VOL. 3 ISSUE 31
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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2005
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OPINION PAGE 11 AND 29
OPINION 3
John Crosbie on two-tier health care; Siobhan Coady on Canada’s raging bull
Ray Guy on province’s snakes and ladders
HATCHING, TAKE 2
Doctors, teachers and nurses prepare to start contract talks; no fans of pattern bargaining DARCY MACRAE
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hree years after the province’s estimated 1,000 doctors went on strike for 17 days, both sides are expected to return to the bargaining table this fall. A spokesman for doctors wouldn’t reveal exactly what they will be looking for this time around, but did say physicians will be after incentives to keep them working here. “Everybody is interested in the subject of recruitment and retention. Obviously that’s going to be a subject of discussion,” says Robert Ritter, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association. In recent years, provincial governments have practiced pattern bargaining — whereby what was good for one union was good for all. In the spring of 2004, NAPE and CUPE members were legislated a five per cent raise over four years. Will doctors settle for the same? Ritter refrained from comment, but at least one union leader in the province says pattern bargaining will be frowned upon. See “We’ll stay at the table,” page 2
Joel Hynes, Sherry White, Susan Kent, Mary Walsh and Jonny Harris on the set of CBC’s Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, now filming six episodes in Torbay and Petty Harbour. Paul Daly/The Independent
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Lots of people are homeless ... it’s interesting to me that people don’t think it’s here because it’s so pervasive.” — Jim Crockwell, Choices for Youth shelter co-ordinator See page 5
LIFE 17 Brendan Cleary
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘I was in command’
Sabrina Wyatt on change in direction
A
lmost eight months after Brendan Cleary’s plane went down in the trees just outside St. John’s — a crash that killed the other passenger and left Cleary clinging to life — the pilot is counting the days until he can get back in the air. Once told he’d never walk again, Cleary will soon rely only on a cane to maneuver around the house he lives in alone. The dark, hazy nights wishing for death are over, though his sleep is still broken by violent nightmares. The pain, though constant, is less by the week. “I want to be back flying in October,” Cleary says, using his hands to pull his legs closer together as he leans forward. “I don’t think, well … it may not be real-
istic, but I need a goal. “Everything that’s around me is about aviation,” he continues. “I love it, it’s all I know, I don’t consider myself good at anything else.” Cleary, 28, began flight school in 1997, is certified as an instructor, and has logged a substantial 1,500 hours in single- and twin-engine planes. He says he’s never wanted to wear the uniform of a major airline; he prefers the vision of himself clad in jeans, beaten leather jacket and sunglasses, commanding a water bomber — always his dream job. He lost confidence in the weeks after the accident, but he’s certain again of his abilities as a pilot. “Cocky” is the word he chooses. “There was nothing that could ever happen that I didn’t have complete control of.” See “Worse things,” page 4
SPORTS 34
Caps seek sixth straight championship Life Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paper Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bob Bartlett one of the greatest explorers of all time CLARE-MARIE GOSSE Editor’s note: Third in a series of articles on the top 10 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all time. The articles are running in random order, with a No. 1 to be announced at the series’ conclusion.
R
Eight months after the plane crash that nearly took his life, Brendan Cleary opens up about his long road to recovery STEPHANIE PORTER
Captain of the ice
10 10 21 22
obert Abram Bartlett may well have been one of the greatest ice captains of his time. He was skilled, fearless and worshipped by his crew, but there was more to Newfoundland and Labrador’s famed arctic explorer than brawn and strong leadership. He was a writer, reader, lover of music and gardening, even a one-time actor; a man driven by his passions. “He was an avid reader,” Harold Horwood tells The Independent. “He did a lot of reading of the English classics and he had a volume of the Rubaiyat Of Omar Khayyam, which he carried around with him until it was worn out … it’s a philosophical sort of poem, it’s about life and death and speculations about the hereafter.” Horwood, himself an iconic Newfoundland talent, wrote a book in 1977 called Bartlett: The Great Canadian Explorer. Bartlett was a sealing captain and explorer, a man who sailed to reach the elusive North Pole on several occasions with Robert Peary (arguably the first man to reach the “ends of the
earth” in 1908) and he came face to face with his own mortality on many occasions. Numerous shipwrecks and grueling slogs for survival failed to stop the boy from Brigus from conquering unknown northern plains. He undertook 20 arctic expeditions — more than any other explorer before or since. In his autobiography, Bartlett wrote about his family’s bloodline, attributing his own and his ancestors’ dark looks and solid, mariner ways to the ship wrecked Spanish Armada in 1588. “A great storm arose and the proud fleet was dashed to pieces on the rockribbed coast of England and Scotland, from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. From these ships hundreds of Spanish soldiers and sailors were washed ashore, dead and alive. Many were so well treated by the coast folk that there they stayed. Thus came to the Nordic Bartletts a strain of somber Spanish blood.” Bartlett, one of nine living children, was born in 1875 into a true seafaring family. His home in Brigus, Hawthorne Cottage, still stands today as a museum and memorial to his legacy. Although his mother, Mary, envisioned her son might become a Methodist minister and sent him off to study in St. John’s, Bartlett had other ideas. He quit the Methodist College after two years and went off to rejoin See “Cutting edge,” page 2
2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JULY 31, 2005
Debbie Forward, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses Union, speaks to the membership from the steps of Confederation Building during the two week strike of April 1999. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We’ll stay at the table for as long as it takes’
G E TAWAY S
From page 1
DISCOVER OTTAWA
ORLANDO
“We have needs that are obviously different than the wishes or needs of the other unions,” says Kevin Foley, who becomes president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association on Aug. 1. “As a result, we wouldn’t necessarily be following what other unions are doing.” The medical association’s contract with the province expires Oct. 1. It isn’t known whether doctors will remain on the job in the absence of a new contract. Ritter tells The Independent the medical association has engaged in general discussions with the province, but direct negotiations have yet to take place. “It’s not clear at this point when we’re going to begin,” he says. The teachers’ contract with the province expired Aug. 31 last year. Talks have yet to take place but Foley says he expects to be invited to the table soon.
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The teachers’ association already has an opening package ready for government. “Teachers have told us that work load is a major issue in their lives. Consequently, we will have to address issues that will improve the workload of teachers,” Foley says. Teachers have been operating under the conditions of their old contract since it expired, as have nurses, whose contract expired in June 2004. Nursing union president Debbie Forward says government served notice on the teachers at the end of June that they would like to begin talks, but it will be the fall before negotiations formally begin. The negotiating team for nurses will meet early this fall to put together an opening package for government, a package Forward says will be designed to keep Newfoundland and Labrador’s nurses home. “When I look at what’s happening across the country in terms of the nursing shortage, a priority for us is to make
sure our contract is one that will keep nurses in the province — nurses we currently have as well as graduating nursing students,” she says. “We want them to be able to look at the contract they’ll be working under here and say ‘This is a fair contract, these are fair working conditions for nurses and they are comparable with the rest of the country.’” Although she would like to see the matter resolved quickly, Forward is willing to take her time if it means securing a better contract. “If the government comes to the table and looks to bargain for a fair contract for nurses and doesn’t look for concessions from our collective agreement, it will help set the time table,” says Forward. “But we never really set a date because we’ve made a commitment to nurses that we’ll stay at the table for as long as it takes to get a deal.” darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
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From page 1 his sealing captain father off the coast of Labrador. At the age of 17 he commanded his first vessel and embarked on six years of study to earn the right to captain a ship. John FitzGerald, local historian and one of Our Navigator’s panel members, calls Bartlett “one of the excellent ones,” and his exploration work “cutting edge. “It was the equivalent in its day of space exploration for this day,” he says, “and to be known as an explorer in those days was, I mean, this was something of international significance, because we had yet to find the ends of the earth as it were. “He brought a tremendous amount of fame to Newfoundland.” Bartlett even played a major role in the first Hollywood movie to be filmed on location outside a studio. The 1930s film was called The Viking. It was shot during a sealing run and features vintage images of St. John’s and Quidi Vidi. Bartlett played a sealing captain and his renowned name was used to promote the movie when it was released. Despite Bartlett’s charisma and drive, or perhaps because of it, he never married, nor had any known children. Horwood says he was probably one of the only arctic crew members who didn’t take an Eskimo wife. “Unlike the other arctic explorers, the other people who went North with Peary, they all left descendants; there’s a swarm of them down there … some of them in fact use the Peary name.”
Perhaps Bartlett was too engrossed in the process of staying alive (he also had a talent for keeping others alive). Probably his most famous shipwreck occurred in 1913, during a disastrous arctic voyage aboard the Karluk. The ship became trapped in ice and after months of drifting and hunting for sustenance, the crew was forced to abandon the vessel. Bartlett led his men over the ice to an island off the coast of Siberia and after leaving survival instructions, he travelled over 700 miles with one Inuit companion and two dogs (eaten along the way) to get help. “I think it was Chafe (a Karluk crew member) who said, ‘We all would have died right there if it hadn’t been for Captain Bartlett,’” says Horwood. “Nobody died in the ship wreck but people died on the island afterwards — in some cases through their own fault — but anyway, that’s a very complex business.” Horwood, who spoke with many of Bartlett’s family members while researching his book, paints a picture of a great leader. “The people who knew him, sort of worshipped him, you know? His crew, including his relatives; his nephews and his brother that sailed with him. They regarded him very, very highly.” Captain Bob Bartlett died from pneumonia at a hospital in New York City in 1946 at the age of 70. He left behind a legacy of work and knowledge, including his memoirs, numerous articles written for National Geographic and many esteemed awards.
Captain Bob Bartlett
He also left behind an unfulfilled wish to retire to his home in Brigus. A memorial stands there today in remembrance of his achievements. FitzGerald sums up why Bartlett should be considered as one of The Independent’s Navigators. “He was one of the greats, no question. In the age of international communications, in its dawn, within the first decades of it, he emerges as this international explorer. He symbolizes maybe the best and most competent of Newfoundland and Labrador.” Judges selecting Our Navigators include John Crosbie, John FitzGerald, Noreen Golfman, Ray Guy, Ivan Morgan and Ryan Cleary.
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3
‘Gentle giants’ By Darcy MacRae The Independent
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hales are the largest and most powerful creatures on the planet, but they are also among the most social of animals. Just exactly how much communicating whales do with tour boats is tough to gage, but there’s no debating their accessibility on the high seas. “They’ll come right to your boat and look at you,” says Jerry Colbert, owner and operator of Ocean Adventure Boat Tours. “Usually there are two at a time doing it. They’ll just circle the boat, roll over, and their flippers and the side of their tail will come up on the boat.” Colbert’s tour boat sails out of Witless Bay several times a day and has little trouble finding whales. He says watching the large animals breach and swim near and sometimes under the vessel is a thrill for passengers, who get most excited when they have an opportunity to touch a whale that glides close to the boat. “When you get the whale over to the side of the boat and you can touch it, you’ve got their (the passengers’) attention,” Colbert tells The Independent.
The interaction between whales and tour boats can be an amazing experience, especially if the animals are treated with respect. Joe O’Brien of O’Brien’s Whale and Bird Tours in Bay Bulls has also seen his share of interactive whales during his 23 years in the business. He stresses that if tour boats give whales the respect they deserve, the experience is better for both the animals and passengers. “Whales can communicate in a very social fashion when food is available.” Claudio Corbelli, who’s completing a PhD at Memorial University in St. John’s into the study of the interaction between humpbacks and tour boats, says when close interaction occurs, the whale is most likely very young.
“Calves can get very curious about the boats, so they may approach the boats and hang around the boats. They are very inquisitive animals,” says Corbelli, who works under renowned whale expert and MUN professor John Lien. “A boat may be a novelty in their environment so they come close to check it out.” Corbelli, who came to the province because it’s a top spots for whale watching, has been travelling with O’Brien’s Whale and Bird Tours for the past six years to conduct his research and has learned that vessels that approach whales too quickly or attempt to get too close rarely have any interaction with the animals. He says each boat should stay at least 100 meters away from the whale or whales they are observing, allowing the animals to control the amount of interaction. “There are studies available that show that if too many boats are present, or if they approach the whale with an erratic path without slowing down, whales have shown a reaction to the boat, often moving away from the boat or diving longer. They may stop feeding or socializing,” Corbelli says. “From what I’ve seen, whales don’t come to the boat very often, especially if you’re moving. Once you stop the boat and wait for
the whale, they may come up to the boat.” Corbelli says whales are very intelligent, and are always aware of how many boats are in the region of water they occupy. They know exactly where the vessels are located because they base their bearings on sound. “They hear the boat well before anyone on the boat sees the whale,” Corbelli says. Should a whale approach a vessel and begin interacting with passengers, the experience is one they won’t soon forget. “The biggest fear is that someone won’t get a chance to touch one (a whale),” Colbert says. “If they (the whales) wanted, one smack and the boat is damaged. But they’re gentle giants.” Tour boat travellers often return home with stories of communicating with whales in ways they never imagined. Some claim young whales were playing with them or possibly showing off for their audience. While it’s tough to say for sure if that’s the case, Colbert says it is fun to imagine the giant animals putting on a show for their admirers. “They do funny things. Lots of times when they’re finished playing around with you, they might roll over and put up that fin, and more or less say ‘see you later.’” darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
Newfoundland’s snakes and ladders RAY GUY
A poke in the eye
A
cruise ship or two couldn’t get into St. John’s harbour because Timmy the Tugboat fell down on the job. Were the lads napping after a heavy lunch? Add another newfie Joke to that fat volume of thigh-slappers. And did you hear the one about the newfies bent on fishing crab to extinction while, at the same time, stinking up the crab market by crooked practices? Another gutbuster. Thick and fast they come. As a reward for scraping the island’s forests into as barren a waste as the Grand Banks, a civic-minded paper company demands upwards of $455 million more to com-
plete the good work. Make a cat laugh, wouldn’t it? God gave Newfoundlanders five marbles each and we’ve lost them all. Couldn’t find our own backsides using both hands. After all these years, still too green to burn. Stretches of coastline — not just Bay d’Espoir — facing depopulation, the UHaul trail to Port aux Basques still under heavy traffic and just about every community in the province shaking a tin cup by the roadside grateful for even a few flung pennies from passing tourists. Quilts, lovely quilts, for sale! This conjunction of misfortune may drive those of more tender years toward the bread knife, the gin bottle or the radio open-line shows. She’s gone, boys, she’s gone. But old farts such as myself have a great advantage ... we’ve seen all this before! Old dogs for hard roads, that’s what we are. In the past 50 years or so, the general
attitude of Newfoundlanders, the joint outlook, the communal morale has been one long game of snakes and ladders. Giddy ups and lurching downs. Soar and plunge, climb and fall. Confederation, 1949. Contrary to some opinion, a walk in the rose garden did not follow. Half the population was licking its wounds while the other half crowed in triumph — it wasn’t the stuff that happy families are made of. It took 10 years or so for the aftermath of the great Civil War to cool slightly. Diversions like asphalt, amusements like electricity, calmed the fever on both sides. Put this period down for an “up” of sorts. But then the public morale crested and down we went again. For the next 10 years, Joe Smallwood and company came up with schemes, each one bigger and more crazy than the last, hoping to be entombed in pyramids when, and if, they ever snuffed it. It wasn’t the economics that
depressed the people so much as it was Joe Smallwood blaming the people for his own mistakes. He was neither the first nor the last dictator to curse the population for not being equal to his grand designs. How much this recalled the old traditional Newfoundland father-to-son blessing: “You’re no good now, you were never no good, and you never will be no good.” Not that the Newfoundland inferiority complex was in need of fuel. A strong feature of Smallwoodism had always been to paint the period Before Joey as little but degradation, starvation and desperation. A dark background indeed against which the Only Living Father might shine all the brighter. So that was a low plunge in the public spirit. Then came Frank Moores and our spirits rose again on a hot-air balloon. If you want a symbol, take what happened to the government’s tuna fishing boat on Conception Bay. She was called the Altuna, a name in
which the mighty bluefin was combined with that of Al Vardy, an old Smallwood crony with so dicey a past that he could never legally hold a cabinet post. But he hobbled along very well in the Tourism Department. Then came Moores and the Altuna had all her sins washed away by being re-christened The Rowdyman after a play by Gordon Pinsent (though many said the new name fit Frank perfectly). And so our combined spirit soared again. Inferiority complex took a wild dart in exactly the opposite direction. It was the good old Newfoundland this and the good old Newfoundland that ... we were strutting around like insufferable Texans, but in a fog bank. To such ridiculous heights did newfie chauvinism soar that the Codco funnyboys saw fit to mock it: “Have a drink of good old Newfoundland water. Can’t beat the good old Newfoundland water, See “Wetter water,” page 4
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4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JULY 31, 2005
‘Eye-opener’ Couch-surfing, sleeping in the woods, bunking down in shelters — youth homelessness is a growing problem in St. John’s By Stephanie Porter The Independent
K
ale MacLean admits leaving behind home and family at age 16 can be “a little scary.” But he says the fighting with his parents — who he describes as very heavy drinkers — got to be too much. “I couldn’t take it any more, so I left,” MacLean tells The Independent. “It’s weird, it’s like, what are you going to do with yourself? But after a while, you kind of get used to (being on your own), and it’s not so bad. “Yah, after the first little while, it gets easier. I’ll be really used to taking care of myself when I’m older.” MacLean left his family on the Southern Shore (he lived in Calvert and Cape Broyle) and dropped out of high school last April. Unsure where to turn, he met with a social worker who told him about a new place he should check out in St. John’s. Choices for Youth, a community outreach organization, opened a shelter for young men in May 2004. They’ve got rooms for nine 16 to 29 year olds in the building on Carter’s Hill Place, downtown St. John’s. MacLean decided to give it a try and, after a few phone calls, a taxi picked him up and brought him to town. He says he was surprised, on arrival, how many kids were in a similar situation. “There’s lots and lots of youth getting out there on their own, I didn’t think it would be that many,” he says. “A lot of it is problems with parents, abuse or whatever. But some people are out through reasons of their own fault.” MacLean is well spoken and open, seeming at turns older and younger than his years. He’s got plans for the future — he’d like to get straightened away in his own place, maybe become a cook or a DJ instead of a George Street hot dog vendor. He’s made wrong choices too; he’s got a court date this week, for missing his last court date, which was for van-
Kale MacLean and residential counsellor Tanya King.
dalism. And he was kicked out of his last apartment for “making too much noise.” Residents are permitted to stay up to a month at the shelter, if they do their chores, meet curfew and behave; staff work with them to help find their next accommodations. Jim Crockwell, shelter co-ordinator, has done community outreach work for years. This is his first job working specifically on housing and homelessness issues. “It’s been a real eye-opener, this job,” he says. “Lots of people are homeless … It’s interesting to me that people don’t think it’s here because it’s so pervasive. “These guys, some were couch-surfing, some living in the woods, some I
‘Wetter Water Brigade’ From page 3 eh? It’s a lot wetter, somehow, than that old mainland water.” For many, the Wetter Water Brigade went to ridiculous excess. But it was giddy fun while it lasted. Some magazine writer claimed that the province was in the throes of a great artistic renaissance. So paint was splashed, Harry Hibbs brought home in glory and Homes for the Aged invaded by authors keen for backgrounding to our precious heritage and culture. It was fun while it lasted. But even before Frank left, the rollercoaster had started down again. Oh, oh, the codfish are getting smaller, the exodus to Fort
McMurray is picking up, the public treasury is knocking on empty — poor pitiful us. There’ve been lots of ups and downs since. No space to chart them here. This is definitely one of our sloughs of despair. What is to be done? I remember an old cartoon from the New Yorker magazine. Doctor’s got a stethoscope on the chest of some sour-looking bugger. Doctor says: “The cockles of your heart need warming.” In times past when the spirits of the patient were low I supposed I was doing my little bit for God, Queen and Country by cockle warming. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Enjoyed the rollercoaster. GENERAL MANAGER John Moores john.moores@theindependent.ca
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don’t know. They’re homeless for all kinds of reasons, maybe made some bad decisions, maybe found themselves in a bad situation.” About 180 young men have stayed in the shelter since it opened. Another 130 have been turned away, either because the beds were full (they virtually always are) or because their needs were too great. “There are other issues, behavioural issues, mental health issues, addictions issues at play,” he says. “And we don’t have the staff or facilities to deal with those.” On a sunny Thursday afternoon, the shelter is buzzing, teenaged guys zipping up and down the hall, rallying support for a football game. The current group is young, says Crockwell — and they look it.
Paul Daly/The Independent
“Sixteen is a young age to navigate the world,” he says. “You don’t have the life skills at that point, you have no experience in budgeting, don’t know how to balance out life.” The shelter is a safe place for the guys — it’s secure, with trained staff, three meals a day, and computer access. For those who know of the services, and take advantage of them, it’s a godsend. “We are a short-term, emergencybased operation,” says Crockwell. “We hook them up with financial assistance, options for homes … simple jump-thehoop problems that people need guidance through.” Crockwell says homelessness is going to increase in St. John’s, as the city expands and urban problems set in.
There are a number of different shelters in the city, but each with limited beds and availability — Naomi House has room for eight women; the Wiseman Centre will accept 20 for their program; and the Shawnawdithit Shelter at the Native Friendship Centre has a capacity of 23. Crockwell sees two major infrastructure needs ahead. The first is a drop-in shelter, where clients can show up in the evening, crash, and leave again early the next day — a secure, accessible, user-friendly service. The second: supportive housing for youth with mental health issues is desperately needed. “It’s a big challenge, and those are the gaps, ask anyone in the housing racket.” The next piece of the puzzle for Choices for Youth, he says, is to work on long-term solutions — to support clients in the community, but prevent repeat visits. MacLean has some ideas, too. He’d like to see some more housing for youth — an apartment complex or some sort of dormitory, where young folks could rent their own space for a reasonable price, and follow reasonable rules. MacLean says the guys at the shelter are “a good group” with a rough reputation. He admits most do use “something,” whether drugs — usually marijuana, rarely anything stronger — or booze. “But they keep it on the down low … because you can be kicked out of here pretty easily. And if you’re kicked out of here, where do you go? For youth, if you get kicked out of here, you’re pretty much shafted.” MacLean is to be out of the shelter by Aug. 1. “It’s getting down to the wire. I’m looking at lots of places but I’m being turned away because I’m young. And when I tell them I’m at the shelter, their voices always change. “It’s pretty harsh.”
‘Worse things than dying’ From page 1 That’s one of the many reasons he’s struggled so much with the events of Dec. 5, 2004. Cleary wasn’t booked to teach that day; he was called in to fill in for another instructor. Though Tyler Sturge wasn’t his student, he knew the 18-year-old, and knew the drills inside and out. “I don’t remember going in, I don’t remember taking off,” he says. “I don’t remember much until the end of the flight, the last sane minute.” Although the weather had been good at the airport in St. John’s, it wasn’t as clear over Goulds, and the cloud level was “up and down.” But they proceeded with the plan to practice a special emergency landing technique. “We were climbing, to get the altitude we needed to practice again, and she stalled,” Cleary says. He knew intellectually what was happening, and how to get out of it. “The nose drops, you lose altitude very quickly. To compensate, you check forward on the controls and give full power and that will take you out of it … if you have the altitude. I didn’t have the power or the altitude.” Cleary had practiced the response countless times. But this time, there was another glitch: apparently, weather conditions had severely iced up the carburetor. “I remember telling Tyler to brace up, I had the controls, I was fighting for control … I remember the first impact into the trees and that was it.” Cleary would see the photos later; hear the stories. The plane was completely destroyed, ripped to pieces “like a Pepsi can,” scattered across the ground, wrapped around trees. His student was pronounced dead on the scene; Cleary was halfway out of the aircraft and unconscious when found by three men hunting for Christmas trees. Cleary woke up in the intensive care unit of the Health Sciences Centre, noticing only there was “stuff” all around him. His first thought was his classmates had played a joke on him, and tied him up. He started pulling at the tube in his throat, and had to be restrained. The injuries were severe. Cleary recites a list: both ankles, smashed; shins, knees, femurs, crushed; a thumb and some fingers, broken; the bone around his right eye “all smacked in.” He underwent operations on his legs and back; one vertebra was completely rebuilt. Fortunately, his spinal chord had not been severed, though there was vast damage to his nerve endings. Cleary spent a month in the Health Sciences Centre, a month he barely remembers except for flashes of pain and
Brendan Cleary
“morphine taking control.” That was where he was told he’d probably never walk again. “It’s like that song, I never knew there was worse things than dying,” he says. “In the hospital room at night I used to say, OK, this is enough now, I give in now, I’ll die at night in my sleep. “I was just wishing it would happen — and I didn’t really understand what happened with the crash and why I crashed.” There were things to keep him going: his daughter, just two years old, who he barely saw while in hospital; and the support and companionship of close friends and family, which he is extremely grateful for. And then there was the moment he felt a twitch in his right foot. “That was a happy experience,” he says, grinning and shifting position again on the couch. Bit by bit, his right leg started to come back to life. A move to the Miller Centre in St. John’s in January brought an intense regimen of physiotherapy. “But I was like, I still can’t walk … it was a really bad funk. I wouldn’t talk to anybody, threw temper tantrums and stuff. I didn’t know how to deal with it.” His mood improved as his right leg got stronger and stronger, his back loosened up, he was able to do more things by himself. When his left leg started to come around a couple of months later, he could finally see the future ahead of him. In May, Cleary moved out of the Miller Centre and, contrary to the wishes of his family, into a home in St. John’s by himself. He vacuums and dusts every second day; he can drive an automatic vehicle unassisted — important to get to his daily physio and regular doctor’s appointments. While Cleary says his physical condition is improving noticeably by the day, the psychological effects of the accident
are slower to mend. He still wakes up, in a cold sweat, with nightmares. “There are some heavy-duty ones,” he says. “There was one, I was flying over St. John’s in a military Hercules, and the same kind of deal happened, the engine stalled, the plane went down over Quidi Vidi Lake …” Being able to talk openly and candidly about his accident and life since is new. “I guess I’m coming to grips with certain things now, readjusting to life.” One thing he hasn’t dealt with is the death of Sturge. “I don’t talk about it … and even now, I haven’t talked to his dad,” he says. “His dad worked with Provincial (airlines), I knew him for a couple of years … I’d love to talk to him, I just don’t know what to say. I want the family to know how deeply sorry I am. “But I wouldn’t know how to approach the conversation … if I was Tyler’s dad, I’d probably want me dead.” The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report about the accident; Cleary has some issues with the findings, and has submitted his response. He’ll wait for the official final report before commenting. “You know, at first I was blaming everybody else,” he says. “But I know I was 100 per cent responsible. I was the captain, I was in command. I was teaching a student, it was my responsibility.” Cleary’s life has changed drastically — not just in terms of leg function, or living from insurance and worker’s compensation cheques instead of a salary. He’s become closer to certain people, like his brothers. He used to live with one or two other guys, drink and party a lot — now he’s happy on his own, and says a glass of wine is enough booze for him. He’s dropped 70 pounds, given up fast food, and won’t even drink a soda. “I’m going to work out for a long time now,” he says. “Because it’s important and my body can’t get better without help.” For all his apparent calm and reason, Cleary is impatient to get back to the activities he loves — fishing, diving, golfing and, of course, flying. He took his first flight since the crash two weeks ago. He admits he was a bit shaky, but was delighted to take the controls for part of the jaunt. He says he’s done with teaching, but wants to fly commercially again, get back into the industry. “I love the freedom, I guess, when you’re up there. There’s rules of the road … but it’s really freedom too. I love the interaction between myself and the plane.” He admits his leg may never be strong enough to attain his dream of piloting a water bomber, and he’s been warned all along not to get his hopes up. But then again, he adds, “I don’t like being told no, about anything.”
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5
Deputy Health minister questions link between cancer rates and electricity
FOOD FISHERY PROTEST
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n three letters to government officials dated July 18, deputy Health minister John Abbott reveals his department takes the potential health risk of overexposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) seriously. In letters to George Anderson, deputy minister Department of Natural Resources Canada, Morris Rosenberg, deputy minister Health Canada, and Bruce Saunders, provincial deputy minister of Natural Resources, Abbott requests information on “any new research and/or regulatory changes being considered” by government. “The matter of exposure to EMFs and the potential link to health issues, including cancer, is of public concern in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Abbott writes. “As such, it is important that the provincial government be knowledgeable about the research being conducted and any regulatory change being considered by the federal government to minimize the impact of EMFs on the health of the population.” Gerry Higgins, a resident of Norris Arm, has been lobbying government for a study into the effects of EMFs on cancer rates in the province for five years. Shortly after his wife, Margaret, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Higgins discovered of the 62 transformers in his town, incidents of cancer were pinpointed close to 60 of
Captain David Murphy aboard his sailing schooner, Shenandoah II, in Foxtrap. Murphy is flying the pink, white and green flag in protest of DFO's decision not to allow a cod food fishery off the northeast coast or Labrador. Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
One big waiting list Health care corp. working on master list for surgical procedures By Darcy MacRae The Independent
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tatistics on waiting lists for surgeries in St. John’s are hard to come by, but that will change within the next year, says an official with the local health board. In the past, physicians with the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, which runs hospitals in the capital city, maintained their own waiting lists. When a physician’s day for surgery came around at a hospital, he or she would bring the health care corp. a list of patients’ names to contact, based on the urgency levels determined by the physician. But since June last year, the corporation has been working with its physicians — particularity surgeons — in an effort to get doctors to come to a consensus with respect to urgency and the appropriate wait time for people in different categories. The result will be one big waiting list for all patients needing surgery, instead of up to 100 smaller waiting lists. “We want full knowledge of what’s on the wait lists,” says Louise Jones,
chief operating officer with the health care corp. “We started with surgery, but fully intend to move to mental health and diagnostic imaging.” The process began with corporation officials working with physicians and looking at national reports in an effort to identify urgency criteria and appropriate wait times. Physicians submitted their individual wait lists and worked together so the urgency levels of all patients could be determined and standardized. The procedure allows the patients in the greatest need for surgery to advance to the top of the list regardless of who their physician is. Jones says when the master list is complete, the new list will put the corporation “a little ahead of the rest of the country.” Compiling such a list also eliminates many problems that physicians faced over the years. “In the past, once somebody was on a list and their surgery was done, there was no back tracking to take that patient off the list,” Jones says. “So what we’ve done is take all the patients who have had surgery in the past year off the list and identify patients who
might be on more than one list since sometimes patients go to two or three different GPs.” The health care corp. is in the process of writing letters to everybody on waiting lists asking them to verify their address and if they still need to have surgery. “Some patients may have had their surgery elsewhere; they may not even be in the province anymore,” Jones says. The project is currently one-third complete, and when finalized will offer data on waiting lists to the public via the Internet. “We anticipate that within the next year or so, what we will have is a public website,” says Jones. “We want a list of the approximate wait time for different procedures.” Jones says that although the project is lengthy, it is worth the effort. She says she hopes it can serve as a guideline for other health boards in Newfoundland and Labrador. “It is meant to develop a process that the province could then look at.” darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
them. He has since spoken to thousands of cancer victims, and to support Higgins, Norris Arm Mayor Fred Budgell mailed 150 letters to towns in the province, asking for stories of cancer that could be related to transformers — 90 towns responded. Since beginning his research, Higgins has received support from scientists and experts around the world, including the Sierra Club of Canada, which recently released a paper, calling for a local study to be carried out in Newfoundland and Labrador. Scientists have been conducting research into the health effects of EMFs for decades. Reports have shown exposure can increase the risk of childhood leukemia, as well as exacerbate other cancers and chronic illnesses. Some countries such as Sweden and Switzerland have since tightened their guidelines for recommended magnetic field exposure. Others recommend a precautionary approach. To date, minimal EMF research has been conducted in Canada, due to poor financial support. Current guidelines rely on a 1998 report by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, which according to the Sierra Club of Canada, are “among the worst (guidelines) in the world.” — Clare-Marie Gosse
6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JULY 31, 2005
OUR VOICE
Forest through the trees
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’m sitting in row 17 as I write this. Continental Airlines 5115 from San Juan to Miami, otherwise known as the overweight Americans express. Sitting directly next to an economy-class lavatory and being bumped repeatedly by people pushing by, I think it’s time to reduce some of those portions. I’d been in St. Kitt’s for the week on business and waited to the last minute to write this column. I’ve been on the draft-Andy campaign lately and I wanted to see what else unfolded. Pretty much as expected, and I’ve really got only one comment to make: does John Efford have any compunction about being the stooge of preference for the federal government? Really! First they trotted him out to tell us that exercising some once-in-alifetime political leverage to get Danny’s $2-billion allowance increase from the feds was a bad thing, and now he’s the face of the federal government’s effort to keep the CNLOPB impotent. I guess they think that crap is palatable when delivered
BRIAN DOBBIN
Publish or perish with a home-grown accent. “Yes b’y, if Johnnie says it, it must be good for us.” Remember what I said last week, faithful reader, if you’ve ever wasted breath about our history of resource giveaway, don’t be afraid to exercise your lungs over this one. NEWS SHIFT In the meantime, the news shifted to Abitibi’s ridiculous proposal to the provincial government and subsequent shutdown announcement. I’ve been waiting for some time to write about the province’s forestry industry, so consider this the first of a theme. Almost everyone should realize now there is a lack of fiber in this province — not just for paper mills, but for sawmills too.
I know a bit about this subject, as quickly as it can be produced? Well, one of the province’s most successful our trees take a long time to grow. Up users of our wood resource is my very to 70 years to reach maturity. good friend Rex Philpott. Rex is from That means the fibers are very New World Island and after leaving dense, and when dried, create a very school in Grade 7 to work with his strong and light building material — father fishing, he the best in the world. inherited the family A number of years sawing business ago, Rex and the inteIn Chile … some of when tragedy befell grated sawmillers’ the fishing boat. At group did a study that their trees grow in the time, the business suggested the same consisted of a gasseven years. Do the piece of wood going powered saw in a through a sawmill math. We cannot makeshift wheelbarwas worth four times row that could be value going compete or hope to the moved from tree to through a paper mill. tree. In Chile, which is supply an industry A team of men also a newsprint procompeting with this. ducer, some of their working very hard could cut 30,000 trees grow in seven rough board feet a years. Do the math. year with that system. Close to 30 We cannot compete or hope to supply years later, Rex’s new state-of-the-art an industry competing with this. Yes, mill produces 70,000 board feet of the our trees make a very good newsprint, world’s finest construction material — but that’s like saying our oil would a day. make a very nice cleaning solvent. Why is the product so good and Hardly the highest or best use. And the snapped up in the U.S. market as minister of Forestry for Chile told me
five years ago that they were trying to get out of the paper industry. So I guess what I’m saying is we need to take a larger perspective on this. For the economic rent being produced through current use of the resource, the paper industry is not the future. I know that’s little comfort to the people who have a permanent knot in their stomach over the upcoming job losses, but government is right in sticking to its guns here. I know all about trying to create new sustainable and profitable industry in rural Newfoundland and it’s not easy — but it is possible. Those trees are very valuable. Clear-cutting them from our land, mashing them into paste, and spewing chemicals into the air is not the only way to make a buck from them. Newfoundland and Labrador has more than one Rex Philpott, and encouraging and supporting our economic doers is a far better strategy than giving away more cash and resource to an industry that made a lot better sense 50 years ago than it does today.
YOUR VOICE Wear your ‘brain bucket’ Dear editor, I have ridden the Mundy Pond skateboard park numerous times on my BMX bike. During each encounter there I have noticed that helmets are either a non-issue for preteen and teenaged riders or that they look much better on the sidelines of the concrete features. I am not a bitter man by any means, just a 20-something who has learned the hard way that the safety provided by helmets outweighs any ridicule from my peers. Living as a ski bum in Whistler, B.C. for more than three years I have skied the steepest slopes, gaining more momentum than my ’88 Volvo can muster. I have floated on powder through the trees and flown off cliffs that — looking back on it — were far too dangerous. Yet every step of the way I was wearing a full-faced helmet. Mind you, I wasn’t always that smart and have taken my share of falls while not wearing a “brain bucket.” The four
front teeth were a gift from my mother, the dent in my tibula will never go away, my left ankle will always be a lot larger than my right, the scar from having stitches to help reattach my right ear is a constant reminder, and chiropractors aren’t very cheap. I think it’s great that Alisa Morrissey and The Independent did a feature on the fancy skatepark on Mundy Pond (Sk8er days, July 24-30 edition), yet in every shot there are the cool kids havin’ carefree fun on unforgiving concrete with not one of them wearing a helmet. Although there is mention of the use of helmets how many nine to 15 year olds are going to read that article? Parents should realize that helmets are necessary regardless of how “sick” their kids are going to be going. Just ask my mom. Nothing hurts more than a call from 7,500 kms away to say I had a bit of a fall. Jeremy Eaton, St. John’s
Foreign-trained dentists used the front door Dear editor, I sat down on Sunday, July 17 to read The Independent and was incensed over Clare-Marie Gosse’s article, Through the Back Door, Foreign-trained dentists sidestep Canadian qualification criteria and her smear of foreign-trained dentists operating in this province. She implied there is a group of dentists operating in Newfoundland and Labrador who came here through the back door. That is so not the case. These foreign-trained dentists have been legitimately providing a highly regulated service in the healthcare field in Newfoundland for 20-plus years. They did not come in the back door. Rather they were invited through the front door having earned credentials from recognized universities or dental programs. They met the requirements for Newfoundland licensure and are all licensed to practice the full range of dental procedures equivalent to any other licensed
dentist in the province. We hold Dr. Paul O’Brien, registrar of the Newfoundland Dental Board, in high regard and do not believe that he would permit anyone to practice dentistry in this province who has not graduated from a recognized university or dental school. The author’s careless reference to back doors and sidestepping credentials puts into question the competency of a highly skilled group of people without reason and cause. It is important that the public be made aware that the high level of competence set by the Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Board, the dental association and the Dental Act is being met by foreign- and domestic-trained dentists alike. My question is what value has this article served and what was its objective? Anthony Patey, Executive director, Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Association
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
Vic’s VapoRub for what ails us
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traight to the point: the timing is right for another National Convention to decide where we go from here. At least then the Colonial Building would be occupied and the heat and lights left on. The vandalism is deplorable: it’s one thing for a starving rioter to beat out a window with a rock he can barely lift because TB and berri-berri has ravaged his poor Newfoundland body, quite another for a bored kid with tattoos and a nose ring to toss a rock after a midnight dip in Bannerman Park pool. The Colonial Building is empty and nobody knows what to do with it, so use it again to host The Newfoundland (and Labrador) National Convention II: This Time Joey’s Dead. The last National Convention was held there in 1946 to decide what to do once Commission of Government passed on. Confederation with Canada came out of that. Who knows where we’ll go from here? That question was supposed to have been answered two years ago by Vic Young’s Royal Commission. Only the report, Our Place in Canada, has been forgotten, just as we seem to have forgotten our place. (Could there be a connection?) Danny — uppity newfie that he is — has certainly forgotten his place. The $3-million Royal Commission ended up doing exactly what its authors and proponents said it wouldn’t do — gathering dust. Danny won’t have anything to do with Vic’s VapoRub for what ails us. The Royal Commission recommended government carry out an assessment, or progress report, by June 30, 2005 — a date that came and went with nary a report card in sight. Fact is, Danny won’t be doing one. Quote from the eighth floor: “While we agree there was value in that report, it was undertaken by the previous administration and we will not be doing a progress assessment. Our government has clearly laid out our vision for Newfoundland and Labrador through our blueprint and subsequent Throne speeches and budgets, and we believe
RYAN CLEARY
Fighting Newfoundlander that we are on the right track towards achieving our ultimate goal of a brighter, more prosperous future for the province. Those are the documents by which we will mark our government’s progress, and the progress towards greater self-reliance.” Translation: Grimes did his thing; Danny’s doing his. So there you have it. And it was a good decision too; there was no way Danny would have passed the report card — not the way he bullies Ottawa. Vic called for love and peace and blowing kisses across the Gulf — Danny is an earthquake, at least an eight on the rip-into-’em scale.
The Colonial Building is empty and nobody knows what to do with it, so use it again to host The Newfoundland (and Labrador) National Convention II: This Time Joey’s Dead. Some of Vic’s advice: “Both governments must agree to the need for a changed relationship and make a commitment to creating a new partnership.” Yes sir, that’s definitely happened. When Vic flung out that recommendation it missed Danny and struck John Efford in the head. Momentarily stunned, he misinterpreted partnership for kissing Ottawa’s arse. The advice goes on … “Newfoundland and Labrador has an opportunity to be seen as a test case of
whether the political will exists in both the provincial and federal governments to break the pattern of confrontational federalism.” Could it be Andy Wells will break the pattern over Paul Martin’s head? Would that still count as a check mark? Yet another piece of advice: “The commission supports the calls for an elected and equal Senate in order to improve the representation of provinces in the federal parliament.” What was that zooming by? Hard to tell, but it looked like Ontario and Quebec beating it to the Senate chamber to hand over power to little old Newfoundland and Labrador because we’ve been so sweet and nice and hard done by. One last recommendation: “There must be a collaborative approach to resource recovery that focuses on conservation, science and industry reform, and gives the province a meaningful say in its fishery.” Why go through all that trouble? Just declare cod an endangered species and turn off all the streetlights beyond the overpass. Speaking of which, maybe they’ll call the next subdivisions to go up in Conception Bay South little Stephenville or, at the very least, Paper Machine No. 7 Place after the job losses in Grand Falls-Windsor. Vic was right: there should be a discussion about the province’s future, a reflection on the Royal Commission. The commission started the discussion; the National Convention II: This Time Joey’s Dead, could end it. That doesn’t necessarily mean separation or a declaration of war, just an examination of how we’re doing — financially, in terms of the fishery and treatment at the hands of the federal government, as well as our relationship with provinces such Quebec and Ontario. The time has come for a second National Convention. Maybe this time we’ll choose right. Ryan Cleary is managing editor of The Independent. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7
’Tis the season … to get silly F
or those of you who aren’t aware, journalists refer to this time of year as the silly season, a time when everyone has better things to do than read newspapers or, for that matter, write for them. For the last week — and for the next few — most papers (excluding, of course, The Independent) will be full of stories about stupid, unimportant stuff, and the on-air media will air “favourites from the past season,” a new-age term for re-runs. This week I have read reports on Sasquatch’s hair being tested for DNA (it turned out to be buffalo hair), Gary Trudeau’s cartoon being pulled from American newspapers because it contained the term “turd blossom,” and reports on a research paper that explains why cats don’t like sugar (I kid you not). Hard times for a media junkie like myself. Like Christmas, this is a good time to deliver bad news. Not a lot of people are around —either in the newsroom or the home front. That lowers the impact. It is no accident that
IVAN MORGAN
Rant & Reason Abitibi Consolidated picked now to announce the closing of its Stephenville plant. So this is the season for bad news and pointless news. Into this mix I add my two cents’ worth. In the spirit of the silly season, I thought I would publish my own little political wish list. The list is designed to stimulate deck conversation — sort of a garnish to go with the beers — or in my case the gin and tonics. So here goes. When the world starts taking itself seriously again after the lazy days of summer, here is what I wish for: • The Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador will elect as its new leader someone new and exciting, who can really stick it to Danny Williams, instead of electing some
YOUR VOICE Home-brewed confrontation Dear editor, I do not usually write letters to the editor and op-ed pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I have no trouble giving my opinion, but today I felt I would share it with you (I am writing just one day after the sinister news). The recent news in my hometown of Stephenville is quite daunting and illustrates what we would colloquially refer to as blatant gall on the part of Abitibi Consolidated. Having read the press release put forth by the Danny Williams government, one can only reach a scathing opinion of the company. Our poor province has had to deal with a myriad of malignancy since we were a nascent colony from those who hold the purse strings. One just has to look at the great role we played in the two world wars and how we were treated afterward. Newfoundland, unlike other geographical/political entities, was not allowed to default on our debt — we were not given that option. The exhaustive amount of literature on Churchill Falls only makes you shake your head more voraciously every time you read it. I do believe the situation with Churchill Falls would be much different if we were not dealing with the distinct Quebecois — just look at how many people they have on the Supreme Court and list the number of Newfoundlanders that have been appointed (none). Abitibi is a Quebec-owned company. I will not get into any type of debate on that issue but I will say there is unequivocally a double standard. Joining Quebec is Ontario, which holds enough seats federally that if a party won them all and the Bloc still existed one pretty much need not worry. On March 2, General Motors in Ontario received $435 million in a government handout. The demands of Abitibi Consolidated are quite bloated even for those fat cats. Corporate Canada knows that jobs here are hard to come by, and we
tired old retread from the past. Giving • More women will get elected to Williams a run for his money would town councils. We have municipal be easy, and a guaranteed ticket to the elections coming in the fall. We need eighth floor — albeit maybe not for more women in political life, and getfive or six years. But in the mean time, ting them on council is an excellent it would be endlessly first step. Why do we entertaining for the need more women? rest of us, and good at our history — It is no accident that Look for the democratic could they have done health of the Abitibi Consolidated a worse job than the province. men who went before • Andy Wells will them? I would like to picked now to get the C-NLOPB see a lot more women announce the closing enter politics. chair, but not without first a big public • Paul Martin and of its Stephenville brawl between the his Liberals will battle province and the fedto another razor-thin plant. So this is the eral government minority government. over the appointwill keep them season for bad news That ment. A fight like real. A lot of pundits that would hopefully and pointless news. say that would be bad make it clear to the for Canada. I am not average Newfoundso sure. Imagine John land voter how much of their lives are Efford with a 60-member majority in dictated by faceless bureaucrats the House of Commons backing him answerable only to the politicians they up. sucked up to to get the job in the first • Artists will stop fighting over pubplace. How sweet would that be? lic money. Tax dollars are so scarce,
and our needs are so great. There are dangerous ruts in our highways. Cancer patients wait in fear, hoping treatment will come before their cancer spreads. Teachers lack even the most basic of resources for educating our young people. So few dollars for so many problems. Could we ask the people who run our art gallery to stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to organize a few exhibits to enrich us in our few precious spare hours? • Finally, I want to see Rex Goudie win Canadian Idol. That’s the list. You can cut this out and file it away. I recommend you call the file Not gonna happen. Except maybe Rowdy Goudie. If he keeps it together, he might just have a shot. The rest of us? The way things are going, we’ll be lucky if we can scrape enough money together to buy one of his albums. Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com
ROWERS GEAR UP
have very short memories. I am a proud Newfoundlander and Canadian, but there are incidents that are allowed to take place on our fair island that would not take place elsewhere. During the whole Atlantic Accord situation there was much talk about the flag fiasco. Many editorials (provincial and national) asked what would Premier Williams do next? Williams was to go on a crossCanada tour to let the crowd upalong know the situation regarding that big island out in the Atlantic where everyone talks funny. Well I have had an epiphany. The way I figure it, the viceroys of all these corporate kings need to feel it right where it hurts — the pocket book. Here’s what Dan the Man can do. He can go on his tour. He/we can go and call upon each and every Newfoundlander who has been a part of the mass exodus of immigration to help us via peaceful protest. Every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation Newfoundlander living and working on the mainland from Victoria to North Sydney, in Toronto and Fort Mac, living in a trailer park or a suburban gated cul-de-sac, should all take a full week off and let their employer know why they are doing it. An example would be to demand two to five per cent of the energy from Churchill Falls or stay off the job for another week! We need to do something to get back what we now lack — gainful employment. This is my brand of non-violent/non confrontational, friendly home-brewed Newfoundland kind of confrontation. We seem to be the forgiving kind, which, thankfully, allows us to be so diddley darn happy, but something must be done. A group of male lions is called a coalition, and a group of female lions is called a pride. So come on and coalesce proud Newfoundlanders far and wide, let’s put forth a lion’s pride! Nalla Frederickovich, Stephenville
Setting the record straight Dear editor, I am writing this letter to point out a blatant error in reporting that appeared in your article Rainbow Rock (July 2430 edition of The Independent). Clare-Marie Gosse states “the city’s first alternative lifestyles bar” was set to open this Pride week. In fact, alternative lifestyles bars (or, as most of us call them, gay bars) are nothing new to this city and have been around for over 30 years. Friends opened in the early 1970s, and was a nightclub institution in the mid to late ’70s in St.
John’s. Many gay bars have operated in the years that followed. The city’s longest running alternative lifestyles bar, Zone 216 at 216 Water St., opened in 1994 and this Pride weekend is celebrating its 12th successful year with its own Pride events, including a baby shower for Britney Spears, Fetish Night and Drag Idol 3 — things don’t get any more alternative than that. So on this Pride weekend you might say I just wanted to set the record straight … or gay, so to speak. Fabian Fitzpatrick, St. John’s
There was lots of activity down by the pond this week as rowing teams geared up for the annual Royal St. John's Regatta, the oldest continuous sporting event in North America, scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 3 weather permitting. Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
JULY 31, 2005
8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9
Delving into downtown
On shoppers’ minds In June 1999, the St. John’s Downtown Development Commission funded a Usage and Attitude Study survey to “delve into the minds” of 400 St. John’s city centre residents, to determine their perceptions of the downtown shopping experience. Highlights include:
From revitalizing George Street to opening a public library and starting a farmers’ market, downtown still needs work By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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o one can deny the huge economic and esthetic progress downtown St. John’s has made over the last two decades, but with the continuous onslaught of suburban box store developments, the city’s heart still has a fight on its hands. Immediate proof of the worthiness of taking investment risks can be seen in the current $3-million facelift to Atlantic Place on Water Street. Scott Cluney, executive director of the St. John’s Downtown Development Commission, says several major businesses have already booked space in the building, including Nubody’s Fitness. “They’re also bringing in a restaurant chain that will go in there and we’re pretty sure Chevron is going into Atlantic Place, so that will take over a floor for sure,” he tells The Independent, “so all of a sudden now they’ve really upped their occupancy rate.” Councillor Shannie Duff, who has a passion for monitoring progress downtown, first entered into municipal politics because of the “ugly” and “inappropriate” Atlantic Place development back in the late 1970s. “I just said, ‘OK, if you can’t beat them, join them.’” In her opinion, Duff says there are a couple of specific issues dominating the downtown area today, including the much debated matter of parking — she would like to see a new lot — and the need to balance all developments with
preserving the character of the city. It’s been roughly 20 years since George Street was revamped and Duff says the city is ready to take another look at what has become one of the most famous entertainment strips in Canada. Despite the street’s nighttime popularity, it was originally envisioned as more of an extension of Water Street, with other businesses in addition to bars, making it more accessible for daytime use. “It is a very successful venture in a sense that it’s almost now an icon, particularly for a certain age group in St. John’s,” says Duff, “but again, I think it’s a question of balance. “The city is interested in undertaking, sort of a revision, looking at all the past studies and bringing them together again and perhaps doing a new design study for George Street.” She adds any ideas would be discussed with the full involvement of business and property owners in the area. With the ever-increasing popularity of the downtown as a place to live and several condo and hotel developments waiting in the wings, it seems the next step could well be to bring in more amenities and stores. Both Duff and Cluney say they would support a shopping area to pull people back from the suburbs. “I would like to see it,” says Duff, “and I think in the west end of downtown, where you have large, vacant buildings … I think that might lend itself to an arcade-type shopping mall area.” Cluney agrees, saying he thinks cur-
• Respondents reported shopping at malls much more frequently than shopping downtown. Forty-two per cent shopped at malls once a week, versus eight per cent for downtown. • The majority of respondents reported they go downtown to shop at one particular store … rather than browse several stores. • More parking (31 per cent) was the most frequently mentioned suggestion that would encourage respondents to shop downtown more often. Other suggestions included more stores (24 per cent), more department stores (19 per cent), more specialty stores (12 per cent) and free parking (11 per cent). • Seven in 10 indicated they would shop at a farmers’ market … as well, approximately half of all respondents indicated they would visit a movie theater … over three in 10 respondents indicated they would visit a grocery store. • Stores located downtown were perceived
The George Street Festival in full swing.
rent downtown residents (the average age group is between 35 and 37), as well as future residents and hotel guests likely to follow building developments, could easily support such a venture. “I mean there’s still a couple of build-
Paul Daly/The Independent
ings that are down here,” he says. “I’m thinking of the old Woolworth’s building as a prime example of that, it just sits there vacant. It’s just a matter of the right entrepreneur coming along and doing that.”
YOUR VOICE Too important to stand on ceremony
Prison smoking ban hasn’t led to increased drug use: McNutt
Editor’s note: the following letter was written by Herb Brett, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities, to Premier Danny Williams. A copy of the letter was forwarded to The Independent.
Marvin McNutt, director of adult corrections with the province’s Justice Department, says there hasn’t been an increase in drug seizures since the smoking ban took effect in the province’s prisons in May. “We have not noticed any increase in efforts to smuggle drugs in since the smoking ban,” McNutt tells The Independent. “In making this observation we rely on three factors: our intelligence sources which inform us of plans to bring drugs in or instances where drugs have been brought in; the actual number of seizures; and the observations of staff as to whether inmates are under the influence.” A former inmate of the pen who spoke to The Independent on condition of anonymity says drug use in the prison has indeed increased. “It’s mostly pills and weed, same
Dear premier, I would like to express my support for your recent nomination of Mayor Andy Wells as chair of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. Mayor Wells has been a very public and effective proponent of maximizing the benefits of offshore oil development for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. In my work with him on
the Friends of Gas Onshore initiative I became aware of his strong views on the issue of developing a domestic oil and gas industry and was impressed by his knowledge of the industry and its operations. I agree with you that while formal proceedings to replace the outgoing chair may have begun, this position is far too important to the fair and equitable treatment of our province to stand on ceremony. If a suitable, even preferable, candidate surfaces outside the formal search he or she must be considered. I concur with you that we cannot stand by and watch our chances at developing a real growth industry slip
by simply because we couldn’t shake ourselves loose from this bureaucratic yoke! The formal search process is simply one method of collecting the names of suitable candidates. Vision and good sense are others. I assure you I will do whatever I can to ensure our federal representatives understand that a good idea must not be ignored by due process, especially when the stakes for our children are so high. If you think there is anything I can do to assist in the process, please feel free to contact me. Herbert Brett, Arnold’s Cove
stuff that’s always in the pen, just more of it,” says the man. “Pills are the main thing down there; it’s easier to get them in.” While drug seizures may not be up, the former inmate says the last time he was in the prison there were more drugs available than before the smoking ban. “I’ve been in there a couple of times. I was in before the smoking ban, I was in there when it started, and the last time I was there wasn’t too long ago. There was more stuff on the go last time I was in,” he says. “I think it’s because you can’t smoke in there now. It was bad enough before when you had to quit smoking weed and stuff. Now you can’t even smoke cigarettes. You can get the patch down there but that doesn’t work. I still need something.” — Evan Careen
Duff also says she would like to see a boutique-style supermarket in the west end. “This is visionary, but if we could get the kind of food store that you see sometimes in large cities like Toronto or New
York,” she says, “that is geared really, towards a downtown population, not necessarily the huge supermarket geared to the car trade.” Anita Carroll, vice-chair of the downtown development commission and
owner of Posie Row on Duckworth Street, says a big part of the problem in the west end is property owners who don’t maintain their buildings. “That’s much discussed at DDC meetings, particularly the look of the buildings that are on the west end of St. John’s and the problem is, there doesn’t seem to be any city law in place that says you have to do anything about it, so if we have a building that’s falling down and ugly, there’s nothing to say the owner has to do something.” Despite the recent departure announcement by James Baird, owner of Wordplay bookstore opposite Posie Row, Carroll says business along her stretch of Duckworth Street has never been stronger.
to be more expensive, less convenient and have less selection in comparison to stores located in the mall. However, stores downtown were perceived to have higher quality products than stores located in the malls. • Respondents reported visiting the downtown area for many different reasons other than shopping. Other motivations include sightseeing/waterfront/scenery (47 per cent), for a walk or drive (41 per cent), visit bars (26 per cent), eat/dine (25 per cent), special events (23 per cent) and workrelated meetings / activities (15 per cent). “I’m up by percentages I couldn’t even imagine and everybody that I’m speaking to is aghast that he would have the opinion that there’s nothing going on downtown.” Cluney says another idea passed around the debate mill in recent years to attract patronage downtown is a farmers’ market. A 1999 DDC survey of 400 downtown residents showed 70 per cent would shop in a farmers’ market. “We’ve been tossing around the whole farmers’ market for years and years and years and it’s something that, personally, I’d love to see downtown.” Cluney says the development commission is actively working on beautifying the city centre by creating green
spaces and rest areas in under utilized or vacant lots. Pier 7 on the harbourfront is the St. John’s Port Authority’s own venture to beautify an under-visited area. This is Pier 7’s first full year of operation and Sean Hanrahan, president of the Port Authority, says they are pleased with progress so far. “Pier 7, there’s two parts to it really, one is the Keg restaurant, the other part is the seasonal kiosk operations and we’re very, very pleased with both sides,” he says. Hanrahan adds he would fully support more storefront developments. “I love shopping downtown and I hate the coldness of those boxes (box-store developments).” With improved residential areas, increasing shop fronts, a museum, gallery and the LSPU Hall, downtown is almost complete, but there are still two large, historically beautiful —albeit slightly neglected — buildings waiting to be filled. What’s to be done with the Colonial Building and the old Newfoundland museum? “I think a library would be the perfect thing,” says Kay Anonsen, the city’s arts and cultural development co-ordinator. “It’s a cultural icon in a capital city; it seems like a missing tooth that we have no library.” Both Duff and Cluney agree a downtown library is desperately needed. “I think it was a great loss,” says Duff, who used to work at the old Gosling Memorial Library in the Newfoundland museum building. “Every civilized city has a downtown library.” Libraries come under the jurisdiction of the provincial Education Department, but a provision in the City of St. John’s Act states council actually has the power to borrow money for the purpose of building a public library. Upkeep and management of the library would be provided through public funds and donations. Carroll jumps at the suggestion. “I would love to see that. I have two kids, I live downtown, I know lots of people who live downtown with kids and I mean the lack of a library is appalling to me, absolutely.”
‘Bread and butter’ issues A review of the Newfoundland National Convention (1946-1948) By Ryan Cleary agreed Newfoundlanders of the day Road to The Independent were preoccupied with issues of “bread
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ewfoundland never did have much money, but by 1933 the place teetered on bankruptcy. So how broke was broke? Six cents a day broke. That’s how much Newfoundlanders who were on the dole, or relief, were paid. In fact, between December 1933 and May 1934, 78,400 Newfoundlanders relied on the dole to look after themselves. The total relief paid out that fiscal year amounted to $1.5 million. (The same amount today would pay the yearly salaries and benefits of only a dozen or so social workers.) A census carried at about the same time pegged the nation’s total population at 285,000 — meaning almost one third of the population was living on six cents a day. According to the same census, of the gainfully employed males, over 60 per cent worked in primary industries, and three quarters of them were involved in catching, curing and handling fish. To simplify, most people fished in the spring and summer and took to the woods in winter. Of course, most of the money came from fish, which was a problem in that there was so much dependency on a single export. There were those who blamed that dependence, as well as the Great Depression, for Newfoundland’s financial turmoil. Others, as last week’s column pointed out, blamed the fact Newfoundland wasn’t allowed to default on its whopping $100-million debt — just as the British government had in 1933 when the United States called in an outstanding bond. Further, roughly $40 million of Newfoundland’s debt was its contribution to the winning of World War One. In the end, that generous sacrifice didn’t matter a row of beans. The democratically elected responsible government was dissolved in February 1934 in favour of a commission government. By the mid-1940s, Newfoundland was back on its feet financially — primarily due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the work it brought in the form of construction and maintenance of American military bases. The commission government was only supposed to last until Newfoundland’s financial fortunes turned around. Given they apparently had, the Newfoundland National Convention was orchestrated to decide where the nation should go from there.
CONFEDERATION
AN ONGOING SERIES When the convention was called to order in September 1946, one of the first things tabled was a financial report by the dominions office. By 1945, the end of the Second World War, Newfoundland had a surplus of $26 million. Of that, $12.3 million was lent to the United Kingdom (interest free), and $500,000 was provided as a “free gift” for the setting up of a Spitfire squadron. Still, when the convention got underway, one of the first questions posed was how a country could have political democracy without individual economic freedom? Isaac Newell, the national convention’s delegate for White Bay, stood on the floor of the Colonial Building (where the convention was held) to say he was much more concerned about how Newfoundlanders were going to eat over the next 50 years than how they were going to vote. “He may vote in a free election for the candidate of his choice every two weeks or every two years, but if he isn’t free to eat three times a day, I repeat, what freedom has he?” asked Newell, a university professor and co-operative organizer. Joey Smallwood, the future premier and delegate for Bonavista Centre,
and butter.” Further, while Newfoundland’s economy was doing much better by the mid1940s, it was generally acknowledged there was a problem gathering economic numbers. “One of our greatest difficulties in obtaining basic statistics in Newfoundland has been the reluctance and suspicion of the persons called upon to give the necessary information,” said Ira Wild, Finance commissioner with the commission government, in an address to the convention. “Our difficulties are all the greater because such a large proportion of our population work as individuals rather than as wage earners in industrial undertakings.” Samuel Vincent, delegate for Bonavista North and a teacher and businessman, said the basic question was
not how Newfoundlanders would eat and what they would wear. “It goes deeper than that, for it must not be forgotten that no government in itself can go on providing for the welfare of its people unless its resources can support its economy,” he said. “Government of course can provide legislation, social and otherwise, that will in some measure contribute to that end, but the burning questions are, can we provide new industries, seek out and develop new resources? These and other factors tend to make the task facing the convention a case of arithmetic plus sound common sense.” Delegates to the national convention were paid $15 a day. Delegates from outside St. John’s said the money did not cover their expenses. The sum of $150,000 was set aside for the assembly, or about $800 a day.
The background for this column is from The Newfoundland National Convention, 1946-1948, by James Hiller and the late Michael Harrington, available through the Newfoundland Historical Society and various retail outlets.
JULY 31, 2005
10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
LIFE STORY
FROM THE BAY “On last Saturday night a phonographic entertainment was given in St. Peter’s Schoolroom by Mr. Davis of the Mother’s Oils Company. Owing to the high prices charged for admission, only very few were present. On Monday night the entertainment was repeated at half price. A large number attended on this, the last evening, and apparently enjoyed the fun.” — From the Twillingate Sun, Aug. 1, 1896 YEARS PAST “This was the first case of its kind,” read a story about three men who had wrongfully taken two $10 payments of the dole, despite the fact they had each made more than $100 in the past two months. The two men were given four months to pay the money back. — From The Daily News, March 2, 1925 AROUND THE WORLD Icy dip doesn’t faze U.S. tourist, read the headline about Robert Calhoun jumping into the freezing North Atlantic for a swim off Middle Cove Beach. He travelled all over North America jumping into icy waters, saying only “it’s healthy.” — From The Daily News, March 7, 1955 EDITORIAL STAND “Confederation is a rather obscure subject, because there has been little
public information on what it represents, to what extent the Federal Government would aid, and in what particular directions Newfoundland, as the 10th province, would be mistress in her own home. Of course prospects of how we should benefit or lose under Confederation are rather a matter of one guess being as good as another.” — Editorial printed in the Newfoundland Trade Review, Jan. 12, 1946 LETTER TO THE EDITOR “(Alfred B.) Morine and (Chesley) Crosbie were the first to lash out at one another over the administration of the Controller’s Department, ’till Crosbie’s shins gave out and he was obliged to swallow a dish of crow in concerting to remain in the Tory ‘stable.’ “This is the sort of ‘stable’ government, then, the citizens of St. John’s East … request, are asked to keep together, so that they may eat their political ‘oats’ without any interference from outside …” Signed, Liberal — From the Daily Tribune, April 7, 1927 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Church bulletin: Ladies don’t forget the rummage sale. A time to get rid of things not worth keeping and too good to throw away. Bring your husbands.” — From the Trepassey Tribune, October 1975
‘Dottie is a fighter’ DOROTHY WYATT, 1926 – 2001 By Evan Careen For The Independent
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ote for Wyatt, she won’t be quiet!” was a familiar phrase to many people in St. John’s. It was the campaign slogan of Dorothy Wyatt, the first woman to take on the old boys’ club that was St. John’s City Hall in the 1970s. Wyatt was born in St. John’s and studied nursing at the General Hospital. She worked as a nurse for a number of years before graduating from Memorial University’s first nursing class in 1969. Later that year she became the first female councillor of St. John’s and just four years later defeated incumbent mayor Bill Adams to become the first woman to get the job. During Wyatt’s term as mayor the city hosted the 1977 Canada Summer Games, changed its taxation system from a rental-value to a capital-value system, and saw the development of both Atlantic Place and the harbour arterial. Wyatt made national news when she ran with Terry Fox during his historic Marathon of Hope. She joined Fox on the outskirts of St. John’s and ran wearing a polka-dot pantsuit and her robes of office. Councillor and former mayor Shannie Duff served with Wyatt for many years on council and recalls her as an accomplished politician who identified well with the people of St. John’s. “Dorothy was a populist,” Duff tells The Independent. “She had a gut feeling for the political culture of the city and how people think.” A colourful character well known for her sense of humour and flamboyant sense of style, Wyatt was a close friend of Newfoundland musician Joan Morrissey. Morrissey performed a song called Surrounded by Water (originally written by Tom Cahill) and added her own unique stamp by adding verses dedicated to Wyatt. The song was performed by Morrissey every year at City Hall when Wyatt was mayor. “My mother and Dorothy Wyatt were extremely good friends,” says Debbie Morrissey-Stafford, Joan Morrissey’s daughter. “They met when my mother sang at the Seniors Charity Days at City Hall and became fast friends. Dorothy would come up to our cabin in Paddy’s Pond to, as she would say, ‘get away from the tribe’ at City Hall.” Morrissey-Stafford also says that Wyatt helped her through the difficult period following her mother’s death.
“After mom died, I put together a benefit at the arts and culture centre which ran for three Friday nights straight and Dorothy was the host of the shows for me,” says MorrisseyStafford. “She was a wonderful person and a great friend to my mother. She was always there when I needed her.” Wyatt served two consecutive terms as mayor, defeating John Murphy in 1977 before losing to him in 1981. During that period she also attempted an unsuccessful bid for leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservative party. After a brief hiatus from politics, Wyatt rejoined St. John’s city council in 1985 as a councillor at large. Wyatt retained the post until her death in 2001 at the age of 75. Her death came just three days before the municipal election, when she was voted in once again. While Dorothy Wyatt may have passed on, her contributions to the city she loved are remembered by residents and she is immortalized in the following lyrics written by Joan Morrissey: Now Dottie is a fighter, she stands for what is right; She’ll be there when you need her, morning, noon, and night. This is our woman’s year, she’ll answer to our call; Oh Dorothy the queen of City Hall, we stand behind you all. Evan Careen is a journalism student at the Bay St. George campus of the College of the North Atlantic.
YOUR VOICE Foreign-trained dentists defend themselves Dear editor, We are responding with outrage to the disgraceful article that appeared in The Independent’s July 17-23 edition (‘Through the back door,’ Foreigntrained dentists sidestep Canadian qualification criteria). It is incredible that a reputable newspaper would publish an article quoting a St. John’s “dentist who asked not to be named” — an article which contains such damaging comments about other dentists in this province — without first contacting the victims to obtain a balanced viewpoint.
You state that “special provisional licences” were granted to us several years ago and that we are attempting to enter though the back door. In fact, we have been fully licensed to practice dentistry in this province for an average of 23 years each, with licences issued in full compliance with the relevant provincial legislation by the Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Board and signed by the registrar, Dr. Paul O’Brien, who is also quoted in your article. There have been no professional or disciplinary problems with any of our group and the only restriction
placed on these licences was where dental treatment could be given. Your “back-door” reference is extremely insulting and totally without foundation. None of the 10 dentists you have pointed to has derived any benefit other than mobility in this province as a result of having general licences, and have derived no advantage over their colleagues either. All we have done is to point out how unfair is it for us to be penalized just because our degrees were granted in another country when there is no question of our competence and professionalism. We are surprised that Dr. O’Brien has agreed to be quoted in your article, thereby lending some credibility to the comments of your anonymous source. It should be noted that Dr. O’Brien and the board he represents were recently found by a human rights tribunal to have discriminated against us and have been ordered to assist us in obtaining the professional mobility rights we are clearly entitled to. The simple facts of this case are that the provisional licences were a trade-protection mechanism, designed to offer protection from future competition to individuals such as your anonymous source whilst providing dental services to less lucrative markets anonymous sources were unwilling to serve. We have been put through a long ordeal and have frequently encountered underhanded tactics such as are currently being used to deny us our rights. The way we have been treated by our licensing board is an embarrassment to our profession. If you are interested in pursuing a story on dentistry in this province then perhaps you might ask the NLDB how remote areas will be serviced in future, given the way we have been treated, the labour shortages on the horizon, and the reluctance of Canadian graduates to work outside large centers. Meantime, we remain proud of our commitment to the areas we have made our homes and are honourable enough to sign this letter. In doing so we, at least, are able to uphold the standards of our chosen profession and continue to provide a high standard of service to that portion of the population that is so often dismissed as being “on the other side of the overpass.” Dr. Peter Bass Dr. Anthony Bloom Dr. Peter Hornett Dr. Philip Keith Dr. Vincent Rice Dr. Dulach O’Brien Dr. Rehan Malik
INDEPENDENTWORLD
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2005 — PAGE 11
Republican murals supporting the hunger strikers in Belfast.
Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
A bloody page of history turns IRA orders units to dump their weapons; did sisters of a murdered man play a role? By Olivia Ward Torstar wire service
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bloody page of history was turned yesterday as the Irish Republican Army ordered all of its units to dump their arms and announced a historic end to the “armed struggle” that devastated Northern Ireland for 36 years. The group’s huge storehouse of weapons will be “verifiably put beyond use,” an IRA statement said, and it invited Protestant and Catholic clergy to witness the decommissioning, which has been overseen by retired Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain since 1997, a year before the Good Friday peace accord was signed. But why the sudden end to the sectarian violence known as the Troubles, which claimed more than 3,500 Catholic and Protestant lives? Northern Ireland watchers have been speculating on the reasons behind the IRA move, which comes a week after a second wave of attacks on London by suspected members of an al-Qaeda cell. So was the IRA the latest casualty of Osama bin Laden — or were five young Belfast women behind the landmark deci-
sion of Northern Ireland’s most powerful London bombings and deplored the latest paramilitary to give up its guns? attack, which has only hardened Western “The timing of the IRA statement is cer- attitudes to terrorism. tainly interesting,” says David Carlton, a In the past week, Irish Justice Minister terrorism expert at England’s Warwick Michael McDowell also told reporters he University. “It could be a long-term conse- believed the two politicians had abandoned quence of the 9/11 attack. For the IRA and membership of the IRA army council, the other groups with a narrow territorial aim group’s command centre. Adams and that kind of action McGuinness have was a great embarconsistently denied rassment, and they that they belong to “I don’t think this was a don’t want to be the council, and linked with it.” distanced themconsequence of what hapCarlton, author of selves from militant pened in London. It had been activities. the forthcoming book The West’s “They were comclear for some time that Road to 9/11, doubts ing close to (ending there was such an armed struggle) Adams and McGuinness had the immediate link: “I in December, but don’t think this was a been considering this move.” n e g o t i a t i o n s consequence of what failed,” says Paul happened in London. Arthur, director of David Carlton It had been clear for the peace and consome time that flict studies proAdams and McGuinness had been consid- gram at University of Ulster. “At that time ering this move.” Sinn Fein was doing very well politically, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, in both northern and southern Ireland, the leaders of the IRA’s political wing Sinn European elections, and the 2005 Fein, expressed regret over the July 7 Westminster (British) elections. They had
acquired a certain arrogance.” But meanwhile, the growing revulsion for violence that followed 9/11 was bringing increased pressure on the IRA to disarm. And, says Arthur, it intensified when the five sisters of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney — stabbed to death in a Belfast bar last January — launched a campaign to call the IRA to account for involvement in the incident. They blamed the IRA for the murder, and interference with evidence and prospective witnesses. Three men were later expelled from the IRA, and it offered to shoot the murderers. But McCartney’s sisters continued their battle for justice, with support from violence-weary Catholics as well as Protestants. “We are now dealing with criminal gangs who are using the cloak of romanticism around the IRA to murder people on the streets and walk away from it,” Catherine McCartney told the BBC. While the McCartney sisters took their campaign to the United States, Sinn Fein and the IRA were reeling from much highSee ‘The Cloak,’ page 12
Grits continue two-tier fear O
f 23 developed countries, Canada is the third largest spender on health care but only in the middle of the pack on health outcomes, according to the Conference Board of Canada. New dollars, when provided under the present system, go disproportionately to administrators and health care providers, rather than to patient care. Where unions can shut down entire provincial health systems rather than just a single hospital or clinic, new dollars are more likely to go to staff wages rather than patient services. And studies have shown that no more than 25 cents out of every new health dollar placed in the public system has any chance of actually improving
JOHN CROSBIE
The old curmudgeon health outcomes. Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal predecessors have advanced no new thinking on how to improve the system. Under current Liberal policies, the biggest yearly increase in federal spending in the next decade will be the six per cent annual increase in transfers for health promised by Martin at the 2004 health conference. In recent years, health care spending
has grown by six to eight per cent per governments interested only in proyear, so even the huge sums promised claiming the virtues of a public system will only keep the provinces from by mindlessly braying that we must not falling behind, rather than leap ahead in have a two-tier system. the provision of Health providers’ health care. salaries have gone Liberal Senator up with the billions Health providers’ Michael Kirby, put into the present chairman of the unsatisfactory syssalaries have gone up Senate study of our tem but waiting lists … but waiting lists have have not gone health system, concluded that Martin’s down. Patients are not gone down 2004 health care forced to the back accord merely of the line. pumps more money into an unsustainWe must put the interests of patients able system. first. The issue is not whether our sysWhy has there been such little tem should be publicly or privately progress in improving our health care controlled, it is what balance we need system? First, we have had Liberal between the two to save the system.
Serious examinations of our public health care system, including one by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, have noted its major design flaws. These are the monopoly provision of public health care services, the lack of accountability, the politicization of health care decision-making, the lack of incentives for both patients and health care providers to control costs, the barriers to innovation and the lack of regular and reliable information about access and health outcome. A major problem in evaluating the system is that our governments not only have a monopoly on the delivery of See “Canadians want,” page 13
JULY 31, 2005
12 • INDEPENDENTWORLD
Finally, Canada has a problem: Denmark By James Travers Torstar wire service
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here’s a school of thought that believes this country’s biggest problem is it has no big problem. Pretty prosperous and tolerably tolerant, we muddle along, eating doughnuts, bickering about hockey and trying to amend the constitution, with no defining purpose. True, the theory has flaws. Convinced we shine a global light, Canadians refuse to look into their own dark corners of aboriginal life while the constant argy-bargy between the federal and provincial governments serves
well enough as the cross we bear. That said, there’s substance in the idea that the pleasantness of the place is an Orwellian soma drugging us into happy-face complacency. Somehow, someone, somewhere, will see to it that the nation’s social, psychological and economic wealth will continue expanding with no significant effort or sacrifice. Bill Graham has now tossed a rock or, more specifically, an Arctic boulder, into that placid pond. Along with creating a most amusing summertime diplomatic diversion, the defence minister’s unopposed occupation of Hans Island effectively challenges the notion that
Canada can achieve its personal best and laugh. without raising a sweat. Like many delusions, this one has While it’s rare to hear a national enjoyed a good run and would still be politician speak loping along if it without a chestweren’t for the puffing reference coming thaw. We muddle along, eating to a dominion Climatic change doughnuts, bickering stretching coast-tois softening the coast-to-coast, the top of the world, about hockey and trying to making its transgovernment does little to secure the portation routes amend the constitution. next frontier. The and resources result is city folk more accessible clustered along the U.S. border play and its sovereignty suddenly worth their parts in a romantic comedy where defending. So Canada is training an earnest Inuit the central characters are rugged types who look Mother Nature in her evil eye militia, funding the occasional armed
forces exercise and reminding its hardof-hearing allies, particularly Washington, that what’s up there is ours. Even so, that clearly isn’t enough. Tugging at the nation’s sleeve, Peter Calamai, the Toronto Star’s science guru, periodically reminds us there are likely to be more foreigners researching in the Arctic than Canadians and Ottawa’s commitment to such highprofile projects as the International Polar Year is, at best, suspect. Even so, Graham is onto something. Nothing stakes a claim so boldly as a physical presence in an inhospitable, faraway, place. If foreign examples are persuasive, Paul Martin need look no farther than his last winter holiday. Mired in a complex, multi-country dispute over the savagely beautiful Western Sahara, Morocco in 1975 made a dramatic statement that is now central to its mythology. Known as the Green March, King Hassan sent upwards of 300,000 people into the desert to plant the flag. Getting that many Canucks off the couch and into the far North is not viable. But if Ottawa is as serious as it should be about Arctic sovereignty, it will have to do more than irk the Danes. There’s invaluable work to be done across the northern archipelago and Canada has most to gain. Better still, as this week’s polite tussle between two of the world’s most unlikely belligerents underlines, nothing heats nationalist blood like some no-it’s-mine jawing over a largely useless lump of rock. It worked brilliantly for Margaret Thatcher in the Falklands and it might work as well for a Tim Hortons’ country that surely can’t define itself forever as being not American. Graham has spotted in the middle of nowhere a grail with all the pulling power of the magnetic north.
‘The cloak of romanticism’ From 11 er level accusations of wrongdoing — a stinging rebuke from the British and Irish prime ministers, following a $55 million armed robbery of a Belfast bank last December. “When Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern insisted publicly that the robbery was the work of the Provisional IRA ... the die was cast. Romantic freedom-fighting was one thing, squalid criminality quite another,” wrote Andrew Stephen, U.S. editor of the New Statesman, in a scathing account of Adams’s declining popularity in America. The disapproval of the IRA’s traditional American allies — and funders — was a major factor in its about-face, agrees U.S. president Bill Clinton’s former Northern Ireland envoy, Bruce Morrison. “Any credibility that the use of force had (in America) has drained away,” he told the BBC. “The politics of armed struggle is gone. Only peaceful democratic struggle will be supported.” This spring, Adams had a bitter taste of how much things had changed since he was welcomed into elite Washington circles a decade earlier, to the annoyance of the British government. “His traditional St. Patrick’s Day pilgrimage to the nation’s capital will not include two stops that he has grown accustomed to in recent years,” said the Washington Post. “An audience at the White House and a meeting with longtime supporter Sen. Edward Kennedy.” During Adams’s visit, U.S. President George W. Bush and some of his Democratic opponents made their displeasure public, with Bush urging the IRA to disband, and Kennedy declaring “the IRA’s criminality is undermining the peace process, and it’s time for Sinn Fein and the IRA to hear this message clearly from the U.S.” While doors were closed to Adams, the five McCartney sisters were received by Bush and prominent congressmen, including Kennedy — a signal that if the war in Northern Ireland was not over, the IRA had lost the battle for hearts and minds. “There is a time to resist, to stand up and to confront the enemy by arms if necessary,” Adams said yesterday. “In other words, unfortunately, there is a time for war. There is also a time to engage, to reach out, to put the war behind us all ... “This is that time.” Belfast’s streetwise Catholics and Protestants didn’t agree. “A lot of good men who died would be turning in their graves, just like my stomach is turning over listening to this,” said Harry McClafferty, 51, as the news was broadcast in a pub in Ardoyne, an IRA power base. Robert Smith, a salesman in one of the roughest Protestant areas, said: “They’ve seen what has happened in London and New York and they can’t be seen as terrorists any more ... but they’re still terrorists.”
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTWORLD • 13
VOICE FROM AWAY
A bow instead of a head nod
Paradise native and photography contest winner Derrick Turner heads to Japan for the World Expo, Newfoundland flag in hand By Derrick Turner The Independent
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ineteen hours. That’s the actual flight time for a feller to lift up out of the foggy skies of Torbay and reach Nagoya, Japan, the site of the 2005 World Expo — thanks to a 2004 photography contest, my brother and I were treated to an experience of a lifetime. The theme was simple: Show us your Canada. Fourteen photos from across Canada showing our landscape, people and life would be chosen for display in the Canadian Pavilion. The winners would enjoy a grand prize trip for two with passes to the Expo in Aichi, Japan. A buddy of mine contacted me the night before the contest deadline (thanks Jim), knowing that photography was a growing interest of mine. I tore up my digital collection of photos (can you do that?) and chose five I thought coincided with the theme of the contest, and fired them off into cyberspace. A couple of months later I received a call from a representative of Toyota Canada telling me they had chosen my shot of Cape Spear as the winner for Newfoundland. “Yes b’y … go on, girl!” I said. She chuckled and filled me in on all the details. I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. Fast forward to arrival in Nagoya. It was a gruelling trip with the sting taken down a notch by first class, a treatment that would accompany us throughout the entire voyage. There was a huge language barrier, but that didn’t matter. The Japanese people are extremely friendly and have established a level of service that in all my travels I had never experienced. Their hospitality is world class. From the market vendors to the people in the subway, we experienced graciousness similar to that in Newfoundland — but instead of a head nod we’d get a bow. Westerners seem to carry the same status as rock stars. Strangers stopped to get photos with us and when we stopped to get our own photos, the Japanese “paparazzi” were there to snap a shot as well. These people starve for all things Western. It is difficult to visit a store a find a t-shirt that simply read “Nagoya, Japan” — the popular items were American clothes, Disney and Hello Kitty, all at inflated prices. Stay away from the malls. The best shopping was in the street markets where a little old man came from behind his computer, whipped out his abacus and, with lightning fast speed, calculated our change. He did have an extra abacus there in case of a system crash I guess. We visited the Expo on July 1. For Canada Day, the Canadian Pavilion had a concert planned along with a pancake and maple syrup breakfast. It was great to see so many people of varying ethnicities with maple leaf tattoos — it really showed Canada is rich in cultures
Above: Derrick Turner’s photo of Cape Spear was a winning entry in Toyota Canada’s Show us your Canada contest. Right: As part of his prize package, Turner visited World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.
collected worldwide. Everyone was soaking up all that is Canada. The pavilion had a great display of imagery brought together by six storytellers from different walks of life. It was fitting, showing Canada’s diversity of people. The VIP tours were great. My brother and I were escorted past the lineups so that we could receive preferential showing of the venues. Some exhibits made us feel like we were in the Universal Studios theme park and others had the ambience of a flea market. There was some commercial sensationalism — shops that sold mementos from the country you just visited and then there was the United Nations gift shop, chinched full of Hello Kitty paraphernalia. You need a solid three to four days to properly visit the Expo and all that it has to offer. The site is huge. I found the amount of people alone (average 100,000 per day) could be overwhelming. For example, I’m 6’1”, 220 pounds, a rather big man by Japanese averages. Yet in the overcrowded gift shops, there were little old ladies not five feet tall almost walking over me. You need to pace yourself through this and be pre-
Canadians want creativity and security in health care From page 11 health services but also monopolize the gathering of the data needed to assess the system. They are in a clear conflict of interest since they manage health care, control the information collected and then use that information to evaluate their own performance. The absence of any effective challenge to the monopoly structure of Medicare guarantees mediocre performance and unsatisfied patient needs. What is needed is significant competitive pressures to bring incentives to spend efficiently and effectively, as is shown by the experience of other countries. END INERTIA It is time to end the present Liberal inertia and propaganda. We must show Martin that he can no longer fool Canadians about health care. Indeed, a recent opinion poll by Pollara showed federal politicians far behind the public in the health-care debate. Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed said they would be willing to “pay out-of-pocket” to gain faster
access to medical services. Fifty-five per cent agreed with the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that citizens should have the right to buy private health insurance if the public system cannot provide medical services in a timely fashion. As Pollara head Michael Marzolini states: “It is politically palatable now to be able to offer a choice to Canadians and say, ‘Well, we’re not backing down in our commitment in any way to Medicare, but we’re prepared to look at offering choices with respect to faster access to medical service when there are long wait times.’” Canadians want flexibility and for politicians to come up with creative and imaginative ways of fixing the healthcare system. They do not want more attempts to scare them away from fundamental changes that will allow reasonably prompt access to health care. No one is prepared to listen to excuses from Martin and the promoting of two-tier fear. Canadians want creativity and security with respect to their health care system, not just more scare-mongering bunk.
pared to have a little patience. Don’t let me discourage you from visiting the Expo if you still have unclaimed vacation plans. The theme this time around is “Nature’s Wisdom,” and achieving a sustainable Earth. Everything at Expo was designed with protecting the environment in mind. When it’s over, everything will be broken down (with the exception of the Linomo train) and the site will return back to the beautiful landscape it once was. Other must-sees include the first display of a wooly mammoth to the public, the Toyota robot show, the US space exhibit with “nearly live” photos from Mars and the bio-lung — a massive wall with plants growing all over it. And of course, say hello to Allison at the Canadian Pavilion. Tell her that you’re from Newfoundland and I’m sure this girl from Corner Brook will light up with a huge smile. More of Derrick Turner’s images can be viewed at www.newfoundlandphotos.com. Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? E-mail editorial@theindependent.ca.
JULY 31, 2005
14 • INDEPENDENTWORLD
A mother whose breast milk has dried up tries to feed her severely malnourished child at an emergency feeding centre in Maradi, southeastern Niger. Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters
Eyes were on tsunami as people starved in Niger OTTAWA By Andrew Mills Torstar wire service
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His government first backed the proposal last year. But before Ottawa lends support, it wants more details to be worked out. “We need to figure out all the mechanisms to still be accountable to Canadians with regard to how the money is spent. That’s a big issue here,” says France Bureau, press secretary to Aileen Carroll, the international co-operation minister. Carroll will attend the U.N.’s World Summit on the Millennium Development Goals this fall when the fund will be discussed as a key tool to slash infant mortality rates by threequarters.
obody noticed eight months ago, when aid groups issued alerts of a looming famine in the sub-Saharan nation of Niger. Then in January and February, new warnings went out that drought was ravaging the pastures and crops that weren’t already left devastated by last year’s locust invasions. But the Western world was fixated at that time on the tsunami crisis in Southeast Asia. So it’s only now, when unbearable images of withered and starving children have started to flow into our living STANDING FUND rooms, that the northern hemisphere is The beauty of a standing fund, supslowly beginning to respond to Africa’s porters say, is it would allow U.N. latest crisis. agencies to circumvent the rickety adMuch could have been done in the hoc system they use now to respond to past eight months to prevent today’s sit- large-scale humanitarian crises like the uation in Niger, where 1.2 million peo- one in Niger. ple are at the brink of starvation. “It’s only when hundreds of thouThat’s why Great sands or millions of Britain is backing a people are beginnew funding mechaning to migrate, in In the case of Niger, nism that would give desperate search of the United Nations food, that we can because that pressure attract the attention the flexibility to of the world media, move when the iniis only beginning to that then attracts the tial warnings go out, so they don’t have to public’s attention, mount, the world has that then puts the depend on slow-topressure on the govact international given just $7 million ernments to deal donors. The idea is to cre(U.S.) of the $30.7 mil- with these situations,” says Robert ate a $1 billion (US) lion the U.N. appealed Fox, executive emergency fund that director of Oxfam the U.N. could draw for earlier this month. Canada. “That’s no from as soon as it way to assure that identifies a crisis. we can respond The Canadian government — which pledged $1 mil- responsibly.” And in the case of Niger, because lion to the World Food Program’s appeal for Niger earlier this month — that pressure is only just beginning to has not yet backed the proposed emer- mount the world has given just $7 million (US) of the $30.7 million the U.N. gency fund. A similar account already exists — appealed for earlier this month. “Donors have largely reserved the Canada contributed $6 million to it this year. But it is much smaller than $1 bil- right to decide which appeals and to lion and when the money is spent it is what level they’re going to respond,” hard to replenish, says Trevor Rowe, a says Jim Cornelius, executive director spokesperson for the WFP in New of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. “From the donors’ point of view, they York. “What you want is the maximum want to retain within their own hands flexibility, so that when we identify a more control over how their funds are country or region that needs food, we allocated to which emergencies, for can just go into a fund, get it and whatever reason.” move,” Rowe says. And getting the response rolling And the emergency situation in early is especially important when it Niger, which also threatens neighbour- comes to food aid, which is bulky and ing countries in West Africa like Mali, difficult to transport to the often-remote Burkina Faso and Mauritania, high- regions of the world. If the World Food lights the value of such a fund. Program could act early, Rowe says, it “I’m afraid that the crisis we are now wouldn’t have to rely on expensive airseeing unfolding in Niger is a really lifts, but could use more ground transgood reason why we have to do better port. in the future,” Britain’s secretary of “The more you spend on air transstate for international development, port, the less you spend on food,” he Hilary Benn, told BBC radio this week. says.
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTWORLD • 15
‘Carrying a bloody chainsaw’
TRAGIC MISTAKE
How Gregory Despres got into the American psyche By Everton Maclean Telegraph-Journal
guard down to the point where Sept. 11 happens again … we may not be able to win the war abroad, but we should at least be able to protect ecurity guards at the Canadian-U.S. border the Canadian border.” see a man with a Mohawk, a blood stained Stephen Kimber, a University of King’s shirt and a chainsaw on his back. He was a College journalism professor and veteran hitchhiker on a cold, rainy April day, a New reporter, first heard the story on CNN, an Brunswicker from Minto. American news channel. He says the show took After hours of careful deliberation and interro- a “wide-eyed approach,” assuming the border gation, the guards do the only thing they think guards made a huge mistake letting Despres go, rational: they let the man with a homemade and that angle had been pervasive in all the sword, a hatchet, the saw and a Swastika tat- media attention. tooed to his back, cross the border — minus his But Kimber wonders if that treatment does weapons. enough to delve into the issue of homeland secuAfter all, Gregory Allen Despres, 23, was a rity, or whether it is feeding the fears of naturalized American. The border officials had Americans with superficial reporting. no way of knowing he would later be charged in “I think that there is a generalized feeling the double murder of his next among readers or viewers that door neighbours, Fred yes, they (the border guards) They let the man with Fulton, 74, and his commondid screw up. I think the part law wife Veronica Decarie, that the media hasn’t really a homemade sword, who were by then dead in dealt with is what do they their Minto home. to make these kinds of a hatchet, the saw and need Border officials have said determinations, and was it he had no outstanding arrest a Swastika tattooed to legitimate what they did,” he warrants and was not breaksays. ing any laws, so there was no That says, he noted letting a his back, cross the choice but to release him. guy through who carried a border — minus his That’s not good enough for “bloody chain saw” is off-putsome Americans who want ting. weapons. an extremely secure postBoth Ranalli and Kimber Sept. 11 U.S., says Ralph say Despres’s mug shot, with Ranalli of the Boston Globe. eyes bugged out and a Mohawk plastered to his He covered the extradition hearings in Boston forehead, added to the public astonishment. But last week, which ordered Despres back to they say appearances alone should not determine Canada to face murder charges, and says the if a person is dangerous. story has piqued the interest, and outrage, of the However, a quick Internet search are enough public in a nation sensitive to any kind of threats. to make an ethical journalist lonely. “We’ve established a Department of Google has over 6,000 sites under the keyHomeland Security in this country and we’ve words Gregory Despres, and among the most made such a big show out of protecting the visited are web-logs. homeland that this deranged person coming into Writers post their opinions on the web, and the country with a bloody chainsaw is somewhat often respond to questions or issues. On the borunnerving to people,” he says. “We all go to the der incident, they are near unanimous: the border airport and some of us are asked to remove our guards were everything but competent. Many shoes, and we expect that kind of security at the question the effectiveness of the “War on border.” Terror.” He says people are most afraid that those proOthers suggest Despres would not have been tecting the country may grow complacent, leav- allowed into the country if he was Middleing the U.S open to large-scale attacks. Eastern, and the few who argue that the guards “In the back of a lot of peoples’ minds I think did all they could are battered down in swarms. there is this fear of complacency,” Ranalli says. But the forums are open to everyone, and any“For a lot of people, this was a sign of scary one can have their say. It’s free speech in its complacency. newest, perhaps purest, form, and almost every“People are fearing the day when we let our one is saying the same thing.
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Brenda Pedroni from Belo Horizonte, Brazil protests the killing of 27-year-old Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes outside the British Houses of Parliament in London. British police defended a policy of shooting to kill suspected suicide bombers despite shooting dead Brazilian electrician de Menezes by mistake in a London underground station. De Menezes was waked and buried in Gonzaga, Brazil last week amid thousands of mourners and demonstrators. Paul Hackett/Reuters
McGuinty hopes other premiers join fiscal fight OTTAWA By Les Whittington Torstar wire service
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anada isn’t working the way it should and its leaders need to pull together to ensure the country works for all, including Ontario, says Dalton McGuinty. The premier, who was here yesterday to announce $125 million in funding for Ottawa’s Montfort Hospital, said he plans to step up demands for a new deal for Ontario — and the other provinces — when he joins his fellow premiers at their annual meeting next month. McGuinty says he wants his drive to alter federal-provincial financial dealings so that the provinces get a fair shake to become a national campaign — one he hopes the other premiers will agree to promote when they get together in Banff, Alta. “I mean, the country’s not working as well as it could, and it should,” he told reporters. “Here in Ontario, of course, we’ve got a very unique per- Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty spective on this, and we’ll keep talking about the $23 billion gap.” The so-called gap is the shortfall between what StrategyCorp. Inc, which after objections from the Ontario sends to the federal government and what government has ended its representation of Stelco the province gets back in the way of transfer pay- in talks with Queen’s Park. ments from Ottawa. It’s part of a wider problem As a former public employee, MacNaughton the provinces call the fiscal imbalance, which faces limitations on the scope of his lobbying of describes a situation in which the federal govern- the provincial government. ment is able to run large budget surpluses while “Anybody who leaves my office has a responsithe provinces go into debt trying to pay for public bility to speak with (conflict-of-interest commisservices. sioner Lloyd Houlden) and ensure that they are McGuinty also turned aside suggestions the complying with whatever requirements are there,” activities of his former aide David MacNaughton McGuinty remarked. “Mr. McNaughton has done in a lobbying firm had raised questions about the that.” provincial government’s conflict-of-interest proMcGuinty said he is certain McNaughton has cedures. MacNaughton recently became chair of met all requirements.
Leafs cut ticket prices
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he Toronto Maple Leafs announced today a two-year rollback on ticket prices to their lowest levels since 2002, a five per cent reduction. In the 2003-04 season, the lowest priced season ticket at the Air Canada Centre cost $37, this year the same ticket will be $35. The best seats in the house, located in the gold and platinum sections, will cost $173, down from $182 in ‘03-‘04. “The Leafs will be executing a ‘Welcome Back’ plan to thank our fans for their patience and support during the past year,” Tom Anselmi, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment says. “We will be announcing a number of fan-
friendly initiatives in the arena and throughout the community that will engage our fans more than ever with the Leafs. “It’s been a difficult year for all of us associated with hockey, but we join with our fans in enthusiastically looking ahead to getting back on the ice in September,” he said. Seats in the blue and green sections will cost $68 this season, reds will cost $125. Seating in the Air Canada Club will cost $125. The NHL and its players ended a 301 day lockout last week when they ratified a new labour deal which includes a salary cap and a 24 per cent rollback on salaries for all players. — Torstar wire service
16 • INDEPENDENTWORLD
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2005 — PAGE 17
Defining Sabrina
Sabrina Wyatt retraces her life as a newspaper editor, fisherman and TV reporter, and reflects on her new CD, NTV show, $1 million-plus home and man in her life. By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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Sabrina Wyatt
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
abrina Wyatt may have left her post as fisheries reporter with NTV, but she’s not going anywhere. In fact, fans will soon be seeing a whole new side of the most glamourous crab fisherman (she prefers fisherman) to ever cast a net. This fisherman slash TV personality is the first to admit she leads a life of contrasts. Wyatt, who fell in love with life on the sea around six years ago, recently purchased her second boating enterprise and is currently making final arrangements to her own reality television show, which she’s producing and co-hosting. Define Yourself is a personal makeover show, set to air weekly on NTV in the fall for six to eight episodes. Wyatt’s also in the middle of moving house to live with her partner, John Risley, president of Clearwater Fine Foods and a major shareholder in Fishery Products International (FPI). The wry expression on her face when asked about her new housemate suggests Wyatt’s only too aware of the gossip surrounding her relationship with Risley, who she first met while attending a press event at the time of Vic Young’s departure as CEO of FPI. “Everyone knows,” Wyatt tells The Independent, with an exasperated shrug. “We bought the tower (St. Patrick’s Hall), we’re moving into the tower. It’s not a big secret but somehow things get … we’re in a relation-
ship, we’re very happy.” And she looks happy. Tanned, trim and stylish — she’ll have no trouble fitting into the shoes of a makeover show host. Wyatt says she left NTV because “it was just time for a change,” plus she ran (literally) into an idea for her own show, having been looking for a concept for some time. Inspiration struck while she was working the treadmill at her local gym, Definitions, on Duckworth Street. “I was with the trainer, Mike Wahl, and I was so impressed by him, he just blew my mind,” she says. “He was doing my fitness assessment and nutritional assessment and I realized that everything I know was wrong … I was on the treadmill and I looked at him and said, ‘You should have your own show.’ “He said, ‘I’ve always wanted my own show,’ I said, ‘Well let’s do a show.’ And he thought I was kidding and I said, ‘No really, we could do this, trust me, if I decide to do something, I’ll do it.’” With a degree in kinesiology, charisma and great methods, Wahl fit the bill. Along with his Definitions business partner, Mike O’Neil, Wyatt and the two Mikes will be hosting Define Yourself, which will follow one candidate through weeks of physical training, dietary tuition, any necessary minor cosmetic procedures including dental work, hair, make-up and wardrobe. Local professionals will be
LIVYERS
‘We must not falter or waver’ In wake of London bombings, Muslim leader from east end St. John’s says Islam does not breed fanatics By Lydia Zajc For The Independent
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here was no question, when Memorial University professor Mahmoud Haddara received the call he had to go. In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in London, the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations Canada asked three of its 120 Islamic religious leaders from eastern, western and central Canada to represent it in condemning terrorism. Haddara was one of the three leaders called to Toronto July 21 to participate
in a news conference that ended up taking place just hours after a second series of explosions sent shock waves through London. Haddara is a naval architectural engineer who has held senior positions at MUN in St. John’s, but he’s also an imam — a knowledgeable volunteer chosen by his congregation to lead prayers and organize religious functions at the mosque on Logy Bay Road in the city’s east end. The message delivered by the imams in Toronto was simple: Islam does not breed fanatics who take innocent lives
(and their own). It was the first time such a large group of imams in Canada, from different ethnic backgrounds, banded together to speak out. “I myself thought this was a wave that was going to go away, but it’s not subsiding, it is increasing,” Haddara told reporters from national newspapers and broadcast chains. “If we are to succeed in our struggle against the perverse ideology that gives rise to these acts, we must not falter or waver.” While the news conference thrust See “Double jeopardy,” page 14 Memorial University professor Mahmoud Haddara
See “I had no intention,” page 20
JULY 31, 2005
18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
GALLERYPROFILE
LINDA SWAIN Visual Artist
R
adio listeners will recognize Linda Swain as the regular host of VOCM’s Niteline. Art appreciators may also be acquainted with another side of her altogether — Swain is an accomplished visual artist, in a number of styles and media. Painting “was supposed to be the first thing, the primary source of income,” she says of her dual careers. Swain studied fine art at Concordia University and John Abbott College in Montreal before launching a radio career at CHVO Carbonear, which she considers her hometown. As Swain moved from the Carbonear newsroom to the news director’s job at Gander’s CKGA, and eventually to her multiple roles at VOCM in St. John’s, she kept her art with her. “I work in spurts,” she says. “Some days I’ll go and go and lose all track of time and finish (a few) pieces — and there are times weeks go by and I don’t do much.” Armed with photos she took on a recent trip out of town with her sister — and on vacation from her fulltime radio gig for a couple more weeks — Swain is ready to launch into one of her productive periods. “If I’m working from life, if I see something, I’ll take a picture,” Swain says. “Usually, it’s the colour or the way the light hits it that grabs me. I work with photographs, but not slavishly, they’re a reference point.” Swain’s most popular work — in terms of sales, at least — are landscapes, often done in pastel, on handmade black paper. “The colours pop much better on black than they do on white,” she says. “White kind of sucks the colour out — on black, the picture becomes more three-dimensional.” Showing two recent pastel pieces, Grate’s Cove I and II, Swain points out the variety of shades found in the slices of very Newfoundland landscape, all rock and low-lying vegetation. “Rock is fascinating, you see so many colours in rock,” she says. “I think that’s one of the things that makes Newfoundland so fascinating, there’s rock everywhere. But it’s not just rock, it’s beautiful, really.” Although landscapes are her more commercial endeavours, Swain says she is enjoying the challenges of working with a full palette of colour. “Colour is kind of a fun new thing for me,” she continues. “I did a lot of black and white drawing — because I hate paint. Paint is too messy, it’s a big cleanup afterward, it’s such a hassle for such a short period of time, kind of like cooking.” Swain laughs, looking at a recent piece done in acrylic (“I paint when I’m really motivated,” she says). It’s a filleted cod, surrounded by beach rocks. She came across the freshlypoached fish a couple of Christmases ago, and named the piece Bristol’s Hope. It’s part of a series; the next one is of a seal trapped under ice, which she’s titled Bay D’Espoir. “I enjoy those little plays on words and situations,” she says. “I also like to see humour in political situations … I have one painting of Joey Smallwood, kind of like the Mona Lisa, I call it The Joey Smallwood, with that enigmatic smile, it kind of makes you wonder what he’s smiling at.” Swain hasn’t shown that work publicly yet, “but people will see them eventually.” Swain currently has a collection of work hanging in the Pollyanna Gallery, Duckworth Street, in St. John’s. — Stephanie Porter
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
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19
By Stephanie Porter The Independent
J
ust 17, 15 and 14 years old, the Meyer sisters — or at least one or two of them — have been taking the stage at the annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival for the better part of a decade. Each of the three girls has found a niche, a favourite medium (or two) to express herself, whether it be songwriting, harp playing, storytelling, writing, or singing. And they’re great young ambassadors for the folk community — passionate, talented, and full of enthusiastic encouragement for other young folks to come out and listen to this province’s culture, past and present. Maggie, Jessie and Sara — from eldest to youngest, the daughters of potter and artist Sophie Meyer and musician Dave Panting — don’t perform as a single sister act. Although they share a 30-minute slot during the festival, they divide up the time to each take a turn in the spotlight. Maggie is a singer-songwriter (“they’re folky-pop songs, you know the drill …”) and, as of this year, a guitarist. Jesse is a harpist and singer. Sara sings too, but she’s becoming more and more focused on writing, with a new short story for children to tell at this year’s festival. The girls will switch back and forth, sometimes helping each other out with backing vocals or musical accompaniment, and allowing their sibling to stand alone. Their father (of the Panting Brothers, and formerly Rawlin’s Cross) may step up to play on one — but just one — piece. In previous years, Panting has been on stage for much of the set. “It adds some pizzazz to our performance, but now we’re trying new things, getting into our own space on the Neil Murray stage,” Maggie says. Neil Murray is the festival’s second stage, devoted to young performers.
Jessie, Maggie and Sara Meyer
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We’re all so colourful’ The Meyer Sisters — regular performers at the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival — encourage youth to come down and check out the music
“It’ll be good to be known as us, not as Dave Panting’s daughters,” adds Jesse. The sisters banter easily, engaging, as confident as they are on stage. Coming from a family of performers, they say there’s never really been any thoughts of stage fright. “It’s been really excellent having artists as parents,” says Sara. “Really we owe all our creativity to (them).”
The sisters have lived on Bell Island for most of the past seven years. “It’s difficult sometimes,” Jessie says. “It’s pretty but there’s not much there … Though they are very appreciative of folk music.” In hindsight, the trio thank their mother for disconnecting the cable when they moved in, nudging them into more creative pursuits. The sisters have local heroes to guide them
Demolition, detonation, and destructive mayhem Bad News Bears Starring Billy Bob Thornton 1/2
Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson) fights to reveal the truth in The Island.
TIM CONWAY Film score The Island Starring Scarlett Johansson
L
incoln Six Echo has been having a rough go of it lately. Nightmares have prevented him from getting a good night’s sleep, which in turn has affected his physical wellbeing. In a world where an individual’s health is regularly monitored, it means his diet is restricted in an attempt to keep him in peak condition. For Lincoln, this is just another in an increasingly long list of peeves. One might consider Lincoln to be just ungrateful, for without the hospitality of those who built the facility in which he lives, he would have never made it. He, along with hundreds more, is a survivor of a catastrophe that made almost all the surface of the Earth uninhabitable. The one remaining pristine location, an island paradise, is accessible only through a lottery system utilized by the facility’s managers. For many of the inhabitants, the thought of winning the lottery and going to the island makes the daily routine easier to bear. This isn’t working for Lincoln anymore. More uneasy with each passing moment, he’s determined to look his gift horse in the mouth, an exploration which carries with it dangerous results. When he witnesses an event that is meant to be kept secret from the facility’s inhabitants, Lincoln finds himself on the run with his best friend Jordan Two Delta. While a number of observers have already mentioned the fact, it bears repeating that a Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon) picture in which nothing blows up in the first hour represents a huge step in the right direction.
In The Island, Bay’s first foray onto the big screen without producer Jerry Bruckheimer, any restraint exercised in the first 60 minutes is dismissed in the subsequent 90, albeit without the usual heaping doses of sentimentality. It’s almost like getting two pictures for the price of one. In the first part, we’re treated to a pre-Star Wars style futuristic tale of people living in a restricted environment, ostensibly for their own good and the good of all. This portion of the film plays out like a solid homage to the likes of THX-1138, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, and their contemporaries. In this case, however, the drama serves as a set-up for the longer, more action-filled portion of the program. With Lincoln and Jordan on the run, the movie turns to the kind of highenergy special effects driven stunts we’ve found in Bay’s previous work. Demolition, detonation, and destructive mayhem take the stage, with the occasional moment or two of conversation to interrupt the proceedings. The cast offers solid performances all round. We’re occasionally reminded in the film, in case we had forgotten, that Ewan McGregor (Lincoln) had played Obi-Wan Kenobi three times. Of course, whenever the camera turns to Scarlett Johansson (Jordan), who’s nothing less than luminous in every frame, we’re likely to forget that there’s anyone else in the movie. No less classy than our two leads are Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou, whose contributions add a layer of substance that would otherwise be absent. The Island is essentially a cautionary tale, as are many futuristic motion pictures. It is to his credit that director Michael Bay doesn’t lose his message among the stunts and special effects, especially in a film that runs well over two hours. Although not as tightly written and edited as it should be, The Island still manages to engage us for its duration, offering the kind of entertainment we expect to find at the cinema during the middle of the summer.
While it’s been almost 30 years, it seems like The Bad News Bears has been with us ever since in one incarnation or another. Only a little while ago we received the soccer version of the film with Will Ferrell in the role originated by Walter Matthau. In between, there have been hockey players, figure skaters, students, and innumerable combinations of young or old misfits coached by a reluctant hasbeen who’s forgotten what it’s like to be a decent human being, let alone a competent athlete. This time around, we’ve come full circle, having lost a definite article in the transition to a new century, as Bad News Bears takes a second turn at bat. Billy Bob Thornton gives us Bad Santa Lite as coach-for-the-money Morris Buttermaker, a hard drinker, irreverent, and completely selfabsorbed. While he’s not the poster boy for the “f” word that Thornton’s character in Bad Santa is, Buttermaker more than makes up for it with his command of a synonym for “excrement” that one’s family physician usually avoids. His charges are pretty much the same, except the part about the alcohol consumption. When they’re not insulting one another, they are interested in playing baseball, just not sold on the notion of doing anything that could make them better players. As a team, they’d be dropped from the league if it weren’t for the threat of a lawsuit from the mother of one of the kids. NO SENSE FOR COMIC TIMING While the screenplay does a good job at punching up a well-worn story, director Richard Linklater, better known for low-budget, independent dramas (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset), seems to have no sense for comic timing, or the notion of a second take. In a film populated with child actors whose talents seemingly lie in their ability to play baseball rather than convincingly delivering a line, it appears that “doing the best with what we have” is juggled alongside “getting it done and over with” for almost two hours. There’s plenty of great comic material scattered through the picture, and some of it works enough to see us to the end, especially the kids who can kill a couple of hours on poop jokes alone. Unfortunately, for the same price as you pay for a polished, professional production, Bad News Bears only offers a shaky dress rehearsal. Tim Conway operates Capital Video at Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His column returns Aug. 14.
— Maggie loves to watch the folk singing sister group, Sara and Kamila; Sara is inspired by St. John’s storyteller Dale Jarvis; and Jesse was drawn to the harp by a visit to Gail Tapper’s house years ago. “I’m so happy because we’re all so colourful now,” says Maggie. “It’s a beautiful thing.” With this year’s folk festival just a week away, the sisters are getting
excited about the chance to see their mentors at work, and check out some of their young colleagues on the Neil Murray stage throughout the weekend. Maggie and Jessie are hosting one day’s worth of events. “A few years ago, we’d be more interested in hanging outside the festival with our friends and playing with glow sticks,” says Maggie. “Now I can’t wait to take it in.” Maggie brings up a story she saw on a recent newscast. During the piece, students in the St. John’s vicinity were asked a number of questions about Newfoundland’s heritage and culture. Most did not know the answers. It annoyed Maggie and her sisters — they can name off a number of musicians, their age and younger, who are learning and continuing the songs and music of the province. They’ve seen the STEP fiddlers, accordionist Alan Ricketts, singer Ellen Power and others delight in Newfoundland and Labrador’s traditions. “The fact there is a Neil Murray stage shows just how involved youth are with their culture,” Jessie says. “There’s so many talented young people.” “Yah,” agrees Sara. “Just to see all the little kids around, so eager to listen to what’s going on … There’s something I love about the folk festival. There’s such a great feeling there, I’m not worried at all about the culture dying.” “I know lots of people that are young that go (to the festival),” says Maggie. “If you have time on the weekend, just go. It’s not that expensive — go laze around with your friends and listen to some good folk music.” The 29th annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival runs Aug. 5-7 in Bannerman Park, St. John’s. The Meyer Sisters perform 3:20 p.m. Aug. 6.
JULY 31, 2005
20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
Beauty in the darkest places MARK CALLANAN On the shelf The Long Run By Leo Furey Key Porter Books, 2004
I
n a community that still bears open wounds inflicted by those brothers of the Roman Catholic church who emotionally, physically and sexually abused the children placed under their protective care, a book like Leo Furey’s debut novel, The Long Run, will be approached by readers with no small amount of trepidation. Once a highly regarded position in Catholic society, one cannot even mention the words Christian Brother these days without triggering a sense of betrayal and disgust. Furey’s fictional account of life at Mount Kildare orphanage in St. John’s describes the events of a full year through the eyes of the teenaged Aiden Carmichael. The main plot line of the novel involves Carmichael’s group of friends’ (“The Dare Klub”) preparation for a marathon. The boys train for their marathon during the night and in the day suffer through school and strappings. Yet Furey’s novel is not one to dwell on misery or despair. It is instead a story of odds overcome through the strength of friendship and love. Though he may be prominently positioned as narrator, Carmichael does not draw undue attention to himself as a character. He is not one to impose his own interpretations on events, but operates as a faithful scribe, allowing himself only occasional moments of poetic intervention and observation: A crow shakes its black feathers. I think how right Cross is. Crows are beautiful. And I think of Nicky and the other pigeons and wish they were as strong as crows. Then I think of that poor little mouse in the crow’s beak, and I’m glad Nicky’s just the way he is.
Largely, he remains an unobtrusive voice, one who speaks in such a candid fashion that narrative reliability is rarely in question. Centre stage at Kildare are “Blackie” Neville, abandoned by his mother after she came to Newfoundland in search of her boyfriend, an army man stationed there; Oberstein, a young, half-Jewish intellectual forced to live in the Christian tradition but loyal to his Semitic heritage; and “Bug” Bradbury, “a little guy with a squeaky
voice and a bad heart.” One of the greatest joys in reading The Long Run is in observing the boys’ interactions, their small conflicts and resolutions, their playful banter, their pubescent conversations about girls. The results are sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious. One of the book’s back cover quotations calls The Long Run “Lord of the Flies without the nihilism.” Think of it more as a prison story set in an orphanage. There isn’t much, in fact, that separates Mount Kildare from a penitentiary. The economic structure works on a similar system of barter and theft, boys faced with the ever-present strap can “plea bargain” for a reduced beating if they implicate other guilty parties, those who betray the trust of their peers are punished with what amounts to mob justice. Justice and ethics are, in fact, primary concerns of Furey’s novel. “Even the little ones know the difference between right and wrong,” Oberstein asserts in describing the younger orphans’ reaction to a film on the treatment of Jews during the Second World War. It is an implicit condemnation of the Brothers’ often brutal manner. If even the youngest children instinctively recognize good from evil, then how can a grown man schooled in moral matters by a Church that professes to follow a philosophy of love and tolerance willfully injure children under his care? The issue of sexual abuse is not often raised in The Long Run, but in its few appearances it is appropriately horrific. In a sequence near the end of the book, the assistant to the Brother Superior tries and fails to trick Aiden’s friends into sexual relations with him by telling them about the holy rite of “transference.” Transference is sickeningly described by the clergyman as “that special initiation time when a teen is inseminated and becomes a man.” Spermatozoa, he insists, are “passed on from the adult to the teenager, from man to boy.” There is a great deal to be admired in The Long Run. Leo Furey brings his little struggling orphans into the world of fiction with great tenderness, pushing them onward through their lives, past all the pitfalls that threaten to throw a winning stride with Blackie’s inspiring cry of “believe.” Theirs is a funny and touching story, written by an author with a clear understanding of dialogue and the workings of the teenage male mind. But the book’s greatest achievement of all, that which makes it a joy to read, is its ability to find beauty and love in even the darkest of places. Mark Callanan is a writer and reviewer living in Rocky Harbour. His next column appears Aug. 14.
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‘I had no intention of coming back’ From page 17 responsible for all the prepping and pampering. Over the years, Wyatt has proven to be someone who never shies away from a challenge or a change of life direction. She grew up in the small community of St. Carol’s on the Northern Peninsula, the youngest of three sisters and the daughter of a fisherman. After studying journalism and heading off to the mainland to work with several large newspapers, Wyatt decided to start up her own Newfoundland and Labrador paper, for all the brain drainers wanting to keep in touch with home — and vice versa. The Rock was born in Toronto, but finding it too difficult to oversee the paper from there, Wyatt says she had no choice but to move back to Newfoundland. “If you had to ask people who grew up with me, I was the least likely to have stayed, not only on the Northern Peninsula, but in Newfoundland. I had no intention of coming back … but it became difficult and I found I had to be here for selling advertising and distribution and I found I was more successful approaching people myself than hiring people to do it. I’m a perfectionist and I’m very ambitious and I’m a control freak.” Around about the same time, Wyatt found her sea legs. “Someone was leaving dad’s crew at
that same time and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you give it a try?’ … I don’t know what I was thinking, but I loved it and I think it has to be in you because it is hard work and it’s physical labour. “I found it was a nice change from the other part of my life, which is my mind racing a hundred miles a minute, because I’m writing something, or creating something all the time — because I write music too.
“When you’re out about a hundred miles in the middle of nowhere on the ocean, I mean, it’s just night and day.” Sabrina Wyatt “When you’re out about a hundred miles in the middle of nowhere on the ocean, I mean, it’s just night and day.” A few years later Wyatt landed the job at NTV and The Rock was put aside, but not the fishing, and she eventually bought her father’s boat and licences when he retired. “I just couldn’t let it go, so I ended up buying it.” As she talks about fishing, it’s
SPEAKING OUT
Gordon Laurin, the former director of the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador called a press conference at the LSPU Hall in St. John’s July 26, to speak publicly for the first time about his firing on July 14. Laurin says he was let go because he disagreed with the Rooms’ CEO, Dean Brinton, about restructuring and staff cuts. In doing so, Brinton was “undermining regular operations of the gallery,” Laurin said. The arts community has reacted to Laurin’s dismissal with outrage, with more than 50 concerned individuals showing up for the press conference. As for his own immediate future, Laurin says he plans to see more of the province, and perhaps work on his own painting, for now. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘Double jeopardy’ From page 17 him in the national spotlight, Haddara has been working for years to teach people about Islam. An imam since 1990 to a Muslim congregation of 100 families and 150 MUN students, Haddara gives talks on Islam to the public. He’s also is in dialogue with the St. John’s Council of Churches, and strives to find common ground — not differences — in religions. Haddara came to Newfoundland in 1986 with his wife and two sons to teach at MUN. Before that, Haddara received his mechanical engineering degree at Ain Shams University in Egypt, before obtaining a master’s degree and PhD in naval architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. He eventually returned to Egypt and found a job with the Suez Canal Authority, then went on to Kuwait to work at the Kuwait Institute of Technology before arriving in St. John’s. Haddara, who spoke to The Independent this week from an engineering conference in Dubai, says the
declaration needed to be made. “This terrorism is important to everybody. It is more important to Muslims than anybody, because it is double jeopardy for them.” In legal terms, double jeopardy means that someone is tried twice on the same offense, even if he or she was acquitted the first time around. “Muslims are being accused strongly about this,” he says, adding, “Islam has nothing to do with this.” While terrorists have been setting off bombs in London, Haddara’s native country of Egypt — whose population mostly follows Islam — was attacked early on July 23 Egyptian time. Islam clearly states adherents must not randomly kill or commit suicide, so terrorists who purport to follow the religion are “not true Muslims,” Haddara says. “They have an axe to grind. “In a way, it seems to me that these people are hypnotized by something,” he adds. During the news conference, the imams were asked if they were denouncing terrorism to prevent, in part, a backlash aimed at Canadians
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almost with a hint of incredulity, as if Wyatt still can’t quite believe she became so attached to the profession, continuing a tradition set by her father and grandfather. “NTV was really good and when I went there, I accepted the job on an agreement I could take an unpaid leave of absence during the summer to fish,” she says. “Of course some people would see that as a conflict, but they were really good about that and I was always really up front with people, like politicians or anyone in the fishing industry, about my own personal interests and I don’t think I was ever biased in my reporting.” If anything, Wyatt says her personal interest made her better at the job and more critical of other fishery reporting. “One thing I did find is I would read other media and think, what the hell are they talking about? That’s not right, because I know, I have my own fishing enterprises and I know what regulations I’m under.” So passionate about her fishing lineage, it’s still hard to imagine the pretty and petite Wyatt, who’s not only in the middle of preparing a makeover show, but also gearing up to release her own CD of original music, hauling a shrimp net. It’s an irony she’s well aware of. “It’s so weird going from, well, television, which is make-up and hair and then going fishing. I feel like I’m an actress sometimes. It’s wonderful.”
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who are practicing Muslims. Haddara says he’s never felt that way in this province. “In Newfoundland we have a unique situation,” he says. Despite the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City, “we haven’t had any backlash in Newfoundland. “We have always found support in the community around us.” When asked religion’s greatest misconception, Haddara says terrorism. More specifically, “that Islam breeds terrorists.” In fact, true Muslims find peace with themselves, everyone else and even the environment by voluntarily submitting to God. “Islam does not condone any kind of killing unless it is in self defense,” Haddara says. It also does not permit, in wartime, the murder of non-combatants, including women, children or religious leaders. Furthermore, there’s no revenge killing allowed, which means no one can kill on behalf of another. Not only that, the imams say they would report someone with extremist ideals to the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 21
WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Newt 4 Dressed 8 Peter Robertson’s invention 13 Act seductively 17 The bounding main 18 Fuel-line part 19 One who gets the cheque 20 One of five Greats 21 Shade’s opposite 23 Muscat citizen 24 Goddess of victory 25 Kind of comedy 26 Thai, e.g. 28 Unpowered aircraft 30 The ___ Man’s Daughter (Findley) 32 Clock faces 33 Butter from a tree 34 Teen bane 35 Raw hides 36 French fish stew 40 French royalty 41 Flower with a face 42 Stone-cold ___ 43 Ottawa type 44 Petty villainy 46 Tape 48 Deep-knee ___ 49 “F¸r ___” (Beethoven) 51 Behind 52 The Rockies, e.g. 53 Goes on boringly
56 Horned beast 58 Cavalry soldier 59 It makes waste 60 Act 61 Talking tests 63 Rainbows 64 Martens 66 What Henri hears with 70 N. Z. parrot 71 Incurred (2 wds.) 72 Fell off 74 It can be lent or bent 75 Indicts 77 Muscle car sound 78 Canadian geophysicist: ___ Wilson 79 Ruse 80 Intended 81 Makes muffins 82 Surroundings 85 Its bark was used for canoes 86 Horror film feature 87 Quarter 88 Author Frances ___ (Deafening) 90 Concerning money movement 94 Pants on fire fellow 95 Prestigious prize 96 Language of Pakistan 97 Nigerian people 98 Catch sight of 99 Nail file substance
100 Dmitri’s lang. 101 Play the part DOWN 1 Curvy shape 2 Fire (Fr.) 3 Kenya’s neighbour 4 Cotton twill 5 Lethargic 6 Campfire remainder 7 The nitty-gritty 8 Mars 9 B.C. wildflower: blue ___ 10 First “Canadian Idol”: ___ Malcolm 11 Sonneteer’s sundown 12 Burdened 13 Forgivable 14 Fruitless 15 Lester Pearson, to pals 16 Kind of pressure 22 Poet Patrick (There is a Season) 27 Lustful, mythical creature 29 Lascivious gander 30 Stanley ___ (Timothy Taylor) 31 Graphic symbol 32 Quebec filmmaker Arcand 33 Sword 35 Margaret MacMillan’s bestseller:
___ 1919 36 Author of Cereus Blooms at Night 37 Uncorks 38 First country to see the new year 39 Senior 41 L. Erie park: Point ___ 42 Inspect quickly 45 Lets off steam 47 Slur over 48 Some opera voices 50 Arctic explorer John Franklin’s long-lost ship 52 Governed 53 Capital of Bangladesh 54 Less done 55 Peterson of jazz 57 Servants 58 Seraglio 60 “O ___ boy ...” 62 Automaton 64 Antonine Maillet’s play: “La ___” 65 Block of ice in a glacier 67 Type of cancer 68 Loll 69 Love 71 Provoke 73 Happiness (Fr.) 76 House of bees 77 In truth 78 Tuber made into poi 80 Early founder of bird
sanctuary 81 Additional pay 82 Boy or man
83 Bearded flower 84 Jump 85 Infant
TAURUS: APR. 21/MAY 21 That project you've been kneedeep in is slowly coming to an end. However, the results won't be what you expected. Don't let your surprise show to those around you. GEMINI: MAY 22/JUNE 21 You'll get back in touch with a loved one who's been estranged. The meeting will be one to remember, so document it on film or video. Ask others to witness the event. CANCER: JUNE 22/JULY 22 Lack of energy will result in a surplus of work for you to do. It's best if you muster up some
strength to get things done one at a time. Ask a friend to help you out.
is the time to indulge in a little R&R. Set out for a mini vacation to recharge and unwind.
LEO: JULY 23/AUG. 23 There's an adventure in store for you, Leo, but there's just no way of knowing when it will crop up. Keep your calendar clear for unexpected events this week.
SAGITTARIUS: NOV. 23/DEC 21 Feeling like the walls are closing in on you, Sagittarius? Don't worry, you're not alone. This rough patch will resolve itself by the end of the week.
VIRGO: AUG. 24/SEPT. 22 You've struck out in the romance department a number of times, Virgo, but this week you'll meet someone special unexpectedly and without even trying.
CAPRICORN: DEC. 22/JAN. 20 After a much-needed break, you're ready to once again begin your hectic lifestyle and pace. You may want to enjoy a few more days of relaxation this week.
LIBRA: SEPT. 23/OCT. 23 Your star continues to shine at work, Libra. Supervisors can't say enough nice things about the job you're doing. Use this praise to your advantage - ask for a raise.
AQUARIUS: JAN. 21/FEB. 18 Although you feel like you've been acting generously, Aquarius, others see you as being a tad on the selfish side. Reassess how you've been pitching in with the workload.
SCORPIO: OCT. 24/NOV. 22 You haven't had much rest lately, Scorpio, or time to yourself. Now
92 Inuit Broadcasting Corp. 93 Army bed
POET’S CORNER
WEEKLY STARS ARIES: MARCH 21/APR. 20 There's no time like the present to take an inventory of your life, Aries. Not happy with what you see? Make some changes for the better. Libra is on your side when you need help.
86 Deities 89 Actor/singer Jackson 91 French vineyard
PISCES: FEB. 19/MARCH 20 You finally get to the heart of a
medical matter, Pisces, and find relief. Enjoy the good news with a night out on the town.
FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS JULY 31 Dean Cain, actor AUGUST 1 Joe Elliott, singer AUGUST 2 Edward Furlong, actor AUGUST 3 Martha Stewart, ex-con AUGUST 4 Jeff Gordon, race car driver AUGUST 5 Al Roker, meteorologist AUGUST 6 Soleil Moon Frye, actress
Casting my nets Upon the challenging sea As the wind hurled Round my face And the scent in the air Of the ocean’s brine As the swelling tide Sought my place Oh, glorious morning light Turning into a sunset red As I journeyed home With nets o’erflowing And calloused hands that bled Uniting in song We’re the “Folks of the Sea” Whose dreams Have been denied And our fishing boats May forevermore Lie rotting on shore Side by side Oh, glorious morning light Our children we must feed So we journey far With tears o’erflowing And troubled hearts that bleed.
FOLK OF THE SEA A poem from the 1995 book Echoes From the Heart by Grace Butler Difalco of Torbay.
JULY 31, 2005
22 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
IN CAMERA
Home on the range
Circle Square Ranch offers kids a chance to experience wild-west living in the great Newfoundland outdoors. Photographer Rhonda Hayward and reporter Clare-Marie Gosse recently found out what life is like down on the ranch.
L
ocals in the Manuels, Conception Bay South area might not even realize, but a genuine wild-west ranch has been operating in their neighbourhood for 17 years. Sprawled at the end of a long, stony lane is Circle Square Ranch, a Christian non-denominational children’s summer camp and off-season activity centre — one of 11 under the Circle Square logo across Canada. With a western theme, including horses, rifle shooting and wagon tents with bunks for overnight campers to sleep in, it’s every kid’s dream set-up. “There’s a lot of people that don’t know we’re here,” says ranch director Wallace Tremblett (a.k.a. the sheriff). “Even neighbours just down in CBS
have said to us, ‘We didn’t know you were around.’” The facilities and outdoor activities run throughout the year, offering group bookings for anyone from businesses to community groups and family birthdays. July and August are the busiest months. The ranch is full of children ranging in ages from 6 to 16, attending camp for weekly or day visits and taking part in horseback riding, canoeing, rock climbing, archery and riflery — just to name a few. “We get some children from Labrador, we have a young lady now who’s with us from Quebec. We have some from Nova Scotia, Alberta,” Tremblett tells The Independent. “We have Russian children from
Chernobyl …it’s a group that brings the children over as a program. They get lots of fresh air, lots of food and exercise and they come over for probably about six weeks and we sponsor them 100 per cent.” Tremblett and his wife Karen took over the running of Circle Square Ranch four years ago. Originally from Conception Bay South and St. John’s respectively, the couple were living and working as pastors in Musgrave Harbour and welcomed the chance to move back home. For their children Josh, 24, Raeanne, 21, and Heather, 16, it was a chance to live at camp — permanently. The siblings pitch in as full-time staff over the summer (the ranch has
around 40 paid and volunteer workers) and help to care for the ranch’s 14 horses, as well as lend a hand with riding lessons. “I was so excited. I’ve never been so anxious to move ever in my life,” says Raeanne. “I love it here. I came as a rancher in ’96 and ’97 and when I turned 17, I came as staff.” With up to 100 kids a week over the summer (mostly boarders), and 14 horses and acres of land to care for year round, Raeanne says it can be hard work, but both she and her brother, Josh, want to build careers in similar areas. Raeanne is currently studying social work at Memorial University and Josh hopes to eventually run a similar camp in Alberta for troubled youth.
As much as the children visiting the camp love the activities (especially the horseback riding), most feedback focuses on enjoying the sense of community, making new friends, spending time with staff and gathering around evening campfires. Some kids come in groups of existing friends, some come to meet new friends and others who might not be able to afford the $250 for a weekly stay, come under a sponsorship. Raeanne says there are often tears when it’s time to leave at the end of a week. “I actually had one little girl … and at the end of the summer, last year, she was like, she was crying, I didn’t know what to do, but she just enjoyed it so much. I guess she never felt so
JULY 31, 2005
accepted as she had at the ranch and that’s what I find most amazing about the ranch.” One of the highlights of a day on the ranch — which begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. — is the Pony Express. Children receive mail, delivered on horseback, from friends and staff members. In wild-west style, four staff cow-
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 23
boys/ girls gallop a thunderous lap from the riding stables down to the dining hall, dramatically tossing a mail bag at the feet of the on-looking ranchers waiting to go in and eat lunch. “The kids are totally amazed,” says Tremblett. “A six-year-old rides a horse that’s 1,000 pounds and the horse just plods along and doesn’t
run, doesn’t do anything, and then they see this horse and how strong they are and how fast they are. It puts into perspective what they’re sitting on.” Raeanne says the Pony Express is also a great way to boost morale. “If one of the staff is having a hard day, you’ll find, in the pony express, our mail, there’ll be tons of mail for
them. ‘You’re doing a great job, keep it up.’” Although Circle Square Ranch is a Christian camp, Tremblett says everyone is welcome and there isn’t a focus on any one religious denomination. The focus is on balanced living. “Our logo is a steer head with a circle and a square. So the circle speaks about God and the four sides of the square speak about the physical, social, mental and spiritual aspects and being balanced.” He says one of the most obvious benefits he sees in the children is how much their confidence improves over the week. “For instance, with the (climbing) wall, we have a lot of children that
come and are afraid of heights and they just sit and watch other kids climb and they might climb just a couple of feet and come down again. By the end of the week they’re up to the top, sitting on the top wall … so it’s a real booster for their morale, to encourage them to do something they haven’t done before. “The other thing is to respect things, to respect nature, like the horses. To respect different things they take for granted, you know. “We try to instill a lot of things in the kids. It’s not just a time when kids come to have fun, but they go away learning something about themselves and about other people and friendships.”
JULY 31, 2005
24 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
ome Front On the Open your eyes to a A special section in cooperation with The Eastern Newfoundland Home Builders’ Association
Greg Hussey
The following interview is the seventh in a series of ten, in which The Independent, in conjunction with the Eastern Newfoundland Home Builders’ Association (ENHBA), will profile local trades people who have been recognized for excellence at the provincial and national level. Greg Hussey is owner/operator of Karwood Contracting Ltd. He is past president of the ENHBA, vice chair of the Canadian R-2000 Builders Committee and the Newfoundland representative for the National Education and Training Committee Universal Access Network (a group dealing with construction and design of accessible homes and buildings in Newfoundland). In addition to numerous other awards, Karwood Contracting is the Canadian R2000 Builder of the Year (2005) and has been the Newfoundland
Answers from those who’ve been there
Home Builders’ Association Builder of the Year three times. How did you first get involved in this Business? I always worked with my parents construction company so I got to know how the industry worked at a very early age. I was lucky in that my father took the time to show me how the construction process worked and my mother showed me how the office and accounting end worked - as she put it “what made the business really work”. I went into the civil engineering program at MUN and graduated in 1994. I think this training gave me a great advantage - I have a strong technical and problem solving background. I don’t think you have to be an engineer to run a residential construction company,
but if you have a weak technical background it can be a real handicap. Construction is very dynamic. Codes, materials, practices, and situations change constantly and you have to be able to adapt and use your knowledge to make decisions quickly. Not only is the technology of running a business always changing (computers, internet, communications, etc) but also the technology of construction itself is always changing. I went to work with Sheppard Green Engineering for almost two years as a consultant, which allowed me to see the design and inspection side of the industry. It was during this time that I met Colette Nap, a local architect, and we’ve been together ever since. In 1995 I left and went back to work with my father’s company, developing subdivisions and building houses.
I work well with my parents but I have a strong independent streak. Every time I look at a situation my mind is always trying to find a better way to do it next time. Working under someone else’s management, you don’t have the freedom to fully control how things are done so in 1999 I left my father’s company and went into business building homes on my own. At first we built mainly very customized homes and did high-end renovations. Over the years our focus has changed a little, to new home construction and more toward the mid-priced market. How has membership in the ENHBA benefited you and your company? Growing up I was extremely shy. The mere mention of public speaking sent me running. I was
so uncomfortable in a crowd that I almost ended my Home Builders involvement at the first meeting I attended; at monthly meetings we start by having everyone stand in turn and introduce themselves and their company - it almost kept me from ever returning. Several years later I was still just as shy when I joined my first committee and was sent to Ottawa to represent Newfoundland in the restructuring of the R-2000 program. I sat in a room full of builders from around the country that I felt were a lot smarter and much more experienced than I was. The discussion got heated and the executive officer of the Canadian Home Builders started to ask pointed questions and (as I thought at the time) attack my viewpoint. My initial response was to jump out the window and run away! But my stubborn, “I’m
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 25
On the ome Front world of possibilities
A special section in cooperation with The Eastern Newfoundland Home Builders’ Association
getting my own way,” reaction kicked in and we had quite the afternoon arguing it all out. Since that day I have been good friends with John Kenward, the executive officer who put me on the spot, and my nervousness in public is gone. While there are thousands of ways the ENHBA has benefited me, this fundamental change in my viewpoint has always been the one that jumps out at me. What’s different about your outlook on the business? Like any business, the purpose of mine is to provide a livlihood for my family and for the team that works with me. But, money isn’t everything and the most important thing for me is to enjoy what I’m doing. Most days that’s the case, and I try to just treat the bad days as another challenge that will make me stronger. Our building focus has changed from very expensive custom homes to more modest homes, but highly focussed on modern building science, which has also changed who our clients are. We don’t build the cheapest homes in town - we try to build the best - so we attract clients that want good value for the money they spend. Our customers work hard for their money and they spend it wisely. It’s that careful, informed nature of our clients that makes the smile
on their faces when they take possession even more satisfying. I’m a closet tree hugger, which many people might find strange for someone in the building and development industry. The worm composter in my kitchen is a dead giveaway. I guess that’s the main reason I like the R-2000 program so much. R-2000 homes are so much better on the environment, more comfortable for the occupants and so much cheaper to own and operate - they just make sense. Most of my volunteer time is centred on improving housing technology and training new entrants to the industry to better understand building science so they can build these advanced homes. Do you gain personal satisfaction from the business? All the time. Solving a problem that no one else could, or helping to improve how we build homes is always satisfying. But the most worthwhile thing for me is when someone really appreciates the effort you’ve put in, to make their dream home a reality. Who do you turn to with questions or problems? I believe in the team approach so I surround myself with people that are really good at things I don’t do well. That’s what makes our company strong. Colette is an
Architect and self employed and my parents are in the construction business as well so I always have lots of people to turn to. Many times this makes all the difference. Do you find it hard to juggle work and life? Or has work become your life? There is no juggling. You’re always on. If I’m working then I’m trying to adapt what I’m doing to improve how we do business. I guess that’s why I don’t like slow quiet activities. Most people say that’s the way to relax but it just allows me to do the activity AND think about work. I only relax at activities that demand all my attention like climbing a mountain on a snowmobile or flying down a black diamond course on a pair of skis. Fast and dangerous, now that’s relaxing. No one every accused me of being normal. What was your greatest moment
in the business? Winning the Canadian R-2000 builder of the year. I think we’ve done a lot for energy efficient housing in Canada and I think we can do much more in the future. To be recognized by my peers from across the country for promoting and building in the R-2000 standard was quite an honour. Do you think you will ever leave this career and begin another? I started a restaurant two years ago (Pizza Delight in Paradise) and I’m working on developing software for the construction industry but I don’t think I’ll every leave the industry completely. If you had to give advice to someone thinking of following in your path, what would it be? This is a great career; there are almost limitless
opportunities. But, you need to know yourself first so that you can pick a part of the industry that best fits your talents. If you are good at what you do you can progress very quickly and if you are really really good you can come to work with me!
26 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
On the
JULY 31, 2005
ome Front
A special section in cooperation with The Eastern Newfoundland Home Builders’ Association
Get it in writing
When you hire a contractor always know exactly what you are getting into. Never subject yourself to lawsuits, financial liens or liability for accidents or injuries at the workplace. Hire a professional builder or renovator that you know does things the right way, with satisfied customers and a business that is run properly.
that the contractor did the job right. Follow through and contact the homeowners. Ask similar questions to the ones that you asked when collecting recommendations. Were your requests carried out properly, in a timely manor and within the specified budget range. Would the homeowners hire the contractor for work in the future.
If the contractor is unable, or unwilling to give you references, chances are you are dealing with a shady individual. Don’t hire them!
STEP THREE Get protection from risks! It is important that the contractor
you hire is running their business the right way. If not you may be taking some serious risks. Poor work quality, unnecessary costs and no warranty service are just a few of the problems you may encounter. Not to mention the possibility of a very expensive legal bill.
Professional contractors always carry liability insurance and workplace compensation coverage (when required). They heed to municipal building permit and licensing rules. This will protect you. Without such protection, you could be held liable for injuries or damages that occur as a result of your building or renovation work.
You can ensure finding a skilled professional contractor by following these four easy steps
STEP 1: Get recommendations STEP 2: Get customer references STEP 3: Get risk protection STEP 4: Get it in writing! STEP ONE Get recommendations! There are a number of questions that you should ask before hiring a contractor. Start by asking your friends and family, as well as neighbors for recommendations. Have they recently hired a contractor to build, renovate or repair? Were they happy with the results? Would they hire the contractor again in the future? Inquire about the quality and craftsmanship. Was it completed on time within the agreed price range? Make certain that the contractor supplied a written contract and didn’t request for payment “under the table.” Contact the Newfoundland and Labrador Home Builders Association for a list of professional builders and renovators in your area.
STEP TWO Get references and check them! Any good contractor has a list of satisfied clients. Ask your contractor for some customer references. These people can confirm
East Coast Concrete Finishing
JULY 31, 2005
On the
Be certain to get proof of protection from these risks. Ask the contractor for insurance and workplace.
provide customers with a clear, written contract.
Be sure your written contract or agreement spells out exactly who is responsible attaining the building permits and approvals. You will want to contact your insurance company before construction begins, since most homeowner’s fire and liability insurance does not cover construction-related risks. At that time, you may determine any additional coverage needed during construction
Not all contractors play by the book.
STEP FOUR Get it in writing! Always get a written contract that states What Where When Who and for How Much the work will be done, and remember, never agree to anything before you have it in writing. A contract is important for many reasons. Without one there is little one can do in the event of poor or incomplete work. You risk being extremely over charged and it is unlikely that you will get any warranty or aftersales service. In addition, a proper, written contract gives you specific legal protection should your contractor go bankrupt or fail to pay for the material and labor necessary to complete your project. Without this it is possible that you will face liens and have to pay suppliers, after all is said and done. Even if you already paid the contractor. Professional contractors always
Be careful about “great deals!”
The real professionals care about
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 27
ome Front
A special section in cooperation with The Eastern Newfoundland Home Builders’ Association
their reputation. They also want to maintain that reputation. Underground contractors don’t always care about such things. These contractors will offer you a very low price just as long as there is nothing written on paper. This sort of thing is being done because they do not do business the right
way. This will not protect you from there mess-ups! If something should go wrong, you just may end up with some very serious legal bills, and there is probably not much that can be done about incomplete work at this point.
Always heed this warning. Don’t get “ripped-off” by that “great deal”. Chances are you will end up with a real nightmare on your hands. Play it safe. Hire a professional contractor and get what you pay for.
28 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2005 — PAGE 29
Florence Rolfe, owner of The Strawberry Tree children's clothing boutique in Churchill Square, wouldn’t agree to an interview. However, the store's method of free advertising — putting a shop bag over parking meters on weekends, when parking is free anyhow — seems to cheekily re-draw boundaries. Paul Daly/The Independent
Parking predicament Meters in downtown St. John’s rake in more coin than ever By Lydia Zajc For The Independent
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evenues from parking meters in St. John’s are expected to soar more than 70 per cent this year over 2001, the last election year, the city’s latest budget shows. This year’s budget for the City of St. John’s estimates parking meters will bring in just over $1 million on top of expenses, compared to $600,000 in the budget of 2001. “Any suggestion that this is a revenue grab is not true,” Mayor Andy Wells tells The Independent. Wells says the jump could be attributed to the owners of private parking lots asking the city to ticket cars in off-peak hours. “We’ve taken over some 20 private parking lots in the city,” Wells says. The city, which has 26 enforcement officers, also added up to 30 new meters and spaces in downtown St. John’s. Another additional source of revenue, according to the 2005 budget, came from recently instituted ParkCards — electronic cards that can feed meters and return leftover time to the card. Their sales and renewals added $84,600 to the
bottom line. The 2001 figure of $600,000-plus isn’t much higher than when Wells first took over the mayor’s office. In the 1997 budget, extra parking meter revenues were predicted to reach $577,880. The point of parking meters is to keep cars moving in and out of spots in busy places such as the downtown core and Churchill Square, Wells says. “You want to turn over meters as much as possible.” If there were no meters in downtown St. John’s, then people who work there would grab all the free spaces and stay there all day, he says. Instead, meters ensure there is always a flow of cars in and out of high-traffic areas. “You’ve got a tremendous supply and demand,” he says. The fee for a downtown parking meter is 25 cents for 15 minutes, to a maximum of two hours. Harbour Drive has meters that run up to eight hours. Store owners in Churchill Square on Elizabeth Avenue are miffed there are meters in the parking lot. One store representative, who asked not to be named, says the meters deter some shoppers from dropping in at cer-
tain times. “It does really affect business during the week, particularly doing the daytime,” he says. “It is a bit of a detriment having parking meters in the square.” “We have had several customers who made a mention that the last time they were here shopping, they had a ticket. Why are we metered and the Avalon (Mall) isn’t?” Wells says Churchill Square meters were put in place to prevent staff and students from Memorial University, which is just around the corner, from using up all the spaces. “With the proximity to the university, the square would be blocked with employees and students,” Well says. “We had to drive them out of there.” LOW COST Carl Keeping, the city’s manager of budgetary services, says parking meters take in more than the price of operating them because once they’re installed, the only cost is the people who go around to collect the coins. “It is a money maker, but then the purpose of a meter is to get the cars moving,” he says. Excess revenues from meters and fines pay for other programs such as getting the lines
painted on city roads, traffic control, and engineers, Keeping says. The projected $1 million in revenue is but a small part of the city’s overall $144.8 million budget. Wells says the city instituted ParkCards in the last few years to encourage people to pump in the maximum time allowable, and hopefully avoid fines. But “it’s difficult to get people to change,” he says. The store representative at Churchill Square also urged people to put in more money to help prevent getting the basic $15-parking ticket for an expired meter. “One loonie, one hour,” he says. “Spend one dollar, save yourself 14.” When it comes to parking downtown, Wells suggests people use the Atlantic Place garage, which has its entrance off Baird’s Cove, between Water Street and Harbour Drive. It generally has space and is close enough to most of stores. “You can park in the Atlantic Place parking garage, you won’t have to walk farther than at the (Avalon) Mall,” he says. The mayor issued an open challenge to the critics of parking meters and fines: “Please tell me what the alternatives are.”
‘North America’s economic raging bull’ If Ireland is the ‘Celtic Tiger,’ Siobhan Coady says Newfoundland and Labrador should be an even more powerful animal
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ime to stand up, stand out and stand strong. It’s easy, isn’t it, to blame someone else? To constantly look elsewhere as the source of all ills and turmoil, to say “if only” and create a sense of loss because you have no control. We all suffer from this tendency; it helps with our humanity to be able to say “it wasn’t my fault.” The truth of the matter is this: if we are ever going to make our way, ever going to stop feeling like we are havenot, then we have to stand strong in our conviction and responsibility to make things right. It is time we stopped blaming the feds, the weather, the govern-
SIOBHAN COADY
The bottom line ment, the curse of it all and start saying what we do right, what we do well, and how we are going to succeed. It is time for us to stand up, stand out and stand strong. There is a new Newfoundland and Labrador and we are the future. News this week of the closures
announced by Abitibi, continuing ills in the fishery, and challenges in the oil and gas industry all made me reflect on what we need to do to ensure our success. If Ireland is the Celtic Tiger we should be North America’s economic raging bull. It is time to seize our moment. We have a strong provincial government and a prime minister who is listening — let’s take advantage of this time. Along with some of the provincial initiatives such as the new Department of Business and the innovation strategy, to name a few, here are some thoughts
on other areas that need concentration. FISHERIES There has been much discussion since the recent CBC television documentary (Hard Rock and Water) about the fisheries and how Iceland took control, developing a viable, dynamic, world-class industry. Many are reflecting on how we might follow suit. Well, let’s start with a few simple first steps. How about overhauling the Fisheries Act and bringing it into the 21st century? How about allowing the size of vessels to increase — heading out to sea in boats that are 64 feet and 11 inches in
length is unsafe and ridiculous. Fisherman should also be permitted to combine licences to ensure economic viability and to improve safety. Why are there different federal policies in adjacent provinces? Whether there should be a food fishery is not the debate — the debate is centered on why Nova Scotia can exercise its rights and Newfoundland and Labrador can’t. The federal government needs to continue to increase its efforts to ensure the preservation of the stocks. Stop foreign overfishing. Great that the prime
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See “Focus our energy,” page 31
30 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
JULY 31, 2005
White Rose tankers expected to shuttle oil straight to market By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
Heather Knutsen and Jasmine Knutsen will take approximately 24 hours. he two brand new oil shuttle Canship-Ugland also operates the tankers waiting to service the three tankers servicing the Terra Nova White Rose offshore oil project and Hibernia fields. Most of the oil travelled from their manufacturing from those two projects offloads at home in Korea recently and are biding Whiffen Head, before heading to time until production at the Floating refineries in Canada and the eastern Production Storage and Offloading United States. (FPSO) platform begins. Newfoundland and Labrador has “At the moment actually they’re on one oil refinery for processing sour charter to BP while crude at Come By we’re waiting for Chance, but no White Rose to start; in as yet, to “They’ll go back and facilities, Europe and trans deal with the sweet Atlantic between the forth, direct to market, crude production United States and from the Grand Africa,” says Sid Banks. Premier United States.” Hynes, chairman of Danny Williams Canship-Ugland, the recently announced Sid Hynes Newfoundland-based an interest in buildoperators of the ing a second refintankers. ery. The Heather Knutsen and Jasmine The Whiffen Head transshipment Knutsen are expected to be called to facility was built in three phases, work on the Grand Banks in Septem- beginning in 1998, to service the ber or October, Hynes tells The Inde- Hibernia project. In 2000 the facility pendent. was extended to meet the storage The two tankers have a crude oil needs of Terra Nova and in 2002, an capacity of one million barrels and are additional storage tank was completed, expected to load in tandem from the to allow for future flexibility. platform and then head straight to marCurrently, the facility can store three ket, bypassing the Whiffen Head million barrels of crude oil, with room Transshipment facility near the Come for any necessary future expansions. by Chance oil refinery. The site receives around two million “They’ll go back and forth, direct to barrels a week from Terra Nova and market, United States,” says Hynes. Hibernia. “We don’t make that decision, the Hynes says Whiffen Head provides oil companies do, but generally speak- a convenient intermediary stage ing, if we have time to go direct to between production offloading and market we will, but if production is up, market. then we bring it to Whiffen Head and it “These special tankers, they’re not goes from there by second-leg regular tankers by any stretch, so obvitankers.” ously they’re very expensive ships so The White Rose FPSO, SeaRose, you keep them close to home where which is pending completion at you need them, where they’re more Marystown, has a storage capacity of valuable to you, because they can do 940,000 barrels of oil — equivalent to specialized work that other ships can’t about 10 days of production. Loading do.”
T
The finished product as it goes through the rollers at the Abitibi Mill in Grand Falls-Windsor.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Abitibi closes two mills
Move comes after $43 million loss; union seeks McGuinty’s help By David Bruser Torstar wire service
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bitibi-Consolidated Inc. will “tear the heart out” of Stephenville, Nfld., when it closes its paper mill, the biggest private employer in the town of 8,000, says a disconsolate Mayor Cec Stein. The forestry products company is closing two mills — the other is in Kenora — selling other assets and curbing production as it targets renewed profitability after a secondquarter loss of $43 million. Stein said he knew Abitibi was looking to downsize, but was shocked to hear the operation will close in October. “We had about 235 (workers) in the mill itself. Then we had the loggers and the truckers around. You can look at a direct 300 jobs. Our town takes in $700,000 direct (tax) money from Abitibi. That paves a lot of roads.” The Montreal-based company will permanently shut one machine in its Kenora newsprint operation this October and indefinitely idle the other while it continues negotiations with the province to lower energy costs. Kenora employs 360, and was identified in January as a cost-cutting target in an in-depth operations review. So too was the Fort William facility, which makes higher-grade paper products, employs 265 in the mill and another 100 in the woods, and is up for sale. “Maybe no one (at Fort William) has to stop work at all,” says spokesperson Lorne Gorber. “There’s lots of interested parties.” In Grand Falls-Windsor, Nfld., despite threats from the provincial government, the company says it will move
ahead with plans to close one of two newsprint machines. Walwin Blackmore, mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor, says the community has known since March that Abitibi was considering shutting down the Number 7 machine at the mill. Abitibi’s operation there employs 490. There is no set date for the shutdown and Blackmore is still hopeful a deal can be worked out. Company president John Weaver says “less than half” of the jobs will be lost there. The move drew a quick rebuke from Premier Danny Williams’ office. “Our government will not stand by and allow them to devastate these communities that depend on these mills for their survival,” he says in a release. Williams says if the machine closes by 2010, the province can invoke legislation that will strip the company of its timber licences. The premier says his government rejected a company proposal that called for joint development of two hydroelectric projects on the Exploits River in central Newfoundland. The $300 million proposal amounted to a ransom note because the province would have had to assume most of the risks even though the company wouldn’t guarantee it would keep the two mills open, Williams says. As for the province’s decision to reject the company’s proposal for two new hydroelectric plants, Weaver says the project simply proved to be too costly and time consuming. The company says it had cut costs to deal with the second-quarter loss, caused by rising energy and wood costs. “Clearly, these are tough decisions but they are necessary to restore our
long-term profitability,” Weaver says. “The problem with Stephenville is its energy costs have gone up significantly and couple that with what were already, I think, perhaps the highest wood costs in Canada, it just was not sustainable,” Weaver added. The company says its quarterly net loss amounted to nine cents a share, compared with 18 cents a share a year ago. Analysts on average were expecting a loss of three cents a share, according to Thomson First Call. The closings at Kenora and Stephenville will affect more than 600 workers and result in a pre-tax writedown of about $75 million and costs of about $35 million in third-quarter results, the company says. Ontario’s largest union of forestry workers blamed the provincial government for the Kenora job losses and called on Abitibi to reconsider its decision. “Premier (Dalton) McGuinty cannot duck his government’s responsibility for what is going on in the forest industry and we demand an immediate meeting with him and his officials on the issue,” says Cec Makowski, a vicepresident of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. McGuinty’s office referred questions to Ginette Albert, spokesperson for the minister of natural resources, who says, “The minister last year convened a council on forestry and the report came out in June and we’ve acted on a few of the recommendations. “There’s more coming out in coming weeks. We have been working with the company to try to come up with some of the solutions to some of their challenges.”
JULY 31, 2005
I
n 1998 the City of St. John’s, headed by Mayor Andy Wells, commissioned a report on the offshore industry, shortly after taking the Terra Nova oil companies and the C-NOPB to court for failing to uphold a benefits agreement. Cabot Martin, a natural resources consultant and industry expert, compiled the $20,000 report entitled, The City of St. John’s and the Challenge of Oil, which Wells credits as the main reference for his dealings with the oil industry since. The report is also a motivator behind Wells’ mandate to create more benefits and transparency within the industry, should he be appointed chairman of CanadaNewfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. (Labrador was added to the name in recent months.) Below are excerpts, taken from The City of St. John’s and the Challenge of Oil: • “If the City is interested in developing an oil and gas strategy … it must start thinking like an oil town.” • “At these prices (in 1998), it is easier to make money here than there (Alberta), where the cost of new reserves are on average exceeding current price.” • “The substitution of Newfoundland for Alberta as Canada’s main source of light crude within the next decade or so will constitute a fundamental change in the Canadian economic structure.” • “It would be naïve to dismiss the possibility of a certain bias against St. John’s based on size, climate and remoteness … of critical importance is location of oil related research, engineering, geo-science and head-office functions.” • “There appears to have developed an unfortunate tendency, not yet effectively countered, for the oil industry to forget the essential meaning and purpose of the Atlantic Accord in the area of industrial benefits.” • “This province can obviously not count on Ottawa to enforce the Atlantic Accord in respect to industry building. It is solely up to us to do that.”
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 31
Andy Wells’ oil bible
A tanker outside Petty Harbour
Paul Daly/The Independent
• “On the low end of the scale, we have a 1990 Geological Survey of Canada estimate of 4.5 billion barrels or 25 per cent of Alberta’s resources … these are vast resources, worth even at $15 US per barrel, between $100 billion Cdn and $300 billion Cdn. This does not include the value of associated gas reserves.” • “At the present level of understanding, the total petroleum resource
Focus our energy on economic success
endowment (oil and gas) of all the other (eastern) provinces combined does not come anywhere near the potential of this province’s offshore area.” • “As the Terra Nova engineering fiasco shows (failure of the companies and C-NOPB to uphold benefits agreement, Condition 1, regarding relocation to St. John’s of engineering team), additional mechanisms must be put in place to better regulate offshore devel-
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From page 29 minister is involved, wonderful that surveillance has been increased, now let’s flex even more muscle and, with some Canadian pride, stop those decimating a world resource. TOURISM The economics of the tourism industry are growing annually. Last year it contributed over $800 million to our economy, a significant increase from 2000 when it was $600 million. There is significant potential in tourism and as the world grows warmer and “hot spots” of turmoil increase, so too will the attraction of our clean air, water and land. While government has increased its marketing budget, we continue to lag behind the rest of Atlantic Canada. We need continued emphasis in this area. Once and for all we need a solution to Marine Atlantic, upgrades are required to the Trans-Canada Highway and a tourism strategy for this province should continue to emphasize the potential of the European market and the cruise industry. OIL AND GAS We finally have the Atlantic Accord settled. We are all happy to have that behind us but there is much more to be accomplished. The value of our oil production, mostly due to high oil prices, was close to $6 billion in 2004. That’s a tremendous impact on our economy, and yet Newfoundland and Labrador struggles to ensure we receive maximum benefits. As we inch closer to a bonafide industry, we need to focus on attracting exploration and ensuring the province is marketed aggressively so that we have consistent, continuous exploration. This, coupled with reducing regulatory obstacles, will ensure a vibrant industry with improved benefits. The bottom line is we have what it takes to make this province an economic raging bull. We are fighting Newfoundlanders after all. Let’s stop working counterproductively and focus our energy on making the changes we need to ensure this province’s success.
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opments … the first step in that process would be to create more openness at the C-NOPB; to have more of its decisions made in public. Such public access is generally considered beneficial to the workings of other regulatory bodies.” • “The C-NOPB apparently conducted no independent analysis of the Consortium’s (Terra Nova companies) assertions as to the negative impact of complying with Condition 1.”
• “The C-NOPB failed to ask for, and consider, the evidence of opposing parties and members of the public … even though concerns as to the Consortium’s non-performance of Condition 1 were well known to the C-NOPB.” • “The first and most basic thing it (the city) should do is set up a high profile, downtown City of St. John’s Oil and Gas Resource Centre.” — Clare-Marie Gosse
32 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
JULY 31, 2005
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 33
Ad#: HVR-2005-16-CB
H
umber Valley Resort, located in the Heart of the beautiful Humber Valley on Newfoundland’s west coast, is a vacation destination for internationals and locals alike. Comprised of some 2400 acres of forested mountainside vistas along the Humber River, the Resort offers a world-class lifestyle not only to its guests, but also its employees. Whatever the season, the lifestyle opportunities and recreational activities are endless. In winter, premium downhill skiing and snowmobiling are just outside your office door, as are kayaking, golfing, and world-class salmon fishing in the summer, just to name a few. Founded, owned, and operated by the pioneering Newfound Developers Group of Companies, Humber Valley Resort is the first of several international resorts currently in development, including its sister resorts in St. Kitt’s, Nevis, and Ireland.
ASSOCIATE CORPORATE COUNSEL Competition # HVR-2005-16
Reporting to the Director of Legal Affairs of Humber Valley Resort, and in consultation and coordination with our General Counsel for Newfound Development Group of Companies, you will be challenged with the pivotal responsibility of executing commercial, financial and real estate transactions which are instrumental to the development and sustained growth of the Resort. You will lead the Resort’s Legal Division and be responsible for its effective and positive management. As a member of our Senior Team, and working closely with all Divisions of the Resort, you will participate in decision making on many issues that affect the development and operation of the Resort. Specifically, you will be expected to: • Oversee the conveyancing of land to international clients; • Present management reports in a timely manner; • Project and meet cash flows from land sales and construction receivables; • Effectively manage all aspects of the Legal Division; • Consult on all legal issues affecting the Resort; • Interact daily with international clients The ideal candidate will be an outgoing, confident and dynamic individual with a minimum of 3 years legal experience in the areas of commercial, real estate, and corporate law; be a member in good standing with the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, and demonstrate superior written, presentation, time management and communication skills. Applications must be received by 4:30 pm Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2005. Please quote competition #HVR-2005-16 when forwarding your resume, cover letter and references in confidence to: Director of Legal Affairs 11 Mountainview Drive, Humber Valley Resort P.O. Box 370 NL A0L 1K0 Fax: (709) 686 1359 e-mail: dwhite@humbervalley.com
w w w. h u m b e r v a l l e y. c o m
34 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS
Raptors GM searching for cheap point guard By Doug Smith Torstar wire service
A
s Toronto Raptors general manager Rob Babcock decides his next move to plug a gaping point guard hole on the Raptor roster, he may not find anyone willing to buy what he’s selling. Apparently spurned by draft pick Roko Ukic, who opted to play in Spain rather than become the backup to Toronto starter Rafer Alston, Babcock says he hopes to find a veteran willing to take fill that role for a couple of years — at relatively low pay — or until Toronto can convince Ukic to try the NBA. There aren’t too many free agents available who would fit. The best of the lot, given all the Raptors have to offer is 33-year-old Travis Best, who is unlikely to be resigned by the New Jersey Nets. Best has never suggested retirement and his close relationship with Raptor swingman Jalen Rose — they grew up together in Detroit — could be a selling point. Beyond Best, the crop of free agent point guards would appear to be too expensive, too young or unwilling to join a team that’s missed the post-season for three years in a row. Only Memphis’s Earl Watson, a career backup who made $1.4 million last year, could be a candidate. The others out there include a quartet of restricted free agents — Marko Jaric of the Clippers, Jannero Pargo and Chris Duhon of the Bulls and Washington’s Steve Blake — and aging veterans Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel. Solution for crossword on page 28
JULY 31, 2005
Caps look to continue dynasty After five straight provincial titles, St. John’s takes nothing for granted as team prepares for finals By Darcy MacRae The Independent
Y
ou can’t accuse the St. John’s Caps of complacency. After winning the past five AllNewfoundland Senior A Baseball titles, the team is preparing for the 2005 finals as if they haven’t won a championship in decades. Such an approach may seem unnecessary, but head coach Sean Gulliver says it’s one of the keys to the Caps’ dynasty. “I always emphasize that what’s happened in the past, is in the past,” Gulliver tells The Independent. “The fact that we won five in a row doesn’t put any runs on the scoreboard for us. We still have to go out and play better than our opposition.” The competition in this year’s championship series is the Corner Brook Barons, the same team St. John’s has defeated in each of the past five years. However, as Gulliver points out, despite the Caps winning ways, the matchups have hardly been one-sided. “In two or three of those years, it really could have gone either way,” says Gulliver. “We had two sevengame series and two six-game series.” Gulliver gives a lot of credit for the Caps’ success to the team’s overall depth. On the pitching side, Mario Tee, Mike Fifield, Peter Fifield, Bobby Kent, Karl DeHart, and Graeme Lahman give the Caps six strong arms they can rely on at any point in the game. The coach has plenty of options in the field. Mark Healey and Gerald Butt share the catching duties, while Brian Farewell, Steven Crouse, Matthew Peterson, Trevor Clark and Mike O’Neil will all see action at shortstop and second base. Third base is looked after by Dean Norman and Brent Power, who will also split time as designated hitter with Peter Madden. Michael Poddle, John Butler, Gerry Stone, Kirk Fleming and Butt will see time in the outfield, while power hitter Andrew Symonds occupies first base and David Buckingham serves as a utility infielder capable of playing multiple positions. “In a long series, you use guys to their strengths, whether it be a defen-
From left are Chad Gulliver, Gerald Butt, Kirk Fleming and Matthew Peterson.
sive replacement, a pinch running or pinch-hitting situation,” Gulliver says. “It’s not very often you’ll have guys on your bench who haven’t been used somewhere in the series.” With players coming in and out of the lineup, the Caps’ batting order rarely is the same two games in a row. But on most days, centrefielder Poddle bats leadoff with Butt, Symonds, and Stone hitting 3-4-5 in the order. “We’ve got guys in the middle of the lineup who can hit homeruns and we’ve got some guys who can bunt, and use the hit and run,” Butt says. “Being able to do more than one thing offensively is always a threat.” While Butt, Symonds and Stone are being counted on for their power, much of the team’s success offensively will be determined by Poddle. The 22-year-old is an offensive catalyst at the top of the order, using his quick
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
bat and fast legs to reach base with regularity. Considering he is already seen by most local baseball fans to be the best defensive centre fielder in the province, his offensive contributions make him the total package. ‘BEST ALL AROUND’ “He’s one of the best all around players in the province,” says Gerry Fleming, who gets a good look at Poddle’s skills while occupying a corner outfield position. “He can hit a homerun for you, he can steal bases and he plays great centrefield.” Corner Brook also has their share of quality ball players, with veterans Darren Colbourne, Mike Brake, Frankie Humber and Darren Roach expected to once again lead the Barons’ attack. The Caps are especially familiar with Colbourne, who was picked up by St. John’s for last year’s nationals and will once again join the
red and white at the 2005 nationals in Kamloops, B.C. from Aug. 23-30. As the Caps learned in last season’s finals, Colbourne is capable of putting a team on his back and carrying it to victory. “I believe Colbourne was probably the MVP of the whole series last year. He did everything, he single handily won games by himself,” Butt says. “To be truthful, I hope he can’t do it this year. But we expect nothing but the best from Darren.” Colbourne is expected to be Corner Brook’s game one starter, while Gulliver says Tee will take to the hill for St. John’s. The first three games of the best- ofseven final take place on the west coast from Aug. 5-7, with the remaining games being played in the provincial capital, from Aug. 12-14. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
Hockey returning — at a price By Chris Zelkovich Torstar wire service
W
hen the NHL returns on Oct. 5, hockey fans will notice a few changes in the on-air product. But the one they will notice most is that they will have to pay extra to watch every Toronto Maple Leafs game. As was the plan before last season was aborted, the digital Leafs TV channel will carry 12 Toronto games exclusively. That could end up costing from $24 to $150 a year, assuming you can get digital TV in your area, if you don’t already subscribe to Leafs TV. Exactly which 12 games will be on digital hasn’t been decided yet, but Leafs TV vicepresident John Shannon is aiming for a steady diet of Friday night games. “There are nine Friday games and if we can get most of those we’d be very happy,” Shannon says. Friday opponents include Calgary, Buffalo, Boston, New York Rangers, Washington, New York Islanders, Atlanta and Carolina. Shannon is expecting an increase in subscribers, but isn’t worried about a firestorm of anger once fans realize they have to pay extra. Shannon says he received only 17 e-mails from angry fans when last season’s schedule was announced. “It’s a process,” he says. “We’re hoping to open a door for other sports teams that will allow digital to be more acceptable.” Television schedules won’t be finalized until next week at the earliest, though it is known that CBC will open its season on Oct.
8 and that TSN will carry the Leafs opener against Ottawa on Oct. 5. TSN may broadcast a doubleheader on opening night, which will see all 30 teams in action. The change hockey fans will be happier about is the addition of play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson to Hockey Night In Canada. He joins holdovers Bob Cole, Harry Neale, Greg Millen, Kelly Hrudey, Don Cherry and host Ron MacLean. Recognized as one of the best in the business, Hughson will basically replace Chris Cuthbert as the CBC’s western announcer. In addition, he will also call 45 Vancouver Canucks games on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. ‘NEVER DESSERT’ “I’m thrilled,” Hughson says before adding he is excited about the opportunity to broadcast playoff games. “For 20 years I got the main course, but never dessert.” Terms of the deal were not announced. Hughson did say that his CBC deal puts an end to NBC’s plans to use him as its game announcer when the American network starts NHL broadcasts in January. “This was too good to turn down,” he says. The only other change on the CBC broadcasts will be the addition of a skills segment that will air in the pre-game and betweengame shows. CBC senior executive producer Joel Darling says he saw no reason to overhaul the show. “I don’t want to make massive changes,” he says. “I don’t think there needs to be.” The CBC will broadcast its Hockey Day in Canada special, which was aired by TSN during the lockout, on Jan. 7.
Elimination of obstruction From page 36
Sittler Gilmour
addressing its many problems first. The new rule changes are nice — and I agree with all of them — but more has to be done. First of all, the best hockey league on the planet has to stop rewarding losing teams with a point, even if the loss does come in overtime. Secondly, the league should ban fighting once and for all and stop giving roster spots to players who can barely skate. Most importantly, the complete elimination of obstruction has to occur. So while Crosby will one day be the face of the NHL, it is too soon to point to him as the knight riding in on his white horse to save the day. For that reason the Penguins are probably the best team for him, since they have a certain veteran forward who went through many of the same issues when he was a teenaged phenom.
LOCAL PLAYERS TO BENEFIT Like any hockey fan, I was excited about the recent ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL players and owners. Finally, Saturday nights are coming back, much to the chagrin of non-hockey watching spouses everywhere. But what also has me giddy about the new deal is what it will do for players from the province. With a new focus on offence, guys like Ryan Clowe and Jason King should be given a chance at steady work in the NHL while players such as Michael Ryder and Danny Cleary should continue their big-league success. With the NHL back in business, roster spots could now be open at the AHL level for NHL draftees like Mark Tobin, Jason Churchill and Adam Pardy, taking them one step closer to fulfilling their dreams. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
JULY 31, 2005
INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 35
Canada’s golf future bright
VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION
But it’s the present that’s a problem By Dave Perkins Torstar wire service
J
on Mills has all but played his way on to the PGA Tour for 2006 and, further down the pro golf food chain, Canadian fans still are remarking — or should be — on the NCAA individual championship won by British Columbia’s James Lepp. There is, then, the suggestion of a future for more Canadians in the big time. Mills’ season of quality was topped by his calmly handled coronation at Whistle Bear in the Canadian PGA, an honoured old event. Lepp’s underreported achievement was a breakthrough moment no Canadian previously won the title once taken by Phil Mickelson (three times) and Eldrick Woods. So let’s think positively about 2006 and 2007 and beyond. It’s the present that is the problem, beginning with Mike Weir’s continuing search for his game gone missing. Stephen Ames also has been struggling to regain his best form, Ian Leggatt and Glen Hnatiuk, both recovering from injuries, aren’t doing much and David Hearn, the young slugger from Brantford, still is waiting to leave his mark on the tour. It all comes down to Weir, though, and that’s the direction lately: down. He maintains his tenuous hold on a spot on the Presidents Cup team in the latest call-over. He stands ninth, a hair ahead of Stuart Appleby, with Peter Lonard, Mark Hensby, K.J. Choi, Shigeki Maruyama and Ames next in line. The top 10 make it and captain Gary Player has indicated he will simply pick Nos. 11 and 12, unless something weird happens. So Weir likely makes it to Virginia in September, competing in a competition he dearly loves. To this point he has played his way out of the Tour Championship — limited to the top 30 on the money list; he’s 38th — and unless he wins a tournament by the end of the year, he will miss the 2006 season-opening, winners-only Mercedes Hawaii. Missing the Tour Championship
and Mercedes, two events he is used to playing, would be bad enough, but for Weir to blow the Prez Cup — especially with the next one, in 2007, all but certain to be held at Royal Montreal — would be severely disappointing. There’s no point in debating which part of his game has let him down most. It all has. He is 164th in driving distance, 85th in greens in regulation, 178th in putting and 145th in scoring. He has always been a hard worker and is tinkering away with coach Mike Wilson in Utah. Weir’s a stubborn guy and he’s going to work it out his way, on his terms. OBSTACLES The good news is that he has always overcome obstacles before. The bad news is that they haven’t seemed as large and difficult to solve as this past year’s set of problems. His schedule works against him. He has missed six of seven cuts since the Masters and look at his schedule since then: Pinehurst under U.S. Open conditions; Cog Hill in the Western Open, always a demanding course; St. Andrews under British Open conditions. He isn’t playing this week and unless he decides to go to Colorado for the International, where 9-irons fly 180 yards, his next course will be Baltusrol set up for a major. How is a guy going to find his game playing tough tracks under major requirements? Better he jump into a regular PGA Tour birdie-fest somewhere, where he can hit some fairways and greens, make a few birdies and get back on the beam. His website reveals his schedule as the PGA, the World Golf Championships NEC Invitational at Firestone, the Bell Canadian Open, the Presidents Cup — he sure hopes — the WGC American Express and the Tour Championship. He doesn’t get into that last one unless he has done a lot of good between now and then. He clearly could shake out of it any time. If he doesn’t, it’ll be a fresh start in 2006 — and for a lot of guys.
Ken Goodland, Geoff Coughlan and Mike Rudofsky of The Rock rugby team hope to be the last ones standing when they travel to Regina to tangle with the Saskatchewan Prairie Fire in the Rugby Canada Super League championship game on Aug. 13. The Rock qualified for the final by winning the league’s Eastern Division with a 35-19 win over the Niagara Thunder on July 24. The trip to Regina marks the third time in four years The Rock has qualified for championship game. Paul Daly/The Independent
INDEPENDENTSPORTS
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2005 — PAGE 36
Ryan Clowe, NHL prospect
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
Almost there By Darcy MacRae The Independent
R
yan Clowe is as happy as any pro hockey player to see the NHL lockout finally come to an end — even if he’s never played a game in the league. The 22-year-old has a lot riding on the National Hockey League restarting this fall, since his performance on the ice last season left him on the cusp of making it to the show. “It seems this is the year young guys are going to be given more of a chance to make it,” Clowe tells The Independent. “With some of the older guys having taken a year off, it could be tough to jump right back in. For us younger guys, now is the time to show what we can do.” Clowe — who grew up in Fermeuse before moving to Mount Pearl at 14 — is one of the San Jose Sharks’ top prospects and a leading candidate to land a job in the NHL this season. He led the Sharks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Cleveland Barons, in scoring last year with 27 goals and 35 assists for 62 points in 74 games. The offensive output was a big improvement from his first year in the league, when he finished with 40 points in 72 games. “First year in the league, you’re trying to
Ryan Clowe led San Jose’s farm team in scoring last season and hopes to land roster spot with the parent club this fall get used to that level — making the adjustment from junior hockey to pro hockey, with bigger, stronger men. But this year I felt more confident and wanted to take on a bigger role,” says the leftwinger. “We had a younger team this year, so I had a chance to play a lot more than I did last year. Some of the older players moved on, so I was given more responsibility, especially on the power play.” Clowe says players in the AHL monitored the situation in the NHL all season long. Some guys were NHL veterans who were in the American league to stay in shape while others were in the same boat as Clowe — a young player looking for a shot to make it to the big time. With the NHL now back on the ice, he says players throughout the minors
and junior hockey are breathing a sigh of relief. “When you’re in the AHL, you’re playing hard hoping to get a call up. Everybody wants their shot to play there (the NHL).” Standing 6’2 and weighing 220 pounds, Clowe is a prototypical power forward. He forechecks hard, battles for the puck both in the corners and in front of the net and takes the body at every opportunity. He has good straight away speed (a skill he has worked on relentlessly since leaving home in 2000 to play with Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and a nice set of hands. All of these skills have been on display at Feildian Gardens in St. John’s this summer as Clowe suits up in the Budweiser Xtreme Summer Hockey League. While the games are non-contact, his size and strength are evident as he holds off defenders with one arm while carrying the puck, and firmly stands his ground in front of the net while the opposition’s defence relentlessly tries to pry him from the lip of the crease. Considering he’s one of the biggest players on the ice, it’s surprising to learn he doesn’t wear shoulder pads during game action — he simply looks as if he does. His bulk is sculpted during workouts with personal trainer Bob Thompson five days a week. Given his progression on the ice and
dedication away from the rink, it is little wonder Clowe is confident heading into his third pro season. “After two years in the AHL, I feel I’m ready,” Clowe says. “Hopefully I’ll get a shot. San Jose is a good organization; they like to give their young guys a try. It’s a good opportunity for me.” Should Clowe crack the Sharks’ roster, he will be part of a league with several new rules. The removal of the red line for the purpose of two-line passes, smaller goalie equipment, and deciding tie games with shootouts are just some of the rules players will have to adjust to — although Clowe saw many of them last season in the AHL. Overall, he says he likes the new rules and is confident they will open up the game. “I like deciding a winner. I don’t like ties, so I’m for the shootout,” he says. “I think removing the red line is going to help. I don’t know if it will turn it into a run-andgun game, but it will help get rid of the trap. And as a forward, I like seeing the goalies wear smaller equipment.” While he’s currently without a contract, Clowe expects to sign a deal with San Jose in the next two weeks. From there, he will attend a mini camp in San Jose in midAugust before hitting the ice at the Sharks’ main training camp on Sept. 10. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
The Steeltown Saviour O
h, to be Sydney Crosby. The money, the fame, the legions of young female fans (something I can identify with, myself). But as good as it sounds, the perks of being the top hockey prospect in the past 10 years also come with plenty of pressure. Pressure to live up to expectations on the ice; pressure to be the charismatic star Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux before him (and Eric Lindros failed to be); pressure to save the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise; and above all else, pressure to save the NHL. That sounds like a little more stress than I was able to handle at 18, or at
DARCY MACRAE
The game 26 for that matter. Being branded the next great hockey star — Gretzky himself said Crosby could break his records — is one thing, but being asked to raise the NHL from the depths of despair before you’ve played so much as one game is another. I have no doubt Crosby will one day be the best hockey player in the world. I’m not sure if he’ll be a Gretzky or
Lemieux type, but then again, few are besides Gretzky and Lemieux. But Crosby will be to his generation what the Great One and the Magnificent One were to mine: the player who captures everybody’s attention and imagination with his every move because he’s simply too talented, too dedicated, and too damn good to ignore. Being a native of Nova Scotia, I’ve followed Crosby’s career closely since he first made waves five years ago when he made the roster of a midget AAA team in only his second year of peewee. I had the chance to meet him two years later when he travelled to Antigonish to discuss the possibility of playing for the town’s Maritime
Junior A Hockey League team, and was somewhat surprised by what he had to say. It wasn’t that he had any shocking news, rather it was the calmness and professionalism he displayed handing various media interviews. Although he was just 14 at the time, it was clear celebrity had already made the short, wild haired, high school freshmen as media savvy as any professional athlete around the globe. Watching the Steel City Saviour (as he has been dubbed since the Penguins won the right to draft him) conduct interviews on television these days, it is obvious he has continued his classes in media relations 101. He
doesn’t get stuck for an answer and always knows how to say a lot, without actually saying much of anything. I guess it’s fair to say my gruelling interview on that warm spring day in Antigonish forced Crosby to take his PR skills to the next level. However, despite his on-air composure, the heart and mind of a 17-yearold boy still races inside Crosby’s body. No matter how many goals he’s scored or cities he’s played in, he is still just a kid — a kid who’s being asked to do too much, too soon. Before the NHL relies on Crosby to save the day, it should look at See “Elimination of obstruction,” page 34