literally a few bounces or breaks away from hoisting the championship.

There is no shame in losing to Deer Lake, a team that, as the Herder final progressed, slowed down the game to a pace that increased their chances of winning, and effectively took away the CeeBees’ strength of free-wheeling,

wide-open hockey.

The series attracted enormous attention, which is good for senior hockey.

The trick is to ride that wave and use that momentum to deliver an equally good game next season.

The fans have shown they will be there.

••• Speaking of fans being there, well, the St. John’s Maple Leafs’ last playoff stand at Mile One got off to a rough start with a half-empty arena in the Leafs’ 53 loss to Manitoba. Juxtapose that with the sell-outs for the Herder final and you see hockey fans that are rightfully

uninterested in cheering on a team that’s leaving these shores.

If the Leafs are lucky enough to go deep in the playoffs, I’m sure more fans will show up, but it’s the end of the road, boys. Have a safe trip.

Go, Marlies, go.

••• It was 18 years ago I saw my first live glimpse of NBA action, and it was at Memorial Stadium in St. John’s. The Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets were in town for an exhibition game and I remember the game being more of See “Canadian up for NBA MVP,” page 26

APRIL 24, 2005

26 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

Canadian up for NBA MVP From page 25 a novelty for most fans.

Having been an NBA fan for several years, I knew the players and was glad to have the chance to watch them live.

I remember walking in at floor level and being just floored when I saw the teams warming up. There was Michael Adams of the Nuggets, who was 5’10”, just like me. But standing next to 7’4” Rik Smits of the Pacers, he looked like a hobbit.

I remember being interested in seeing how one player in particular was going to play, Pacers’ rookie guard Reggie Miller. He had been drafted 11th overall, and the Pacers took him over Steve Alford, who had led the Indiana Hoosiers to the NCAA championship. It was a gutsy move to pass over someone like Alford, but it paid off.

Miller was a skinny player who could shoot from anywhere on the floor, and usually did. He also had this swagger about him that got under an opposing player’s skin. Eighteen years later, Miller is still skinny, he still gets on your nerves (especially when guarding him) and he can still shoot from anywhere on the floor.

He’s retiring, but he could probably play a couple more years and be effective.

He’s one of the best clutch shooters the game has seen and, although he never won a championship, he’s a certain hall of famer.

••• Speaking of hall of famers, I’m still a little amazed the campaign for naming Canada’s Steve Nash for NBA MVP hasn’t let up. The award will soon be voted on, and because the award is determined by the NBA media, it seems the Phoenix Suns’ point guard really does have a shot.

I’ve been reading more than a few of the voters who have declared Nash their choice, over Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat.

Nash, in typical Canadian fashion, has repeated it’s good enough just to be mentioned as a candidate for the award. It’s exactly that type of selfless attitude that makes Nash a contender for the award. His contagious and unselfish passing talents have transformed a team that finished with 33 more wins than last year, with essentially the same team (except for newcomer Nash), and the league’s best record.

If he wins the award, it will go down as one of the most remarkable achievements by a Canadian in professional sports.

Bob White writes from Carbonear. whitebobby@yahoo.com

SPORTS IN BRIEF Heat on Shaq to deliver championship TORONTO (Reuters) — When Shaquille O’Neal switched coasts and teams, moving from the Los Angeles Lakers to Miami in a blockbuster deal, the Heat were immediately labelled championship contenders.

With the NBA playoffs tipping off Saturday, expectations are running high in Miami but such burdens have always rested easily on O’Neal’s massive tattooed shoulders.

Behind the efforts of seven-foot oneinch, 300-pound centre and the supremely talented Dwayne Wade, the Heat rumbled to the best record in the Eastern conference (59-23), including a 3-0 series sweep of their first round opponents the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets, led by their brilliant backcourt duo of Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, waited until the last game of the regular season to clinch their postseason spot and have posed few problems for the Heat this term.

But with O’Neal suffering with a bruised right thigh that kept him on the bench for the final two games, the Nets could provide an unexpected test for Miami.

Stopping O’Neal is a daunting task facing any team but he will not frighten defending champion Detroit Pistons, who neutralized the big centre on the way to capturing last year’s championship.

Following an inconsistent start, the Pistons have hit their stride heading into the postseason — winning 11 of their final 12 games.

The Pistons opened against the Philadelphia 76ers, who earned their playoff spot thanks to an MVP-calibre season from Allen Iverson, who joined Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and George Gervin as the only players to own four NBA scoring titles.

Two of the NBA’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, also make playoff appearances.

In the playoffs for the first time since Michael Jordan ruled the hardwood, the Bulls face the Washington Wizards while the Celtics meet the Indiana Pacers.

A season full of distractions, record

suspensions and criminal charges behind them, the Pacers will hope for a fresh start in the postseason.

All-star Ron Artest is still banned for brawling with Detroit fans but Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson have served their time and the Pacers could be the sleeper team of the Eastern conference.

In the Western conference, the battle is expected to come down to two teams — the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns, who staged one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.

