VOL. 3 ISSUE 32
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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 7-13, 2005
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OPINION PAGE 11
IN CAMERA 22
Michael Harris on Montreal Film Festival scrapping plans to screen Karla
Picture editor Paul Daly shoots the sheriffs
Passed up
MEMORIAL MEMORIES
Fish processors association fails to spend ‘free money’ to market shrimp; federal funding withdrawn ALISHA MORRISSEY
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he association representing the province’s fish processors spent less than 10 per cent of a $359,000 federal grant for marketing shrimp in international markets last year, The Independent has learned. As a result, the federal government has cut this year’s grant to the $30,000 spent last year. Fishing industry representatives in the province are outraged, accusing the association of wasting an opportunity and falling down on the job. Loyola Hearn, MP for St. John’s west and Fisheries critic for the federal Conservatives, says he’s sure there’s an explanation for why the funds weren’t spent, but doesn’t understand why an industry that’s suffering would pass up an opportunity. “Our problem has always been marketing … and when somebody gives us free money to do that and they leave it sitting on the table, to me it’s certainly irresponsible unless there was an awfully good excuse,” Hearn tells The Independent. The association’s executive director, Derek Butler, See “Feel down,” page 2
Joni (Murphy) Green and Mary (Strang) Bugden reminisce about their roller skating days at Memorial Stadium. Joni is holding her first pair of skates that she got at age 13. During their teenage years, the girls roller skated every night during the summers for 50 cents. St. John’s city council is slated to take a final vote to determine the future of the stadium site on Monday, Aug. 8. Paul Daly/The Independent
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “There’s no reason that (Loblaw’s supermarket on the Memorial Stadium site) shouldn’t go ahead ... unless one of the six (councillors) changes their minds and if they do they’re going to be eaten alive.”
— St. John’s Mayor Andy Wells
The mill in Nackawic, N.B.
Ron Garnett/ AirScapes
Been there, done that
T
he possible reopening of a New Brunswick mill less than a year after its closure may offer hope to the west coast Town of Stephenville. The St. Anne-Nackawic Mill in Nackawic, N.B. was owned by Parsons and Whittemore, a New York-based pulp company that declared bankruptcy the day after shutting down the mill last September. The mill was the economic cornerstone of the town for 35 years before it closed, leaving 400 people out of work and unable to collect pensions and benefits owed to them. Mayor Robert Connors says it’s been a hard road, but he’s pleased to hear news of an agreement between India’s Aditya Birla Group, Quebecbased Tembec and the province of New Brunswick that may see the mill reopen.
“The provincial government did jump on it pretty good (in September, 2004). They put a couple of taskforces together in order to go out and identify and put together letters of interest,” Connors tells The Independent between excited cellphone calls from the community about the deal. “Obviously, there’s been some incentive — obviously — I’m not privy to the negotiations.” Roughly $5 million of federal and provincial funding was set aside to mothball the mill. Connors sympathises with this province’s troubles with Abitibi, which has announced the closure of its Stephenville mill this coming October. A papermaking machine is also slated to close at its Grand Falls-Windsor operation. “I’ve been reading and we, of course, are a pulp town just like you people and we get all the news and we See “N.B. mill,” page 5
Former Memorial president changed face of post-secondary education CLARE-MARIE GOSSE Editor’s note: Fourth 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.
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New Brunswick town whose mill closed — and may reopen — offers advice to Stephenville By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
The mind of Mose
LIFE 19
A tale of two festivals OPINION 7
Ivan Morgan on cheating the mail-in ballot Life Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paper Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10 10 20 28
ven after he retired as president of Memorial University in 1981, Mose Morgan continued to take an active part in the growth of the institution that had become his “passion.” His niece, Margaret Morgan, says it would be impossible to separate her uncle’s character from his vocation. “One crosses over to the other,” she tells The Independent. “He lived up on Nagle’s Hill and from Mose’s house you got a whole view of the university, or the potential of the university, so he could keep an eye on it and he could see the room for growth.” In love with learning, Margaret says Morgan would work, translating Latin into English in his later years, after he fell sick to the cancer that would eventually claim him. “Just as a way of keeping his mind sharp.” Morgan was president of Memorial for nine years, and also held the honourary title of president emeritus.
From his first days at the institution as a student in the 1930s, to his death in 1995, he was, in the words of former president Art May, “an integral part of the university’s very fabric.” In the preface of his biography, Mose Morgan, A Life in Action, author Cyril Poole calls his subject, “one of the most influential teachers in the history of Memorial University, he was also from its founding, its guiding hand. “Mose Morgan must be remembered as one of the great Newfoundlanders of the century.” The Independent’s Navigator’s panel agreed, placing Morgan in their top-10 list. Panelist and chancellor of Memorial University, John Crosbie, calls him “one of the great Newfoundland educators. “His life was dedicated to education and he was a man of great vision and determination. He’s the type that gets things done. Since World War II, I think he was one of the most influential and effective persons in the social public life of Newfoundland.” In his career at Memorial, Morgan was influential, if not responsible for establishing new facilities such as the medical school, the Ocean Science Centre, the Queen Elizabeth II Library, the School of Music (which was named after him) and the division of junior studies. See “Down to earth,” page 2
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From page 1 was on vacation and didn’t return The Independent’s messages. Neither did the vice-chair of the board of directors or the association’s second in command. Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ (FFAW) union, says the shrimp industry has been trying to come up with a way to market shrimp to international markets — particularly in the European Union, where a 20 per cent tariff on Canadian-caught shrimp prevents profitable export — and the association has, in his mind, squandered an opportunity. “We’re blessed with a wonderful resource and we haven’t succeeded in getting a return that makes it worthwhile for people. They really just fell down on the job.” While McCurdy says the money couldn’t buy a tariff reduction in Europe, there were inroads that could only have been made with money — like lobbying the EU to improve the tariff situation. “That could have been spent to at least increase our profile in the market or explore new opportunities.
“They get it and they waste it. I think that’s inexcusable. It’s too frustrating to talk about. It’s just a wasted opportunity that we desperately need.” Hearn says tariff issues in the EU have been the biggest barrier to shrimp markets and Denmark, in particular, has opposed lowering the 20 per cent tax. “Where does their shrimp come from? Off the Flemish Cap on our coasts and not only are they catching shrimp that’s been allocated to them, but they are the country who is catching 10 times the quota.” Officials with the federal Aquaculture Department refused to release information on what the association spent last year’s $30,000 on and the reason the larger chunk of funds weren’t spent. Sandi Greyell, acting director of the Canadian Agriculture and Food International Program secretariat, the two-year old program offering funding to 35 different industry groups, says it wasn’t surprising all the money wasn’t spent. “There were some inferences in the market they were targeting and what happened was that it didn’t make sense any longer to spend the money for the promotion when the Canadian product was going to have some difficulty per-
haps being competitive or getting access to the market,” Greyell says. “Basically without referencing specifically what happened in this case a lot of the support from this program goes to market Canadian products and you have to have access to the markets and sometimes access can change. You know it could be affected by such things as tariff barriers.” Greyell says the money couldn’t have been used to lobby the EU to reduce tariffs. “I could say that the program supports some — I’ll say advocacy efforts, in terms of improving access to markets — but we don’t support lobbying foreign governments. “We won’t pay industry to go and lobby other governments.” Greyell says the association wasn’t the only one whose funding was changed. The positive side, she says, is the money won’t have to be paid back as it was handed out on an as-needed basis and those funds can be reallocated to other groups. “In a lot of ways I think it’s more prudent to not spend the money and then reallocate it to better projects where we’re going to get better bang for their bucks.”
‘Down to earth’ From page 1
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“The one thing that pleased him most was that the school of music was called after him,” says Margaret. “He used to joke and say he had a fear they would call the administration building after him.” Morgan was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the recipient of eight honourary doctorates, a Rhodes Scholar and helped establish the J. R. Smallwood Heritage Foundation and subsequently ensured the completion of the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. Profits from the encyclopedia led to huge donations to the university. Friends and family describe him as a “down to earth” man of strength, determination, principles and compassion and — as a bayman born and bred to a large family — a true culture-loving, rural Newfoundlander. “I think resourcefulness and determination were some of the Mose Morgan characteristics that came out of that era,” says Margaret. “I think he explains with a laugh. realized the disadvantage, that being He goes on to say that as an inexpefrom an outport you would have, to get- rienced teacher, he had been hired to ting an education in town … when he work in the division of junior studies, came in, you know, he was the one based on his academic qualifications from around the bay.” and theatre training, but Morgan was Morgan’s family established a schol- determined to have experienced teacharship program, specifically for outport ers only. students, and by introducing the divi“I was hired into that by the head of sion of junior studies, Morgan showed the division on a Monday, let’s say, and his concern for equal education rights. was phoned on the following day to say The program was designed to bridge that I was un-hired, because I didn’t, in the gap between high school and uni- fact, have teaching experience … so I versity for students in a school system was hired and fired within 24 hours by that was as diverse as each community Mose. in Newfoundland and Labrador. “I was bitter, I can tell you, but then Memorial University professor he hired me again. He said if I got the Shane O’Dea was a friend and former experience he would hire me and I employee of Morgan’s and a pallbearer wrote him the next year and he hired at his funeral. His first encounter with me.” the president, however, was hardly O’Dea describes his friend as a encouraging. “direct” man and somebody who could “He did have me dis-appointed the probably make enemies — but enemies day after I was appointed,” O’Dea that would “very seriously respect
him.” He also had an impressive talent for securing government funding. “He was single minded in his notions about that university. I think it was John Carter, when he was minister of Education, was heard to remark that if Mose was offered the budget of the hospital system for Memorial, he would take it and wouldn’t think at all about the hospital.” As involved as he was in his work, Margaret says her uncle, who was once widowed, twice married and had no children, loved to spend time at his cabin. He would soak up the kind of rough and ready life he was born into (he spent most of his childhood in the small community of Salvage). “When he was on, say, holidays, he had a cabin in Conception Bay where he would you know, cut wood … the things that were chores growing up became a means of relaxation later on.” She says he inspired in her a strong sense of Newfoundland culture. “I’m a townie, born and bred, but I have a great respect for my … Newfoundland culture, my heritage because, like I say, growing up in town I never had to experience some of the things, even that my generation around the bay had to experience. But you get it from the stories and from the passion of relating it. He loved Newfoundland music, Newfoundland folklore.” She says he could be a reserved man, particularly when it came to talking about his experience serving in the Second World War, and strict too, but members of the family would always seek him out for advice. “He always felt there was more respect in the effort than in the result.” Judges selecting Our Navigators were John Crosbie, John FitzGerald, Noreen Golfman, Ray Guy, Ivan Morgan and Ryan Cleary.
Weather station closure possible breach of Atlantic Accord
T
he federal government’s decision to relocate the Gander weather office to Halifax last June may be a violation of the Atlantic Accord. Section 49 of the Accord states: “The Government of Canada shall establish in the province, where possible, regional offices with appropriate levels of decision-making for all
departments directly involved in activities relating to the offshore area.” An oil industry source says the wording of the provision was decided after “long and protracted negotiations,” and was aimed at making sure “things like the removal of the weather office to Halifax did not happen.” St. John’s Mayor Andy Wells, sup-
ports the campaign to have the weather station returned to Gander, says “not only were they supposed to establish offices, they certainly weren’t supposed to take offices out. “And what is more relevant to the offshore than weather data collection — the analysis and the research and the reporting?” —Clare-Marie Gosse
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3
DARCY MACRAE
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hipwrecks were once a common and often celebrated event on the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since the first recorded wreck in the early 1500s, more than 10,000 vessels have gone to the bottom off our shores. “On the Southern Shore, in the Cape Race area, they might have three or four ships some years,” says Joe Prim, coauthor of Men Against The Sea. “They usually had at least a couple of shipwrecks every year.” Fog, lack of navigational equipment on vessels and on shore, sudden storms, lack of weather forecasts, and strong currents often forced vessels several miles off course and crashing into the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador. The rugged coastline made local waters some of the most treacherous in the world. “You were navigating by the seat of your pants,” says Jean Pierre Andrieux, author of Marine Disasters and Shipwrecks of Newfoundland and Labrador, volumes one, two and three. “Sometimes you had epidemics of shipwrecks. In the early 1900s, six oceangoing vessels, within a space of five weeks, went ashore almost side by side in the Cape Race area.” Quite possibly the oldest recorded shipwreck off the province’s shores, and likely throughout North America, was the Basque vessel San Juan, which went to the bottom of the sea at Red Bay on the Labrador coast in 1565. The 300-ton San Juan was in the Red Bay harbour when violent winds suddenly struck from the north, dragging the vessel’s anchors and crushing its hull against Saddle Island in mere minutes. Many more similar accidents occurred in the centuries that followed, but at no time did sailors every consider avoiding the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador altogether. “If you were going anywhere, you had to pass through here,” Andrieux says. When a ship wrecked, survivors were almost always treated with kindness and hospitality. Such was the case on July
More than 10,000 ships have gone to the bottom off Newfoundland and Labrador
Shipwrecks 21, 1842 when the American steamer Britannia struck land at Cape Ballard after encountering thick fog. All 200 passengers survived and were picked up by two schooners from Ferryland, which then carried them to St. John’s where the survivors’ every need was taken care of by the government of the day. As kind as people from the province could be, they were equally as opportunistic. While shipwrecks were tragedies for the passengers on board, they often marked a joyous occasion for nearby communities. For many remote areas of the province, winters were especially tough, with little food available by the time February and March rolled around. But when a ship transporting vegetables, fish or even livestock wrecked nearby, townsfolk saw an opportunity to feed their families. “If it accidentally came, people would love to have a shipwreck,” says Andrieux. Once a boat was determined to be abandoned and no longer saveable, residents of nearby communities would climb into their dories, row out to the ship and loot it of anything valuable. Although these actions were illegal and not thought highly of by some, they were generally accepted by those living in the outports. “It was all right, because it was only going to the bottom anyway,” says Prim, who co-wrote Men Against The Sea with Michael McCarthy. Sometimes the survivors did not like watching their products being swooped up by locals and word of their displeas-
ure travelled far. In May, 1894, the British steamer SS Caliko hit the Horsefire rocks close to Grates Cove, at the extreme northeast point of Bay de Verde. The people of Grates Cove offered hospitality to the survivors, but then proceeded to loot the ship of everything they saw — including cabin fittings, saloon furniture, ship’s gear, ropes and chains. The looters would not even allow the ship’s passengers back on board to collect their personal belongings. The story of what occurred made its way south, and the New York Times editorialized against such actions and called residents of Newfoundland’s remote areas pirates. The Times proceeded to say that either an American or English gunboat should sail to Newfoundland and shell the island as a means of convincing its residents that looting shipwrecked vessels was immoral.
Andrieux says there are even stories of people from Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as other regions of the world, intentionally luring ships toward their rocky cliffs in hopes of securing a few helpings for the winter. He says a popular folk tale tells of a steamer travelling close to Cape Race on a foggy night. The ship’s crew saw a light in the distance and thought it was another ship. The steamer immediately altered its course, causing it to end up hard aground. When the crew reached shore, a woman was said to have thrown her arms around the captain’s neck and say, “Thank God for this happy blessing in bringing your ship on the land. Now we have a stock of grub for the winter; the light on the cow’s horns paid off.” Although many of the more flamboyant tales of shipwrecks and the use of lanterns on livestock to attract passing ships come from the outports, there have
‘I crawled out from under the wreckage’ St. John’s native and Rhodes scholar Cyril Fox was a hard-living journalist in London for years; now he finds himself in the ‘sanctimonious icebox’ of Toronto By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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yril Fox, talking a mile a minute, lets a noticeable note of contempt creep into his voice as he mourns the loss of the old community spirit — the hard-drinking variety — of journalists. Fox, a St. John’s native and Rhodes scholar (1952), spent years based in London, working for Canadian Press and Reuters, and absorbing all the Fleet Street community had to offer. Back then, virtually all the newspapers and news agencies were located in that one part of town. “Fleet Street (in London) used to be incredible,” he says. “It used to be a journalistic and printed word village, right from the 15th and 16th centuries … all that village communing, it was one part work and three parts party, I’m afraid.” The lunches were long, the evenings late, and the mornings early. Not a healthy regime, Fox admits, but glorious in its way and in his memory. It’s a way of life that’s gone by the wayside, as media conglomerates and the new media take over, and offices move and scatter. The old Fleet Street kinship has been shattered, replaced by a straightlaced business district. “The pubs close at 9 p.m. because all the good little boys from the banks go home early and instead of drinking at lunchtime, they go to the gym,” Fox says. “Nobody smokes or drinks, everything is healthy and rather dull … “Newspaper people are not the boozers they were … I just about survived it all, crawled out from under the wreckage.” Fox laughs heartily, seemingly getting a kick out of his own powers of perseverance. And while he’s joking, in a way, about the grandeur of those hazy times, there is also a real nostalgia for the old-work days. He was in a city he loved, surrounded by people who fascinated and inspired him — things missing for him today.
Cyril Fox
Fox has spent much of his academic and professional life moving around. After two years at Oxford in the 1950s, he attended Colombia University, earning a masters degree in history. He flirted with entering the world of academia, but journalism grabbed him first. He started with the Associated Press in Newark, N.J., a “honeycomb of crime” and great place for a young reporter to develop chops. Then it was on to New York to work for Canadian Press, then a move to Montreal in 1963, for a “lively” four years, around the time of the separatist bombings. He moved on to London, and was given a number of high-profile Canadian Press assignments: in Paris (to cover the 1968 student riots), Brussels, Northern Ireland (the early stages of the troubles), Cypress (the Turkish invasion), and a number of feature writing expeditions to the Middle East and
Scandinavia. “And then they wanted me back in Canada,” Fox says. “But London was too much a magnet.” He left Canadian Press, joined Reuters as a senior editor on the world news desk, and worked on Fleet Street for a dozen years, beginning in 1974. “I stayed put then, but I didn’t mind — I was in London.” Fox remembers the days in London warmly. “Before inflation hit in the ’70s, it was dirt cheap,” he says. “The pubs were great, bookshops were great … and then there was all the communing on Fleet Street. It was a good time, and fascinating on every front.” Fox may be a career journalist, but he developed just as much passion, still burning strong, for the work of writer and artist Wyndham Lewis, considered one of the leaders of the British art and literary scene in the early 20th century. “That snowballed into something that took up half my waking life,” Fox says. “I’ve been collecting his (writing and art) for 50 years … it just goes on and on, I can’t resist picking up things I see. I’ve got a dozen copies of the Canadian version of Selfcondemned (1954), they’re over on the shelf waiting for some deserving person I could give them to.” Indeed, Fox’s conversation always finds a way to wind back to Lewis — the book he picked up in a used bookstore on a recent visit home to St. John’s, the four compilations of work he’s edited, the artworks from his own collection, the Pratt lecture he gave on the topic in the 1980s. Lewis, born in 1882 in Canada, died in 1957 in England. A controversial character and avant garde thinker — a contemporary of T.S. Elliot, James Joyce and Ezra Pound — Fox describes Lewis as “awkward and wide-ranging … swimming against the grain all the time. “He was a pioneer in writing about the media, and full of ideas he doesn’t get credit for, his books were seething with original ideas.”
also been disasters within the boundaries of the capital city. On July 4, 1932, the British steamer Marsland went hard against the rocks of The Narrows leading into St. John’s harbour. The vessel was not terribly damaged but was aground the vestal rocks close to the harbour. It was originally thought the ship could be refloated, but efforts to do so failed and by July 12, the vessel had sustained too much damage to be repaired courtesy of the heavy ocean swell breaking across the semi-submerged ship for more than a week. Today, such accidents are virtually unheard of, and Andrieux predicts they will remain so in the future. “We have modern equipment, so shipwrecks are few and far between. They generally only happen if you have a fire or a major storm where the ship breaks in two or collides with another vessel.” darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
Fox befriended Lewis’ widow in England, and after her death, became a trustee of the Wyndham Lewis Trust, organizing exhibitions and events. There is still today a society in Lewis’ name, which Fox was part of, in London. But Fox has found a frustrating lack of interest in Lewis on this side of the Atlantic. Not helping the situation, Lewis apparently offended more than one Canuck by referring to Toronto as a “sanctimonious icebox” in his writing. “But he was the sort of character who could sweep you away,” effuses Fox. “He got a grip on me and it lasted 50 years.” Fox also found time to write book reviews for The Independent in London, and numerous articles for North American and European journals on Lewis and other writers. He’s also published a book on world radio. These days, he’s polishing up a book of his memoirs. After leaving Reuters, Fox tried living in St. John’s for a couple of years in the 1980s, but “found it a bit constricting.” He returned to London, and then, in 1994, moved to Toronto in hopes of finding freelance work. “It must have been a death wish,” he says now. The writing assignments have dried up, and he’s finding less and less people in the city interested in the things he is. “The sanctimonious ice box continues to be as bland and dull as it was in Lewis’ time,” he says with a hearty, but biting, laugh. At age 74 and with a bum leg — and as spirited and opinionated as ever — Fox is contemplating another change of venue. The winters in Toronto are miserable; the summers smoggy; the landscape “bland and boring … like living in outer space”; and the architecture “pretty second rate as well.” Fox plans to travel to Vancouver soon to have a look around. It’ll be his first time that far west and, if he likes it, he may stay on, search out some new kindred spirits and more adventure. “A new city … it might be rejuvenating,” he says. The west coast lifestyle may fit his new doctorimposed health regime, too. Long gone are the days Fox could live on “greasy bangers” and pints. A victim of the old journalist’s lifestyle, he’s been on the wagon for 15 years now. “I’m now on fruit and rubbish like that,” he says. “Lettuce and greens and all that kind of stuff. No beer or wine. “It ain’t the life it used to be.”
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4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
AUGUST 7, 2005
‘Ain’t over ’till it’s over’
BUSKIN’ LOOSE
St. John’s city council prepares for final vote on Memorial Stadium rezoning; arguments for and against strong as ever By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
S
Anahareo White-Malone performs silk aerial acrobatics at the St. John's Buskers’ Festival at Harbourside Park in the city. Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
GENERAL MANAGER John Moores john.moores@theindependent.ca 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 Website: www.theindependent.ca
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EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 2005 September 18 - 30
OPP returning to clue up The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will be back in St. John’s in lateSeptember to complete two investigations into the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. Detective Insp. Dave Truax, spokesman for the seven-member OPP team called in by Constabulary Chief Richard Deering, tells The Independent they’re “still working away.” He expects the investigation to wrap up this fall. At least one of the matters centres around evidence and testimony presented at the Lamer inquiry relating to the wrongful conviction of Randy Druken. The OPP officers are scrutinizing the inquiry as it relates to the Constabulary. The other matter has to do with a “previously conducted investigation,” and possible criminal activity within the RNC carried out within the past year. The OPP has made several trips to this province this year since it was revealed in the April 24 edition of The Independent that they had been called in. — Alisha Morrissey
t. John’s city council is gearing up to strike the final death knell (or life knell, depending on opinion) to Memorial Stadium on Monday, Aug. 8. After winning its court battle with local residents, angry at the proposed building of a new Loblaw supermarket, the city will once again pass vote on rezoning the stadium area from open space to commercial. “Yes. That’s going to be approved,” Mayor Andy Wells, a strong supporter of the project, tells The Independent. “There’s no reason that shouldn’t go ahead. I mean the thing was thrown out of court, basically … unless one of the six changes their minds and if they do they’re going to be eaten alive.” The last council vote for rezoning showed a six to five split in support of the development, despite a commissioner’s report advising against it. It took three different planning presentations from Loblaw before enough councillors were willing to vote in favour. The current development proposal has been designed after two Loblaw supermarkets in Montreal, which are located in renovated older buildings. The new store will replace the old Dominion on Elizabeth Avenue and will incorporate the structure of the stadium, with an extension on the Lake Avenue side. The parking lot will be repaired and reduced in size to accommodate the building. Aside from a grocery store, services will include various retail boutiques, a gymnastics centre, a café, an outside seating area and public washrooms. Wells says if, for any reason, the vote on Monday doesn’t favour rezoning for what he describes as “one of the best developments to ever happen to the city,” the issue will probably stall until after the next election. “I mean there’s 65 or 70 per cent of the people in this city are fed up and want it to go ahead. There’s only a small minority who are persisting.” Councillor Shannie Duff is one of the development’s strongest opponents. She says she would like to see the space used as a green area or sports facility. “It doesn’t have to be city run, it could be in conjunction with the Y (YMCA), who’ve already expressed an interest in it. To compliment the sports recreational and green space uses in that area would be the ideal. I
think if we go ahead with this decision, we’re going to be very, very sorry down the road.” Duff points to potential congestion problems, saying the area could become a “traffic nightmare.” She says the city should have asked the general public to submit proposals for the site years ago — particularly as the stadium was built through the efforts of local citizens, in memory of war veterans. Duff doesn’t think a poll vote for or against the supermarket on fall’s election ballots would be a good idea, however. “That would depend on what people understand,” she says. “The danger with polls on complex issues is the battle for information … and you only have a yes no on a referendum.” Duff adds the financial losses of turning the land into a green space have been “grossly exaggerated. “We were offered $2 million which we had, but if it’s an inappropriate and wrong use then you don’t lose anything by giving that back … at the moment we wouldn’t have any losses, because all we would be saying — as we have done to many other developers with applications before us — is ‘This is not an appropriate use for this site, so we’re not going to rezone it.’ “The mayor has used scare tactics constantly and he’s acted as an almost advocate for the developer in this case to a degree, in my mind, that’s been unprecedented.” Wells says he has no reason to think the vote on Monday won’t go in favour of the project, as expected. “You just never know, it ain’t over ‘till it’s over, and so I’m just assuming that the six people who are voting on this issue are going to be consistent, and on Monday night the property will be rezoned and then it’s a matter for Loblaws to come in with a specific building application.”
Andy Wells
SHIPPING NEWS Keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the ships in St. John’s Harbour. Information provided by the Coast Guard Traffic Centre.
25th Anniversary Leading in a changing workforce... How to become an employer of choice.
For further information or to receive a brochure, please contact Bill Morrissey at 737-7977, e-mail: billm@mun.ca
PLAN TO ATTEND THE EDP 25th ANNIVERSARY REUNION SEPT. 22-23
MONDAY, AUG 1 Vessels arrived: Maersk Placentia, Canada, from White Rose; Maersk Chancellor, Canada, from White Rose; ASL Sanderling, Canada, from Halifax; George R. Pearkes, Canada, from Sea; Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, from Terra Nova. Vessels departed: Akaderick Keldysh, Russia, to Sea; Oceanex Avalon, Canada, to Montreal; Winchester, Canada, to Petite Forte.
TUESDAY, AUG 2 Vessels arrived: None Vessels departed: Atlantic Osprey, Canada, to Terra Nova; Maersk Nascopie, Canada, to Hibernia; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, to Terra Nova; Asl Sanderling, Canada, to Halifax. WEDNESDAY, AUG 3 Vessels arrived: Anticosti, Canada, from Orphan Basin; CSO Constructor, Bahamas, from White Rose Oil; Wilfred Templeman, Canada, from Sea; Marine Eagle, Canada, from Jim Kilabuk, Canada, from Lewis Hill. Vessels departed: Maersk Placentia, Canada, to White Rose; Maersk
Challenger, Canada, to Lewis Hills; CSO Construction, Bahamas, to Bay Bulls, CCG, Canada, to Survey. THURSDAY, AUG 4 Vessels arrived: Cabot, Canada, to Montreal. Vessels departed: None FRIDAY, AUG 5 Vessels arrived: Atlantic Hawk, Canada, from White Rose. Vessels departed: Atlantic Kingfisher, Canada, to Terra Nova; Cabot, Canada, to Montreal; G.R. Pearkes, Canada, to sea; Sir Wilfred Grenfell, Canada, to sea; Atlantic Hawk, Canada, to sea.
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5
Talking tough Another union prepares for contact talks with province; Allied Health Professionals have ‘healthy strike fund’ By Darcy MacRae The Independent
But in recent years, salaries have again become an issue. King says some of the highest turnover rates in nother public sector union is the health care profession in the heading to the bargaining province have come from disciplines table with the provincial gov- her association represents. ernment this fall, and like the other “We don’t want to see ourselves unions, the Association of Allied back to where we were in the late Health Professionals is seeking a deal ’90s because it was very difficult to that will keep members in the recruit physiotherapists, pharmacists province. and psychologists,” says King. “Remaining competitive is a big “We’re seeing that start up again and issue with our members. We want to I think part of that is the two-year retain the skilled people we currently wage freeze. Other provinces are have and recruit more moving ahead, and skilled people,” says we’ve gotten Sharon King, the stalled on the association’s execuincreases. We’re “We want to retain tive director. “That starting to lag the skilled people basically comes again.” down to what the In the recent we currently have salaries are.” past, the provincial The Association of government has and recruit more Allied Health practiced pattern skilled people.” Professionals reprebargaining wheresents 700 members by what was good Sharon King provincewide — for one union was including pharmagood for all. In the cists, physiotheraspring of 2004, pists, audiologists, social workers, NAPE and CUPE members were legspeech language pathologists and islated a five per cent raise over four psychologists — whose contract years. expired in June, 2004. King wouldn’t say how her union Officials with the provincial gov- would react to such a benefit packernment have served notice on the age, saying the issue will have to be union that they want to get talks start- addressed by her association. ed, which is one of only a few times “Sometimes there’s not a lot of an employer has served notice on a choice,” she says. “You’re bargaining union, says King. with the people who hold the purse “It kind of raises some eyebrows as strings. There’s a lot to be evaluated to why are they so anxious to get in before that can be really answered. If there,” she says. we’re not prepared to accept patter “The general opinion of most peo- bargaining, we have to go to our ple is that they want to come in and members and say ‘Are we prepared take what they can from your collec- to stand up against this government tive agreement, but I like to be a little and go out on strike?’” more optimistic than that and hope The Association of Allied Health that’s not the case.” Professionals has never had a major King says she expects to begin work stoppage, although they have negotiations early in the fall, possibly had a one-day walkout in the past. by September. She says the main But King says there are issues that issues will be salaries, working con- could force her members to walk. ditions and benefits. “It would take the stripping of our “While salaries are a big thing, collective agreement; it would take there are also other issues and factors being treated worse than other that affect overall working conditions unions; not receiving our fair share; that we’ll want to look at,” she says. and not acknowledging the issues “If you can improve on working con- pertinent to the allied health groups,” ditions and other benefits, sometimes says King. members are satisfied. When they “And we have a healthy strike fund add everything together, things might if we need to use it.” balance out.” Contracts for the province’s docIn the late 1990s, King says her fel- tors, nurses and teachers have also low union members lagged behind expired, with contract talks expected their counterparts in the Maritimes in to begin this fall. Those unions won’t terms of salary. The last contract say whether they will accept pattern addressed that problem, and the bargaining. movement of union members stabilized. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
A Dr. Michael Furey (left), cardiologist with the Health Care Corporation of St. John's performs a cardiac catheterization, a procedure that will determine how critical a patient’s heart disease is and the need for open heart surgery. Paul Daly/The Independent
Wait time for cardiac surgery shortens; reason why isn’t clear By Darcy MacRae The Independent
T
he wait list for cardiac surgeries in St. John’s has gotten significantly shorter in the past year, says an official with the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s. “We’ve seen a big reduction in the past six to eight months in wait times,” says Norma Baker, program director of cardiac critical care. “For a number of years we struggled with long wait times for cardiac surgery. A tremendous amount of health care resources have been invested in cardiac surgery with the goal of reducing our wait times.” As of July 31, Baker says there were 80 patients on the waiting list for cardiac surgery — a list that stretched to as many as 300 two or three years ago, which led to some patients being sent to
the mainland for surgery. “It far exceeded our bench mark of a six-month wait period at that time,” she tells The Independent. Increased funding from the provincial government aimed at reducing wait lists has been the biggest help, says Baker. Another help is the fact that the number of patients being referred for cardiac surgery has been reduced, a trend she says is occurring across North American. “There may be a lot of factors contributing to that. However, we can not say with any certainty what factors have had the most influence,” says Baker. “It may be we’re seeing the effects of new drugs on the market for cardiac patients; it could be the introduction of new technology; or it may be the effects of improved lifestyle choices.”
Baker says doctors with the health care corp. usually perform 16 cardiac surgeries a week. Currently, the corporation’s bench mark for acceptable wait time for elective cardiac surgery is 12 weeks, a big improvement from just a few years ago and a number Baker says compares well with the rest of the country. She adds, however, that it is too soon to tell if recent trends will continue. “It’s too early to predict that,” she says. “It would be nice to say we will continue at this, but it’s far too early to know if this is going to be sustained.” In its last budget, the federal government announced more money for the provinces to address long wait lists. Baker says the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s has not yet used those funds for cardiac surgery. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
N.B. mill getting converted From page 1 certainly sympathize. I mean come October, it’s quite traumatic, and our hearts go out to people out there.” Connors says hopefully the closure goes smoothly and a buyer will be found quickly for the Stephenville mill with little disruption to the town. In Nackawic, he says the town’s budget will be a little tighter next year, but a new, more profitable product is expected to be produced at the mill by then. The mill will be converted from a traditional pulp operation to a mill that makes dissolvable fibre, which is used to make textiles. While the deal isn’t finalized, and must make its way past a court judge, it could see about two thirds of the employees return to work. Connors’ advice to the Town of Stephenville? “We put together a structured committee … to look at all aspects of the training, social issues, mental issues, all those types of things, and that’s probably something they should be doing right away,” he says. “You’ll go through that whole gambit and that’s not very far away is it? October.” Scott Hurley, deputy mayor of Stephenville, says he’s optimistic meetings between the province and Abitibi set for Monday, Aug. 8 will be positive, but agrees with Connors that preparedness will help the town survive a shutdown. “That community in New Brunswick, I’ve read some pieces on that and that is so sad and when you read that, you’re starting to think well maybe that could be us in six months time,” he says. “That Monday meeting that is so crucial … we want to hear that the meeting went so well that it’s going into Tuesday.” Hurley says he’d like to see a creative solution come out of the meetings. The Stephenville mill, which began its life as a failed linerboard mill, could
“Why does it have to be paper, maybe we can look at some other option or some other industry that could tie in with the paper industry?” Scott Hurley, deputy mayor of Stephenville look to other products to sustain itself should the shutdown take place, he says. “There are concepts out there with the new technology about plants doing recyclable paper, plants doing speciality paper,” Hurley says. “Why does it have to be paper, maybe we can look at some other option or some other industry that could tie in with the paper industry? “We will certainly not leave any
stones unturned in terms of can we do something with this because it is a beautiful plant, the technologies and machine itself is very modern and the workforce, which is a highly trained workforce, with very little turnover at this particular operation.” Hurley says he appreciates advice from Nackawic, and will make calls to the town and its mayor. “It certainly sounds like we could take a few lessons from this community because they bounced back and you can tell … that they didn’t give up, first of all, and there was no way they were going to lay back and take what was handed them, which, I’m sure, they felt was just a bad hand, just like Stephenville is feeling right now. Meantime, another mill in New Brunswick — the Bathurst Containerboard Mill — shut down late last week. The Smurfit-Stone-owned mill fired 267 employees after a drop in demand for cardboard products. The company also blamed Bathurst’s poor location in relation to its customers.
6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
AUGUST 7, 2005
OUR VOICE
End of old-time politics T his week marked a significant milestone for our business group. After a little over eight years since our first proposal to government, we have finally concluded the land deal for the development of a world-class destination resort in Humber Valley. The fact that the resort has already been in development for the last four years is a little odd, but not as odd as the fact that close to $150 million of private money has been spent on the project so far without a secure plan for its overall development. That would simply not happen in almost any other circumstance in the world, but we started this project to make jobs in western Newfoundland, so the resort has been built as much on our faith as the international investment dollars we have attracted. How something like that can happen is a story of the passive resistance of the provincial bureaucracy, as well as the changing faces and agendas of the four different political administrations we have been through trying to put this deal to bed. Are we happy with the deal? Thrilled that it is over and the years we have spent living under the Damoceles’ sword of uncertainty have come to an end. It took a land price unlike any ever seen in Newfoundland and Labrador for raw inaccessible forest, and for good measure we have had a special tax created for us of six per cent of every land sale. Special tax? Perhaps the most frustrating part of the experience was that Corner Brook
BRIAN DOBBIN
Publish or perish
Pulp and Paper were one of the biggest obstacles in the deal. It’s like this — back in the 1930s we sold Sir Eric Bowater approximately one million acres of land for the princely sum of $1 so his company could take our wood and make paper. In 1993 we bought back that land for $93 million, but not the wood. They still own that. So in order to not cut down the trees on our plot of land lining the side of the Humber Valley, we had to pay the pulp and paper company money. The province also had to turn over to the company a former provincial park to clear cut as a trade off for not scarring one of the most picturesque drives in the Island ... doesn’t really sit right with me either. NOT ABOUT LAND DEAL But this column is not about our land deal. It is about my perception of working with the Williams administration. Over 18 months ago I sat with Danny and about six of the relevant bureaucrats and begged them to get off their asses (that was at the six-year mark) so we could secure the land and use it to leverage more private investment into our aquaculture initiatives. Only a madman would offer to risk something as valuable as the Humber Valley Resort
in order to take a huge gamble on growing cod in Newfoundland, and I was pretty mad that day. Lucky for us, they seemed less than inspired by my speech to move at anything more than glacial speed, so we ended up abandoning aquaculture in the province, and some other worthwhile ventures that were also long-term investment curves. I say lucky as it forced us out of the province, and we have taken our resort development model and expertise to other shores. This month we begin sales in our Irish resort project and are on schedule to do the same in St. Kitt’s before the end of the year. The Independent is now the vehicle into which we have channeled our Newfoundland focus, and we are well on our way to creating a premium international resort brand. Let’s face it, if you can do it in Newfoundland with the ridiculous obstacles we have in front of us, you can do it anywhere. Ironically, our lack of ability to move the Williams government at the speed of normal business was the result of two distinct differences in this administration. The first is Danny’s style of management. It is very much a topdown decision tree. Anything of significance appears to be on his plate only. Therefore, if there is a union dispute on the go or a fight with the feds over our allowance, it is next to impossible to get movement or decision making on other major issues. This can be viewed as either good or bad, but for my money I don’t have a big problem with strong
leadership — it has been sorely lacking in the past. The second big difference is the change in politics-business relations in this province since Danny took office. Since as long as I have been aware of such things, the way to get government’s attention in Newfoundland had been through party fundraisers. When I started my business 10 years ago, full of piss and vinegar and lots of wonderful ideas on how to drive industrial development in the province, I tried fruitlessly to get the attention of some of the relative ministers in the areas I wanted co-operation. Finally, I was told that as long as I did not show up on the party’s political donation list, I would have a hard time getting any audience. Thus started my education in how to give political donations and hire lobbyists to get government to do what it should be doing anyway. DIDN’T DIGEST WELL This did not digest well with me. Especially when I realized that some of the major resource developers in the province were employing the premier’s campaign strategists for large sums of money and calling them “lobbyists.” Definition — someone you pay money to in order for them to use their personal relationship to influence elected officials to your benefit. At the time, Newfoundland had no lobbyist laws — they were completely unregulated. Not only has this administration brought in the first lobbyist regulations,
but with Danny you’re wasting your money on one anyway. I remember going to the annual PC golf tournament fundraiser in the early 1990s and of the 30-odd people there, you wanted to make sure no one recognized you in case it got back to the Liberals. The year after Danny became PC leader the fundraiser was held at The Wilds, and when we showed up early that morning hundreds were waiting to ingratiate themselves through their presence and donation. I had a good laugh and left before Danny’s descent in a helicopter to bless the masses. The laugh was over the fact that I knew at the time there is no politician in the world who is less influenced by that kind of thing than Danny. Calling the PC fundraisers to get action on a government issue would be about the same as calling the weather hotline. It would have been much easier to finalize our land deal if this government had that old political system of backscratching in place, but with Danny you could get your eyes scratched faster than your back, regardless of how many rubber-chicken dinners you’ve bought and sat through. And you know what faithful reader? Even though I find myself pissed off and out of this province pursuing new business, and paying a hell of a lot more for that land than I was told when I started, that particular part of this government is a good thing. And if we hope to see deals in the future that truly are for the benefit of us all, it is a very good thing indeed.
YOUR VOICE ‘Wrong way forward’ Dear editor, I’m writing in response to last week’s article by John Crosbie (Grits continue two-tier fear, July 31-Aug. 6 edition of The Independent). His article combines a number of complaints about our health care system with the hopeful vision that further privatization can make everything better. A closer look shows that his hopeful vision is clearly the wrong way forward. Canadians already cover around 30 per cent of their total health care expenditures privately — either by directly paying for care themselves or through private health insurance. Canada is distinct from other industrialized countries, however, to the extent that it does not have a parallel system for the services covered by the public system. For example, care provided in hospitals and by family doctors is, almost exclusively, publicly funded. The debate around a two-tier health care system is about how much we want to allow for preferential care in these areas. There are two main reasons for discouraging a privately funded parallel system. The first is the risk that a parallel system will damage our existing publicly funded system by attracting resources and health care providers away from the public system. How much harder will it be for rural Newfoundland to retain doctors and nurses when it not only has to compete for their services with other provinces, but also with private companies? The second reason for discouraging two-tier health care is that government aims to ensure a parallel private system is not essentially supported by the public system, so that even though only the rich enjoy the benefits of preferential treatment, we all share in the cost. It is this type of parasitic relationship that characterizes the two-tier
John Crosbie
British system. How damaging a two-tier system will depend on how large it will be and how it is structured. If a parallel system is small and geared only towards the very well off, it is not likely to provide the benefits Mr. Crosbie says it can. If it is pervasive, it is likely to do substantial damage to the care other Canadians receive. It is not surprising that many of those who call for greater privatization, like Mr. Crosbie, are vague on the details about how it is all supposed to work. Health care reform is frustrating at the best of time. We all know stories about how care could be better in this province. But we do have the basic framework right and it should be defended. As Dr. Samuel Their, from Harvard Medical School, has concluded, “there is no evidence that privately financing health care has ever beaten a publicly financed system.” A twotier system will not address the problems our health care system faces. Mr. Crosbie is right on two things. First, we must put the interests of patients, all patients, first and foremost when reforming our health care system. Second, we should not fear a two-tier health care system. We should simply recognize it as something not in the best interests of the vast majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, nor in the interest of our country as a whole. Roger Chafe, St. John’s
AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
P.O. Box 5891, Stn.C, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, A1C 5X4 Ph: 709-726-4639 • Fax: 709-726-8499 www.theindependent.ca • editorial@theindependent.ca The Independent is published by The Sunday Independent, Inc. in St. John’s. It is an independent newspaper covering the news, issues and current affairs that affect the people of Newfoundland & Labrador.
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Paranoia will destroy ya I
t’s only right Canada’s next governor general come from Quebec. There hasn’t been one from there since 1990, can you believe it! Fifteen years of being passed over, it was to the point Quebecers were questioning whether English Canada had something against them. Thank God Paul Martin saw the light. The country is saved from another crisis, at least for the federal Liberals, who may have won a few votes in La Pampered Province and, more importantly, the approval of the national media, whose ranks Michaëlle Jean comes from. (Two broadcast journalists in a row, a good and sensible pick for governor general. Media types generally don’t eat their own.) To review: the governor-generaldesignate is black, a woman, a francophone, married to a divorced older white guy, and Haitian born (her late grandmother was a dirt-poor single mother who made ends meet sewing hems by candlelight). There you have it, a stroke of brilliance that should draw Liberal votes from minorities, women, men, Quebec (the biggest prize) and poor people everywhere once the federal election is called. (After the release of the Gomery report into the rankest political scandal in Canadian history, of course.) To quote Martin: “Hers is a story that reminds us what is best about ourselves and about Canada, a nation where equality of opportunity is our most defining characteristic, giving testament to our longest held values.” The question is, Mr. Prime Minister, are newfies as equal as Haitians? More to that in a moment. Call the Grits what you will —
RYAN CLEARY
Fighting Newfoundlander Call the Grits what you will — sleeveens, rogues, scoundrels, horses’ arses, etc., etc. — just don’t dare call them stupid. sleeveens, rogues, scoundrels, horses’ arses, etc., etc. — just don’t dare call them stupid. Because it’s just not true, Stephen Harper wishes he had half the grey matter under his cowboy hat. Oh, that’s right, he does — it’s the cowboy hat that made him look like a halfwit. So how are Newfoundlanders and Labradorians supposed to feel when the point is raised that it’s Quebec’s turn to occupy the governor general’s office when one of us hasn’t been appointed since Confederation Day 1? Fifty-five years have passed since then, in case Canada’s counting. We could conclude that Canada has something against us — the same way Quebecers do — but then we’re accused of being paranoid separatists. The same way we’re paranoid separatists when the point is raised that a Newfoundlander or Labradorian hasn’t been appointed to the Supreme Court since 1949. (And don’t think for a second Clyde Wells couldn’t handle the
job.) The Supreme Court never rules our way — not with the lower Churchill (Quebec won that fight) or offshore oil (Ottawa won that), the only files that have counted — but that’s the paranoia creeping in again. We’ve got to watch that before Canada takes us seriously and calls our separatist bluff. Then what would we do, with no one to feed and clothe us? Sure there are only 550,000 of us anyway (compared to 82,405 Haitians living in Quebec), and we don’t speak French. But then we barely speak English. The job would screw up our stamps anyway. We could always shack up in the governor general’s mansion for the winter and return home in the summer, but the post is apparently full time. We’re not going to get it anyway, being from the arse-end of the country. What we should do is take a few fishing boats (they’re rotting anyway) and head down to Haiti. Give it a few decades and we could take over Rideau Hall and the Supreme Court. There would still be the question of how to get around not being French. We could fake it, or just keep our mouths shut and pretend we’re deaf and dumb. Given her background and culture, Jean may just be good for Newfoundland and Labrador. A Globe and Mail columnist pointed out last week that problems in India and China and Haiti are our problems now, because India and China and Haiti are our motherlands. What the hell does that make Newfoundland and Labrador? Ryan Cleary is managing editor of The Independent. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7
‘Giant step backwards’ Ivan Morgan offers tips on how to cheat the new mail-in ballot system
T
here were features in the media over the past week about the bombs the terrorists used in London. Apparently they’re easy to make, and you can find the recipes anywhere on the Internet. Needless to say, there was then a hullabaloo over whether people should be allowed to publish the recipes. The great moral question arose: should it be legal to publish information on how to do something wrong? Well, why don’t we see? I am now going to give you information on how to improve your chances of getting elected in St. John’s in the upcoming September municipal elections. It involves the illegal manipulation of the new “mail-in ballot.” For those of you who are unaware, the City of St. John’s has taken a giant step backwards from democracy by instituting an exclusive mail-in municipal ballot for the upcoming election. That means you cannot go anywhere on polling day and vote. You have to vote
IVAN MORGAN
Rant & reason by mail. That’s terrific news for those candidates thinking they might gain an edge by cheating. Here are a few ideas. First and foremost, scope out apartment buildings and student apartments. They are places with a higher than average turnover of tenants. That means a good percentage of them are registered and have moved. If you are on top of things, it is fairly easy to get a yaffle of unclaimed ballots. They can be gathered up and filled out at leisure. You have a two-week “window” to fill them out and mail them in. Here’s a tip: don’t fill them all out and send them from the same mailbox. That might raise suspicion. And don’t bring a satchel of them in to City Hall
booth is that, no matter how hard you try to convince others to do the right thing, you can’t actually get the opportunity to see how they vote. They get to go to a booth all by themselves, where they are free to defy you. It’s infuriating! The mail-in ballot has solved that problem. Make sure you let your staunch supporters know they should remind everyone in their household where their bread is buttered. Another helpful tip is to get supporters to “pull the vote.” Back in the bad old days, that meant a race on election day to drag anyone who could mark an X to the polling booths in the 12 hours of allotted time. Our political history is also rich in stories of candidates dragging the halt, lame and mentally infirm to the polling booths in an attempt to preserve their right to be referred to as “The honourable… ” Now that is all a thing of the past. Now there is no rush. You have two weeks, and they can do it from the comfort of their homes, beds, special
care units, whatever. Just “show” them what to do with that confusing new fangled city ballot. Smile a lot and say nice things. It’s like taking candy from a baby. I bet half of them make you tea while you’re doing it. Can these tips make a difference? You bet. Many a career has been made or destroyed by 100 votes, and doctoring 100 mail-in ballots in your favour should be a cinch — even for the dimmest municipal hopeful. If you are shocked and appalled by what I have just written, then get over yourself. For one thing, this is obviously satire. The mail-in ballot is a disgrace, and insults the very fabric of our democratic traditions, all of which, tried and true, evolved for very good reasons (see above). And if you don’t think there aren’t people out there who are already fixing to do this, then you are too green to burn. Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com
FOLK FESTIVITIES
YOUR VOICE Province has to survive ‘despite’ Ottawa Dear editor, George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!” From reading her column, North America’s economic raging bull (July 31-Aug. 6 edition of The Independent), it would seem Siobhan Coady wants us to ignore this warning. The fact that most people believe the blame for the province’s negative economic situation rests on the federal government, and specifically the Liberal party, which has been in power for the most of the last 56 years, may influence her feelings of forgiveness. Personally, I see the destruction of our fishery by federal mismanagement, the giveaway of the upper Churchill because the Liberals used to have most of their seats from Quebec and wouldn’t enforce a power corridor through that province, the location of the Interceptor squadron in Baggotville instead of Goose Bay (the American National Guard interceptors out of Maine defend our East Coast), more recently, the relocation of the Newfoundland weather office to Halifax and just this week, the announcement of the relocation of the Public Service of Canada office to Halifax. This is the consistent and persistent way of doing business in Newfoundland and Labrador by the federal government and the Liberal Party of Canada. Like Tony Soprano, Ms. Coady tells us we should just “Forget about it!” Yes, we have some of the world’s greatest resources and greatest people working to develop them, but why are we only inching toward a bonafide oil and gas industry, and why isn’t Andy Wells head of the CNLOPB today? Ottawa, Paul Martin and John Efford! Why don’t we have a viable, dynamic, world-class (fishing) industry like Iceland? Because Iceland put Icelandic gunboats in the water against the British, the Danes and
and dump them on a municipal employee on election day. Watch that. (If you don’t think a campaign worker could possibly be that stupid, think again.) Make sure those ballots are dispersed throughout the city — a few per mailbox. Take the time to mail them in and around town. You know what they say: anything worth doing … That brings me to something else. Don’t get too many people involved. The kind of nasty individual who will help you out is the same who will cheerfully crucify you later. Narrow it down to a few. And if you have something on them — all the better. Again, please trust me on this one. Our political history is riddled with political appointments that would be utterly inexplicable were it not for this fact. Another thing to do is to ensure all your staunch supporters have ballots in their households filled out the proper way. The thing about real voting in a real polling station at a real polling
everyone else who would rape their resource, while Canada and the Liberals won’t even send a note of protest. Don’t forget if you break down at sea, you better have a buddy to tow you in because the coast guard and navy don’t have enough fuel to leave harbour. Yes, Ms. Coady, we have to “stand up, stand out and stand strong,” but it’s more than a rah-rah campaign slogan. We have to work to survive despite the federal government and the federal Liberal party. Premier Danny Williams put river guardians on the rivers when he thought the federal government didn’t provide enough. Maybe he should consider putting a Newfoundland navy on the sea to protect our interests. There must be a few 50-caliber machine guns somewhere in the world we could strap to the decks of our idle fishing boats to go out and to check on these foreign fishing boats. Perhaps the Canadian government would eventually rebate the cost since they wouldn’t have to lift a finger and could still say, tut tut! Furthermore, since these fishing boats are in Canadian waters and would have to be rescued by Canada (i.e. Newfoundland fishing boats) if they got in trouble, they should have to be seaworthy. Perhaps, a compulsory trip to our ports once or twice a year for an inspection and subsequent repairs, as needed, at Marystown should be required to fish in Canadian waters. The Canadian mantra is that, “Canada goes from sea to sea to sea.” Unfortunately, for us, the second “sea” in that saying is Halifax and the federal government doesn’t seem to know that Canada actually extends beyond the sea. Paul Murphy, St. John’s
Free Newfoundland Dear editor, I supported the July 30 protest food fishery. It showed Newfoundlanders uniting to stand up to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and to Canada. We are tired of being discriminated against. The time has come to tell DFO to go home and take
their friends and the Maple Leaf flag with them. We no longer want the stupid laws of DFO or Canada for that matter. The time has come, free Newfoundland. Ron Durnford, Stephenville Crossing
Clockwise from top: Dermot O’Reilly makes his return to the stage; Glen Collins, Vince Collins and Rick West; young audience members enjoy the music during opening night of the 29th Annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival at Bannerman Park. Paul Daly/The Independent
AUGUST 7, 2005
8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
The Gander give-away
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9
Cultures mix when St. John’s boy marries Japanese girl By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
F
A review of the Newfoundland National Convention (1946-1948) It was then the Depression hit and the newspaper business went into a severe slump, lasting until 1937. In that same t was called the Gander deal, an year, as told by Cashin, the “Bowater arrangement made in the late 1930s people” of London, England sent their that saw Gander timber rights given agents to Canada to acquire timber away for a song and Newfoundland rights from the Quebec government for wood exported overseas while local use in England’s mills. mills shut down or cut back hours of Quebec turned down the agents, who operation for lack of wood. promptly came to Newfoundland. The story was told by Peter Cashin in According to Cashin, the Bowater October 1946 during the Newfoundland agents initially went after the Gander National Convention to decide the and Labrador timber rights, with the nation’s fate once understanding a mill Commission govwould eventually be ernment was done built near Gander. away with. The In the meantime, convention’s other Bowater bought the role was to review A N O N G O I N G S E R I E S Corner Brook mill the nation’s from International finances, with comPower. The company mittees struck to review various sectors went to the Commission government — the fishery, mining, education, and said it wasn’t economical to build a forestry, etc. mill near Gander (certainly not when it Cashin, who headed the forestry owned one in Corner Brook). committee, also served as minister of Bowater proposed if the company Finance in the early 1930s, during the were given the Gander timber rights it last years of responsible government. would build a sulphite mill in Corner The Gander deal began to take shape Brook. Bowater also proposed to in 1927 when the International Power export 130,000 cords of raw pulpwood and Paper Co. acquired the Corner a year to its mills in England. The Brook pulp and paper mill from the Commission government agreed. financially sick Newfoundland Power This, in effect, was the Gander deal. and Paper Co. Ltd. Sweeter still, due to a concession At the time, International Power was granted a dozen years earlier to the forinterested in Gander timber rights. mer owners of the Corner Brook mill, Trouble was, the rights to the land — taxes were capped at $150,000 — an estimated eight million cords — meaning the woods operations at were held by a subsidiary of the Reid Gander did not result in any new taxes Newfoundland Company, operators of to the Newfoundland government. the railway. Cashin estimated Newfoundland According to Cashin, the Reids were missed out on about $750,000 a year. only interested in handing over timber By 1946, when the national convenrights to a company with plans to develop tion got off the ground, provisions of the a pulp and paper mill in the Gander area. Gander deal allowed for the export of In 1930, the Hearst newspaper chain 50,000 tons of Newfoundland wood a in the United States — in its day, the year to England — at the same time that largest consumers of newsprint in the a wood shortage had kept the sulphite world, requiring 600,000 tons a year — mill in Corner Brook closed for months expressed interest in constructing a and the pulp and paper mill there was 1,000-ton pulp and paper mill. The forced to cut its hours of operation. chain approached the Newfoundland Cashin was furious. government to guarantee the project for “It is tragic to know that at the same $20 million (hundreds of millions in time the government is permitting thoutoday’s dollars), as well as to hand over sands of cords of pulpwood to be timber rights on the Labrador (there exported out of the country to keep outwasn’t enough wood in the Gander area siders working, whilst our own men are to supply such a mill). forced to remain idle,” Cashin said. As Finance minister, Cashin said he “I figure that we have exported out of felt the interest expressed by the Hearst the country during the present season chain was a “bluff” to drive down the sufficient raw wood to keep the price of newsprint. Bowater sulphite mill in operation for That left International Power as the 250 days, which would mean a resultonly interested party. Cashin said the ant loss in labour to our people of company offered the Reids $6 million around $100,000.” for the Gander timber rights. The Reids were having financial The background for this column is problems of their own at the time, so from the Newfoundland National the government of the day placed writs Convention, 1946-1948, by James against the Gander timber, saving it Hiller and Michael Harrington, availfrom being “sacrificed” to International able through the Newfoundland Historical Society and retail outlets. Power or any other company.
AUGUST 7, 2005
By Ryan Cleary The Independent
I
Road to
CONFEDERATION
David Gosse and his wife Riko on their wedding day.
or most people, their wedding day is a monumental experience, but for David Gosse, a Newfoundland gaijin (outsider), who married his Japanese girlfriend of five years in a traditional Shinto Buddhist ceremony this spring, it was a step above and beyond. Currently visiting St. John’s from his present home in Ottawa, Gosse is busy showing his new in-laws the sights. The parents of his wife, Riko, are vacationing in Canada from their home city of Nagoya, Japan, to see where their daughter has been living for the last three years. Gosse thinks back to his wedding day three months ago when he found himself clad in a kimono and standing in a Buddhist shrine, fervently trying to remember the required rituals as two sets of family and friends looked on. “There were really the two big things to remember,” he tells The Independent, “the sake sipping and the olive branch that we had to turn three times … I think the sake is for cleansing and the olive branches are for good energy to our marriage.” With no particular religious affiliation himself (although brought up Anglican) and with Riko, brought up Shinto Buddhist, but fairly open to ceremony suggestions, Gosse says the culturally traditional service was a joint decision. Traditional wedding dress and rituals have become rare in Japan in recent years, due to western cultural influences. “One of Riko’s uncles came up to my Mum and told her that this was the first, what he called ‘real wedding,’ that he’d been to in 30 years. He said, ‘The girls these days, they all want to have the white dress and the western ceremony.’” There are churches in Japan that look like Christian churches, but are owned by hotels to be booked solely for weddings. Gosse says Riko had mentioned that as a possibility. “I said, ‘If we’re getting married in a Christian church, we’re going to get married in a real one. I’m not travel-
ling across the world to get married in a fake church.” Plus, Gosse admits he was “smitten with the idea of wearing a kimono” and having a sword — even if it did turn out to be a ceremonial fan instead (which he almost lost after the ceremony). ‘DUDE, YOUR FAN’ “I wouldn’t have forgotten it if it had been a sword,” he laughs. “There was one point in the ceremony when we all started to file out and the Buddhist monk was like, ‘Dude, dude, your fan.’” The couple first met five years ago when Gosse was taking a year between studies to teach English in Nagoya. He gave Riko his number (she was a student in his adult class) and sometime later, he got a call on her birthday. “In the very last class I had with her I got her phone number and then she called me, which is very unusual for Japanese girls to do that. She called me because her friends were busy and she had nothing to do on her birthday, and I gave her a ticket to see Eric Clapton.” Although Riko could speak a little English, Gosse says communication was limited at first (English tutors in Japan from other countries rarely speak the language and teach with the help of a Japanese assistant). Gosse, who has studied politics and is an avid talker as well as thinker, says not being able to conduct in-depth conversations wasn’t so difficult. “Well, I talk to myself a lot; previous girlfriends would just ignore me,” he jokes. On their fifth anniversary, after living in Ottawa for three years, Gosse surprised Riko with a proposal in Confederation Park and the couple immediately began planning the wedding. Gosse had yet to meet his prospective in-laws, who upon learning about their relationship years ago, had warned Riko he would probably end up leaving the country and inevitably leaving her. When her parents realized the relationship was serious, however, Gosse says they were completely supportive. “We got engaged on Sept. 24th, her birthday, went to Japan in October and met her family and began making the arrangements. I was very nervous. I didn’t know how
things would go, but they went really well.” They were met at the airport by Riko’s parents and her young niece and nephew, who were both fascinated with Gosse, the gaijin. Her father could already speak a little English and immediately began self-teaching himself more. The Sato’s also enthusiastically welcomed their new Newfoundland extended family with open arms when they arrived in Nagoya for the wedding. Gosse had over 20 guests from around the world in attendance, from places such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Germany and even Sri Lanka. He says having his friends and family there was a highlight. “Having all of these Western people, friends that I’d made on travels in England, in Canada and turning around in the ceremony to see all of these faces I don’t associate with Japan at all and they’re all there; that was great.” He adds Riko and her kimono were the main attractions. “I mean, that was stunning for me.” Riko had to be formally dressed, made-up and wigged, in a process that took hours. The couple changed into a Western tux and a white wedding dress halfway through their reception. Facing a future with a multi cultural family and the possibility of staying in Canada or even moving back to Japan somewhere down the road, Gosse says he would like their future children to experience the two backgrounds. “If I had lots of money, I would love to be able to have our children be fully cognizant of both their cultures and be able to speak both languages and take them back and forth all the time.” He says he loves Japan because of its history and way of life. “We have so much space here but there they live so much more densely, so the neighbourhoods, I thought, were really, really nice. You don’t have box stores … (there’s) little high streets with all these beautiful little shops and things, and that’s where the Japanese do their shopping. It’s almost like the way St. John’s might have been well before I was born.”
Something borrowed, something blue … Traditions and superstitions run rampant in Newfoundland weddings By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
rained on that day. “I still see with every client I have that they’re still, you know, they have got to make sure they have their s your marriage doomed if it doesn’t rain on the something borrowed, something blue … and I don’t morning of your wedding day? Will your husband think that’s as popular say in the States or in parts of be forever poor if he doesn’t have a penny in his Canada. shoe while reciting his vows? “I think people are just trying to take a more moderOf the countless superstitions surrounding tradition- ate approach to things. “Newfoundlanders are more al weddings, are any of them really believed and what traditional people in the way of their thinking. They happens if they aren’t followed? probably don’t have the generational thing going. A lot There may be no answers; many people see the tra- of people are going away to get married. Their roots ditions as simply a part of their special day. are not as important to them.” Superstitions like carrying herbs and garlic to the But do they really believe in superstitions? alter to ward off evil spirits have “I don’t know if they actually come of age with brides now bearbelieve it or not, I think it’s just a WEDDING SUPERSTITIONS ing beautiful flowers, but at a formality that they go through Married in white, you have chosen right recent wedding in Placentia, St. because, like I said, their mothers Married in grey, you will go far away John’s wedding planner Ellen did it and their grandmothers did it Married in black, you’ll wish yourself back Foley says the bride used an oldand it’s just to keep a tradition.” Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead Married in green, ashamed to be seen family tradition to ward off rain on Foley says she sees traditions Married in blue, you will always be true the big day. (They obviously didn’t used more outside St. John’s than Married in pearl, you will live in a whirl believe the superstition that rain on in the city, where brides want to be Married in yellow, ashamed of your fellow a wedding day brings good luck. A original. She says a bride recently Married in brown, you will live in this town case of superstitions butting had a piece of her mother’s wedMarried in pink, your spirit will sink heads.) ding dress inserted into her bouShe and her husband-to-be hung quet for good luck. out their underwear (also supposed to work with a “Superstitions years ago were a lot more common. rosary) all day and night before the wedding. A lot more people believed them a lot more than peoFoley laughs at the traditions, saying most brides in ple do today.” this province follow traditions closer than brides in A wedding planner for a year and a half, Foley says other places. The Placentia couple, she adds, did get “despite what’s going on in the world,” people are still
I
marrying at a high rate and a high price for tradition — about $20,000 for the full package. No matter the price or possibility of divorce, everyone wants luck for their wedding day and marriage. Foley isn’t married herself and says she’s more interested, for the time being, in helping others with their weddings, admitting she’d keep the somethingborrowed, something-blue tradition. “I think that’s something my mother did and my grandmother did so I think that’s something you’d probably go along with, you know. I’ve seen that done in my family.” Other traditions include the groom putting a penny in his shoe, which supposedly brings the couple prosperity, and the bridal party walking to the church stopping at houses along the way to collect guests. Wedding photographer Dale Power says the most popular superstition is probably that the bride and groom mustn’t see each on their special day prior to the actual wedding. “People don’t want to see each other the day of the wedding, it’s supposed to be bad luck, now they’ve probably been living together for 10 years.” In his 20 years shooting happy couples, he’s seen it all. “Friday the 13th. I think I’ve done two weddings on Friday the 13th in the past 20 years. They won’t get married on Friday the 13th.” “I think it’s just a lot of foolishness that somebody made up and it was passed along the road and it just caught on, you know.”
YOUR VOICE ‘Please tell the truth’ Editor’s note: the following letter was written to the editor of The Telegram and forwarded to The Independent.
T
wo articles appeared in the Aug. 2nd edition of your paper that were disturbing. First, Russell Wangersky in his column Hidden agenda cast doubt on allegations that Canada, in earlier times, traded fish with foreign fishing countries for preferential treatment of Canadian products, like wheat. He informs us, “I’ve worked 20 years in this business, and have never seen anything even close to confirmation that such conscious tradeoff was ever made.” For the information of Mr. Wangersky and all the other investigative reporters at The Telegram, when he came on the scene in 1985, there were very few groundfish left to trade to foreign fishing nations. Even a superficial investigation of our fisheries by The Telegram would show that the decline in our fisheries really began in 1965, and was well advanced by 1971. DFO statistics stated by Dr. Wilfred Templeman clearly confirm that fact. During the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s Ottawa politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats realized the value of the rich fisheries Canada had received through Confederation and trades followed in a variety of ways with foreign nations. I was a commissioner with ICNAF and later NAFO for many years and while I certainly didn’t have access to the federal cabinet room I can assure you I had considerable contact with many representatives of foreign fishing nations that benefited from Canadian largesse. Who do you think facilitated Korean trawler fisheries on the Grand Banks without even being a member of NAFO? Would you believe a Hyundai plant in La Belle Province helped immeasurably? Ask a retired senior federal bureaucrat how Cuba could have acquired generous quotas in the north Atlantic when TACs were dwindling sharply. Ask one of two retired diplomats still hanging around Ottawa how, in the 1960s, Canadian Pacific Airways achieved landing
rights at Madrid and Lisbon International airports? In the late 1960s the UK was imposing a hefty tariff on British Columbian halibut entering their market. Freedom of information legislation could inform you that a substantial quota of northern cod for UK factory vessels resulted in removal of that tariff. These examples merely scratch the surface. Mr. editor, there are numerous examples of international trades of our precious fish resource by our federal government in exchange for benefits that accrued to central Canada and the public should have been made aware of these transactions. An experienced, investigative reporter with the support of his publisher should have been able to access reliable information or demand the information through Senate and House committees on Fisheries. There is no excuse for allowing the public relations professionals of DFO to hide such information from elected politicians or the public. On a second item in The Telegram on Aug. 2nd, a Canadian Press item by Dene Moore informs us that Greenpeace estimates 60 per cent of the world’s bottom trawling takes place on the Grand Banks. This is an out and out fabrication and surely someone in your organization must have forgotten to proof read an article coming from Greenpeace, an organization known for unlimited exaggeration. The fact is, with diminishing supplies of fish outside 200 miles the foreign fleet operating there now represents a miniscule percentage of the huge trawler fleets of Spain, France, Portugal, the UK and other EU countries, Russia, Scandinavia, South Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and a dozen other Asian countries as well as the US/Alaskan fleets in the Pacific. If Greenpeace, The Telegram and the Canadian Press are really interested in rebuilding the groundfish fisheries of the northwest Atlantic then please tell the truth and expose the real reasons our fisheries have been depleted. Gus Etchegary, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s
Stadium about to get bigger
Some Newfoundlanders believe hanging rosary beads on a clothesline the night before a wedding will ward off rain. Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
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Dear editor, In recent days leading up to the Royal St. John’s Regatta, several of our committee members had an opportunity to meet citizens walking in the Quidi Vidi/King George V Memorial Park area. Inevitably, the conversations became pre-occupied with the forthcoming vote by council on the rezoning of the area to permit Loblaw Properties to erect a giant Dominion Supermarket and business operation. Through this experience, we were surprised that citizens had no idea of how large, or enlarged, the present stadium will be. Therefore, since a vote could possibly be held as early as Monday, Aug. 8, we would appreciate space to inform our fellow citizens of this possible eventuality. To our knowledge and information, the building will be much, much larger than the stadium — a 107,000-square foot structure, 54-feet high, about twice the size of the present building. For the mayor and five councillors to approve this in an extremely historic area of our city, and in a vulnerable environmental surrounding, is ludicrous. It will stand and tower over every residen-
tial household, the entire area, and Quidi Vidi Lake. It will stand out more than The Rooms towers over the Basilica, and other city churches. People were surprised, then astonished, when they witnessed this construction proceeding. This letter is not against The Rooms; it is a desirable first-class addition to our public services. However, council should take note and learn from The Rooms’ experience. Knowing the size of the Loblaw proposal, it defies all comprehension if council grants final approval, especially when its own appointed commissioner, John Roil, Q.C., told council the area was no place for a supermarket and should not be rezoned. How can any councillor, in good conscience, vote to destroy, forever, any section of this beautiful and historic area of our city. It is beyond belief. It will be too late if, and when, this huge development is finished for people to ask, who, in the name of God, allowed this to happen and gave approval for it. Len Coughlan, Chair, Say No to Loblaws Citizens’ Committee
AUGUST 7, 2005
10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
LIFE STORY
YOUR VOICE
By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
‘Let the people decide’
N
ot a saint — just human — Peter Cashin’s son Michael reflects on his father’s politics, religion and passion for his country. Born in Cape Broyle in 1890, Cashin grew to be a war hero, politician, anti-Confederate and a husband and father. Best known for his battles with Joey Smallwood and his fight for a return to responsible government, Cashin is also remembered for his Saturday-night speeches on VOCM and his participation in the Newfoundland National Convention (1946-1948). “He was my father and I was very proud of him. I helped him with the responsible government campaign in so much as I changed tires as he drove around the country,” Michael tells The Independent during a recent trip to St. John’s from his home in New York. He says his father was shot at during a campaign trip to either Burin or Fortune — Michael can’t remember. “And so he came aboard anyway and said ‘Alright kill me.’” Michael says his father didn’t fight so hard against Confederation because it was bad for the then-country. Rather, he says it was so that two sovereign nations — Newfoundland and Canada — could have the opportunity to participate in fair negotiation, if Newfoundlanders chose to join Canada. “As it was, Newfoundlanders sold the shop and then tried to get paid for it after all … and we did not have a very fair deal,” Michael says, adding politics was one of the few things he and his father agreed on in his younger days. “Well, I mean I was a young man, and what young man is going to run around agreeing with his father. He had a nervous breakdown with me practically, when I came in after 11 o’clock at night. “I don’t blame the Canadians, I don’t blame them at all. I think it’s a great country. I blame the Newfoundlanders. I know they’d been through a terrible depression, we’d all been through a terrible depression. My father lost everything in the depression — our house everything. I know that’s one of the reasons we went to Montreal.” The Cashin family lived in Montréal from 1936 to the mid-1940s. Once they returned Cashin took part in the National Convention and began fighting for responsible government. “You couldn’t beat Santa Claus and those days the baby bonus meant something.” Before marrying Blanche Fitzpatrick and becoming father to Mary and Michael, Cashin was a second lieutenant with the Newfoundland Regiment in the First World War where he was wounded in 1916.
Above: Michael Cashin; below: Peter Cashin
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
‘Outside the box’ War hero, politician, anti-Confederate, Peter Cashin made his mark on Newfoundland
“My father had been in the First World War and I think that was the defining (moment) … he’d seen more than — he never talked about it — more than he ever wanted to. “As he said to me once, when you were being hauled back to the trenches, when you were wounded, you didn’t ask whether he was Catholic or Protestant.” Michael says his father was a daily communicant in his later years and, though Newfoundland was very sectarian, Michael says his father never said a bad word about those of another religion. “He didn’t think in that box, that
wasn’t his thing. The country was in that box … I didn’t know anything about it when I grew up … I was never told don’t go down to McDougal’s — she’s a protestant.” Michael says his father had a sense of humour, took his losses easily and was an optimist. “He did take many leaps of faith. He took a leap of faith when he went back into politics and spent every goddamned cent he had on it practically. That was a leap of faith for all of us,” Michael says. “He was a remarkable man, he was not a saint, and some people have tried to canonize him and that’s not right
either because he was very human and could be very fallible, but when it came to Newfoundland I think he was very, very sincere and unchangeable as far as his faith in the people of Newfoundland.” Michael says he was in Greece at the time of his father’s death in 1977 and didn’t receive word until the day of the funeral. “I know my father and I also know Joe Smallwood. I don’t think Confederation was the worst thing that happened to Newfoundland, I think the Smallwood government was the worst thing that happened in Newfoundland.”
and the impact it will have on the social life of Newfoundland. The Port au Port member went on to say that we should have 100 per cent of the resources — until we become a ‘have’ province.” — From The Reporter, Feb. 13, 1980
FROM THE BAY “While out fishing one day this week at Stone Island, several of the boats crews attention was directed to a large creature in the water undulating very slowly at almost 50 yards from one of the anchored boats. Some observers say it was the size of a puncheon (a plank the height of a tree) and about 150 or 200 feet long. After getting some distance from the boats, the creature reared about the height of a boat’s mast
30 or 40 feet out of the water and disappeared. The men could not tell whether it was its head or its tail.” — From the Evening Herald, Sept. 7, 1909
AROUND THE WORLD Headline: Food famine in Germany. Story: “Everybody stays home, it saves money and it saves strength. It is curious to see how slowly they move their feet. At first I thought there was depression, but I soon learned to walk slowly myself on account of the small rations of bread.” — From The St. John’s Daily Star, April 3, 1963
YEARS PAST “(Jim) Hodder said he wants to see the right to control the rate of development (of the oil industry) in the hands of the province. We must, he said, be able to control the rate of construction
EDITORIAL STAND “Today it is a nuisance. Not just that it falls in the middle of the week, and many employees loose their weekend as a result, but the nature of the Regatta is such that no one knows for sure when
Dear editor, On July 20, I was present at a meeting where Kevin Breen promised Frank Wall, chair of the joint veterans’ committee of the Royal Canadian Legion that, if elected, he would vote against the Loblaws’ proposal. This was the only written plank in Mr. Breen’s political platform. The brochure was long on platitudes (i.e. voting for Kevin Breen will ensure that your voice is heard at City Hall), but short on planks. Winston Churchill’s six-volume account of the Second World War chronicles the great sacrifices of our soldiers and the razor-thin margin of victory. Lest we forget. Week after week, we asked Mr. Breen his position and he replied, “Yes, I’m on side — don’t worry about me.” But we did worry and rightly so. When MP Sheila Copps changed her mind about the GST she had the courage to step down and run again under her new platform (and got elected). Now, 10,000 voters in Ward 4 have no representation at City Hall. Surely, 10,000 heads are better than one. This reversal will certainly increase the apathy of young people toward the political process. For over 50 years (1954-2005), Memorial Stadium stood as a legacy of a grateful generation in honour of a brave generation for future generations (yet unborn). And it was open to all citizens, not just special athletes. Where did our $2 million go? As far as we know, it was used to reduce the $7.5 million deficit at Mile One to $5.5 million. Or it may have paid for the $1 million score clock and the $1 million curtain at Mile One. If Mile One is sold for $16 million, as some elected officials suggest, there won’t be much to show for $2 million. Instead of asking for a contribution from the Maple Leafs, City Hall recently contributed $25,000 to the Janeway to preserve the legacy of the St. John’s Maple Leafs. And our other corporate giant, Loblaws, which recently contributed $40 million to a park in Alberta, asked the court to charge the Lake Avenue residents for all their court costs. Mr. Breen, you do not have the moral right nor the political mandate from the people in Ward 4 to cast the deciding vote on Memorial Stadium, which is owned by all citizens in St. John’s forever. Let the people decide. This is the worst political decision ever made by City Council. Garry Bambrick, St. John’s
usually puts to himself, when that blissful dream of forsaking single blessedness comes to him is: ‘Am I able to support a wife and family?’ To my mind this should not be the primary consideration. The first question should be: ‘Am I able to train a family in the way they should be?’ The foundation stone in a man’s character is laid when a child.” — From The Trinity Bay Enterprise, April 5, 1909
the holiday is going to fall. It depends entirely on the weather. And to have to wait until seven or eight o’clock in the morning to find out if you have the day off or not is an abomination.” — From the Free Press, Aug. 4, 1971 LETTER TO THE EDITOR “Dear sir, about the question a man
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The editor of the Ledger lived long enough to see the utter prostration of the politics he advocated so stoutly but so insincerely and of the party he defended so boldly. Let him rest!” — Publisher Robert Parsons, in a Jan. 22, 1855 quote in his newspaper, The Patriot, after the death of his bitter rival Henry Winton, who owned the Public Ledger.
INDEPENDENTWORLD
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 7-13, 2005 — PAGE 11
A message to Quebec It’s up to Michaëlle Jean to take her Quebeccentric experience on the road beyond the Toronto-Montreal axis that elects Liberals By James Travers Torstar wire service
predecessor, a high standard and, in time, may prove an inspired choice. Again like Clarkson, Jean shares rom the perspective of a Liberal another part of the skill-set. Ronald party in political trouble, this is Reagan once wondered how anyone a marvellous land stretching as who wasn’t an actor could be U.S. far as the eye can see from Toronto to president and, with the second conMontreal. secutive appointment of a CBC star, On one end of that axis is Adrienne the federal government is recognizing Clarkson, a governor general who the importance of the performance. next month exits a job expansively, if Clarkson raised the job’s profile expensively, done. Now being posi- and stretched its reach beyond the tioned on the other is Michaëlle Jean, privileged few. But she also estaba 48-year old lished marks that Haitian-born televiwill be difficult to sion journalist with Impressive as Jean’s match. an evocative perImpressive as sonal history and so résumé is, it’s largely Jean’s résumé is, much yet to prove. it’s largely the In confirming a the record of someone record of someone surprising appointwho overcame a who overcame a bad bad start to make ment, Paul Martin spoke honestly most of a new start to make the most the about an impressive country’s opportuwoman’s new place nities. But is that of a new country’s in the country’s imenough to personimigrant mythology fy a nation’s aspiraopportunities. while giving the tions or unify its truth a sweaty many forces? workout. Standing in the Gothic That doubt is the liability that splendour of the Senate foyer, the comes with being elevated so suddenPrime Minister first declared that ly from relative obscurity. It’s also Jean’s story is Canada’s story before what makes so interesting Martin’s dismissing a suggestion that her determination to distance the appointappointment is, oh no, political. ment from the government’s perpetu“That has nothing to do with it,” al search for partisan advantage. Martin said, adding later that the For those inclined to see in last Governor General designate is who week’s announcement another we are and what we want to be. Liberal sop to Quebec, be reminded Certainly she is a success story that it has been 21 years since the even if it is one almost unknown out- patrician Jeanne Sauvé turned Rideau side Quebec. Elegant, cultured, multi- Hall into a private preserve, leaving a lingual and a mother with an active See “PM didn’t,” page 15 social conscience, she sets, like her
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Canadian Governor General designate Michaëlle Jean arrives for a news conference in front of the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa last week. Jean, who will become Canada's first black governor general, will take up her new position on Sept. 27. Chris Wattie/Reuters
Cave in
Montreal World Film Festival scraps plans to screen Karla, Hollywood’s film about Canada’s most infamous killers
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urely the world is coming unglued and not just because John Daly hit 20 straight drives into the world’s largest water hazard. Imagine, Raphiel Palmeiro, the baseball player, held to a higher standard over his war on home runs, than George Bush, the president, for his war on terror. Maybe after Congress decides whether the slugger fibbed about spiked protein shakes, they might make a little time to scrutinize George and his phantom weapons of mass destruction. And how strange was it to see the world’s official champions of democracy paying homage to King Abdullah, the successor to King Fahd. Saudi Arabia gave us 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers, forbids women to vote, drive, or
MICHAEL HARRIS The Outrider even eat at the same table as men in public restaurants, and funds religious schools that propagate the Islamic hyperbole of Wahhabi-ism. It also helped bankroll Osama Bin Laden when he was a good guy fighting the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan. No wonder Tony Blair, Dick Cheney, and Prince Charles showed up at the Saudi coronation and the U.S. invaded Iraq, right? But my gripe today is a lot closer to
home. What a sad, sorry, and dangerous collapse of artistic independence at the Montreal World Film Festival. After announcing it was going to screen Karla, the Hollywood film about Canada’s most infamous killers (though nowhere near its most prolific), Serge Losique caved in to corporate sponsors and scrubbed the movie. I should point out that not all sponsors took as foolish and philistine a position as Air Canada. Both Visa and Kodak confirmed their place in the 21st century by leaving it to the festival to choose its own movie line-up. Twice in my own career, various established powers have taken a run at my job for things I’ve said. Once it was an interest group that didn’t like my
thoughts on the Iraq war and threatened to pull all their advertising unless I was fired. On the other occasion, the premier’s office in Newfoundland cancelled all government advertising in the newspaper I was running because of “negative” coverage of a ludicrous hydroponic cucumber operation especially favoured by the premier of the day. (In the end, both the cucumber operation and the premier left the province.) On both occasions, my bosses rebuffed the threats — which makes me luckier than the movie maker in question. Among other things, Serge Losique’s decision is deeply silly. In a free society, people may make movies, write books, or produce paintings about any-
thing they wish. Their artistic or journalistic product is not the same thing as their subject matter. That’s why Oscar Wilde once quipped that there is no such thing as a moral or immoral book, just good or bad ones. Writers, producers and painters create, society judges and careers are made or broken in the process. In the end, a few works stand the test of time and are elevated to the permanent record of the culture. The rest make our grandchildren laugh at us when they show up on late night TV. In a well-intentioned but absurd gloat on what has happened here, Ted Danson, the lawyer for the families See “Prudence,” page 12
AUGUST 7, 2005
12 • INDEPENDENTWORLD
Beer Bandit out of jail By Carl Davies Telegraph-Journal
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he New Brunswick man whose crime captured international headlines last year is out on parole. Wade Haines gained his considerable fame last August when he stole a tractor-trailer full of Moosehead beer bound for Mexico, earning himself the moniker “The Beer Bandit.” The heist was discovered when the brewery received a call from Ontario to say the truck, which was being driven by Haines, did not show up at its destination. The truck was found abandoned in a Grand Falls parking lot, still running but without its precious cargo. Most of the 50,000 cans of beer, distinct for their Spanish labelling, were never recovered. Some 14,000 full cans of beer were found, and eventually destroyed by the brewery. Some empty cans have been discovered at locations throughout the province. Haines turned up in Ontario a week after the theft. He was found guilty of the crime and in March was sentenced to 19 and a half months in jail. On July 13 the National Parole Board granted Haines full parole; he left jail July 20. Under the conditions of his release,
Haines must live in a halfway house for four months, and abstain from drugs and alcohol for the entire length of his sentence. He will be subject to random testing to assure he’s not using drugs or alcohol for the remainder of his sentence. In its written decision the parole board notes that substance abuse was
Moosehead admitted the theft bought them free publicity and even printed up T-shirts that read “Donde esta mi cerveza?” Spanish for “Where is my beer?” the “primary factor” in Haines’ considerable criminal record that includes 16 prior convictions, mainly property related and all non-violent. The decision also indicated that Haines allowed cocaine use was a contributing factor in his ill-fated decision to make off with the beer. The parole board noted that Haines took part in a substance abuse program
in jail “where it is reported you have done very well and have shown a sincere interest in improving your lifestyle.” He plans on continuing with his treatment, another mark in his favour according to the report. On the negative side, the board noted Haines had some run-ins with jail staff and said his “interpersonal style” will be monitored during his parole. The board also mentioned Haines’ status as something of a media star since the story first hit the news wires last year. During his sentencing, Crown prosecutor Cameron Gunn noted that he had prosecuted murder cases that received less attention than the beer heist. Moosehead admitted the theft bought them free publicity and even printed up T-shirts that read “Donde esta mi cerveza?” Spanish for “Where is my beer?” There was a story of a bear drinking a six-pack of the stolen product. A play about the incident has been staged and a book is due out this fall. “Your case still garners a fair degree of media attention,” read the parole board decision, “and the stress that comes from the same will have to be managed with the assistance of supporting professionals to best ensure you do not lapse into drug use or otherwise display inappropriate behaviours.”
‘Prudence, good judgement, common sense’ From page 11 whose children were murdered by Bernardo and Homolka, said this: “It’s nice to see in this day and age that, even in the movie industry, prudence, good judgment and common sense prevail.” Really? Does that explain all the Hitler movies or L.A. Confidential and American Justice? If prudence, good judgment and common sense prevail, why did Hollywood make In Cold Blood, Natural Born Killers, Scarface, American Psycho, Helter Skelter, Quills, and Boston Strangler? The point that Danson and Losique have missed is this: the Marquis de Sade was not himself in good taste, but the brilliant adaptation of his bizarre life certainly was that and much more. Anthony de Silva’s string of murders
in Boston were truly dreadful, but Tony Curtis’s portrayal of the Boston Strangler was a tour de force, which rightly deserved an Academy Award. The brutal murders committed by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were as ghastly as they come, but Truman Capote’s book on the 1956 Kansas slayings is a masterpiece and even created a new literary genre — the non-fiction novel. SELF-INDULGENT In fact, In Cold Blood, Quills, and Boston Strangler were as good artistically as Natural Born Killers, American Psycho and Scarface were inexcusably and pruriently bad. But the fact Al Pacino embarrassed himself in a film about Al Capone was not because it was about a mobster who killed a lot of people. It was bad because Pacino offered a self-indul-
gent burlesque of a real-life monster who we didn’t understand any better at the end of the blood-fest. Likewise, Tony Curtis did not get his Oscar because de Silva’s life and deeds were admirable but because his portrayal was subtle and flawless. In the latest edition of Walrus Magazine, Jake MacDonald has given us another chapter in the same sad theme being played out at the Montreal Film Festival. MacDonald documents the government’s intrusion into the new Hollywood, where the U.S. military swaps locations and military hardware for script approval. I can’t wait to see Donald Rumsfeld’s Siege of Fallujah with Harrison Ford. The Taliban bans films. Up until now, we reviewed them. Michael Harris’ column will return Aug. 21.
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan
Dan Riedlhuber/Reuters
A Canadian woman in Abdullah’s court RIYADH By Mitch Potter Torstar wire service
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t is something rare to greet a new Saudi king. Something rarer still when you are the only woman in the room. Especially when that room happens to be one of the most traditionally male chambers in the world today. Such was the situation a female emissary found herself in last week as 81-year-old King Abdullah, the sixth monarch to lead the oil-rich Saudi kingdom, stepped into a marble-lined reception hall at Riyadh Palace to greet a parade of international dignitaries. That woman was Anne McLellan. “Actually, I was interested and concerned, to some extent. As the room filled up, I kept leaning over to (Canada’s) ambassador, saying ‘I’m the only woman,’” McLellan, Canada’s deputy prime minister, says. Among the questions of protocol, should she cover her head with a traditional chador, as do most western women, including visiting female journalists, for such a public occasion? And would he or wouldn’t he shake her hand? In a country where even the restaurants are strictly divided by sex, the question bears pondering. Calm counsel came from the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Rod Bell, whose read on the region is deep, having spent past postings in Jordan and Israel. No chador is necessary, he advised, not even here in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam and still very much the deepest repository of tradition. Not for diplomats. Not today. Not to worry. Minutes later, Bell’s words came true. Standing alongside her Canadian cabinet colleague, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, the unscarved McLellan met the king’s steady gaze. Their hands came together. For not just a handshake, but a handshake broadcast live on Saudi national
television. The moment came as a fitting reminder that Abdullah, whose reputation for piety exceeds that of his brethren in the royal House of Saud, remains very much a man at ease in two very different worlds. “There was a strength about him, a resoluteness,” McLellan said of the encounter. “The thing that I found interesting, even with me as a woman, he looked me straight in the eye. There was no looking away … He seemed very engaged, very sharp. Not a young man, but a man of considerable strength.” Canada’s greeting came on a day that saw British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, Prince Charles and Sweden’s King Carl Gustav among the host of dignitaries. But for Saudis, the day’s greater importance came in the bayah, a ceremony of investiture derived from Muslim traditions established in the seventh century. The two-day affair began with the arrival of hundreds of tribal sheiks, religious leaders, government officials and uniformed military commanders at the palace. A servant swung an incense burner among them to bless the gathering as they lined up, some shouting “Long live the king,” and waited to offer their fealty to Abdullah. Yet many western diplomats observe in Abdullah a piety and overall depth of character not commonly associated with Fahd, whose occasionally reported dalliances with western lifestyle prior to his ascension to the throne were never forgotten by many of his conservative subjects. Admired for his intuitive connection to the traditional Bedouin culture that underpins the nation, some surmise that the reform-minded Abdullah may command a more genuine hold over his people than some of his predecessors. But at age 81, the duration of his reign is a question of doubt.
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTWORLD • 13
VOICE FROM AWAY
Some of the children Newfoundlander Peter Harley met while visiting the SOS children’s village in Bethlehem.
Peter Harley photos
‘All was calm, all was bright’ Newfoundland resident Peter Harley sees hope and happiness in a children’s village in Bethlehem BETHLEHEM By Peter Harley For the Independent Peter Harley is in Palestine this summer, a participant in Palestine Summer Encounter (PSE) program. He lives with a family in the area, does volunteer work, touring, and is studying Arabic. This is one of his recent experiences.
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here is a lot of good in this world and I saw some of it this week: the SOS Children’s Village in Bethlehem. I had read the SOS website (www.sos-childrensvillages.org) to be somewhat knowledgeable when we arrived. I liked the concept so much I was prepared to be mildly disappointed on seeing the real thing. I was not. At SOS, single women act as mothers, each providing care for four to 10 orphans. Every mother has her own house in a village of similar houses that make up a small, planned community, constructed in accordance with local custom. The village in Bethlehem is nothing short of beautiful, and illus-
trates the very positive effect architecture can have on one’s mental state. When we walked through the main entryway to the Bethlehem village, there was a little boy sitting by himself on a plastic toy car, eating a sandwich that could have nourished a workman for the afternoon. The road was lined with mature gardens full of flowering trees, evergreens and palms. To become an SOS mother a woman makes a long-term commitment and is given intensive training and evaluation as an “aunt”: she helps in a house already run by an established mother. If an aunt is accepted to become a mother she is given a house of her own, with her own room and a budget for the children’s care. SOS was started by an Austrian by the name of Hermann Gmeiner in 1949 and has been growing since. SOS villages are now all over the world, with another six scheduled to open in 2006. Gmeiner thought every child needed four pillars underpinning his or her development: a mother, a house, brothers and sisters, and a village. A typical village also includes a school, a kindergarten, training centers,
a social center, medical and psychological support. Much of this is made available to the surrounding public. There is also an aunts’ house and a workshop, in case something breaks — as anything might in the presence of 100 children.
As for putting Christians and Muslims together, the receptionist said it would be too difficult.
The houses were as pleasant a form of shelter as I’ve seen anywhere and the one we went into was clean, quiet and orderly. It had a big front porch, medium-sized living room with TV, perfectly adequate bedrooms with reasonably spaced beds, one room for boys and the other for girls. There is an automatic washing
machine, a modern kitchen and so on. It is so nice there might have been children willing to trade their parents for admission. However, the Bethlehem village is full: 108 children in 12 houses, 10 Muslim and two Christian. As for putting Christians and Muslims together, the receptionist said it would be too difficult. I asked if there were any men in the children’s lives and she said the director of the village was considered the village father. There is an activity supervisor, also a man. The village has access to the services of a psychologist and a social worker to help with severely disturbed children. Natural brothers and sisters are never separated, and boys and girls live together with their SOS mother until the age of 14, when they transfer to a same-sex high school. Some go on to university. During our visit I met a young man who had just graduated from Birzeit University and happened to be home for a visit. He is now a civil engineer and proudly showed me photographs of his graduation ceremony; he said two
other Birzeit graduates this year had also come from the Bethlehem SOS Village. One had a degree in history and the other in media. In the house we visited, the children were milling around, wanting to shake hands and have their pictures taken, but all of them were apparently healthy and content. No doubt there are rougher moments than the few we saw, but at the time of our visit, all was calm, all was bright. A few weeks later I went with the children on an outing to Jerusalem and they were as good as gold there too. The trip was organized by another participant of the Palestinian Summer Encounter, who does his volunteer work at SOS and wanted the children to have a chance to see this part of their heritage while still young enough not to be excluded by Israeli “law.” That proved to be a great idea: one of the boys I looked after was thrilled to see the Dome of the Rock and bought a postcard of it to take home. Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Please email editorial@theindependent.ca
14 • INDEPENDENTWORLD
AUGUST 7, 2005
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTWORLD • 15
‘Upper Canadian arrogance’ blamed for Globe goof FREDERICTON By Alison Lynch Telegraph Journal
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Globe and Mail goof has Mayor Brad Woodside inviting some of the newspaper’s reporters to New Brunswick’s capital city. But they’d better not consult their graphics department’s map for directions. In the July 31 edition of the national newspaper, a New Brunswick map accompanied a story on Premier Bernard Lord’s Point Lepreau funding announcement (N.B.’s Premier relents, okays nuclear facelift).
PM didn’t look across country From page 11 sour legacy that successors took years to sweeten. So it is arguably Quebec’s turn and only disappointing that the Prime Minister didn’t look seriously across the country. Still, appointments at this level tell as much about those choosing as those chosen and this one reveals plenty about Liberal as well as national problems. Along with sending the message to immigrants everywhere that Canada belongs to everyone, Martin is dispatching other signals to Quebec. With the Gomery inquiry still deconstructing his party’s brand and with an election now only months away, the Prime Minister is reminding Quebecers that Liberals, not the Bloc Québécois, are best positioned to promote their interests. Martin is also thanking ethnic voters who tilted the last sovereignty referendum in Canada’s favour and whose weight may be needed again soon. So far, that two-part signal is being well received. Despite the understandably tenuous connection to British royalty, the province is welcoming Jean’s appointment, while ethnic groups, and particularly the Haitian community, are ecstatic.
What remains to be seen is if a good story is enough to make a great governor general.
West of Ontario and east of Quebec, Martin’s choice looks a slower sell. Jean’s story and persona are not so easily recognized outside big cities and, judging by talk shows, there is some sentiment that this is just the ultimate exercise in federal political correctness. That’s not altogether unfounded. In searching for the perfect G-G, official Ottawa now strives to celebrate diversity by embracing as many national hyphens as possible while downplaying more traditional strengths. But the real risk in this appointment is that it obscures the growing reality that Jean’s experience is not every immigrant’s experience. For everyone who rises to the top there is another driven down by the real-life challenges of a country that isn’t always as advertised abroad. Jean’s past is no longer typical and it would minimize her achievements and exaggerate Canada’s limited success in integrating immigrants to make that mistake. In any case, she has modest objectives for a position that, despite all the inflated blather about a potential role deciding the fate of a minority government, is overwhelmingly ceremonial. She says she will reach out to every man and woman and make a special effort to engage the young. When she does, she can tell what Martin rightly calls her extraordinary story. What remains to be seen is if a good story is enough to make a great governor general. Clarkson made her own story just an opening chapter and now leaves the job as more than a symbol of ethnic achievement. In travelling the country she became more a part of it than her background and nostalgic, Can-Lit, vision promised. Now Jean must take her Quebec-centric experience and television expertise on the road beyond the TorontoMontreal axis that elects Liberals. A country is waiting to see if there is more to this appointment than politics.
On the map, Moncton was marked with a star and a circle, the traditional symbol for a capital city. Fredericton was nowhere to be found. ‘NOT ALL THAT BRIGHT’ “They’re not all that bright,” Woodside says of the Globe and Mail staff. “They thought they were claiming a fact but they weren’t. Pretty embarrassing for them, I’d think.” Colin MacKenzie, the Globe and Mail’s managing editor of news, blames the error on a summer student working in the newspaper’s graphics department. When the student discovered
Moncton’s population was larger than Fredericton’s, he placed the star on the Hub City. The paper’s proofreading system also failed to catch the flub. “It was an unfortunate oversight and we’re very sorry,” MacKenzie says. It’s not the first time either. Last month, the paper’s graphics department mistakenly labeled Manitoba as Saskatchewan on a map. But Woodside takes the error as a show of Upper Canadian arrogance from the Toronto-based paper. “Here in New Brunswick, the rest of the country is pretty important to us,” he says.
“We know the geography. We know the governments. They don’t. “They just don’t have a whole lot of interest … Anything east of Quebec, they’re just not interested.” Woodside says he’s given up on getting angry about regional ignorance. USED TO GET UPSET “Down in Atlantic Canada, we’ve tolerated this for a long time,” he says. “I used to get upset about it, but I don’t get upset anymore.” Instead, he’s rolling out the welcome mat and inviting the Globe and Mail to send reporters to Fredericton to explore the city.
“I’d be happy to meet with them,” he says. Woodside says the visit would show reporters why Fredericton, not Moncton, is New Brunswick’s capital. MacKenzie says their reporters already frequent Fredericton, covering provincial politics and other features of national interest such as the disputed artwork on display at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. “We understand it,” he says of the region. “I understand completely that Fredericton is the capital of the fine province of New Brunswick.”
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AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 7-13, 2005 — PAGE 17
‘A thing of beauty’ Pamela Morgan set out to do a CD tourists might buy, and ended with something much richer — her muse “speaks a language nobody understands.” STEPHANIE PORTER
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Pamela Morgan
Paul Daly/The Independent
amela Morgan’s latest CD is both “a side project” recorded in England between tours, and the product of a life-long love of the music and stories of Newfoundland. The idea sprang from her brother George, who suggested she “just do an album, (voice) and guitar, traditional songs so tourists will buy it.” But far from a sell out, Ancestral Songs is an important record for Morgan, a trip back to where she started her career in music, more than 30 years ago. Morgan, lead singer and a founding member of legendary Celtic-folk band Figgy Duff, wears many hats these days. She’s the owner of an independent record label (Amber Music), producer, arranger, songwriter, singer, and performer. “I don’t know anything except music,” she says. “I don’t often indulge in anything else except my own projects.” She may be best recognized for her clear and distinctive voice, evoking the haunting and powerful sounds of sea and wind, perfect for spinning stories or exploring emotions. The new CD, quiet as it is — it’s only Morgan, her acoustic guitar, and a guest violinist on a few tracks — puts her front and centre, sharing the spotlight with the words, generations old, that she sings. “It kind of took on a life of its own, became a thing of beauty,” says Morgan of Ancestral Songs. “I’m really proud of it, and I wouldn’t ever do anything less than what I do, but it’s the only time I’ve ever done anything sort of thinking about sales.” Morgan has always got a number of projects on various burners, and more inside her head, waiting to come out. After a tour in California with an accordion and violin player, she began to work on an album involving those instruments. “Money is always a problem,” she says with a shrug. That project remains unfinished, for now. Then last spring, she was in England,
at a friend’s studio, mixing a live recording from Figgy Duff’s reunion tour in 1999. The concert, held at the Delta hotel in St. John’s, had been recorded on 32-track — and then the tapes were stored in a box in Morgan’s house, a box she only recently rediscovered. “I’ve never worked on a live album before,” she says. “I didn’t understand what went into it — they spent a whole week cleaning up the drum tracks.” That CD — which will be completed, she says, whether it’s released to the public or not — was taking much longer than anticipated. So Morgan went to work doing her own thing. “I had this little window of time, and I picked songs I was really liked and was comfortable with, and was comfortable playing,” she says. “These are songs I’ve known forever, I’m revisiting songs that have been left behind during various projects and various careers. Even the accompaniments are very old.” Her friend’s studio, near the “cradle of folk rock in England” — the very place Figgy Duff first found inspiration — proved to be the perfect place to record. The CD’s 10 tracks, all traditional, are stories and songs that have travelled “across the wide ocean, in sailing ships … with settlers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.” She also refers to them as “soap operas, long psychological dramas unfolding in song.” Looking at the finished product, Morgan points to another benefit of the stripped down sound: she can reproduce it anywhere, anytime. “This is exactly what I do,” she says. Giving credit where due, Morgan gives appreciation to the tourism business — both for what it means to the province, and to her personally. “In the summertime, I have over the last three years been able to stay in Newfoundland and make a living,” she says. This year she played a series of shows in Trinity, and will perform at the Woody Point Writer’s Festival and the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk See “If you don’t sell,” page 19
LIVYER
Can’t stay away He may have moved away in ’49, but Renews native has come home most every year since By Evan Careen For The Independent
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hey say you can never come home again, but John Rogers has been doing just that every summer for the last 48 years. The 76-year-old has been making the trek every year from Maynard, Mass. to Renews, the home he left almost half a century ago. Although born into a fishing
family, Rogers says the life wasn’t for him. “I used to fish with my father in Renews but I used to get up every morning and get sick,” Rogers tells The Independent. “So I said ‘I gotta get out of here.’ So I took off, that was in ’49.” After spending a year in Montreal, Rogers moved south to Maynard where he found a thriving population of Newfoundlanders.
“When I moved to Maynard, 85 per cent of the people there were from Newfoundland and the other 15 per cent were Finnish,” Rogers says. “These days there’s people from all over the place but there’s still a lot of newfies.” Rogers worked in Maynard as a supervisor for a chemical company called W.R. Grace for the better part of 30 years before See “As long as,” page 19
John Rogers
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
AUGUST 7, 2005
18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
GALLERYPROFILE
TREVOR BRADLEY Visual Artist
L
ike many artists, Trevor Bradley loved to draw and paint when he was a kid. And although art seemed like something he “always wanted to do,” he didn’t take art classes through school, and didn’t pursue his hobby for years. “I always looked at it as ‘oh, I could do that,’” says Bradley, the nephew of painters Glen and Walt Pinsent. “But it was only seven years ago that I finally really wanted to.” Bradley enrolled in a weekly painting class with St. John’s-based artist Ed Roche. He still goes to Roche’s every Thursday evening, now it’s as much for a social and creative outlet as an educational experience — the three hours a week he can get away from it all and paint. Bradley has a busy career as a sales manager for an automobile company and a busy home life as a father of two. Although he admits he takes little or no time for painting in the summer — those are the months for golf and family activities— he manages to finish a handful of pieces between September and May. “I paint what I like,” he says. “It’s all Newfoundland, what you see around you.” And what used to be seen; the St. John’s native is getting more involved with historical photos and work. “I think it’s all getting lost, all those fishing scenes, if they’re not captured and done something with, they’ll just sit in the archives or disappear forever.” Bradley turns to the provincial archives and old photographs he finds for inspiration. He’s looking forward to spending some time in The Rooms before the summer’s out, to gather shots for this year in the studio. “There’s a painting in almost every photo,” he says of his research. “I’d like to do more research, do a whole series … you look at a photo and there’s a story to be told, and you try and tell it.” Bradley sells reproductions of his work in a number of galleries and shops around St. John’s. He says he’s starting to move away from the city scenes he started with, and doing more work with people — the characters, he says, people can relate to. “I like to concentrate on detail,” he says. “The detail in a face, or, if I’m doing a building, I get the nails in the nail holes and the marks on the door, the grain in the wood, things like that. “People in class give me a hard time because it takes me so long to finish a painting.” As much as he loves the challenge and process of painting, Bradley says he could never imagine taking it on as a full-time career. “Because what would I do for therapy then?” he asks with a laugh. That said, he is planning for an exhibition, perhaps a couple of years down the road. And though he’s only been painting seven years, he says he can’t imagine life without his art. “I have to realize, I’m only 36 … we’ll see what happens, see how far it goes,” he says. “My wife jokes that I collect hobbies, but this is one I’ll stick with.” Bradley’s work can be viewed at www.newfoundlandart.ca — 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
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19
A tale of two festivals F
or writers, readers, and tourists, August is the coolest month. Coming up virtually back to back on the calendar are two impressive writers festivals: the Winterset Literary Festival, August 12-14, and the Writers at Woody Point Festival, August 17-24. Anyone interested in getting out of town over the next few weeks should head up around Trinity Bay to Eastport for a few days and then out to the west coast to spectacular Bonne Bay. It’ll be summer camp for brainiacs. But this is not a tourist promotion. It is, rather, a comment on the attractions, hazards, and challenges of running two independent literary events in a province this size. Each festival draws on the same pool of literary talent, not to mention sources of support, but each sprang out of different interests and history. These differences have made for some low-level grumbling. The Winterset Literary Festival is the older event, this being its fourth year of operation. The three-day celebration of writers and their works grew up around the Winterset Award, established in 2000 by author-journalist Richard Gwyn to commemorate his late wife Sandra Fraser Gwyn. Writing in the mid-70s for Saturday Night magazine, Sandra almost singlehandedly invented what has come to be known as the “Newfoundland Renaissance” of culture and art. Following in the tradition of Torontonian Jack Rabinovitch, who famously established the lucrative Giller Prize in honour of his wife, Doris, Richard Gwyn initiated the Winterset prize both to honour the memory of Sandra and to highlight the achievement of a native writer. The festival in Eastport, where the Gwyns spent so many summers together, features the Winterset Award contenders, as well as a distinguished set of Canadian writers and artists who read and exhibit their works. This year, the 2005 Winterset Award winner Ed Riche will be joined by finalists Ramona Dearing and Joel Hynes, and many more well known and gifted creators. The Woody Point Festival is only in
NOREEN GOLFMAN Standing room only its second year but its reach and ambition are grand. Like the Winterset Festival, this west coast event showcases the famous and the soon-to-be famous writers from the province, as well as Canadian and international stars. Tickets were gone within an astonishing 36 hours. If you look starved enough for the spoken word you might be let in to a reading or two. Otherwise, you are encouraged to peek through the windows and hope for the best. The event grew out of the organizers’ desire to animate the local community, specifically by exploiting the spectacularly renovated Heritage Theatre on the point. At the exuberant close of last year’s festival the mayor beamed that although he hadn’t had a clue what a literary festival was when he initially supported the event he sure knew — and liked — what it was now. How to explain the success of both festivals? Attending literary readings is not everyone’s idea of fun leisure activity, but the sheer buzz around so many excellent local writers is an obvious attraction, as is the opportunity to pick, flatter, or even challenge their brains. A powerful social element at both festivals also encourages an alluring mix of elitism and populism. Typical of many Newfoundland cultural events, the festivals discourage pomp and pretension. Bars, beaches, and church halls are great levelers, and the object of the whole event is to have as good a time as possible, while rubbing shoulders with someone whose work you revere. Enthusiasm and success notwithstanding, rumours about one festival poaching on another started circulating last year among the chattering classes. The Winterset crowd was alleged to have been distressed at the upstart Woody Point crowd who, in turn, got defensive and annoyed. Before long, a
dangerous side-taking was hovering over the beer glasses, and the potential for discord loomed like autumn. To be sure, this place can be as provincial as Quebec, where there has been chaos over the planning and support for two back-to-back fall film festivals. It’s turned into an ugly Montreal scene, full of recrimination and threats, with staff at each festival hording their plans and guest filmmakers; in the end, everyone will lose, especially the spectators. A history of the growth of Newfoundland theatre would reveal a similar set of conflicts. Some casualties from the ’70s theatre wars still walk around with open wounds and grudges heavy enough to bring down the curtains. Arts communities are no different from any other family, and pettiness, resentments, and slights can thrive as well as peace, love, and good feeling. It sure would be a shame if the organizers of both literary festivals got into some sort of pissing contest. What’s remarkable is there isn’t that much overlap between the two events. Of the many talented participants it seems only a handful are performing at both festivals, although other writers might be going back and forth as audience members. This proves the breadth and depth of the literary explosion in the province, and underscores the rationale for at least two literary festivals a summer, not to mention the annual March Hare in Corner Brook and the dozens of launches and readings in St John’s throughout the year. It’s a big province — it can handle it. Let’s hope the two main festivals collaborate with each other as much as possible, share their guest lists, schedules and dates, and continue to flourish as summertime attractions of the highest order. Noreen Golfman is a professor of literature and women’s studies at Memorial. Her next column will appear Aug. 21.
‘As long as I can I will’ From page 17 taking his retirement. While he now has the freedom to move back to Newfoundland permanently, Rogers says he never will. All his children and grandchildren live in the States and he says the idea of coming back full-time has never really crossed his mind. Having driven across the province for so many years, Rogers says he’s seen a lot of changes — good and bad — in the province. “When I started driving there were no roads, just a cow path coming across,” he says. “There were no bridges over rivers; you had to go across the gravel and into the water. When I got to Gambo I had to put the car on a flatbed and bring it in to Clarenville. That was before they put the Trans-Canada in.” While the roads may be better these days, Rogers says overall the negative changes he’s seen outweigh the posi-
tive. “It’s gone down. Gone down every year,” says Rogers. “All these little outports and communities like King’s Cove. It’s a dying community, it’s really sad to see it. Everybody has to leave to make a living. It’s really sad to see what’s happening to this country.” Rogers says he thinks the fishery is a big part of the problem in Newfoundland these days and it isn’t going to get better any time soon. “You take this crab fishery,” Rogers says. “It’s a good fishery but how long is it going to last? In the next four or five years there’s going to be no crab fishing. Then they’ll move onto something else. People not from here don’t see the difference in the small communities. Every year I see these communities getting smaller and smaller.” A big issue in Newfoundland and Labrador lately has been the recreational food fishery and Rogers says he’s shocked at the way government has
handled it. “I think it’s the most discriminating thing I’ve heard in my life,” says Rogers. “When they open the food fishery from Cape St. Mary’s to Burin and not open it to the rest of the island that’s discriminating. If they shut down the fishery they should shut it down for everybody. It should be everybody or nobody.” While he’s never considered moving back to the province, Rogers says he just can’t stay away from Newfoundland. “I’ll be coming back as long as I can,” he says. “I’m 76 years old now, so I don’t know how much longer I can do it. I love coming back here and doing some hunting, some fishing, picking some bakeapples. As long as I can I will.” Evan Careen is a journalism student at the Bay St. George campus of the College of the North Atlantic
‘If you don’t sell, you don’t eat’ From page 17 the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival (in three separate slots: with Anita Best, the Forgotten Bouzouki, and “the Cape Shore crowd.” She also wrote and recorded a score for a play, J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea, performed in Cuslett. “I can’t play bars; my stuff isn’t really suited to bars,” Morgan says. “The tourism industry has allowed me to stay here in the summer, and I would rather be here than anywhere else in the world.” Midway through an extremely busy year — she’s also played in Ireland, Scandinavia and Japan in 2005, as well as recording in England — she admits she’s “a tad weary at the moment.” There’s no break ahead; more international travel on deck for the fall, and a tour in western Canada after Christmas. “And there’s little things in between,” she adds with a smile. “I love it though. It’s great to be busy and it keeps the mind alive … “There’s a lot of things to do, and I’m not getting any younger. I feel a sense of urgency to get some stuff done that’s been on the back burner for a long time.” Of all the many facets of her work, Morgan says recording is her favourite. “I’m not a natural stage performer,” she shrugs. “I do it kind of as an occupational hazard.” Being her own record label and management is satisfying, but has its own rigours. A tireless proponent of the
music of the land she loves, Morgan admits being involved in all levels of the music business allows her to see just how “economics play a major role in dictating” what she does. “I’d never sell out or play anything I didn’t believe in,” she says, talking again with pride and honesty about her new CD. “But a traditional record with guitar is much easier to market than a
singer-songwriter thing, when there’s five million thousand of us. It’s hard to compete. “I really hate it to come down to that, but I mean, sometimes I think my muse speaks a language nobody understands. I don’t write pop music so it can be very hard to pin down a genre for it. It’s consequently very hard to sell. If you don’t sell, you don’t eat.”
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AUGUST 7, 2005
20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
Out of the studio, onto the beach Mike Gillan is one of many volunteers involved in a pit firing and pottery sale on Middle Cove Beach
Mike Gillan
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
By Stephanie Porter The Independent
M
ike Gillan enjoys taking his work to the street. Over the summer he can be spotted sitting on the steps by George Street, working clay into the shape of whale tails with his hands. Or on the harbourfront, as cruise ships come in, demonstrating his craft to visitors and locals alike. He’s selling his work, to be sure. But he’s also interested in interacting
with different people and places. “A lot of creativity comes from conversation with people that are curious about what you’re doing,” he says. On Aug. 13 (weather permitting), Gillan is helping to organize an even larger public event. He’ll be heading to Middle Cove Beach, one of the volunteer co-ordinators of A day at the beach, a beach firing and fundraiser for the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council’s clay studio. “It’s great, people can see art being created,” says Gillan, a member of the
clay studio’s board. “How many times have I heard people say, ‘Oh, I can’t draw, or ‘I’m not an artist’ … we just want people to be curious, to open up and try it and take a workshop or something.” Gillan, a former full-time, high-end chef, started taking pottery classes five years ago at the clay studio, located in Devon House in downtown St. John’s. The techniques came easily to him. “Food — what a wonderful medium, all the textures and colour,” he
says. “The brush is so organic. That’s where it balances out with stone or clay, it’s all organic and natural.” Gillan has since started a company, Northeastern Folk Arts, which sells a line of pottery items wholesale or by special order. He’s looking to take his work further, into schools, to “help people understand the creativity within themselves.” This week’s focus, though, is readying for the beach firing. He estimates 200 to 300 pots — all made by clay studio members and volunteers —
will be lugged out to Middle Cove Beach, bright and early in the morning. “Clay has to be cooked before it’s useable,” he explains. “The first firings ever done were just, build a fire literally on the pottery and use all sorts of different things on the pottery to give it different colours.” That’s exactly what will be recreated on the beach. A large pit will be dug, and lined with pots, seaweed, sawdust, and wood. “The whole thing is lit on fire,” he says. “When it finally starts to burn down so it’s just embers, you take the pots out.” They’re put up for sale as soon as they’re cool enough to take home. Jay Kimball, the clay studio coordinator, says the pieces range in price from $1 to $100. This year’s fundraising goal is $2,000. “There is never a shortage of items on our wish list,” says Kimball. “(But) each year seems to bring with it a different use for the money … and this year we are in desperate need of a new kiln.” The day at the beach is also a “great way for people to have some exposure to ceramics, especially considering the technique,” says Kimball. “Pit firing is like having a big bonfire with a surprise at the end.” “It’s raising money and awareness,” agrees Gillan. “And the shared joy of being part of the group that’s made all these pots that people want to buy.” The clay studio is the only studio of its kind in the province, says Kimball. It offers services — instruction, studio space, materials, equipment — and a supportive community for ceramic artists and potters of all levels. “The pit firing allows us to do our work outside, ancient-style, around the public,” says Gillan. “It’s a kind of picnic/celebration for us all … gets everyone out of their own little studios and out on the beach.” The pit firing starts at 9 a.m. on Middle Cove Beach. The sale begins at 11 a.m. For more information, visit www.craftcouncil.nf.ca
Canadian filmmakers are thinking carnal thoughts at this year’s film festival By Peter Howell Torstar wire service
C
anadian filmmakers are set to make a strong statement at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and many of them have sex on their minds. Well-known Canadian directors are returning to the festival in greater numbers than last year, easing concerns the domestic industry had fallen into a lull. New works by Allan King, Sturla Gunnarson, Clement Virgo, Thom Fitzgerald and Bernard Émond bring some name recognition to the Canadian contingent, along with already announced new films by David
Cronenberg (A History of Violence), Atom Egoyan (Where the Truth Lies) and Deepa Mehta (Water). There will also be a retrospective of the films of NFB ace Don Owen, whose 1964 teen drama Nobody Waved Good-bye is a landmark of Canadian cinema. The veterans will be joined by an eager flock of newcomers, who sent submissions to a record high, with 220 features and 513 shorts being screened by red-eyed TIFF programmers. The list was culled to 100 films confirmed to date for the festival, of which 26 are features (19 of them world premieres) and 44 are shorts. And if there’s one recurring theme
amongst the incredible variety of offerings, it would have to be sex, says Steve Gravestock, TIFF’s associate director of Canadian special projects. “I can tell you that we saw many films concerning sexual awakenings, family relationships, loss of memory, creativity, romantic relationships … and sexual awakenings,” he told a press conference at the Metropolitan Hotele. One film in particular might convince Torontonians that they have a very sexy city, Gravestock says. It’s Clement Virgo’s Live With Me, which is based on the sexually explicit novel of the same name, written by Virgo’s wife, Tamara Faith Berger. “It’s almost like the whole city is
enveloped and obsessed with sexuality,” Gravestock says of the film. “It’s a very sensual world.” Another sexy offering is Amnon Buchbinder’s Whole New Thing, starring newcomer Aaron Webber as a 13year-old raised in the wilds of Nova Scotia by hippie parents who believe in casual nudity and free love. Family relations of a different kind are the preoccupation of Louise Archambault’s Familia, which has been chosen to open the Canada First! program for emerging filmmakers. It features a Quebec mother and daughter, played by Sylvie Moreau and Mylène, who are struggling to understand themselves and each other.
Health issues are a concern for Halifax helmer Thom Fitzgerald, who made The Hanging Tree, one of the star offerings of the 1997 festival. He’s back with Three Needles, an AIDS epidemic drama set in China, South Africa and Canada, and starring Lucy Liu, Chlöe Sevigny, Stockard Channing, Sandra Oh and Olympia Dukakis. Another returning festival veteran is Toronto’s Sturla Gunnarson (Rare Birds), whose Beowulf & Grendel delves into the legend of the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. It’s based on ancient Scandinavian folklore and was a major influence on Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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AUGUST 7 • Buskers Festival clowns, magicians and musical talent perform on the streets of downtown St. John’s, 726-8244. • Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival continues, featuring performers from across Newfoundland and Labrador until 11 p.m. Call 576-8508 or visit www.sjfac.nf.net.
AUGUST 11 • The Signal Hill Tattoo, two shows daily, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Signal Hill. Call 772-5367. • St. John’s Storytelling Circle, 7:30–9:30 p.m. at the Crow’s Nest Officer’s Club, St. John’s, 6853444. • Official opening of the Northwest Rotary Club, 3:30 p.m., at Mundy Pond, 576-8020.
AUGUST 8 • Tuckamore festival begins: two weeks of evening concerts, lunchtime recitals, workshops and more, celebrating chamber music in Newfoundland and Labrador. Call 737-2372 or visit www.tuckamorefestival.ca for schedule. • Independent living Resource Center’s Women’s Night featuring jam sessions, pot luck and poetry, 7-9:30 p.m., 15 Downing St., St. John’s. • Farm field day, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Atlantic Cool Climate Crop Research Center, Brookfield Rd.
AUGUST 12 • St. John’s lunchtime concert series presents Adam McGrath at Prince Edward Plaza, George Street, 754-CITY. • Peace Accord Festival begins, LSPU Hall, Victoria Street, St. John’s. Visit www.peaceachord.org for a full schedule. Continues until Aug. 14. • Singles only: board the Nouvelle Orleans at Pier 7 on the St. John’s Waterfront for a mix and mingle cruise, 834-6663.
AUGUST 9 • Fish fry at the Fluvarium in Pippy Park with Chef Steve Watson in support of the Quidi Vidi/Rennies River Foundation, 6:30 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance, 754-3474. • The Canadian Bible Society’s Annual Gospel Music Festival featuring Newfoundland Christian artists. Bowering Park, Cabot Theatre. 6:30-9:30 p.m. • The Known Soldier, the story of Tommy Ricketts, presented by Gros Morne Theatre Festival Tuesdays and Fridays at the Warehouse Theatre, Cow Head, 1-877-243-2899. AUGUST 10 • Neil Diamond Dinner Theatre, 7 p.m. The Majestic Theatre, 390 Duckworth Street, 5793023. • Stones in his Pockets featuring Aiden Flynn and Steve O’Connell, Rabbittown Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Call 739-8220. • Folk night at the Ship Pub with Sara and Kamila, 9:30 p.m.
AUGUST 13 • Join local artist Anita Singh at the Anna Templeton Centre for Lino Cut Prints. Learn the skills of carving, inking, and printing, 739-7623. • Sunshine dreams for kids. Great Canadian walk for kids dreams, 11 a.m., Quidi Vidi Pond. Registration at 10 a.m. • Da boys play da blues: Peter Narvaez, Denis Parker and Scott Goudie play the Gower Street United Church Hall, 8 p.m. Tickets $12 in advance, call 335-7007. IN THE GALLERIES • Summer Dance: 17 artists doing work and sculpture and paint reflecting dance, Leyton Gallery of Fine Arts. • Pien Ashtunu: Pien builds a Canoe, showcasing traditional Innu canoe building, The Rooms. • Cindy’s circle, artwork by Cindy Furey until Aug. 13. Balance Restaurant. • All the Rivers I’ve Crossed (Sweet Water) by Susie Major and Still by Robyn Moody until Aug. 20, Eastern Edge Gallery. • Painting in the Garden, Botanical Garden Art Group Exhibition. Until Aug. 21, MUN Botanical Garden.
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 21
CONCESSION OBSESSION
Would you like to swallow 20 pills every day, just to digest your food? If you had cystic fibrosis, you’d have no choice.
Please help us. Damp weather kept some of the usual crowds away from the 187th annual Royal St. John’s Regatta Aug. 3, but plenty still turned out up to play games of chance and take in the races on Quidi Vidi Lake. Paul Daly/The Independent
Meditation courses offered in city by Sri Chinmoy questioned By Evan Careen For The Independent
I
n recent months brightly coloured posters advertising free meditation courses seem to be everywhere in St. John’s. It’s an aggressive campaign the likes of which the city usually doesn’t see outside of an election. The posters draw attention to fourweek meditation classes presented as a free service by the new St. John’s Meditation Centre. The centre is affiliated with meditation guru Sri Chinmoy, who owns a number of centres in 60 different countries. The centres are usually named “Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centres,” but the guru’s name isn’t mentioned on the advertisements in St. John’s. Sri Chinmoy, born Kumar Ghose, is a self-described “spiritual brother of Jesus” and leader of an organization with a reported 5,000 members worldwide. The organization’s main method of recruitment is the free meditation classes offered by his adherents. Minutes after the class starts Greg Emery (Emery prefers to be called Abhijit, a name bestowed upon him by Chinmoy), the local representative of Sri Chinmoy, unveils a portrait of the guru that is meant as a focus during meditation. Potential members are given a speech about how great Sri
Chinmoy is and a list of his accomplishments, including having written thousands of books and having painted tens of thousands of paintings. Chinmoy also claims to be able to lift 7,000 pounds with one hand. Greg Grace, 25, attended the classes for a couple of weeks before deciding not to come back. “I just got a weird vibe from the whole thing,” Grace tells The Independent. “The first couple of times it was OK, but that Abhijit guy seemed way too into Sri Chinmoy for my liking.” Contacted by The Independent, Emery declined an interview. He did say that if a representative of the paper attended his classes they would be “misunderstood” and taken out of the proper spiritual context. Emery tells classes he was a successful, financially secure person who felt a void in his life that Chinmoy filled. After eight years with Chinmoy’s organization, Emery quit his job and sold his house to move to Newfoundland to teach free meditation classes. “Yeah, I thought him quitting his job and stuff to teach free classes was a little weird,” says Grace. “That’s a little too devoted if you ask me. I don’t know what else went on with those guys but I figured the sooner I got out
the better.” Chinmoy’s group has come under fire over the years by ex-disciples who claim the group is not what it seems and that Chinmoy is not the holy man he declares himself to be. Former members say that Chinmoy’s claim of celibacy is untrue and that the group threatens people who wish to leave. Musician Carlos Santana is a past member of Chinmoy’s inner circle who left the group after nine years. Santana (known as Devadip during his time with Chinmoy) has said in interviews that Chinmoy was “pretty vindictive” when he left and that Chinmoy told other members of the group not to speak to him because he would “drown in a dark sea of ignorance” for leaving him. Emery was in the province last year and offered free classes then as well. Due to positive response he returned to set up a permanent centre. At the moment, however, the centre is nothing more than a phone number and a classroom at the College of the North Atlantic on Prince Philip Drive. The start date for the next meditation classes is not yet known. Emery is still working with the members from the last course. Evan Careen is a journalism student at the Bay St. George campus of the College of the North Atlantic
1-800-378-CCFF • www.cysticfibrosis.ca
AUGUST 7, 2005
22 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
IN CAMERA
Minding the peace
Officers of the High Sheriff of Newfoundland and Labrador chaperone notorious criminals and petty offenders alike on a daily basis. Photo editor Paul Daly and reporter Clare-Marie Gosse spent time in court to find out what goes on behind the bars.
I
t’s almost 10 o’clock on a weekday morning and sheriff’s officers in the holding cells at provincial court in St. John’s conduct routine background checks on a computerized national police crime registry. An escort has just brought in a handful of detainees from the juvenile detention centre in Whitbourne and staff anticipate another delivery from the Waterford Hospital’s high security forensic unit. Background checks help officers assess criminal records, outstanding arrest warrants, possible escape risks or suicidal tendencies of their temporary cell visitors. On a monitor system, the young offenders can be seen slouching against the walls of their cells as they wait to be called to court. Regular court trials take a break over the summer, so most of the inmates are overnight offenders waiting for their first appearance, which takes place within 24 hours of arrest. The Waterford escorts arrive with two young men in tow. Before going to their cells, the detainees are searched, uncuffed and their personal affects are temporarily taken away. Terri Twyne, acting deputy sheriff supervisor, explains the offenders were being held at the Waterford for a week’s assessment and are due to appear back in court again. Despite the summer holidays, she says the sheriff’s officers are as busy as ever. An escalation of crimes during the warmer months pushes up the number of first appearances. “We separate the male, female obviously and then by age and institution … court is usually around 10 o’clock before it gets started,” she tells The Independent. “Basically we bring them here in the morning. When court starts they call for us. We do court security out around the courthouse itself and when they call in here the escorts are
brought from here out to each court facility.” The peace officers (or sheriff’s officers, as they are formally known) are the law enforcement agents not so commonly seen by the general public — except when they fly past media cameras escorting high-profile accused or convicted detainees to and from court. The Office of the High Sheriff of Newfoundland and Labrador is an enforcement arm of the Supreme and Provincial Court system and officers work in both the old St. John’s courthouse and Atlantic Place. Sheriff’s officers are responsible for all court security and escorts, as well as jury practices and operate the holdings cells at Provincial Court. The city lock-up, located in the basement of the Supreme Court, is operated by staff of Her Majesty’s Penitentiary. As part of a 1,000-year-old system, which began in England, the sheriff’s office enforces all court monetary judgments and maintains the Judgment Enforcement Registry, which is always checked by institutions before issuing loans. Officers — or bailiffs — are also responsible for evictions and the seizing of property, and as federal marshals they carry out ship and aircraft arrests. There are approximately 86 sheriff’s officers in the province, including 30 fee-for-service officers who work in smaller communities on an on-call basis. Although St. John’s is currently the only city with a sheriff’s office, High Sheriff David Jones, who’s also a lawyer, says they are expecting to expand, to include a base on the west coast. Because sheriff’s officers are responsible for overseeing the security surrounding criminal proceedings and work in close contact with individuals often experiencing highly
volatile emotions — particularly common in family court custody cases — Jones says perception and intelligence are the most important qualities required of his staff. “We take physical condition and a certain level of training, which we try and maintain, as a given, but it’s the quality of their minds and how they think and how they reason in situations, or how they relate to people — because it’s about relationships.” Twyne, who is youthful, feminine and personable, reflects that image. She says she gravitated towards a job with the sheriff’s office 12 years ago when considering a career in the police force. Peace officer training is similar to that of the RNC and RCMP and Jones says female applicants are actively encouraged. As well as the standard black and white uniform, Twyne wears (at her belt) a pair of handcuffs, a baton and a bottle of pepper spray. She says the spray and baton are rarely needed. “There’s been very few cases, very few. We’ve been very fortunate.” One of the major challenges facing the officers, both in their capacities as court escorts and in cases of eviction, is to know how and when to exercise
force and how much to use. Twyne says this can be difficult if detainees are under the influence of drugs, which have become an increasingly major issue, particularly in St. John’s. “We notice it here … I don’t know if it’s just because you’ve been made so aware of the situation, it may have always been an issue, but it’s been more clear within the last couple of years and now that you are aware that it exists I would say that we notice it every day.” Jones points to the problem of OxyContin, which he calls “a scourge” and “one of the most effective man-made pain killers ever made. “If Terri had occasion to put an arm bar on you, you would feel that as a normal human being not under the influence of any drug, but if you happen to be on OxyContin and under its effects, you don’t feel that pain. So in some cases it’s a danger to the individual as well as a potential danger to any officers who come into contact with that individual.” He adds knowing whether a person is lucid enough to understand what officers are saying or doing, is another concern — particularly in cases
involving someone with mental health problems. “Take the example of someone with schizophrenia. I saw an interesting exercise that (a doctor) did with a number of peace officers, where he said, OK, I’m going to play a tape … and it would be Terri Twyne saying, ‘Put the knife down, put the knife down.’ That’s how a normal person hears it. … here’s how someone with schizophrenia hears it — there’s seven other voices.” Aside from the responsibilities of working as part of the sheriff’s office, Jones says the hardest part of the job is witnessing the consequences of criminal activity, especially involving youth. He mentions the case of renowned OxyContin addict Sonya Harvey — a young local girl whose life was almost destroyed by the drug. “That was a heartbreaking incident. She actually happened to come from my home town, so I didn’t know her but I knew her parents. To see the havoc that kind of thing can reap on people’s lives. I guess the other thing is when you see the aftermaths of particularly violent crimes, against female persons or against anyone. That’s pretty heart rending too.”
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 23
24 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
AUGUST 7, 2005
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 25
26 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
AUGUST 7, 2005
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 27
AUGUST 7, 2005
28 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Painter, singer Mitchell 5 ___ Spear, Nfld. 9 Team 13 Drill a hole 17 Yemeni port 18 Cathedral recess 19 Metrical tributes 20 From here to eternity 21 Molasses characteristic 23 Thinking logically 25 Riviera resort 26 Group of eight 28 DVD’s forerunner 29 Piece of lawn 30 Yukon: Canada’s ___ North 31 Animal hideout 32 Southernmost point of mainland Canada: Point ___ 35 Ont. town with Canadian Clock Museum 38 Shed tears 41 Sere 42 Kind of salt 43 French bag 44 Zubenelgenubi, e.g. 45 Carnival city 46 Tasty Canadian berry 50 Main artery 51 Understanding 52 N.W.T. hamlet, for short 53 Temper control
number 54 Strangest 56 Bohemian 58 Bank payment: abbr. 59 Quick and skillful 60 Sporting a diamond 63 Tibetan gazelle 64 Humour 65 Man. summer time 68 Car buyer’s alternative 69 Toupee 72 Dried grass 73 Shower alternative 74 Sign of assent 75 Took the bait 76 Will fellow 77 Monkey’s uncle 78 Journalists’ employer 82 Trunk 83 Ring around the collar? 84 Black chalcedony 85 Catch 86 Storage place 89 He designed the maple leaf on the flag 91 Pedantic 95 Characteristic 97 Curtsy, e.g. 99 Far: prefix 100 Out of the storm 101 Departs 102 Computer image 103 Secondhand 104 Marsh grass 105 Days of ___ (long ago)
106 They’re made by Parliament DOWN 1 Computer language 2 Norse god 3 Fit one within the other 4 Grooved 5 Checked out (a joint) 6 Honeybee genus 7 Vancouver time 8 Pooh’s donkey friend 9 Maurice Levy’s invention: automatic postal ___ 10 Notion 11 Like the dodo 12 Tee preceder 13 It’s between Nigeria and Togo 14 Roman poet (Metamorphoses) 15 Caretaker of Parliament Hill cats: ___ Chartrand 16 Thus 22 Clarinet’s kin 24 ___ and done with 27 Mug 30 Tropical wood 31 Winter mo. 32 Draw up to a meter 33 Ont. town on U.S. border: Fort ___ 34 Vancouver bridge 35 Student’s table 36 Equal: prefix
37 Windmill blade 38 Carrier of the wounded 39 Stable staple 40 Obnoxious kid 42 First woman GG 44 Theodore's thirst 46 Phase 47 Inuit shirt 48 Opera singer 49 Available in draft (2 wds.) 50 Rugged ridge 55 Decree 57 Eye hair 60 Isle of exile 61 Kind of tide 62 Arabian sailing vessel 64 Small overflow dam 66 Speaker’s platform 67 Beginner 70 The classifieds 71 Wild goat-antelope 74 Originally 76 Piece of metal in a boot sole 78 Riviera resort 79 Pitted 80 Whichever one 81 Glendon, Alta. has the world’s largest 82 Makes brown 83 ___ over (helped survive) 85 Lawnmower output 86 Alaskan island 87 Very (Fr.)
88 Story 89 Bargain time 90 Trap aloft
91 A couple of bucks, say 92 Machu Picchu
TAURUS: APR. 21/MAY 21 Put on a happy face, Taurus. Things aren’t as bad as you’re making them seem. Trust that by week’s end you’ll be back in better spirits for a while. Others will notice the change. GEMINI: MAY 22/JUNE 21 You’re going the distance in a relationship that is bound to fail, Gemini. Why not concentrate your efforts on something that is sure to succeed instead? CANCER: JUNE 22/JULY 22 It’s time to step out of the spotlight, Cancer, and let someone else have his or her moment instead. Everyone knows you’re
the life of the party, but try being a little more humble. LEO: JULY 23/AUG. 23 It’s time to speak up about what’s been bothering you, Leo. The situation won’t solve itself by your keeping your lips sealed. Others will understand your point of view. VIRGO: AUG. 24/SEPT. 22 You want to help out a friend, but he or she isn’t ready to accept assistance. Be patient, Virgo. This person will come around by the weekend, and will then be ready to listen to you. LIBRA: SEPT. 23/OCT. 23 You’re having trouble finding that perfect love match, Libra. Rest assured that some progress will be made this week. This person is someone you see every day. SCORPIO: OCT. 24/NOV. 22
96 Damage 98 Halloween greeting Solutions on page 34
POET’S CORNER
WEEKLY STARS ARIES: MARCH 21/APR. 20 Take the time to do an important project the right way, Aries, or you’re bound to have to do it again in a few weeks. With so much on your plate, now’s not the time for mistakes.
builder 93 Flat-bottomed boat 94 Layers
Your passion could get you in trouble, Scorpio. Stop making eyes at that forbidden someone. It’s not a risk you want to take, especially if you are in a steady relationship. SAGITTARIUS: NOV. 23/DEC. 21 Now’s the time to invest your money in a surefire plan, Sagittarius — no more of these fly-by-night operations. Leo will certainly be happy about the change. CAPRICORN: DEC. 22/JAN. 20 Has a roommate or housemate been crimping your style, Capricorn? It might be wise to start looking for a larger residence. This way you both can have more private space. AQUARIUS: JAN. 21/FEB. 18 Your maturity level certainly hasn’t matched up with your age, lately, Aquarius. Stop acting silly
and realize the role you play in all of your relationships. PISCES: FEB. 19/MAR. 20 Confess to the bad deeds you’ve done, and a loved one will certainly forgive you for them. The truth hurts, but is the best option.
Early Morning Childhood the stove-top kettle billows steam coffee brews in the pot
FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS AUGUST 7 Charlize Theron, actress
my mother’s hands work the dough elastic pulled and squat
AUGUST 8 J.C. Chasez, singer
and everything centred around her knuckles’ thrust down and through the counter
AUGUST 9 Whitney Houston, singer AUGUST 10 Antonio Banderas, actor AUGUST 11 Hulk Hogan, wrestler AUGUST 12 Mark Knopfler, Singer
until the open oven door smell of bread slowly rises from the sun A poem by Mark Callanan from his 2003 book Scarecrow.
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 7-13, 2005 — PAGE 29
Conception Bay South Mayor Ron Smith
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
Municipal monies In the run-up to elections, St. John’s and Mount Pearl in decent financial shape, Conception Bay South faces ‘tough decisions’ By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
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t. John’s Mayor Andy Wells says the city could well be debt free within 10 years — if council continues to refrain from borrowing large sums of money. He tells The Independent servicing costs have already dropped by 50 per cent since the city decided to start paying off its debt — which is currently around $80 million — 10 years ago. “What we’ve done is we don’t borrow any 100 per cent dollars, we only borrow for cost-shared capital works,” says Wells. “So what we do is we’re slowly, but surely, paying our outstanding obligations and any interest savings that we accrue, we use those to finance capital works. “If council sticks to it, the city will be debt-free and that would mean freeing up somewhere around $15, $16, $17 million dollars every year for infrastructure, which
would be tremendous.” He adds an increase in development applications and a rise in property values as a result of economic activity over recent years has significantly boosted the city’s revenue, which was predicted at $145 million in the 2005 budget. Debt servicing costs amount to around 10 per cent of revenues. As well as watching borrowing, Wells says the city has spent time carefully rationalizing where to spend money, and has saved up to $3 million a year by contracting out. “Our collective bargainers don’t necessarily like it, but it’s well within our rights to do so and so we’re able to save money that way.” He says the biggest challenge facing the city on a financial level is maintaining the financial progress. “We’ve got some members of council, if you left them alone, would get back on the
borrowing band wagon; it’s always irresponsible politicians that you’ve got to be careful of.” Councillors with trigger-happy pens are also a concern for CBS Mayor Ron Smith. He says excess borrowing is seriously jeopardizing town coffers and future councils will face “tough decisions,” including tax hikes. He says current tax rates are relatively low. The town, meantime, spends 40 per cent of its $16 million budget on servicing its $40-million debt. “It’s not only the debt that we have to deal with, it’s the increased operating costs,” says Smith, “and with the tremendous growth that we’ve experienced this past five years, it puts additional demands on your public works department.” In line with the region, Smith says CBS is experiencing a 25 per cent drop in new development — although compared to pre2000 the growth is still considerable.
Results from a recent government-funded, $40,000 financial review of CBS council methods were released recently and failed to reveal anything out of the ordinary. The investigation was conducted after complaints from two councillors and some members of the public. Smith was against the review and with the results now in, says it was a waste of money that could have been put to better use in the town — particularly in light of government cuts to municipal operating grants over recent years. Council borrowing has left Smith — who says he is still undecided as to whether to rerun in the fall election — particularly concerned. “If we would have held the line a little bit, just done a couple of essential projects that we have to do — like the recreational complex, for example. See “Mount Pearl,” page 31
‘A lot of bad feelings’ Frustrations between provinces ‘symptom’ of fisheries structure in Canada: DFO By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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he provincial Department of Fisheries and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ union say this province may be getting a raw deal over the food fishery, scallop fishery and aquaculture. Critics say this province is being treated differently than the Maritimes when it comes to regulations, allocation and funding from the federal government. Problems with the food fishery have
to do with the lack of a consistent policy across the Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotians, for example, are allowed to fish cod for their table year round. At the same time, there hasn’t been a recreational cod fishery off Newfoundland’s northeast coast or Labrador since 2002. As for the scallop fishery, which takes place on the St. Pierre Bank, the Newfoundland quota was slashed this year to 50 tonnes from last year’s quota of 250 tonnes. Nova Scotia fishermen have seen their quota increased. When it comes to aquaculture or fish
farming, the federal government has been accused of moving faster in the Maritimes than here. In fact, Ottawa hasn’t made any moves to bolster the province’s aquaculture industry — while, at the same time, giving $20 million in aid to fish farmers in New Brunswick earlier this year. Fisheries Minister Trevor Taylor called on DFO twice in the past month to consistently regulate fisheries policy for the recreational cod fisheries in the Atlantic provinces, where the rules vary. He also expressed his displeasure with the slow implementation of a
framework agreement on salmon aquaculture and a $20-million grant to aquaculture companies in New Brunswick. Earle McCurdy, president of the FFAW, says he’s disappointed with quota cuts in the scallop industry and is curious to know why Nova Scotia’s scallop fleet was offered a larger quota this year. “When you have those kinds of different treatments between regions that clearly creates a lot of bad feelings and I think there has to be a better level of consistency of departments,” McCurdy
tells The Independent. In a release sent out by the union, McCurdy requests “fair” quotas for fishermen catching scallops on the St. Pierre Bank. Quotas once reflected abundance, McCurdy says, but this year’s quota has practically been handed over to Nova Scotia’s fleet. “There’s always conflicts within different regions and sometimes … within fleets, but I think what happened here is that you have one fleet, that you
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See “A real problem,” page 31
30 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
AUGUST 7, 2005
Plug in to new hybrid concepts By Tyler Hamilton Torstar wire service
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here’s a vibrant debate going on south of the border that’s hardly being heard in our neck of the woods. It has to do with hybrid vehicles, and whether we can achieve the full benefits of “hybrid vigour” by resting on the laurels of existing technologies. Hybrid cars such as the popular Toyota Prius are great for fuel economy. They get on average 25 kilometres per litre of gasoline by relying on a 280-volt battery to assist with acceleration. The battery is routinely recharged through a small generator and by capturing energy from braking. The question is whether today’s hybrid cars can be substantially improved over a relatively short period through further crossbreeding. What if the battery in a hybrid car was more powerful and had greater range? What if owners had the option of charging that battery by plugging the car into a wall socket at night? What if, instead of using gasoline to fuel the internal combustion engine component of a hybrid, domestically produced biodiesel or ethanol-blended fuels became the dominant and cleaner-burning option? Unexpectedly, some U.S. Democrats and Republicans have become united in the view that building such a superior hybrid is an issue of national security and deserves the highest of priority. Plug-in hybrids would be able to tap domestically produced electricity from the grid, they argue, meaning less dependence on foreign oil and the unstable regimes pumping it out. The transportation industry accounts for more than half of all oil consumed in the U.S. and Canada. Dramatically cut down on that consumption and North America has more control over its economic destiny, the idea goes. Publicly, most automakers are ducking the issue and emphasizing potential pitfalls of building hybrid cars with plugs, but pressure is mounting behind the scenes to give the idea some life. “Such development should have the highest research and development priority because it promises to revolutionize transportation economics and to have a dramatic effect on the problems caused by oil dependence,” write George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state, and James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in a June position paper on oil and U.S. national security. And they’re not alone. You’ve got the Federation of American Scientists also cheerleading for plug-in hybrids. Then there’s the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, whose “Set America Free” campaign is being led by former senior defence official Frank Gaffney. Thomas Friedman, the influential New York Times columnist, wrote last month that this unlikely alliance — a group he calls the “geo-greens” — present a compelling case. “We don’t need to rein-
Nissan Motor’s first gasoline/electric hybrid car Tino Hybrid goes on a test drive through the streets of central Tokyo.
vent the wheel or wait for sci-fi hydrogen fuel cells,” wrote Friedman. “The technologies we need for a stronger, more energy-independent America are already here.” He blamed government — namely the Bush administration — for failing to move the country on to the geo-green path. Despite this political inertia, a feisty group of rogue Prius owners has taken the technology into their own hands by essentially “hacking” into their vehicle systems and modifying the cars into plugin models. In some cases, they’re installing more powerful battery packs. “Toyota’s engineering of the system means it’s not impossible to get to this second stage,” says Felix Kramer, founder of the California Cars Initiative, whose sole mandate at the moment is to raise awareness of plug-in hybrids and to spur Toyota and other automakers into supporting it. Talking to Kramer, plug-in hybrids seem like a no-brainer. He envisions a vehicle that is plugged in at night during off-peak hours when electricity is cheapest. The battery would be powerful enough to cover at least the first 20 to 30 kilometres of driving, which most of us don’t exceed in the average workday. If someone needed to drive longer, then the gas-engine automatically kicks in to provide relief for the battery.
Our sickening dependency on oil is a central fault. An oil crisis simulation conducted last month in Washington, D.C., found that a sudden five per cent drop of global oil supply would cause crude oil prices to rise to $161 (US) a barrel. As a result, gas at the pumps shot up to nearly $6 a gallon and U.S. consumer confidence plunged 30 per cent, according to the simulation. So why don’t the major car manufacturers want to save America? Honda and Ford, which both have hybrid vehicles on the market, did not return calls for comment. DaimlerChrysler is reportedly tinkering with the idea of plug-in hybrids. Toyota, quite understandably, is hostile to the idea of consumers modifying their Prius hybrids, citing potential safety risks, high costs, and warning that such actions will void the manufacturer’s warranty. “Toyota is very concerned from both the safety and emissions viewpoint by those pursuing this path and does not support these modifications,” said Canadian spokesperson Wes Pratt. Fact is, Toyota put a lot of money and many years into designing the Prius to be exactly the way it is, so it’s in no rush to abandon that strategy. It has also gone out of its way through aggressive marketing to assure people they don’t have to plug in their cars at the end of the day.
Eriko Sugita/Reuters
Winiewicz says Toyota designed the Prius so the battery is never drained below 85 or 90 per cent, and there’s no reason why the same limits couldn’t be applied to lithium-ion batteries to preserve battery life while still achieving 30 or more kilometres in all-electric mode. Finally, Toyota plays the environmental card. It points to the shift of pollution from tailpipes to the grid, which in Ontario and throughout the U.S. is still heavily dependent on burning coal. “Almost 60 per cent of U.S. electricity is generated by burning coal — so (we’re) not sure plugging in cars in the end offers very much environmental benefit,” the company says, adding that it may be “trading one form of emissions for another.” There’s also the fact that some jurisdictions, such as Ontario, are already maxing out their grid. Would plug-in cars cause the infrastructure to crash? In the short-term, charging cars during off-peak hours could easily be handled by the grid and might even create more stability, experts say, pointing out that over time more power infrastructure would be needed. And that infrastructure will increasingly come from renewable energy systems, such as wind power, or from cleaner-burning natural gas and emission-free nuclear.
Province caught off guard by closure Town feels betrayed as 267 thrown out of work at Bathurst, N.B.’s Smurfit-Stone mill By Kathy Kaufield Telegraph-Journal
ers, he says, although he couldn’t provide any details until the province talks to company officials. ew Brunswick Business Minister Peter Lord says at this point the province doesn’t Mesheau will meet with Smurfit-Stone know what the owners intend to do with the mill company officials and municipal leaders in and its assets, but he says Business New Bathurst early this week to begin the task of trying Brunswick officials will start investigating to help save yet another community from econom- whether there are other investors for this mill. In ic devastation brought on by a mill closure. the case of Nackawic, Quebec-based forestry giant Just one day after Mesheau announced a deal Tembec and Aditya Birla Group from India had been reached to re-open the former St. Anne- teamed up to re-tool the mill to make a new prodNackawic mill, Premier uct. Bernard Lord told him to Opposition Leader “For a region already start work on helping the Shawn Graham says his City of Bathurst and mill thoughts are also with the facing economic developworkers deal with the sudden employees of the mill. decision by Smurfit-Stone to a region already facment challenges, the loss of ing“For shut down its pulp mill and economic development containerboard factory, nearly 300 well-paying mill challenges, the loss of nearthrowing 270 people out of ly 300 well-paying mill jobs work. will be devastating,” he jobs will be devastating,” “The government of New says. “This is a crisis situaBrunswick will do everytion today.” Opposition Leader thing it can to assist the He says the mill conemployees and their families tributed $22 million to the Shawn Graham and to help the Bathurst economy in direct payroll region,” Lord says. alone, was worth up to $15 The premier says he is willing to meet with million to the trucking industry in outbound trafcompany officials and community leaders in two fic, paid $10 million in energy costs and provided weeks, after he returns from the annual premiers’ a $1.8 million tax base to the City of Bathurst. conference in Alberta. He says northern wood marketing boards will Lord says news of the shutdown came as a bit of be immediately affected by the closure because a surprise to provincial officials, who were told they will have a tough time finding a market for late last Wednesday of the decision to close. hardwood. “The information we had from the company did Graham says the province needs to establish a not lead us to believe that they would close any- cabinet committee made up of the ministers of time soon,” he says. Finance, Business New Brunswick, Natural Resources as well as Energy to act as a “job pro‘MAJOR BLOW’ tection unit” for the forestry sector. Lord says he’s disappointed by the news, which He says the long-term forestry strategy should he describes as a “major blow to the community.” include an investment tax credit program to help “Our thoughts go out first and foremost to the owners modernize operations, identify wood supemployees and their families and this will be try- ply objectives and stabilize energy prices. ing times for those families,” he says. Such a strategy would create an environment for The premier says provincial officials have investment in the industry, he says. already contacted private consultant George “Those signals have not been given to industry Bouchard — who led the province’s team dealing today and that means that when rationalization is with the Nackawic mill closure — to work on this occurring, they are looking at New Brunswick as latest shutdown. a place to downsize versus upgrading and investHe says a team from Training and Employment ment,” he says. Development will be available to help displaced Lord says New Brunswick’s forestry industry is workers. competitive but the global market is changing and Training programs are available to help work- the province is adapting.
N
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 31
‘Good ole days are gone, my dear’ As Abitibi prepares to shut down one mill and cut back another, those impacted reflect on the cornerstone of their communities By Alisha Morrissey The Independent
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alt Davis, 71, is a third-generation mill man. He has watched five of eight papermaking machines shut down at the Abitibi Consolidated Mill in Grand Falls-Windsor. After working 38 years there, watching companies come and go, Davis admits the machines made him a little deaf and the working conditions weren’t all that great, but in the beginning things were good. “There was nothing here ’till the mill came,” Davis tells The Independent. “The people (the Harmsworth family) decided to build a mill and they got someone to bring them to Newfoundland and went around looking for a place to build a mill and that’s what they call Grand Falls now.” The site was turned into a company town in 1909 where workers were provided with every amenity. Outsiders weren’t allowed in. “When you came out of school you could just go on into the mill, you know the jobs were there for anybody.” The Harmsworths helped convince the Reid Company to run the railway through the area so they could use it for the mill products. “The Harmsworth people, it’s like they were the type of people who wanted the town looked after, they wanted the people looked after and happy people make happy workers and all of this stuff,” Davis says. “When they came to Grand Falls they wanted a town that would be comfortable and everything, they built the whole works — schools, hospitals, because they owned everything up to ’62.” In 1961, Price Brothers and Co.
bought the majority of the mill. This year being the 100th anniversary of the town, Davis says there’s been little talk of recent announcements by Abitibi Consolidated — the world’s largest manufacturer of newsprint — in order to keep the mood light. The company plans to shut down one papermaking machine in Grand FallsWindsor and the entire operation in Stephenville on the province’s west coast. “This is a bad time to get this, I mean, any time is a bad time, but this is really the worst time. You think they could have waited ’till next year,” Davis says. “I don’t have much to do with it now. I think about it and I worry about it, I suppose, but you can only worry about it to a point. The good ol’ days are gone, my dear.” Abitibi merged with the Price company in 1998. “When Abitibi took over, it seemed like it changed and they were only interested in the mill and it made a big difference at that time.” Abitibi’s second pulp and paper mill in Stephenville has had a different impact on the community. Deputy mayor Scott Hurley calls the company an “ideal corporate citizen” and he refuses to talk about the possibility Abitibi won’t be a part of the town after the announced October closure. “Abitibi Consolidated, after meetings next week, will still be a cornerstone of the community. Some people talk about the fact of we’d like to see another operator or plan B. What are we going to do if Abitibi Consolidated actually does move out of the community? We’re not looking at that,” he says.
Meetings are scheduled for Monday, Aug. 8, between the government and company. In 1972, the Labrador Linerboard Company set up a plant to manufacture corrugated cardboard in Stephenville, using wood from Labrador. The company was a disaster and was sold to Abitibi in 1981. Abitibi then spent close to $80 million on converting it into a newsprint mill, although the operation has been having energy and fibre supply problems ever since. An estimated 50 per cent of the fibre used in Stephenville’s mill is brought in from the mainland (including Labrador) to help produce the 185,000 tonnes of paper made each year. Hurley talks about the number of jobs created in the community, the monetary donations to the town and charities, and Abitibi Consolidated’s reputation for keeping youth in the area. “Abitibi Consolidated has made this community what it is today. Twentyplus years has seen a quality of life that other communities can only dream of,” Hurley says. “Their reputation has been nothing but A plus in the Town of Stephenville and the Bay St. George. “It would break our hearts if they actually do leave this community.” As of last year, Abitibi’s total payroll in the province was $72 million, divided between the three operations — $35 million in Grand Falls-Windsor (490 employees), $16 million in woodlands operations (450 employees), and $21 million in Stephenville (290 employees). At its peak, the Grand Falls-Windsor mill employed more than 2,500 workers as of May there were 1,300 employees between the two locations.
Energy policy needs sharp teeth By Carol Goar Torstar wire service
Mount Pearl manages to ‘hold the line’ ... for now From page 29
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f erratic weather patterns are the leading indicator of global climate change, Ontario’s steamy summer — along with record flooding in the Prairies, persistent fog in the Maritimes and a freak thunderstorm in Iqaluit — ought to convince skeptics greenhouse gases are playing havoc with the Earth’s atmosphere. Yet there is no let-up in traffic on the highways. Carbon-laden emissions are still belching out of smokestacks. People are running their air conditioners full blast, buying sport utility vehicles and leaving the lights on. All in all, it seems to be business as usual. And that, says Douglas Macdonald, who teaches at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment, means there’s something seriously wrong with Canada’s climate change strategy. Without pain, Macdonald says, there won’t be progress. For two decades, he has watched federal policy-makers try to spend their way to a more sustainable level of fossil fuel consumption. They’ve invested in new technologies, research, advertising campaigns and endless consultations. It hasn’t worked, he says, and it won’t work — at least not alone — in the future. Macdonald and Debora VanNijnatten of Wilfred Laurier University have just completed an analysis of Ottawa’s latest plan to cut greenhouse gases, released by Environment Minister Stephane Dion in April. Their conclusion: it won’t get Canada close to its goal of reducing emissions by 270 million tonnes in seven years. Problem one is that Alberta wants nothing to do with the initiative. So rather than trying to forge a national consensus, Ottawa is negotiating separate agreements with each province. Not only is this kind of bilateral deal making misguided, Macdonald says, the agreements it is producing — with Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut — are toothless. They contain no emission caps and no cost-sharing commitments.
Lord Northcliff was the founder of the mill in Grand Falls-Windsor in 1906. Photo by Paul Daly/The Independent
Prime Minister Paul Martin
Problem two is industry is not being asked — let alone enjoined — to do its part. Although the oil and gas sector, manufacturing and electricity generation account for roughly half of greenhouse gases, they are expected to cut their emissions by only 39 million tonnes. Moreover, it is not clear how or when Ottawa intends to reach this target. So far, all Dion has to show for his efforts are non-binding agreements with the steel and forestry industries. He says he plans to move from voluntarism to regulation using the Canadian Environment Protection Act, but only after adequate discussion. Macdonald figures that will take at least a year. Problem three is that consumers have no compelling reason to change their lifestyle. Although gasoline prices have topped $1 a litre in many provinces, they’re still not high enough to get drivers out of their cars. Although heating costs are straining family budgets, they’re not inducing many people to retrofit their homes. Most Canadians have only a vague idea what Ottawa’s “One Tonne Challenge” is. What they do know is that they can safely ignore it. No one will penalize them for buying a gas-guzzling vehicle or air conditioning an empty house. “What is needed is nothing less than an energy revolution,” Macdonald says. “There is a need for a policy that will inflict pain.” According to conventional wisdom, Prime Minister Paul Martin is in no
position to ask anyone to sacrifice anything. As the leader of a fragile minority government, the best he can do is appeal to people’s goodwill and encourage the development of cleaner fuels. Macdonald rejects that reasoning. He thinks voters would accept — even welcome — intelligent discipline on this issue. “Citizens will pay a price for policies they believe to be necessary,” he says. Canadians know that they can’t go on overtaxing the carrying capacity of the planet, Macdonald contends. But they need clear limits, backed up by sanctions that hurt, to change their behaviour. That might mean road tolls like the ones Mayor Ken Livingstone imposed in London. It might mean gasoline surcharges or higher electricity rates. It might mean legally binding emission-reduction targets. “I think there might be more latent support for this painful kind of medicine than governments assume.” He points to Martin’s deficit-elimination drive in the ’90s and the successful introduction of the blue box program as proof that people are willing to put up with some inconvenience to set the country on a sustainable course. “A managed policy-based transformation would be far preferable to the chaos and inequity that would be caused by a collision with nature’s limits,” Macdonald says. “And who knows? It might just help Paul Martin get the majority government that eluded him in 2004.”
“We can’t go on the way we’re going … I guess it’s been a philosophy with a lot of councillors in the past, all your money has to go in one basket and right now we’re paying the price for that.” Mount Pearl Mayor Steve Kent says his council has managed to “hold the line” financially, despite increased costs and decreased government funding. He’s not sure how long that can last. “We are constantly trying to be responsible, trying to be creative, in terms of overcoming that challenge,” he says. “We have to either reduce costs elsewhere or raise taxes, and fortunately because of the kind of growth we’ve experienced in the community, we
haven’t had to face a tax increase, but it is a continuous challenge for us and it’s something that we’re very concerned about.” Mount Pearl’s debt and subsequent debt payments are still healthy, but 16.4 per cent ($4.6 million) of the city’s $24.5 million budget goes towards maintaining those costs. To sustain that and avoid hiking taxes, Kent says he would like to see government reconsider its municipal strategy to cut operating funds (within larger centres particularly). He says the cuts undermine the province’s economic development strategy. “We’re going to continue to try and be responsible and hope that the province realizes that its current approach when it comes to its financial relationship with its municipalities isn’t fair and needs to be reevaluated.”
‘A real problem to the fishery’ From page 29 had a sharing arrangement with last year … and this year, all of a sudden, this fleet, which happened to be a Newfoundland fleet, got their share slashed.” David Bevan, assistant deputy of DFO in Ottawa, says the scallop issue is basically a misunderstanding. “The Newfoundland people, the fishermen, had access to the (Icelandic scallops) and had a bycatch to the other (St. Pierre Bank) scallops and when the starfish wiped out the stock that they were directing for they ended up with a quota of the more valuable stock of scallops as a compromise.” While McCurdy maintains the slashed quota has everything to do with the fact that federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan is from Nova Scotia, which saw its quota increased, Bevan says political pressure was not a factor. As for the difference in rules between the recreational cod fishery off Newfoundland and Labrador and off Nova Socita, Bevan says the food fishery in this province has been much larger, needing tighter regulation. “We are looking at and continuing
dialogue with the other provinces to try and move everybody to the same kind of arrangement,” Bevan says, adding the rules of a food fishery should be consistent. Bevan says bad feelings between Atlantic provinces are unwarranted, but a symptom “of the way fisheries law is structured in the country. “There’s very little process built into the Fisheries Act about how these decisions are taken so the way the people try to influence them is to go into the public domain and it does create conflict. It’s been a real problem to the fishery. “People are concentrating on volume as the solution to their problems — not on value, not on maximizing what they’ve got and it does mean that Quebec isn’t happy and neither was Newfoundland with the split on turbot in the Gulf. “We have PEI suing the federal government for more tuna, more shrimp, more crab and that would all come out of somebody else’s pocket.” In the past, Regan has spoken about his consideration of re-examining the Fisheries Act, but an announcement has yet to be made.
32 • INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION
AUGUST 7, 2005
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SECTION • 33
34 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS By Darcy MacRae The Independent
M
arie Carroll may not be from here, but she plays a big hand in developing the province’s top divers. The former world-class diver uses the knowledge she gained competing in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Canadian championships to help divers from the province perfect their skills with the FLITE Diving Club in St. John’s. The move from competitor to coach was a natural one for the 37-year-old. “I remember when I was 10, I was trying to help my gymnastics teacher teach other people. I was probably more of a nuisance than anything, but coaching was in me,” Carroll tells The Independent. Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ont., Carroll came to St. John’s in 1998 with her husband Steve Carroll, a native of the city. Together they formed the FLITE Diving Club, resurrecting the sport in Newfoundland and Labrador. Despite what she has accomplished as a coach, quite often it is what Carroll achieved as an athlete that earns her recognition. In the early to mid1990s, she was one of the top divers in the world. Going by her maiden name of Marie De Piero, she won a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand and a bronze medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C. In between she competed at the grandest sporting event of them all — the Olympics. More specifically, the 1992 summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. “I had been at many major games prior to it, so I kind of thought I knew what I would be experiencing until we actually got to the Olympics,” says Carroll. Competing in the Olympics was an experience Carroll says she will never forget. She fondly remembers walking out for the opening ceremonies in her Team Canada track suit and listening to the cheers of thousands of fans. Strolling out onto the diving board a few days later, she looked up and saw 10,000 spectators in attendance, the biggest crowd she had ever competed in front of. Everything from the size of the scoreboard to the level of competition was of magnificent stature, and her eighth place finish solidified her spot in the upper echelon of international diving. Carroll says her most fond memory of the
AUGUST 7, 2005
Diving into it Former Olympian makes transition to teaching kids in St. John’s
Marie Carroll
Olympics was having her parents come along for the trip. “That was special for me because I knew I would only go to one (Olympics), I wasn’t going to stick around another four years to go again,” Carroll says. “My mom and dad were always such
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
huge supporters of me, whenever I accomplished things or failed. They were actually able to visit the athlete’s village, which is rare. I appreciate all the strings that were pulled to let them do that.” While she is proud of the eighth place finish in Barcelona, Carroll says the gold medal she won at the 1990 Commonwealth Games actually means a little more because it was an unexpected victory. “When I went to the Commonwealth Games, that was a big surprise, so to win was an even bigger surprise,” says Carroll. “It was my first competition internationally, so it will always stick with me more. No one expected me to make the national team let alone go to the games and win.” Carroll won 14 national championships prior to her retirement from competitive diving in late 1994. She soon became a full-time coach in Thunder Bay before moving to St. John’s in ’98 with Steve to start the FLITE Diving Club. At the time, there wasn’t a single diving club in the province. The Carrolls were faced with trying to sell a sport that local kids weren’t familiar with. “We had to start from scratch and introduce the sport to the public of St. John’s and the surrounding areas. It was a little nerve wracking,” Carroll says. “The biggest challenge was financial. When we first arrived, our income was the registration of children, so there wasn’t an income at first. We also didn’t know if it was going to work. There are a lot of sports in St. John’s, and we didn’t know if
kids would go back to diving.” But soon the sport caught on, and divers learning under Steve and Marie began achieving success. At the 2001 Canada Summer Games in London, Ont., FLITE’s Adam Morgan captured a gold medal and two silver medals — much to the delight of the former Olympian. “That was very special on a number of levels,” says Carroll. “He had to move to Montreal earlier (because there was not a diving club here to train with), and nobody should have to move away to pursue their dream. He came back and trained really hard with us. He wanted it so bad. He had so much faith in us that he was willing to do anything.” After several years of successfully participating and coaching in the sport, it’s safe to say Carroll knows a thing or two about diving. Her expertise has not only made her a good coach, but also a solid broadcaster — she does commentary for diving on CBC Television, most recently during the 2005 World Aquatic Championships in Montreal. Carroll says she thoroughly enjoys the job and credits veteran broadcaster Steve Armitage for helping her settle into the role. “CBC pays me to go there, talk about diving and I have the best seats in the house,” says Carroll. “What I like most about it is I get to see all my friends. Some of them are coaching, and some of them are still diving.”
Glimpse of the future From page 36 championship was like watching a kid open Christmas gifts; you felt happy to witness it. Any sports fan with a heart must have gotten a kick out of seeing the team jump over that hand rail to get to the podium. It was one of those moments that define the enjoyment and thrill of athletics. But more than anything, the exuberance displayed by Stokes, Rose, Smyth, Ladha, Hayes and Roche showed me they love their sport too much not to continue being successful. Combined with their amazing talent, their passion should help them become the next great dynasty in the regatta’s men’s division, a team that should win many more championships and could one day challenge for the fastest time ever. This is the glimpse of the future I got when watching The Independent team celebrate last Wednesday — the feeling that this was a team on the verge of something truly special.
PALMEIRO A SCAPEGOAT So Rafael Palmeiro is a cheater after all. Or at least that’s the way it looks after the Baltimore Orioles’ slugger tested positive for steroids last week. Just months after passionately stating in front of the U.S. congress that he never took steroids, Palmeiro is now wearing the goat horns like few before him. His insistence that the steroids must have been included, but not labelled, on an overthe-counter supplement he was taking just doesn’t cut it. The only unfortunate thing is that while Palmeiro was caught, so many more are getting away with it. Just look at the pitiful stats put up this year by Adrian Beltre, Brett Boone and Sammy Sosa’s for an indication of what steroid testing does to a player’s career. While you’re at it, consider how ironic it is that in the first year of real steroid testing, Barry Bonds suddenly misses the entire season with a mysterious knee injury. darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
Solution for crossword on page 28
Sittler Gilmour
A LITTLE OF YOUR TIME IS ALL WE ASK. CONQUERING THE UNIVERSE IS OPTIONAL. Think it requires heroic efforts to be a Big Brother or Big Sister? Think again. It simply means sharing a few moments with a child. Play catch. Build a doghouse. Or help take on mutant invaders from the planet Krang. That’s all it takes to transform a mere mortal like yourself into a super hero who can make a world of difference in a child’s life. For more information...
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Newfoundland 1-877-513KIDS (5437) www.helpingkids.ca
AUGUST 7, 2005
INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 35
‘Our little world’ St. John’s Masters Softball League offers older players an easy-going game — until the playoffs By Darcy MacRae The Independent
O
n a softball field tucked away behind Elizabeth Towers in St. John’s, grown men gather most every night of the week to play a game they’ve enjoyed since childhood. Hidden from the view of passing motorists, Bill Rahal Park looks like something straight out of Field of Dreams (minus the corn, of course). The field’s bright green outfield grass and smooth-as-silk dirt infield, draw your eye as you reach the end of the parking lot. Next comes the chatter of ball players cheering (and egging) each other on. By the time you enter the park and take in the well-maintained bleachers and top-of-the-line clubhouse, firsttimers are amazed at how many times they passed by the park without noticing such a beautiful softball field. “It’s like a little paradise,” says George Hynes, president of the St. John’s Masters Softball League and player in the league since its inception in 1977. For athletes like Shawn Skinner, the St. John’s Masters Softball League is the perfect way to remain active. After years of playing competitively in numerous sports, Skinner, an MHA, no longer had the same level of aggressiveness as he approached his 40th birthday. He wanted to continue playing, but had to find the right environment. “I used to play soccer, softball and baseball, but I didn’t want to keep playing at a competitive level. I was looking for something that would keep me active,” Skinner tells The Independent. Upon joining the league four years ago, a circuit for players 40 and up, Skinner knew he had found exactly what he was looking for. The league had eight teams with each squad playing up to 40 games a season, a great field to play on and a collection of rules that encouraged parity among teams. Among the rules is a stipulation that
George Hynes with the Keyin College team.
a draft take place at the beginning of each season, with each club allowed to keep just two players from the previous year. The draft ensures no one team becomes too dominant and helps players get to know their playing counterparts instead of building rivalries. “That’s the beauty of this league. It gives you a chance to associate with guys you only knew as a competitor the year before,” says Skinner, who currently plays for Provincial Airlines. “It reduces the competitiveness. You don’t build up really strong rivalries because of the turnover.” Hynes says the annual draft helps
Rhonda Hayward/The Independent
him reunite with players he suited up with in years past, including his days as a senior baseball player. It also gives him the opportunity to play with family members. “I’ve got a brother and two sons in the league, so I try to play on a different team every year,” says Hynes, who plays for Canadian Home Furnishing this year. Players in the league range in age from 40 to 76, so the playing ability of league members can vary wildly. Skinner says that while no player in the league would accept special treatment because of his age, there are circum-
stances that dictate some discretion. “If a 70-year-old guy hits a ball into the outfield and I pick it up on one hop, I wouldn’t try to throw him out on first base because he’s a slow runner,” says Skinner. “He runs to first, and he gets his base hit. Now, if a 40-year-old does it, I’ll probably try to throw him out.” During the regular season, the level of competitiveness is low, but once playoffs begin in the fall, players take things a little more serious. “During the season I’m competitive with myself because I want to do the best I can — I want to get my hits and I want to play well in the field,”
Skinner says. “During playoffs, things get ramped up a bit.” The masters softball league, which operates under slo-pitch national rules, also makes sure each player receives his fair share of plate appearances. At the beginning of each game, the player who was left in the on-deck circle the last time his team made an out in their most recent contest, hits leadoff with the players previously listed behind him following suit. “We all pay the same amount of money to play, so we all play an equal amount,” says John Dawe, vice-president of the St. John’s Masters Softball League and a long-time player. The league has seen many changes since its debut in 1977, including the introduction of wooden bats just last year. But the biggest and most productive change was way back in 1983 when the masters league completed construction of their own field on Elizabeth Avenue. Fund raising and government grants paid for the complex, which now includes a two-story clubhouse. The league has its own maintenance equipment and crew, and members take great pride in playing at such a nice facility. “It’s a great field to play on,” Skinner says. “We really enjoy playing on it.” The park is named after Bill Rahal due to his outstanding contributions to the league before his death in the early ’80s following a battle with cancer. “He had cancer but he was still out on the field laying sod,” Hynes says. The complex was officially opened by Major League Baseball hall of famer and former Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams in 1985. Hynes says the mood on the day Williams was on hand was one of excitement and joy, much like the atmosphere that surrounds the league today. “This is our little world,” Hynes says. “Everybody here, they just love playing in the league. It’s relaxing for them.” darcy.macrae@theindependent.ca
INDEPENDENTSPORTS
SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 7-13, 2005 — PAGE 36
Top, The Independent rowing team (back left to right) Jeff Roche, Jason Rose, Michael Ladha, (front left to right) John Smyth, Luke Hayes and Ben Stokes celebrate back at the boat house after claiming their first Royal St. John’s Regatta men’s championship Wednesday evening. Left, The Independent’s coxswain Danny Harte shouts final instructions to his rowers as they cross the finish line in first place in the men’s championship race. Right, members of the Compusult A/Canada Games team celebrate their upset victory in the women’s final. Team members include coxswain Ron Boland, Katie Wadden, Laura Rice, Rachael Coffey, Valerie Earle, Kate Parsons and Jenn Squires. Paul Daly/The Independent
Independent’s day O
nce in a while in sports we are given flashes of what the future may hold. It happens in every sport, that moment when you sense the team or athlete you’re watching is destined for great things — destined to leave a mark on their sport. The first time I remember having such a feeling was after the Montreal Canadiens won the 1986 Stanley Cup and Patrick Roy was handed the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The skinny, pimply faced 20-year-old didn’t look old enough to drive a car, but he gave the impression that as good as he was, his best days were yet to come.
DARCY MACRAE
The game Last Wednesday I once again got the distinct feeling I was witnessing the beginning of something special when The Independent rowing crew claimed the men’s championship at the Royal St. John’s Regatta. The feeling started early in the morning, moments before their first race of the day.
Watching The Independent team glide around Quidi Vidi before the action started, it was obvious they were ready for the challenge that lay ahead. They looked confident and poised — they looked as though they were ready to blow their competition away or die trying. When the race began, the team of Ben Stokes, Jason Rose, John Smyth, Michael Ladha, Luke Hayes and Jeff Roche showed they were the real deal, and not just a group of youngsters in really sharp pink, white and green T-shirts. Their performance was flawless, and resulted in a huge victory that, in my opinion, set the tone for the championship race later in the
evening. By the time The Independent rowing team took to the podium to accept their gold medals, the feeling that this is a team destined for greatness was stronger than ever. Not just because they are all in their early 20s and have yet to reach their full potential on the water, but also because of the excitement that flowed from them as they waved the pink, white and green flag. No matter who you were cheering for when the regatta began, you couldn’t help but feel good for these guys. Watching them bask in the glow of their first regatta See “Glimpse of the future,” page 34