A dismal 29-53 and out of the playoffs one season ago, the Suns, sparked by point guard Steve Nash, posted a league best mark of 62-20.

The mop-topped Nash has been instrumental in transforming the Suns into the NBA’s most explosive and entertaining offence that has averaged over 110 points.

A consummate playmaker, Nash led the league in assists with 11.5 per game and has the rare ability to elevate his game when needed.

While the Suns wide-open style has not generally translated into postseason success, Phoenix is expected to advance deep into the playoffs after starting against the Memphis Grizzlies.

San Antonio must be wary of their first round opponent the Denver Nuggets, who were one of the hottest teams down the stretch and are playing with confidence under coach George Karl.

Success for the Spurs hinges on the fitness of twice MVP Tim Duncan, who is still rounding into form after missing almost a month with a severely sprained ankle.

The “Battle of Texas” clash between the Houston Rockets, led by China’s Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and the Dallas Mavericks should provide an entertaining showdown, while the other Western conference matchup pits the Seattle SuperSonics against the Sacramento Kings.

Garciaparra placed on disabled list ST. LOUIS (Sports Network) — The Chicago Cubs have placed shortstop Nomar Garciaparra on the 15-day

disabled list with a left groin injury.

He’s expected to be sidelined twoto-three months after an MRI exam last week revealed a torn muscle.

Garciaparra hurt the groin during an at-bat in the third inning of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis.

After hitting a ground ball to short, he slipped coming out of the batter’s box and felt the groin go.

Garciaparra then had to be carried off the field.

“It can’t be any more painful than it was yesterday,” says Garciaparra. “I have an avulsion of the tendon.

Basically, I ruptured the tendon off the bone. There’s a few tendons that go along your groin area. There’s three major muscles and one of the muscles tore away from the bone.

That’s what the MRI showed.”

The 31-year-old Garciaparra is batting just .157 for the season with no home runs and four runs batted in.

Garciaparra missed half of the 2004 season with various injuries.

Seahawks sign Jerome Pathon KIRKLAND, Wash., (Sports Network) — The Seattle Seahawks have signed veteran wide receiver Jerome Pathon to a contract. As per team policy, terms of the deal were not released. Pathon, who will be entering his eighth year in the NFL, joins a crowded Seattle receiving corps that already includes Darrell Jackson, Koren Robinson, Bobby Engram and newly-signed Joe Jurevicius.

Schumacher discussing Ferrari contract extension IMOLA, Italy (Reuters) — Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is talking to Ferrari about staying on after 2006. Asked whether team boss Jean Todt had talked to him about eventual replacements, the 36-yearold German told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper that the main discussion had been about his own future.

APRIL 24, 2005

INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 27

‘Didn’t see the day coming’ AHL president Dave Andrews thought the league would always be in St. John’s; doesn’t rule out a return to Atlantic provinces

By Darcy MacRae For The Indepedent

D

ave Andrews couldn’t help but have mixed emotions watching the AHL playoffs in St. John’s on April 20. The American Hockey League president and CEO enjoyed the fact playoff hockey had returned to the Rock, but couldn’t forget the baby buds departure from the province was getting closer with every second that ticked off the clock.

“It’s disappointing for sure,” Andrews tells The Independent. “This has been a very successful franchise for 14 years.

It’s not moving because it’s unsuccessful, it’s moving because its location is not the fit Toronto wants for player development.”

Andrews is as familiar as anyone in the AHL with the type of hockey market St. John’s provides. Prior to becoming AHL president in July1994, he was the Edmonton Oilers’ director of AHL operations for seven years, and led the Cape Breton Oilers to a Calder Cup championship in 1993. He says he always enjoyed coming to St. John’s, even if some of the trips included a lot of on-ice tension and animosity.

“Our greatest rival was St. John’s,” he says. “We had a lot of great games in the old stadium and a lot of memorable playoff series.”

Andrews smiles and has a light chuckle as he reminisces about the playoff game between Cape Breton and St. John’s on April 8, 1992 that ended after two periods because of a power outage at Memorial Stadium. He also recalls with great detail facing the Leafs in various locations other than St. John’s when a municipal strike early in 1993 forced the baby buds out of their home

rink and onto an extended road trip.

“We ended up playing a couple of games in Stephenville in a blizzard,” he says. “That was an interesting trip.”

Despite the fact he was with the visiting team, Andrews says he was always treated well in St. John’s. He says once the final buzzer sounded, the fans didn’t treat him like a member of the opposing team, but like a friend.

“What I remember most is the hospitality of the people in St. John’s and their love for the game,” says Andrews.

“Their enthusiasm as fans was often unparalleled in other cities and I think it will continue with junior hockey in the future.”

When Andrews became AHL president in 1994, five Atlantic teams (St. John’s, Prince Edward Island Senators, Saint John Flames, Fredericton Canadiens, and Cape Breton Oilers) comprised an entire division. Despite the fact Moncton and Halifax had just recently lost franchises, it appeared Atlantic Canada’s place in the AHL was solid for years to come. But 11 years later the Leafs of St. John’s represent the last link to what was once considered a minor pro hockey hot spot.

As discouraging as that sounds, Andrews points out the loss of Atlantic teams has more to do with business than it does with fans and corporate support on this side of the country.

“As Atlantic Canadians (Andrews is a native of Nova Scotia), we say we’ve lost six teams in the past 11 teams, but I need to remind everyone that the league lost 23 other franchises in the past 11 years,” he says. “There’s been tremendous transition in the nature of our league and it’s been driven by the economics at the major league level.”

The change in economics at the top

Dave Andrews

Paul Daly/The Independent

has NHL clubs looking to place their farm teams in large cities, centres once considered too big for the AHL. Places such as Chicago, Philadelphia and next season Toronto have long been NHL sites, but are now also home to AHL affiliates. Despite the trend toward locations with large populations, Andrews assures his league will always have a strong foothold in small cities throughout North America.

“We’re very successful in small markets that are geographically located close to other teams in the league. If you look at Binghamton, Syracuse, Grand Rapids, you’ll see we’re doing well in small cities.”

Even though all signs indicated NHL clubs were looking for big cities to house their AHL teams, Andrews says he always thought St. John’s would remain a vital part of the league.

“Frankly, I didn’t think I’d see the day when the AHL wouldn’t be in St. John’s,” he says. “With the new stadium (Mile One) here, I thought the future was well in hand. But neither the people of St. John’s nor the league could control what took place in respect to the relocation of the team.”

Andrews is happy to hear both St. John’s and Saint John are entering the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this fall. He feels the league may be the

best fit for the Atlantic provinces, given that travel costs will be much less severe compared to an AHL franchise.

With QMJHL teams now occupying all the Atlantic Canadian cities that once housed AHL clubs, it appears the days of professional hockey on the East Coast are over.

Given the rapid movement of teams in his league, Andrews says it’s impossible to completely rule out a return to the Atlantic provinces.

“I didn’t see the day coming when we would leave,” he says, “so maybe I’d be wrong in saying I don’t see a day when we’d come back.”

Darcy_8888@hotmail.com

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APRIL 24, 2005

28 • INDEPENDENTARTS

GALLERYPROFILE

IN PRAISE OF FUNCTION Sharon LeRiche & Gloria Hickey, co-ordinators

T

he Craft Council Gallery has undergone some recent renovation and redecoration, at the hands of two co-ordinators, an interior designer, and almost 60 of the province’s top artists and craftspeople.

The white walls have been painted deep red, sage green and cream. And instead of well-spaced wall hangings or sculptural pieces, the room is filled to the brim with colourful — though well-co-ordinated — furniture, with

all the trimmings, accents, and accessories.

In Praise of Function is an ambitious and delightful exhibition co-ordinated by Sharon LeRiche and Gloria Hickey.

“I’m really interested in encouraging more focus on the functional side of craft,” says LeRiche.

“A lot of times people think, oh, it’s going in a gallery, it should hang on the wall. But I always find if something is functional and beautiful, it is the essence of perfection.”

Hickey calls the show “the little project that grew … We knew we wanted to do a room but didn’t know how interested people would be by the prospect of doing it, being part of it,” she says.

To begin, a few key pieces were commissioned.

Mike Paterson designed and built a bed (stained red), cupboard and washstand, and Tim Angel, who added a dining room table.

Textile artist Susan Furneaux came forward with a number of hand-dyed swatches of cloth, which became the colour palette for the different areas of

the gallery — bedroom, dining room, sitting room.

After a general call for proposals was put out, artists came forward with a variety of ideas — some formally collaborating, others more informally, inspired by the motifs and colours of others.

LeRiche says participants were excited by the prospect of seeing their work placed next to that of so many other talents from around the province.

The finished pieces — table settings, clocks, mirrors, pillows, paintings, vases, chairs — fit together in a cozy, if crowded, room.

The result, says Hickey, is an insight into Newfoundland art and craft today — rooted in the traditional, and very contemporary.

“The idea was to use everyone’s strengths,” she says. “And though they were all going into one room, we didn’t want to compromise (anyone’s) selfexpression or creativity.”

Hickey walks over to the bed and picks up a felt hot water bottle covering. Put in a pile in the store, she says,

the piece doesn’t have near the impact on visitors as it does sitting on a cozy, colourful bed.

That’s one of the goals of In Praise of Function, to show the work in context, in a home-like setting — to show art can be used every day.

“As an interior designer, aware how the craft industry can be introduced in the field, I was amazed at the diversity, and the quality, and the vast extremes of craft and how they can come together,” says Judy Butt, involved from early on in the project.

“The message we wanted to put out there is, in going out and buying a piece of art that appeals to your own soul, that you can create wonderful rooms and spaces.”

LeRiche says she was surprised how excited the participants became as the show developed. “This was an idea in my head,” she says, “that the work really needed to be celebrated.”

The show is on display at the Craft Council Gallery, St. John’s, until May 6.

— Stephanie Porter/Photos by Paul Daly

The Gallery is a regular feature in The Independent. For information, or to submit proposals, please call (709) 726-4639, or e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca