2006-08-27

VOL. 4 ISSUE 34 — ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 — WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA — $1.50 HOME DELIVERY (HST included); $2.00 RETAIL (HST included)

STYLE 17 Back to school tips:

IN CAMERA 8-9

today’s trends and the perfect cup of joe

Wrestlers fight in memory of Sailor White

‘Majority is dead’ Former Marystown shipyard workers stricken with cancer; province’s response condemned NADYA BELL

O

f the people who worked with Joe Hannam in the carpenter’s shop at the Marystown shipyard, he says over half have died from some form of cancer or respiratory problem.

“There’s about 60 people in the Marystown shipyard that’s either got cancer, died from cancer or some kind of lung disease,” he tells The Independent.

“The majority is dead, I’d say.”

At age 70, Hannam’s voice is breathy and rough after his own long battle with throat cancer, but his illness was caught early. His cancer is currently in remission.

“It was wrote right on the insulation, ‘Could cause cancer,’” he says, thinking back to his years on the job. “It didn’t really bother me at the time, back in the ’70s.

“They didn’t think anything about asbestos then … and that air had to be full of it then because the chalk was all over us.”

Hannam says he knows of six former co-workers that have died in the past five years.

Bernadine Bennett, the daughter of another cancer victim, can name dozens more affected workers.

Bennett recently started the Marystown Shipyard Families Alliance — frustrated after years of waiting for the government, she’s taking action, hoping to have an intake clinic established nearby to monitor workers.

Intake clinics are staffed by independent medical examiners and regularly check people for cancer and other diseases potentially caused by workplace exposure to toxins.

See “We lived,” page 2

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “They are never going to make it to be truly middle class.”

— Al Antle of Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Counselling Services, on student debt. See page 3

LIFE 13

Susan Rendell on harbour, history, and haunting new mural

Abdu Manyo, Paul Abdu, Mary Lokak and Lado Redento immigrated to Newfoundland from Sudan. They are permanent residents of Canada, enrolled in the English as a second language course at the Association for New Canadians in St. John’s.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Whose call?

Quebec controls its own immigration system; local politicians wonder if Newfoundland and Labrador should too IVAN MORGAN

T

wo prominent Tory politicians agree Newfoundland and Labrador should look for more control over immigration — just like Quebec.

“Well that’s one we can talk about for a week,” laughs St. John’s East MP Norm Doyle, chair of the federal standing committee on immigration. “It would certainly be beneficial for us to be able to pro-

Mystery ‘Mr. Big’

By Nicholas Kohler FINAL OF A TWO-PART SERIES.

A

SPORTS 28

Karl DeHart’s pitching prowess Life Story . . . . . . . 10 Voice from away . . 11 Movies & books 15-16 Food & drink . . 17-18 Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

vide incentives to keep immigrants here.”

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister John Ottenhiemer says government should look “to see if there are any models that may be suitable for our jurisdiction similar to what is taking place in Quebec.”

Although immigration is considered federal jurisdiction, under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec has sole responsibility for selecting all independent immigrants and refugees coming to that province.

There, the provincial minister would make the decision whether a

t first, Sauve’s arrival in his life was a boon to Nelson Hart.

“The Lord finally answered my prayer,” he once told his mother Pearl. After the drownings of his three-year-old twin daughters in Gander Lake in August 2002, Hart and his wife Jennifer had separated for a time. Now the couple was back together — Jennifer had missed her husband — and was living in Grand Falls.

Neither had a job and both were squeezed in a small apartment.

“We never had a bed to lie on,” says Hart. “All we had was a

sponge on the floor.” The couple was often hungry and could not even afford a headstone for Krista and Karen’s graves.

Hart met Sauve in the winter of 2005, when the swarthy French Canadian pulled up and asked for directions. Then he pulled out a photograph of a young woman with long blond hair. She was his sister, Sauve said, a drug addict who gambled away her days in the local bars. Their mother, he added, had lung cancer in Montreal and longed to see her daughter before she died. Could Hart help him look for her? “I’ll give you $50,” Sauve said.

“That,” thought Hart of the money, “could go to a bed.”

When he failed to locate his sister

family like the Portnoys, currently in sanctuary in a Marystown church basement, could stay.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the provincial government must appeal to Ottawa and their officials on the family’s behalf.

Ottenhiemer, who is lobbying the federal government on the Portnoys’ case, says immigration control is “a very timely issue.

“This is perhaps an area that requires some attention,” he continues.

Ottenheimer says the province has made some progress, pointing

1 866 686 8100

humbervalley.com

See “Requires significant,” page 2

The winding road to Nelson Hart being charged with the murder of his children was in fact an elaborate sting in Grand Falls, Sauve gave him $50 more and a carton of cigarettes to search another nearby town. “My,” Sauve told Jennifer when he met her, “you have some nice man there — he’s going to help find my sister.”

Hart never did find the woman.

But the following day, Sauve offered him more money to collect a package from his hotel and make a delivery. Hart suspected drugs and drove instead to Gander for his mother’s advice.

Pearl called the RCMP and says a constable told the pair: “If he’s foolish enough to pay you, then let him.” Before long, Sauve was giving Hart all manner of odd See “When they died,” page 4

Relax. Summer’s not over yet.

Book your holiday today.

to the recent appointment of a director of immigration within the department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.

The director oversees the provincial nominee program, a new initiative encouraging immigrants to settle in the province. The program still has a great deal of federal control. Human Resources is also hosting an upcoming provincial immigration symposium.

The initiatives are an attempt to address perennially low rates of

Copy of photos of the Hart children, Krista and Karen. Nelson Hart is in prison for the murder of his twin daughters four years ago.

Donald Weber/Maclean's

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

AUGUST 27, 2006

‘We lived in asbestos dust’ From page 1 Without an intake clinic to monitor workers, Bennett says there is no way to assess the situation.

In 2002, the University of Toronto completed a study of Marystown workers who might have been exposed to asbestos. They found, in general, the workers did not have a higher rate of illness, but those in specific occupations at the plant — carpenters, labours and riggers — did tend to have more cancer.

“The study was inconclusive, there was a higher rate of cancer in some professions at the yard but I don’t know why it stopped there,” says Bennett.

“It was an emergency situation five years ago when the study was concluded, it’s even worse now … More men are dying. There was a man Joe Hannam that died here six months ago, 53 years old, from cancer, he worked at the yard 14 years and they’re telling him that 14 years exposure is not enough?”

A committee of government and union representatives met in 2002. The committee was to monitor the Marystown situation for five years and complete another study in 2007.

But Bennett says the committee didn’t meet again — and none of the necessary work has been done in the interim.

Bennett did receive a letter from the assistant deputy minister of occupational health and safety in July, stating the committee will meet before the 2007 deadline. The letter reiterated the five-year waiting period was chosen to see if new cases of cancer would emerge.

Bennett is less than impressed. She’s also critical of Health Minister Tom Osborne for dropping concerns about shipyard workers he had as an opposition member.

As opposition Environment critic, Osborne issued a press release in 2000 condemning government for withholding an environmental study about the contamination at the Marystown shipyard.

The study estimated 11,500 tonnes of heavy metal-contaminated soil and 10,000 tonnes of petroleum-contaminated soil in the area.

In the release, Osborne also states the need for an intake clinic to provide constant monitoring of workers to determine the cause of their illnesses.

But, Bennett says, she has not received a response to her recent letter to Osborne regarding the need for the clinic.

To facilitate the sale of the yard in 1998 to Friede Goldman, government accepted environmental and health liability for any damage done to the employees.

Bennett says she knows over 60

families of shipyard workers that are affected by illness, without looking at employee records.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people to the point that I just actually had to stop talking. I couldn’t listen to it anymore,” she says.

“When you’ve got widows here on the peninsula telling that her husband died when he was 41 years old and the cancer had eaten away so much of his face that they couldn’t even have an open casket.”

Bennett says because the men are not recognized as having industrial disease they are not getting the constant medical monitoring that would help catch cancer in the early stages.

Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, construction workers sawed and installed panels of asbestos for fireproofing behind stoves and other Rhonda Hayward areas.

When the hull of the ship was covered with spray asbestos insulation, it was their job to saw chunks off to level the surface — all without any breathing protection.

“As far as I’m concerned, we lived in asbestos dust,” Hannam says. “If you were in the shop, you were in asbestos, if you were in the ship you were in asbestos.”

When welders were working, others would huddle under an asbestos blanket thrown over the fuse box to protect themselves from sparks. Hannam worked in this environment for 18 years.

At 60, Hannam was diagnosed with throat cancer, and given laser treatment to remove a tumour.

“After I got my treatment, like a fool I went back to work because I didn’t know,” he says. “I thought I was cured, and I worked for a couple of years after that.

“It got really bad then. My voice went altogether and I started bleeding from the nose and faint of breath and everything. I could hardly breathe.”

Of the people Hannam knows that are sick or dead, he says only three or four have received disability compensation. Hannam says his claim was denied because they claimed he was a heavy smoker — although he says he only smoked three cigarettes a day.

“I told them at workers’ comp, I don’t have to prove that I got cancer in Marystown shipyard, you got to prove that I didn’t get it there.”

Two months ago, Hannam and his wife moved to St. John’s to live with one of their four children. They are living on two old age pensions and say they couldn’t afford the constant trips to the doctor’s office from Marystown.

“If I talk for an hour or so straight I’ll loose my voice again. If I go out in air conditioning my voice will be gone. There was so much they had to burn up in my throat for the cancer.”

‘Requires significant consultation, analysis, and research’ From page 1 immigration in the province, Ottenheimer says.

Federal government figures for 2005 indicate that of 262,126 immigrants to Canada, only 494 — 0.18 per cent — came to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Immigrants are net contributors to the economy of Canada, Doyle says, and more needs to be done to attract them to the province — and encourage them to stay.

Too often, Doyle says, the province acts as a “gateway” for immigrants who obtain their citizenship and then move to larger centres, where their cultural communities may already be established.

While he says “it would be good … to give the provincial government more control,” he also wonders if immigration responsibilities would cost the province “untold millions of dollars” in security, border control, and other responsibilities.

“I don’t believe a small province like Newfoundland, or PEI or Nova Scotia would be capable of meeting that kind of

expense, unless the federal government is paying for it, and if they are paying for it, they would probably want to have control over it.”

But, as chair of the standing committee on immigration, Doyle says he would welcome any initiative to investigate or discuss the issue further.

“There is no reason why there couldn’t be a greater level of co-ordination between the federal and provincial government on a lot of these immigration matters.”

Megan Morris, program development co-ordinator with the Association for New Canadians, agrees. She says the association supports the province assuming a greater role in immigration — but urges caution.

“This is a process that requires significant consultation, analysis, and research,” says Morris. “We are very supportive of broadening the streams associated with the provincial nominee program in order to see more immigrants accepted under this program.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

SCRUNCHINS

A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia

Here & Now

I

Campus Rings

t’s been a few weeks since they were the media rage, but the gold rings MHAs bought to treat themselves are never far from mind. Stephen Vaughan, owner of campus rings in St. John’s, the province’s only manufacturer of insignia rings, says the controversial rings (left right, above) are worth nowhere near the $750 price that was paid for them (the 79 rings cost $69,000 in total). In a previous Scrunchin, Vaughan valued the rings at $300 a pop. “Even then, $300 is probably doing whoever made it a favour.”

Vaughan has made a ring (above and to the right) with a Coat of Arms “the way it should look if it was done properly.” He says he would retail his 10-karat gold creation for no more than $425. “I would love to know who got the $70,000 for the other junk.” The name of the company that made the government rings isn’t known. It’s sure to be goldfingered eventually …

PIZZA PIZZA Our MHAs can afford to buy such trinkets because they’re paid so well — better than their counterparts in Alberta, remember. Look no further than Boston Pizza to see the difference between our economy and that of the prairie powerhouse.

The chain recently announced the grand opening of its second restaurant and sports bar in St. John’s, creating tons of work. In fact, 100 new jobs were filled by the locals faster than you could say pizza, pizza (wrong chain, I know). Compare that to Alberta, where businesses such as Boston Pizza have applied for dozens of overseas workers to help keep their doors open.

“In recent weeks, workers from countries such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka have arrived to work in their restaurants that are sprinkled in towns and cities across the provinces,” read a Globe story published earlier this week.

The use of temporary foreign workers has definitely jumped in Alberta. “From January to June of 2006, Ottawa has already given out 8,558 first-issue temporary foreign-worker visas in Alberta. In 2003, that number for the entire year was 9,875,” the story read.

That’s it then … the Portnoys would have a better chance of staying in Canada if they moved to Alberta and waited tables.

GOOD COD! The Edmonton Sun carried an interesting review this week about The Road Less Gravelled, a series of funny stories written and performed by Wanda Carroll in a one-woman show about growing up in Conche. Headlined Good cod, she’s a Newfie, the setting is the early 1970s when the citizens of Conche witnessed the arrival of electricity, indoor plumbing, television and even a gravel road.

“An engaging storyteller speaking in her regional dialect, Carroll relates tales of her youth, of magically curing warts, proudly encountering a pineapple for the first time, and her excitement at finally seeing an indoor ‘batroom’ in Cornerbrook,” reads the Sun article. “There was no poop pail, there was a toilet. And when you lifted the lid, there was no smell.”

DRAGON-FLY The latest edition of Newfoundland Quarterly includes an article about how the spoken English of Newfoundland and Labrador has a degree of “internal variation” unparalleled in the English-speaking world. Take the variations of the word dragonfly — mosquito-hawk, fly-catcher, mosquity-hawk, horse-stinger, horse-sting, horse-hornet, stinger, drago-fly, horse-fly, devil’s darn-needle, harse-stinger, and devil’s needle.

Mr. devil’s needle to you … ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

Those struggling under student debt are ‘never going to make it to the middle class,’ says credit counsellor

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

Institution

A

Memorial University Public Private Colleges Out of province institutions

Number of Provincial loans in default 2,800 1,500 4,800 1,200

TOTAL

10,300

ccording to provincial government estimates, 10,300 student loans totalling $71 million were in default as of March 31 this year. More than half the dollar value of those loans is from students who attended private colleges.

Al Antle, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Counselling Service, tells The Independent his agency deals with student loans more than any other single item. He estimates 20 per cent of the service’s clientele are struggling with student loans.

“And they continue to dole it out,” he says.

Jen Anthony, organizer with the Canadian Federation of Students ,says the amount of money in default is “way over the top.”

Anthony is concerned about the amount of money former private college students owe. “Student loan money should not be allowed to go into the pockets of the profiteering private colleges,” she says.

Anthony says most individuals who attend private colleges could not get into publicly funded colleges. And the high default rate for those who graduate, she continues, is due to a combination of having higher debts (related to higher fees) and not being able to find employment afterwards.

She says some of the people in default are recent graduates who have moved and have not left contact numbers or addresses with student loan officials. Some of them, says Anthony, may not be aware of the repayment procedure.

That can be a costly oversight. Antle says if one payment is missed, car loans, credit cards, and mortgages are very difficult to secure. As young people try to launch themselves in a career or start a family, their student loans can seriously restrict their lives.

And if two people with hefty loans get married, Antle says, they’re certain to face serious financial difficulties as they try to establish a household.

“They are never going to make it to be truly middle class. If you secure some sort of reasonable post-secondary education, then you think you will at least be lower middle class. Well, guess what? It’s

CIVIC

The runaway favourite best selling car in Canada for eight years straight. Totally redesigned... unequalled in its class.

Civic

Save More per km

Winner

HOUSE CALLS According to an article published this week by an American university, a storehouse on the Bonavista waterfront is the oldest known surviving structure on the island of Newfoundland, with its construction dated to the late 1700s. Dr. Bernie Herman of the University of Delaware was commissioned by the province’s Tourism Department to date the structure that sits on the Mockbegger Plantation.

The plantation tells the story of those who caught and processed fish on the northeast coast. Herman is scheduled to submit his findings to the provincial government in September.

Guess we can wait a few more days …

Learning the hard way

DRIVE Our

MOTHER OF GIVE-AWAYS Make no mistake, Newfoundland and Labrador is slowly movin’ on up. In another Globe piece this week, columnist Murray Campbell wrote about how the province won’t make the same mistakes with the lower Churchill contract that it made with the upper Churchill (a.k.a. the mother of all giveaways). The difference between then and now is Newfoundland is “no longer willing to be played a fool,” Campbell wrote.

He also drilled home the incredibly lopsided nature of the upper Churchill contract, which doesn’t expire until 2041.

Under the deal Quebec buys Newfoundland power for a fraction of a cent per kilowatt hour and then turns around and sells it to the U.S. for 14 cents a kilowatt hour. (I’m a fan of repeating those numbers every chance I get.) Quebec obviously isn’t familiar with the saying “family doesn’t screw family.”

†1

Civic Sedan DX

$

5-speed

218

From

$0

Security Lease

Lease

$

218 $2 60

Down or Tra de $

2,165 $0

*

cial Spe/ Finance

se Lea from

†

%

5.9

60 M O N TH S

†5

MOTOR TREND ™

Car of theYear

‡

2006 Civic Sedan DX All Honda vehicles are delivered with a full tank.

Best New Economy Car †3

Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

North American Car of theYear †2

†4

www.honda.ca

All lease and finance offers are from Honda Canada Finance Inc., O.A.C. *Lease is based new 2006 Civic Sedan DX 5-speed manual (model FA1526EX) for a 60 month term, OAC. Monthly payment is $218/$260 with $2,165/$0 down payment or equivalent trade-in.

Payments include $1,225 freight and PDI. $0 security deposit required. First monthly payment due at lease inception. Lease rate is 5.9%. 120,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. Total lease obligation is $15,042/$17,940. License, insurance, applicable taxes and registration are extra. Option to purchase at lease end for $6,283 plus taxes. Special 5.9% lease financing for 60 months only available to residents of NS/PEI/NB/NL and only available on new 2006 Civic models (excluding Civic Coupe Si and hybrid models), O.A.C. †: 5.9% purchase financing for 60 months available on new 2006 Civic (excluding Civic Coupe Si and hybrid models) , O.A.C. †1: Based on annual sales by category in Canada as reported by AIAMC, January 2006 †2: North American Car of the Year awarded to 2006 Honda Civic at Detroit Auto Show January 8, 2006. †3: Best New Economy Car awarded to 2006 Civic Sedan by Automobile Journalists Association of Canada on December 6, 2005; www.ajac.ca. †4: 2006 Car of the Year awarded to 2006 Honda Civic by Motor Trend on November 22, 2005; www.motortrend.com. †5: As reported by EnerGuide published by NRCan – see www.vehicles.gc.ca for full details. Limited time offers. See your Honda dealer for full details. .

Kenmount Road 579.1999 / 800.667.9900 www.cityhonda.com

$71 million

awfully difficult to get there when you’re straddled with a $100,000 debt.”

Once a person defaults on a loan, the collection process — and the agents charged with chasing down the money — can be unforgiving.

Antle says former students can expect an “obnoxious, offensive, completely inappropriately acting individual, typically from the mainland part of the country, calling at all times of the day and night accusing you of being everything but a human being because you didn’t pay your student loan.”

While these agents often violate Newfoundland collection laws, they are impossible to charge.

“How do you enforce Newfoundland law on a Yonge Street collection agency?” asks Antle.

“Typically these collection agencies are representing the government of Canada, and on behalf of the government of Canada, they violate the law of Newfoundland.”

“What you have here essentially is government making its own rules to benefit itself. If you owe the crown, you will always owe the crown.”

Antle says the situation is the result of government abdicating its responsibility to provide accessible education.

“It’s a dog’s breakfast for an entire generation. This generation will not be able to save for their own children’s education.”

Education Minister Joan Burke did not return The Independent’s calls before press deadline.

hwy: L/100km

8 YEARS STRAIGHT

$19.3 million $10.7 million $32.4 million $8.6 million Source: provincial government

50 5.7

h wy : m p g

Amount

4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

AUGUST 27, 2006

The grave of Krista and Karen. Nelson Hart is in prison for the murder of his twin daughters four years ago.

Donald Weber/Maclean’s

Jennifer Hart

Donald Weber/Maclean’s

‘When they died, it was like I died too’ From page 1 jobs. He and a group of associates said they ran a trucking outfit and handed Hart business cards with its name — BCW Transport: Coast to Coast Service, complete with a Toronto address. Hart carted a Ski-Doo by U-Haul to Corner Brook, where a man signed an invoice provided by the company, and later drove a new Pontiac Grand Am to Deer Lake.

Hart and his wife, who rode along on several trips, were meanwhile being treated by his new employers to pizza dinners, garlic fingers and free hotel rooms. One night, Sauve uncorked a bottle of champagne and sprayed the contents on the ceiling.

There was talk they’d arrange a real Vegas wedding for the couple. And Hart was suddenly flush. With his earnings, he bought a headstone engraved with two angels for Krista and Karen, laying down $4,000. “That’s the first thing he bought of it,” says Jennifer, who had twin Winnie the Pooh dolls encased in waterproof plastic cubes placed by each grave. Hart paid $6,500 for a used 2000 Pontiac Sunfire and purchased a chesterfield and a mattress

for their bed. “He bought,” says Pearl, “a lot of necessaries.”

MYSTERIOUS ERRANDS He was earning more in part because Sauve had begun sending him on trips to the mainland — on increasingly mysterious errands. In Halifax, Sauve gave him a key to a numbered locker in a local YMCA. Inside, he found an envelope and brought it back to Sauve, who was in a meeting with a third man Hart did not know. Sauve tore open the envelope and withdrew two credit cards. “There are some samples,” he told the man, handing them over.

Hart says he balked at what he knew to be contraband. Later, Sauve looked at him. “You don’t tell nobody,” he said. “You can’t tell your mother, your wife, your dog, your cat — you can’t tell your goldfish.” He added: “You’re in a circle now — you don’t get out.”

Hart soon learned he’d been recruited by an organized crime group with international reach. He travelled extensively in the ensuing months — to Halifax, Fredericton, Montreal and Vancouver — at the bidding of his new bosses, a cast of characters

that included contacts across Canada. According to Hart, the men had him transporting everything from casino chips and passports to truck-loads of cigarettes and cash. “When I got into it,” says Hart, “I couldn’t back out.” In one city, they claimed to run prostitutes. “It’s not a pretty sight because sometimes you gotta bash their heads in to get them to pay up,” one man told him. Another time they supplied him with strippers. Hart turned away. “I’m married, I love my wife, I thinks the world of her,” he says.

The work had its perils. He was staying in a room at the Chimo Hotel, in Ottawa, when Sauve arrived with a man he identified as an American and a “good customer.” Not long after they sat down to business, Sauve struck the American savagely across the face. Then he directed Hart to the bathroom, where a suitcase was stowed behind the shower curtain. Hart laid it on the bed. Inside was more cash than he’d ever seen, “all stacks of $100 bills.” Sauve struck the American again. “Don’t mention my name,” he told the man. In another incident in Montreal, Sauve stepped into the room with blood on his knuckles. “I had to take care of some business,” Sauve told him. Once, Pearl says, Sauve wondered aloud whether Hart could similarly take care of business. “What about if you have to pull the trigger?” he asked him. Hart replied: “I have no problem with that.”

Nor did it take long for Hart himself to feel vulnerable. He was in Montreal with Sauve when the latter received a call. “We gotta see the boss,” Sauve told him. Word had arrived from Gander that a member of a rival gang was poised to tell police that he’d witnessed Hart drown his daughters. The boss, Sauve said, was “very rich and powerful” — a man in control of the underworld.

“People go there,” Sauve said, “and get cremated.

Flushed down the toilet. Bye bye, send you a postcard.” His meeting with the boss was held in a hotel room in Vancouver. “He was a hard-looking fellow,” Hart says. “I’m afraid, Nelson,” the boss told him. “Tell me how you done away with your daughters.” Hart protested. “Never, sir, never, I never hurt my daughters,” he said. “I’m epileptic, sir.” The boss was displeased. “Oh, no, no, no — don’t go lying to the boss,” he said.

“Don’t lie to the boss.”

Hart was terrified. “I’ll be made away with if I go against the boss,” he thought. He uttered a confession. “I drowned my daughters, I pushed them over the wharf,” he told the boss, describing how he had knocked the girls into the waters of Little Harbour with his knee. The confession flooded him with a sense of relief. “I knew then I wouldn’t have my ribs broke. I knew I wasn’t going to be made away with,” he told Maclean’s. After the meeting, the boss greeted his lackeys. “Me and Nelson had a chat,” he told them. “Nelson’s OK.” (Hart would later act out the episode with Sauve at Little Harbour.)

Back in Grand Falls, Hart got a call from Sauve. The gang would take care of the man threatening to reveal Hart’s secret, he told him.

Hart says he told Sauve he wanted no part in a murder. Sauve reassured him, saying they would only “take care of him.” Still, Hart wanted an alibi. Sauve told him he would call ahead of time,

giving Hart a chance to get in front of a security camera for proof he’d been elsewhere. Hart and his wife were doing their laundry when the call arrived.

According to Jennifer, he did not even permit her to retrieve their clothes. Nor would he tell her why he so desperately needed to get to Wal-Mart. Inside, Hart turned to her. “Jennifer,” he said, “look up at the camera and smile.” They stared into the camera for 20 minutes.

The following day — on June 13, 2005 — the RCMP arrested Hart at the airport in Gander, where Sauve had directed him to pick up a plane ticket for yet another trip to the mainland. As police gathered outside his car, Hart tried to place a call to Sauve.

“No point in calling Steph,” an officer told him.

“He’s with us.” Crown prosecutors are now armed with Hart’s videotaped confessions to the murders, intercepted by hidden cameras. Sauve, “the boss” and the others Hart met on his journeys were not the gangsters they claimed to be but rather undercover RCMP officers — part of an elaborate police ruse known as a “Mr. Big” operation that Greg Brodsky, a Winnipeg defence lawyer who has worked similar cases, says is illegal in the United Kingdom and many U.S. states, but which has been used with increasing frequency in Canada. Though they declined further comment, both Cpl. Phil Matthews, of the RCMP’s major crime unit in Gander, and Hart’s defence lawyer, Derek Hogan, confirmed the existence of the sting.

Such silence on the part of police leaves Hart’s as the sole voice in the story of the RCMP operation.

The degree to which he participated — how willing he was to move what he believed was contraband, say, and how hard “the boss” needed to work for Hart’s alleged confession — remains unknown beyond his account.

Hart was charged in June 2005 with the firstdegree murder of his daughters.

At Hart’s preliminary hearing last fall, Pearl and Jennifer were outside the courtroom when Sauve, who the pair now refer to by his real name, walked by and said hello. “My son,” Jennifer told him, “you got some nerve on you.” Indeed, Hart’s family — his wife, who still lives in Grand Falls, and his mother, remain close — believes him innocent and condemns the RCMP. “I think they overstepped their boundaries with Nelson,” says Pearl, a position she holds even after watching her son’s taped confession at the behest of the RCMP — including his exchange with Sauve about whether he could “pull the trigger.” She accepts almost daily collect calls from Hart’s prison; $400 bills are routine.

Only Hart himself, the sole survivor of that late summer day at Little Harbour, knows for sure how his daughters died. But whether by tragedy or malice, the deaths of Krista and Karen Hart have since claimed a third casualty. Recently, standing by the waters where her girls drowned — the first time she has revisited the spot since that morning in 2002 — Jennifer stared vacantly. Though her hair is shorter now, she still wears a gold necklace with a dangling “#1 MOM” pendant. “The girls was my life,” said Jennifer. “When they died, it was like I died too.”

The above story appeared in the Aug. 14 edition of Maclean’s magazine. Reprinted with permission.

SHIPPING NEWS MONDAY Vessels Arrived: Maersk Chignecto, Canada, from Bay Bulls; Asl Sanderling, Canada, from Halifax; Newfoundland Otter, Canada, from Marystown; Maersk Nascopie, Canada, from Hibernia; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, from Bay Bulls; Zuiho Maru 88, Japan, from Long Pond; Sibyl W, Canada, from Long Pond.

Vessels Departed: Oceanex Avalon, Canada, to Montreal; Atlantic Eagle, Canada to Bay Bulls.

TUESDAY Vessels Arrived: Riverton, Canada, from sea.

Vessels Departed: Asl Sanderling, Canada, to Corner Brook; Maersk Nascopie, Canada, to Hibernia; Zuiho Maru 88, Japan, to the Flemish Cap; Riverton, Canada, to the Flemish Cap; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, to Terra Nova; Maersk Challenger, Canada, to White Rose.

WEDNESDAY Vessels Arrived: Atlantic Osprey, Canada, from

Terra Nova; Maersk Placentia, Canada, from Terra Nova; Cape Roger, Canada, from sea; Wilfred Templeman, Canada, from sea; Rem Angler, Norway, from sea.

Vessels Departed: Maersk Chignecto, Canada, to Terra Nova.

THURSDAY Vessels Arrived: Maersk Norseman, Canada, from White Rose; Cabot, Canada, from Montreal; Burin Sea, Canada, from Terra Nova; Atlantic Hawk, Canada, from Terra Nova.

Vessels Departed: Kommander Jack, Bahamas, to sea; Riverton, Canada, to sea; Rem Angler, Norway, to sea.

FRIDAY Vessels Arrived: Trinity Sea, Canada, from Orphan Basin; Maersk Chancellor, Canada, from White Rose.

Vessels Departed:Burin Sea, Canada, to Terra Nova; Cabot, Canada to Montreal; Atlantic Hawk, Canada, to White Rose.

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

‘Irrelevent’

Former FPI CEO Derrick Rowe to represent Canada at NAFO meeting

By Ryan Cleary The Independent

T

he annual meeting of NAFO may be just a few weeks away, but the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has yet to finalize its list of objectives and official delegate list.

At least one of Canada’s commissioners to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is already raising eyebrows by the mere fact he’s apparently going — Derrick Rowe, the controversial former CEO of Fishery Products International.

Rowe was appointed a commissioner to the Canadian delegation of NAFO — the international body that manages nine fish stocks on the Grand Banks outside Canada’s 200-mile limit — in February 2005 by then-Liberal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan.

Regan also reappointed Earle McCurdy, head of the province’s fishermen’s union, as commissioner. David Bevan of Ottawa was named head of the Canadian delegation.

Rowe announced his resignation as CEO of FPI in November 2005, receiving a compensation package of about $750,000. At the time, McCurdy criticized the deal. “If that’s what you get for screwing up the company, imagine the bonus you’d get if you were successful,” he told CBC. Rowe was accused of leaving the company in worse shape than he found it.

“Derrick Rowe is like other commissioners that Canada has had — he knows little about

the industry and has no background whatsoev- ment custodial management when the er in international fisheries negotiations and Conservatives took power. the problems we’ve faced in the last 15 or 20 In a response to a St. John’s Board of Trade years,” says Gus Etchegary, former head of survey of the province’s seven MPs leading up Fishery Products and outspoken critic of fed- to the January election, Hearn had this to say eral fisheries management. of his party’s position on custodial manage“As far as the other commissioner goes, ment and its plans to address foreign overfishEarle McCurdy, he’s been ing: “Our party initiated in that position for years the idea of custodial manand I have yet to hear him “The fact of the matter agement. We had a resoluspeak on the subject of tion to that effect passed in is they (McCurdy and overfishing, particularly to Parliament. In our policy do with the extension of statements we commit to Rowe) are going to jurisdiction, custodial mantaking custodial manageagement or the necessity of ment if we become contribute nothing to a science program.

Government.” an organization that is “The fact of the matter is Etchegary accuses Hearn they (McCurdy and Rowe) of doing a 180 on his posiuseless anyway.” are going to contribute tion. “It just goes to show nothing to an organization how irrelevant DFO and — Gus Etchegary that is useless anyway.”

NAFO really are in terms The 28th annual meeting of fisheries management to of NAFO is slated for Sept. 18-22 in the economic well-being of Newfoundland.

Dartmouth, N.S. Phil Jenkins, spokesman for This is a classic example.”

DFO in Ottawa, says the objectives of the fedNAFO has been criticized for years for its eral Department of Fisheries and Oceans failure to enforce the quotas it sets. Foreign (DFO) are still under consideration. overfishing is widely seen as a factor in why He says the list of DFO delegates has also East Coast groundfish stocks such as cod have yet to be finalized. Twenty-eight DFO failed to rebound, despite the 14-year moratoemployees attended last year’s meeting in rium on domestic fishing.

Tallinn, Estonia.

Canada is slated to pay one third ($520,000) Etchegary accuses federal Fisheries of NAFO’s 2006 overall budget of $1.52 milMinister Loyola Hearn of failing to follow lion. through on a pre-election promise to impleryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

Three new adult learning centres to open in fall

By Nadya Bell The Independent

C

onception Bay South, Mount Pearl and Bell Island will get their own literacy centres this fall, thanks to increased provincial funding for Rabbittown Learners Program.

The three areas in the Avalon are the most in need of additional literacy services, according to provincial government figures. All three locations have more that 600 people of all ages with lower than Grade 7 reading skills.

The provincial government has given Rabbittown Learners $160,675 to pay for everything from rent and salaries to staplers and furniture.

“These new centres are advancing to the next step to addressing the literacy problem,” says Walter Andrews, board chair for the centre, which currently operates one location, on Merrymeeting Road in St. John’s.

The money came on the heels of a report released in June, which showed Newfoundland and Labrador literacy rates were some of the worst in the country.

According to a Statistics Canada survey in 2003, 55 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians scored below Grade 9 level in literacy tests.

CONSERVATIVE COMMITMENT Andrews says the new funding shows a concrete commitment to literacy by the Conservative government. The centre takes donations of computers, furniture and books, although, Andrews cautions, the organization does have standards.

“We don’t plan on going second-class to provide a service,” he says. “We want to provide a nice environment.”

The Rabbittown Learners Centre has been in operation for 18 years — they’ve been wanting to expand for the past three.

Each new centre will take 12 students and

Doris Hapgood and Walter Andrews of Rabbittown Learners Program.

have one instructor, although the St. John’s centre is twice that size.

The literacy centre runs a 40 per cent deficit from the government funding. Some students who are funded by outside programs pay for the services.

Less than Grade 9 literacy CBS Mt. Pearl Bell Island St. John’s

Ages 20-54 410 200 605 2,000

All ages 865 645 605 4,000

Source: provincial government

Paul Daly/The Independent

Program administrator Doris Hapgood says all three new centres should be open by Oct. 2.

Hapgood says anyone 18 or older in Mount Pearl, C.B.S., or Bell Island wanting to upgrade their literacy skills above Grade 7, should contact the head office in St. John’s.

Rabbittown offers counseling services, as well as teaching basic life skills, such as completing income tax forms. After they finish the program many students continue on to level two and three programs at the College of the North Atlantic or private colleges.

“They can always depend on coming back to Rabbittown,” Hapgood says.

“When they don’t need us, we don’t see them anymore.”

John Noseworthy

Paul Daly/The Independent

Help wanted A

uditor general John Noseworthy is still recruiting personnel to investigate the political spending scandal.

“We’re bringing in eight people outside our regular complement of staff,” Noseworthy tells The Independent.

His office has set up temporary digs in the basement of Confederation Building. Some of the new hires will be stationed there, while others will replace permanent workers at Noseworthy’s Mount Pearl office who have been reassigned to the House of Assembly file.

The new staff should be in place by September. “These aren’t just new people brought in off the street,” Noseworthy says. “My senior people will be leading the team up there (at Confederation Building), so I’ll be replacing some people down here doing other work.”

Noseworthy couldn’t say how much his budget will increase as a result of the extra staff, although he said money isn’t a problem. “Whatever I need I get to do the work.”

Noseworthy expects to know by November’s end whether there are any more excess claims on top of the four cases that have already been reported. Sitting politicians Ed Byrne (Tory-Kilbride), Wally Andersen (LiberalTorngat Mountains) and Randy Collins (NDP-Labrador West) have been accused of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars more than their budgeted allowances.

Retired Liberal MHA Jim Walsh has also been implicated.

The other part of Noseworthy’s investigation will delve into the appropriateness of spending. He doesn’t have a timeline on how long that will take.

— Ryan Cleary

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

AUGUST 27, 2006

With a rebel yell W

hatever became of rebel yeller Fabian Manning? The maverick from the Cape Shore who dared dance with Danny was supposed to take the feds by the scruff of the neck and shake some sense into them.

Another fighting Newfoundlander to join the thinning ranks.

Ever hear tell of him these days? See him around lately? Fabian couldn’t be held back when he was in provincial politics, but then, as the story goes, he disappeared like so many island politicians before him while flying over the Bureaucratic Triangle that is central Canada.

Back here Fabian was a big fish in a small pond. Upalong he’s just another fish out of water. The backbenches of the House of Commons have sucked the life right out of him. It’s been said Fabian can be seen every now and then on the evening news, a sighting I put in the same category as wild baloney — outport legend.

“Oh look! Quick everybody — I think I see the corner of Fabian’s head over Loyola’s shoulder. No, hold on, that’s a horse-stinger buzzing around the screen.”

RYAN CLEARY

Fighting Newfoundlander What happened to Loyola was scarier still — body snatchers, they say. Oh sure, Loyola may look like himself and sound like himself, but he’s not the same Loyola who gave it to federal Fisheries every chance he got when he was in opposition. Now it’s all fish kisses and bear hugs for the department and the foreign nations it caters to.

At least Danny’s crowd was smart enough to destroy the electronic press releases they churned out when on the other side of the House. There’s nothing more embarrassing than comparing a party’s stand before taking office to later on when they’ve moved in.

Prior to the last election Loyola was foolish enough to fill out a questionnaire prepared by the St. John’s Board of Trade.

His line on foreign overfishing: “Our party initiated the idea of custodial management. We had a resolution to that effect passed in Parliament. In our

policy statements we commit to taking NDP As a one-time nun, it’s unclear how custodial management if we become Lorraine Michael will fare in the bloodgovernment.”

That seemed clear enough. Looking sport that is the cut and thrust of legislaback, Loyola probably meant to say tive debate. Some MHAs can be real “we commit to taking custodial man- devils, and the House can be hot as hell.

If Michael was the Speaker she could agement if we become government and the life forms on Pluto win their inter- excommunicate the hard tickets. “Be gone from this galactic case to have place,” she could their world declared tell them. a planet forever If Michael was the U n f o r t u n a t e l y, more.” there’s not a Mr. So much for that.

Speaker she could Freeze’s chance on But my purpose excommunicate the August asphalt the today is not to pick on Loyola or Fabian, hard tickets. “Be gone NDP will win government before the who have moved on from this place,” she Second Coming. to greener personal Lorraine may be a pastures across the could tell them. lovely lady with the Gulf. My purpose is best of intentions, to take cracks at the but half her party of opposition here on two is implicated in the spending scanour home turf. Easy pickins.

It wouldn’t be fair to say the opposi- dal and she will have a job hanging tion today is the weakest it’s ever been. onto Jack’s seat.

The NDP is not a provincial party so The opposition here is generally always weak, given our tendency to elect gov- much as a lobby group for the artsy ernments by a landslide. The fartsy types in east end St. John’s. As Newfoundland and Labrador electorate for Danny’s point that Lorraine shouldusually jumps on the one train, even if n’t be campaigning in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi until the byelection is called — he it’s headed off the rails.

who drove a Winnebago with huge glass windows around the province prior to the last election shouldn’t throw stones.

THE LIBERALS Of the 11 Liberal MHAs, three were first elected in 1989, five were elected in ’96, another two won their seats in ’99, and one rose to power in 2001. The party is old and tired and in desperate need of new blood, which should flow freely enough leading up to the next election in October 2007. A chunk of caucus is expected to retire before then — Percy Barrett, Wally Andersen, Oliver Langdon, Kelvin Parsons and Judy Foote are a few names being bandied about.

The Grit crew chewed up and spit out their short-time leader, Jim Bennett, and Gerry Reid, while he’s a good guy, shouldn’t be much competition for Danny b’y. We like our leaders to have a certain star power, which the premier most certainly has and Gerry does not.

The next election should be a cakewalk unless the premier goes supernova, and there’s not much chance of that without a decent opposition to fire him up. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE Ottawa’s yo-yo Dear editor, Once I had heard Loyola Hearn say that he was going to personally take on the Portnoy file, I felt confident he would succeed where others had failed.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

If you were to wipe away the rhetoric of the long festering issue of the Portnoy dilemma, it has taken on more of a personal note for many of our local people. Whether or not the Portnoys are allowed to lawfully live in our province and country, which I hope they are, there is more to this case file, namely politics.

Quebec, our sister province, has full say in whom they wish to bring into their home province. They are permitted to welcome whom they choose and Ottawa pays them billions of dollars for doing so. We, on the other hand, are barely allowed to welcome our immigrants here, even for a short stay. Ottawa, for us, has become

a strict disciplinarian. Quebec and Ontario are treated like the favourite pupils in the class.

How can one province rule their own immigration department, which is a federal program, with full immunity from Ottawa, and we here in Newfoundland and Labrador can’t even keep a family of six in our hospitable home? Ottawa has become so distant from us that they allow people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as immigration officials, to rule over us as if we were non-entities.

Quebecers have had Ottawa politicians on a yo-yo for many years, and good for them. The only difference between our two provinces is that we, unfortunately, are on Ottawa’s yo-yo.

That’s the sad reality of the difference between having power and being powerless.

Paul Morrissey, St. John’s

‘Tourism is highly overblown’ Dear editor, Noreen Golfman’s criticism of “entrepreneurs” for not providing sufficient accommodations for those attending literary festivals in this province (The art of war, Aug. 20 edition) stands out for its naivete. “Entrepreneurs” who follow her advice this year, by investing tens of thousands of dollars in new hotel rooms and bed and breakfast operations, could well find themselves out of business next year.

Unfortunately, tourism is highly overblown as an economic engine in this province, and visitations are greatly dependent on factors beyond the control of people who own small businesses: fuel prices, exorbitant ferry rates to Nova Scotia, a lack of rental

cars, currency exchange rates, and the looming identity card requirement at the U.S. border. This list does not even account for factors such as “terrorism” and health scares like SARS. Predicting tourism traffic in Newfoundland and Labrador for the peak summer months is notoriously difficult, and business owners are painfully aware of how much money they can hope to earn during the lengthy off-season.

Here is a test for Ms Golfman: If building new accommodations in Eastport or near Gros Morne National Park for three to five days in the summer is such a great business idea, how much of your own cash are you willing to invest?

Gavin Will, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s

‘I can’t save my wife, but …’

Dear editor, I would like to ask the radio call-in shows why I am not allowed on the air to speak on the topic of cancer and the relationship to EMF producing transformers.

I’d also like to thank Dave Callahan (‘The results were absolutely scary’, Aug. 20 edition) for the support that he has given me over the years and for all 90 towns that faxed me stating that most, if not all people with cancer also have a transformer 20 to 50 feet away from there homes.

My wife Margaret came down with

breast cancer in May 2000 and for six years we went to hell and back.

Margaret’s cancer spread to her bones, lungs, liver and brain, and she died on Dec. 21, 2005. If you have a high EMF coming from a transformer you will have a poorer chance of recovery in your own home. Here is a web site (www.powerlinefacts.com).

I can’t save my wife, but if the government would listen to me just maybe it would save someone else.

Gerald Higgins, Norris Arm

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 Independent News Ltd. in St. John’s. It is an independent newspaper covering the news, issues and current affairs that affect the people of Newfoundland & Labrador.

PUBLISHER Brian Dobbin EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Cleary MANAGING EDITOR Stephanie Porter PICTURE EDITOR Paul Daly PRODUCTION MANAGER John Andrews

sales@theindependent.ca • production@theindependent.ca • circulation@theindependent.ca All material in The Independent is copyrighted and the property of The Independent or the writers and photographers who produced the material. Any use or reproduction of this material without permission is prohibited under the Canadian Copyright Act. • © 2006 The Independent • Canada Post Agreement # 40871083

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

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

‘Shameless exploitation of people, land and sea’ Dear editor, Your remarks about farm aid (Scrunchins, Aug. 6 edition) failed to point out that farming and fishing communities really are in much the same boat.

Isn’t there a dismally familiar ring to the “two options” cited in the government package? What “business plan” can hope to “boost revenues” from farming or fishing in a marketplace dominated by giant global corporations that offer ridiculously low take-it-orleave-it prices? The only farmers making a living these days are in the supply-managed dairy and poultry sectors, where cost of production is covered and restrictions (still) prevent unfair competition from countries with longer sea-

sons and lower costs.

Few occupations require more skills (and determination) than farming or fishing, but the global market assigns them zero value and our governments likewise. The much-touted skills-training option is a dead-end road that continues to fail rural communities everywhere.

As for Ottawa overseeing the annihilation of Prairie fields, that’s a remarkably accurate description of what canola growers have seen as genetically modified varieties — developed with official blessing but increasingly unsellable — massively contaminated their fields. Now agribusiness corporations and their government buddies are waiting for their chance to do the same

with wheat and other crops.

This latest “farm-aid” package is one more cynical gesture that demonstrates the contempt of powerful elites who have never hauled a net or pitched manure. The hypocrisy is especially galling at a time when the same government is moving to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board, which (still) provides a measure of farmer bargaining power in the marketplace.

People who fish share much in common with people who farm. The real problem is the power of those who profit from the shameless exploitation of people, land and sea.

Helen Forsey Ompah. Ont., and Cape St. Francis

Another fish plant not the answer Dear editor, How many fish plants does it take to process a declining resource? Apparently one more than already exists in Newfoundland and Labrador. Residents of Englee recently expressed concerns that a new fish plant proposed for their town may not be moving ahead. This has me worried as well, but not for the same reasons.

The town is worried that the plant, which has been approved for development, has not yet been built. They wonder if the company, NFL Fishery, is now planning to walk away from the project, which would have brought some much needed jobs to the area. I feel for these people but I also worry about something all together different. I worry about a provincial government that would approve yet another fish plant after already stating that there are enough plants in the province to process the world’s entire supply of fish. The only conceivable reason, as far as I can see, is so they can provide a few weeks work in the area, followed by yet another increase in EI enrollment. It certainly can’t be for the good of the industry or of the province as a whole.

Many existing plants are barely able

At work in Woodman Sea Products Ltd. plant in New Harbour.

to provide their workers with enough hours to allow them to migrate between employment and EI on a consistent basis, let alone provide full time, sustainable employment, which should be the ultimate goal. Whether or not the plant is built, it boggles the mind that in a time of ever depleting stocks and when plants are closing as the market rationalizes this overly politicized industry, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador could approve yet

Paul Daly/The Independent

another fish plant license. Go figure.

I realize the people of Englee need work, so do people in many other communities across the province, but doling out yet another processing licence in an already overpopulated industry just so you can provide one more route into an already overly relied upon EI program is certainly not the solution.

Myles Higgins, Portugal Cove

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

Living and leaning Many of Ivan Morgan’s heroes have secret, tainted pasts — and that’s not always a bad thing

I

have no doubt most of you will have a WTF moment when I tell you how shocked I was to hear famous German writer Gunter Grass confess he was a member of the Waffen SS during the Second World War. For those of you who don’t know, Grass, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, has been a strong, stern moral voice for post-war Germany, and the world. The Waffen SS was the nastiest branch in the generally nasty German army.

I have read and re-read his books.

The Tin Drum, The Flounder and The Rat changed the way I read, and the way I view the world. To now learn that in his youth he was a huge part of the problem is shocking.

How could he keep this a secret from us? His detractors quickly pointed out he confessed to this youthful lapse after he had earned a lifetime of awards. One cynic even suggested that this revelation would boost the sales of a recent book Grass is publishing. Oh Gunter, say it ain’t so.

I have realized lately many of my heroes have been revealed to have

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason tainted pasts. Socialist president Francois Mitterand of France was a deeply conservative young Catholic with strong ties to Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in France during the Second World War. He worked for the Vichy government, which helped the Germans during their occupation of France. He helped with things like rounding up French Jews for deportation. Post-war French courts, all too willing to ignore their country’s recent history, cleared Mitterand, who then went on to have a stellar political career.

My great Canadian hero, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, knowingly left papers for his biographers that revealed his reactionary youth. He espoused terrorism in the cause of Quebec nationalism, and was the member of secret revolutionary groups dedicated to the violent

YOUR VOICE The premier’s greatest challenge Dear editor, Premier Danny Williams appears to be buckling under the pressure and has become frustrated over the past couple of weeks. He seems to be championing his own agenda and not the agenda of the residents.

During the election campaign he committed to an open and transparent government, but recently the premier’s office banished The Independent from interviews. Is this an example of openness and transparency? The Independent did some investigative reporting and the results created controversy not acceptable to the premier, who expects the achievements of government to be reported — and not failures. However, the people expect both.

As for the new head of the CNLOPB, in this situation the premier may lose his reputation of a fighter. He cannot accept defeat and the embarrassment of not fulfilling a promise to Andy Wells at a cost to the taxpayers of the province. It’s time to move on.

This is not the first time we have seen appointments by the premier of individuals who are unqualified and lacking in experience.

The most challenging issue facing

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians is the fishery, a challenge that Mr. Williams does not have the desire or will to take on. Mr. Williams’ has committed to an end of giveaways but sits by as fish and employment leave the province daily.

The premier should step back, rethink his approach of governing the province, remove his lawyer’s hat before his government “self-destructs,” and learn to control his emotions and swallow his pride.

Mr. Williams won the election with the huge support of the residents; his intentions seemed honest and sincere.

Yes, he won the lottery with the Atlantic Accord, and we all appreciate it, but continue to govern as the residents were promised during the last election. Take on the biggest problem in the province facing residents today, especially residents of rural Newfoundland — the fishery. This fight has to begin in Ottawa. Mr. Williams has indicated throughout his political career that he’s up to a challenge — the greatest challenge of his political career will be to retain the support of residents.

Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl

City should implement leash law Dear editor, While I have not been attacked by a dog I do have a dog that was attacked by a Newfoundland dog a couple of years ago when he was just a puppy. It is hard to believe that a Newfoundland dog would be so vicious but it did happen. Luckily, the owner was close at hand and got the dog to settle down before he did any damage to my puppy.

As it stands, I feel so sorry for the young woman who got attacked recently by a dog that she was going to foster or adopt from an animal rescue group. Her heart was in the right place, but it was a really bad sequence of events that led to the dog being placed with her. I hope the young lady gets all the care she needs and will

heal without any physical scars — although the emotional scars will not heal so quickly.

It seems to me that with all the problems people are having with dogs in St. John’s there should be a leash law in place and it should be enforced.

Also, there should be a program in place to spade or neuter animals.

Regarding the animal rescue agency that placed the dog with the young woman who was subsequently attacked, I hope they will consider looking at their policies and will only accept dogs with full disclosure from the original owners. They should also give any potential owners all the information they need on the animals.

Sheila Hunters St. John’s

overthrow of the Canadian government. He was an admirer of dictators like Mussolini and Salazar, he held democracy in contempt, and despised liberalism.

So some of my heroes are now exposed as having feet of clay. Is their work completely discredited now, as some contend, because of their murky pasts? Of course not. In fact, instead of decrying these men, I think we should look at them more closely.

Far from perfect human beings, they did exhibit that most perfect of human traits — they learned. Each young man was a product of his environment, armed with ideas typical of the people who surrounded him.

Of course an ambitious young German joined an elite army unit if he could. Of course an ambitious young French lad might think of getting a good job with the powers that be. Of course a passionate young Quebecer would rail against the injustices perpetrated on his “people.”

But these men had eyes, and brains, and they grew from their roots to see the world not only as it was, but also

how it could be. To realize — with horror, I like to think — what they had done in the name of those beliefs.

Did their desire to change society come from an insider’s view of how bad it was? Was Trudeau’s passion for repatriating the Charter motivated by his revulsion for his own youthful past?

Did his membership in a secret movement make him the perfect person to deal with the FLQ in 1970?

Mitterand tried to explain himself in a book written near the end of his life.

Grass is now trying to explain himself in the international press. Trudeau — the cool, honest intellectual until the end — intentionally left us those papers, as if telling us to figure it out for ourselves.

Which is, in the end, what each of us must do. How does Mitterand become a giant of “history” when faceless, nameless people — brave people — died horribly fighting the Nazis?

Mitterand the collaborationist survives, while thousands of innocent Jews are deported to their deaths. Was that just bad luck for moral people?

Grass lectures on the evils of totali-

tarianism and fanaticism, and the scourge that is “civilization.” Where better to learn that than in the Waffen SS? Trudeau gave us multiculturalism, bilingualism and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Was this to protect us from the narrow-minded little ideologue he remembers himself as being?

Another of my heroes, writer Arthur Koestler, spent the bulk of his life warning us against the evils of ideology, and of the cruelty so endemic in humanity. He wrote of a well-dressed young man travelling through the Ukraine in the 1930s, during Stalin’s horrific forced starvation of over eight million people. He wrote of the young man sipping tea and eating buttered rolls as he sat in his train car, indifferent to the countless starving, desperate people they passed. He wrote how that callous young man needed a bullet between his eyes.

Then he noted, with shame and horror, that young man had been him.

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

KIDNAPPING IN KILBRIDE

Reporters stand in the parking lot of the Holyrood detachment of the RCMP, being briefed on the kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman Aug. 23. The accused, Darren Joseph Fagan, is in custody while the victim, whose identity is protected by a court order, has been treated in hospital and released.

Paul Daly/The Independent

730 days and counting …

Dear editor, Seven hundred and 30 days and counting … that’s how long it has been since I had a friend naively walk into the Hoyles Home in St. John’s, eager to speak with someone who could help us.

It was our intention to arrange for my then 26-year-old daughter to begin supplementing her diet with nutrients known to be lacking from our current processed food supply. They would get the ball rolling before I returned to the province three months later.

Well, seasons have changed and I’ve grown a little wiser to the politics and personalities that oversee such decisions. Unfortunately along the way I have also gained the experience of feeling completely frustrated, helpless and exhausted at trying to co-ordinate such a daunting task.

Understandably, any medical profes-

sional should do their due diligence before adding supplements to the diet of someone under their care. However, the willingness to complete such a review had been virtually non-existent for over a year, and this was only one dimension of the endless run around and lack of co-operation I have experienced over the past 24 months. During that time I had to return to Alberta for work, leaving my daughter behind once again, and not a step closer to having the supplements approved.

With my return home in October 2005 I once again set out to seek the elusive approval of the Hoyles Home.

Meetings were held, and there was cause for optimism. This couldn’t come a minute too soon as my return ticket to Alberta was looming large on the horizon. I was reassured the process was being taken care of and everything

would be done in due time. Still unsure of a definitive approval, the home was generous enough to give me another meeting, a full two days before I had to leave the province — finally a sure decision and what a tremendous relief.

I was literally promised that by early the next week my daughter would be receiving the supplements from the staff and I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

What had taken two years of constant struggle and heartache has now been reversed ever so quickly. To decide against supplementation is one thing, but to engage in such a debacle, and have one’s hopes raised with a promise only to have that taken away once I left is beyond my level of comprehension.

between science degrees, but I doubt they would take much from cooking pizzas for a summer before graduate school.

I was lucky enough to get one of few jobs requiring skills applicable to my field of study. I was hired as a researcher with the provincial chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Since being hired I have looked into topics ranging from the mental health of seniors to seasonal affective disorder. Yet despite the demanding nature of the position and the fact the mental health asso-

ciation had applied for a 13-week grant, the Human Resources grant offered only minimum wage and a mere nine weeks of funding. A written appeal for more time went unanswered. Luckily for me, the mental health association offered a $1 increase to the hourly rate of pay and a three-week extension, entirely at its own expense, to complete the work they needed done.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful to the Human Resources, I believe it is nothing short of shameful to force a not-for-

profit organization — subsisting on private donations and government grants — to pull money from its meagre coffers in order that I be given adequate time to complete my work. Moreover, if the mandate of Human Resources involves facilitating the academic pursuits of young Canadians, they are failing miserably.

The abilities needed to adequately fill a research position are not commensurate with nine weeks at minimum wage.

David Whalen, Mount Pearl

Joan Pardy, Fort McMurray, Alta.

Nine weeks at minimum wage Dear editor, Students must scramble to find jobs every spring in order to ease the ever-ballooning costs of pursuing an education.

Along with the need for cash, there’s always the hope of finding a job at least somewhat relevant to their field of study.

I graduated in May with an English degree from Memorial and was accepted into the master of Journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa. Given the swelling costs I will face living away from home, I was eager to earn as much

as I could over the summer. Hoping to find a good fit, I went to the Human Resources and Social Development Canada website. Each year, Human Resources provides grants to organizations that might not otherwise be able to afford to hire a student.

Despite being aimed at students, the website actually offers very little in the way of intellectually demanding work. Granted, it is late in the summer, but as I write this two of the six jobs posted on the website are for pizza cooks. I can’t speak for people

AUGUST 27, 2006

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

IN CAMERA

Seaman White

Seaman White, Travis and Bruiser

Members of the unified Cutting Edge Wrestling and Newfoundland Championship Wrestling league were scheduled to meet for Rage in the Cage — the first steel cage match in the province in almost 30 years on Aug. 26.

The main event, plus a number of title matches among women and men, was held to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Newfoundland wrestling legend, Sailor White. Photo editor Paul Daly and reporter Nadya Bell caught up with some of the key league players for a photo shoot a few days before the smack-down.

Tommy Manson and Mystique

By Nadya Bell The Independent

S

trutting out in a black lycra suit with Newfoundland emblazoned on the ass, “HardAs-Nails” Seaman White meets Bruiser Bennett, sporting a ripped jean jacket and greasy hair. The eight-year rivalry between Cutting Edge Wrestling and Newfoundland Championship Wrestling leagues is over. The two men have sworn to keep the fighting in the ring, or the cage — a steel cage.

The two leagues are united in their love for Sailor White, the father of Newfoundland wrestling, and the

only Newfoundlander to ever hold a championship in the World Wrestling Federation.

And for the first time in the province since 1972, contestants and the referee will be locked in the steel cage until a winner is declared.

TITLE HOLDER The wrestler simply known as Travis, holder of the CEW-NCW Unified Wrestling Championship Title, is taking on White and Bennett, the league owners. The winner of the triple-threat will receive the first annual Sailor White Memorial Championship trophy.

It was all scheduled to shake

down at the tournament Aug. 26 at the CLB Armoury.

About 20 fighters, managers, officials and fans of the league met with The Independent before the event in the basement of a parking garage in downtown St. John’s. Insults flew under the fluorescent lights as the fighters broke out the tights and belts. Guys in baseball caps and girls with hoop earrings smoked in corners and watched.

“You feel stupid? Look what I’m wearing!”

“Some people downtown dress like this …”

Part theatre, part fashion show, there are more than enough scars

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9

Heels

Faces

Bruiser Bennett hold down Seaman White

Samara, Elaine, and Charity

to go around.

White remembers what Sailor would tell them as their coach. “He’d tell us to tear the house down, and don’t hurt yourself, don’t hurt the fans,” he says, grinning.

After a professional wrestling career that included 48 titles from Canada and around the world, Sailor White coached young people in Newfoundland, passing on the tradition and advice. He passed away exactly a year ago due to injuries from a taxi crash.

The wrestlers he left behind would like to start a centre for troubled youth in his birthplace of Shea Heights — for now, they’ll fight in his honour.

Rick Bennett and Darren Storm

Between practicing his young and cocky look, Travis talks about the training and backstage politics that brought him to the top of the heap. He practiced about twice a month, and it took him several years before he was allowed in the ring — he says egos were getting in the way.

“Finally we became buddies, the trust was there, the respect was there,” he says. At 22, he says he’s learning more about pro-wrestling as an industry.

“It used to be about ‘how can I get a title belt?’” he says, “But now it’s ‘how can I please the fans?’ I want to get them in the seats, I’m just here to please them.”

Travis plays heel, or a bad character, in the matches, someone evil who the crowd is led to hate. He says it’s much more fun than playing face, or a good character.

“You just go out and be nasty,” he says. “It’s a lot more interesting.”

ONLY A BROKEN NECK They may pose for the pictures, but the actual matches are no theatre.

Darren Storm, 22, has recently learned to walk again after a broken neck, and after a full year recovery he’s back in the scene.

“A part of your life feels empty without it, the adrenalin rush,” he says. “Everyone was concerned with

Seaman White

my neck injury, but accidents happen, some are more serious than others.”

A broken neck turns out to be only one on a long list of injuries he has collected since he started at 15.

Twelve concussions, two dislocated shoulders, two dislocated knees, a broken ankle …

“The scary part is I’m probably one of the lucky ones,” he says.

The league is run by the fighters and a few devoted people who take care of advertising, rentals and organizing.

Storm says it’s good experience, but doesn’t always get recognized.

“In job interviews when they see wrestling on your resume they always give you that raised eyebrow,” he says.

About 15 fighters are competing for a number of different belts over the weekend, including the CEW-NCW Canadian Heritage Title.

(Nexus, a woman who competed with the men and won a title several years ago, will return from maternity leave to fight again, possibly against Samara.)

But there are others in the wings readying for a chance to take the hierarchy apart their own way. Riccochet, with two belts over his shoulder, paces back and forth, chewing gum and stretching his neck. Havoc touches up his face makeup, and Tommy Manson swings his long hair in front of his face.

AUGUST 27, 2006

10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

SCATTERED PAST

Raise a glass The Crow’s Nest officers’ club filled with memories of war and relaxation

LIFE STORY

One-man theatre industry

By Nadya Bell The Independent

“To date, the only casualty has been a Norwegian lieutenant-commander who crept down 57 steps successfully, fighting a ground istory is like a bucket full of cape\lin swell every inch of the way, and in a sudden (bear with me here): it is not found in a burst of confidence tripped over the last two and museum, but captured and brought got a deep gash in his forehead.” there.

Ships’ crests and gun shields cover the walls As old men and women wandering around of the bar and nearly every other available surthe exhibits will occasionally bring to life sto- face, some crests are directly off the boats. ries and emotions from times past, there will be Others were painted especially for the bar. a few flicks of life in the caplin before they’re Many have the cartoon style and characters cooked up to be served for dinner. often associated with airplanes, because during Although I have spent this the war ships were built and summer travelling to some sailed faster than official of the province’s museums emblems could be made.

— the well-carpeted as well Around the dartboard at as the musty and crowded — one end of the bar, many of the history of the province is the shields are covered in tiny not limited to these designatholes from shots that missed ed tourist stops. their mark. Looking around The naval officer’s club the room, and away from the downtown, the Crow’s Nest, view of the Narrows and haris an example of living histobour, it is easy to count the ry, a working bar that keeps testimonies of rowdy nights. with it an intense air of tradiA moose head at one end of A plaque near the bar tion and legacy. the bar is bleached blond The bar is on Water Street from years of dense cigarette in The Crow’s Nest technically, although really smoke. A stuffed crow named the entrance is off the high Conway is its companion in side of the war memorial, taxidermy. Around the room just below the tattoo studio. are five bells for closing time, A high iron gate keeps guard over the alleyway decoration, and one that is only hit when the between two buildings, and serves as an ringer intends to buy a round for the house. entrance to the infamous staircase that leads up “He who rings the bell in jest buys a drink for to the Crow’s Nest. all the rest,” reads a plaque next to the bell.

There were 59 stairs up to top floor in 1942, A framed spike with a metal disk surrounding when the bar was created during the Second says “Spikenard, his spike.” A group of men World War as a place for officers to drink and drove the thick steel rod into the floor as part of relax while still near enough, in case of emer- a competition, but the next day they left for sea gency. and never returned.

Today it takes only 33 stairs to reach the bar, A German U-190 submarine periscope is reto comply with fire regulations and have a little installed next to the bar, after being carefully pity on patrons. A quote from Lieut. Stuart taken apart and repaired. It is now fixed so that Keate from the book of stories about the Crow’s it can’t swivel back and forth — the view is perNest is too good to resist: manently straight down Water Street, as the “Considering that there are 59 tortuous steps crow flies. in this ascent, visitors are often impressed by The club members keep the Crow’s Nest the fact that nobody has fallen down and broken alive, and a visit brings a curious combination his neck. of history and a fresh pint of Guinness.

H

“He who rings the bell in jest buys a drink for all the rest.”

Maxim Mazumdar founded Stephenville festival, encouraged province’s young thespians

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

W

hen he was a young man, a palmist told Maxim Mazumdar he would die when he was 35. Throughout the rest of his life, the founder of the Stephenville Theatre Festival claimed his belief in this prediction drove him to work hard and accomplish as much as possible.

Mazumdar first visited Newfoundland in 1976, invited as an adjudicator for the Dominion Drama festival. He had recently garnered rave reviews and top prize at the Stratford Festival for Wilde Remembered, a one-man show he wrote and performed, was then touring the country.

Friend Cheryl Stagg says Mazumdar came back to Newfoundland to teach acting in the summer after discovering bursaries he handed to the young actors who had won them were never used. There was no drama school in the province, and the bursary amounts weren’t enough to attend schools in Montreal and Toronto.

Mazumdar was asked to set up an acting camp or classes for the summer, to help local talent.

“Maxim thought that was a wonderful idea,” says Stagg, “and decided Stephenville was the spot, because there was a community college, a dining hall, and an arts and culture centre that wasn’t used in the summer.”

Stagg and Mazumdar set about creating the Provincial Drama Academy, as they called it, and from that grew the Stephenville Festival.

Mazumdar brought considerable experience for his 26 years. Emigrating with his family from India at 17, he was considered by all to be a one-man theatre industry — actor, writer and director.

Supremely confident, it is said he did not suffer from a weak ego. He was also terrifically talented, had the energy and drive of five people, and was more than willing to share both his talent and time with students. He threw himself into his work.

Former student Berni Stapleton says “people thought he was insane when he started this theatre.”

Sane or not, under his guidance, the festival took off, becoming a huge success. By 1984, Mazumdar, Stagg, and director Edmund MacLean had developed the Stephenville Festival into a growing concern, with national and internationally acclaimed actors and a solid repertoire. They took productions on tour, visiting Halifax and the Edinburgh Festival.

“Our first budget was something like $4,500,” Stagg tells The Independent. “Within three years it was $65,000, and within four or five years it was $250,000 and by the time I left, in the 10th year, our budget was over $350,000.”

With success comes criticism, and Mazumdar attracted his share. Some felt he received cultural

funding that could have been better used elsewhere.

Others criticized his penchant for producing American plays and musicals, instead of Canadian.

But people came to see the shows.

“He didn’t require the approval of others in order to proceed with his own dream,” Stagg says. “We will all have to admit it was a significant challenge to do what he did in Stephenville” The list of his former students is now a who’s who of Newfoundland talent, but Mazumdar’s influence went beyond training young people for the theatre.

“We were the first theatre festival in the province,” says Stagg. “And today we find that festivals have become the backbone of the tourist industry in places like Trinity and Cow Head (Gros Morne).”

Mazumdar was also deeply involved in a theatre in Buffalo, N.Y., where he wrote and performed many plays. Much of his writing reflected his interest in gay culture. From his early Wilde Remembered to later works such as Unholy Trinity (a fictional discourse between Jesus, Galileo and Oscar Wilde), Mazumdar returned again and again to themes involving gay history.

Neal Radice, executive director of Buffalo’s Alleyway Theatre, was a friend and collaborator.

“If anyone wonders if Max had an impact beyond Newfoundland, let them know that there is a theatre in Buffalo hosting an annual play competition (The Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition) in his name and currently rehearsing his script of Unholy Trinity for a September opening,” Radice says.

By the late 1980s the Stephenville Festival was having troubles. In the midst of this, Mazumdar, long plagued by chronic lung troubles, developed complications and died in Halifax. He was 36.

Despite the belief of many, Stagg insists Mazumdar did not die of AIDS. Feeling unwell, he had asked to be tested for the virus, and she says his tests were negative.

A week later, he was in hospital. After struggling for several days, he slipped into a coma, suffered brain damage due to oxygen deprivation, and several days later his life support was turned off.

Stagg does not know where the AIDS rumours came from and doesn’t care. “I suppose that someone somewhere thought that every time a high profile person died of AIDS, publicizing it would help in the fight against the disease. I don’t think Max would have a problem with that.”

His influence lives on. “I would not be in theatre were it not for Max,” Stapleton says.

Radice echoes this sentiment. “In his 1987 version of Gilgamesh, in which he also played the title role, his character learns that immortality is achieved only in that ‘we are mourned and remembered by the living.’ And that he is.”

You’re busy, your phone shouldn’t be.

You focus on what you do best, let us do what we do best.

We’ll answer your calls, take the sales leads, and pass them on to you. And we’ll do it all at a surprisingly affordable cost.

Call our award winning answering services and find out how we can help your business grow.

1- 8 88 - 693 -2255 • 709-722-3730 • www.telelinkcallcentre.com

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11

VOICE FROM AWAY

‘No frustrations, just a love of dance’ Mount Pearl’s Jody Osmond establishing career in theatre and teaching in Toronto

TORONTO, Ont.

By Geoff Dale For the Independent

A

t age three, Jody Osmond made her presence known on stage as a smurf in her year-end school recital back home in Newfoundland.

Today, at 27, the accomplished dancer/singer/teacher looks over a still-growing career that has included a major role in one of Canada’s most enduring theatrical enterprises, a master class with Gregory Hines, a successful teaching career and several awards.

“I was dancing since I could walk and singing when I learned how to talk,” says the cheerful Osmond, currently a jazz, tap and ballet teacher at the Martha Hicks School in Toronto. “I still have those ballet slippers I wore as a smurf.

“It was during my school years at Mount Pearl junior and senior high schools where I really found out about theatrics and how much I loved it. I remember performing in the Etcetera show, which is still done these days.”

Born in Port aux Basques and raised in Mount Pearl, Osmond followed that early interest with more intense studies after her school years, becoming a teacher at the Wanda Allix Dance Studio. Her specific studies included Cecchetti Ballet, tap and jazz.

“I was certainly helped along the way at home, but I just wasn’t aware of the possibilities that were open to me then,” she says. “A friend of mine, however, told me about a performing arts school in downtown Toronto — the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. So I moved to Ontario in 1999.

“My parents (Keltie and Georgina) expected that I would likely be making such a move.

There was no second-guessing. Later my dad said ‘don’t think for a second that it didn’t rip our hearts out to see our little girl go, but it would have ripped our hearts out to see her stay and miss this opportunity.”

After graduating from the academy’s triplethreat program, she landed the plum role of Lisa in the long running hit musical Mamma

Jody Osmond

Mia and also understudied the part of Sophie.

She went on to play the lead Winifred in Once Upon A Mattress and Charlene in the world premiere of Route 66.

While at school in Mount Pearl, in addition to six years in Etcetera, she workshopped in Disney World and, with the show choir, won a gold medal in the International Show Choir Competition.

“In Mamma Mia, it was eight performances a week, six days a week for two years (20002002),” she says.

Osmond’s parents, brother Darren and sister Joy, saw her perform the show, and took advantage of the opportunity to stand up, sing and dance along with cast members — a trademark audience response to the production. It was their first peek at professional musical theatre.

“I was also in a Puss’Boots pantomime production at Christmas here in Toronto. That was a lot of fun but also bittersweet at the same time because I had to cancel plans to

come home and see family and a new nephew.

“I auditioned for the movie Hairspray, which is set for filming between September and December. I haven’t gotten the part yet but I got another call back for the dance ensemble. I’m also being considered as a dance double for the lead, which may require a little padding.”

Another personal highlight came during her studies at the Randolph Academy, where after rehearsals, she literally ran into one of the institution’s patrons — the late dancer/actor Gregory Hines. In town to shoot a movie, he was convinced by the school’s owner to hold a master class for the awestruck young students.

“It was just mind blowing,” she said. “I watched him dancing when I was a youngster.

He was just a huge part of what I loved. What he taught us during that class was just unbelievable. As he moved about, his feet made these wonderful incredible sounds.

“He spoke about his days in the business, referring to such greats as Sammy Davis Jr. When a student asked if he danced to get rid of life’s frustrations, he said he had no frustrations, just a love of dance. I will never forget that. I have a video of the class.”

While opportunities to perform in Newfoundland have yet to materialize, she speaks fondly of her growing love for theatre as a youngster and the potential of demonstrating her skills on the stage back home.

“There wasn’t really any theatre in my family, other than those good old kitchen parties,” she says. “Everyone just loved to sing and dance at home and they, along with my friends, were all so supportive.

“Sure, I would love to do something in Newfoundland. If the chance ever came up, that would be great. Right now, theatre is my main focus but I love teaching. Along the way I take advantage of every audition that comes up.

“I dance like there’s nobody watching … sing like there’s nobody listening.”

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

Hot dog carts ticketed for cleanliness TORONTO, Ont.

By Anna Piekarski Torstar wire service

H

ot dog carts are a popular choice for a quick bite, but they could be serving up more than street meat.

Tickets were issued to almost one in four cart operators during a spot check at the beginning of the month — some for sanitation violations, others for smoking cigarettes while cooking.

“The tickets are usually for safety violations,” says Jim Chan, manager of the Toronto Public Health food safety program.

City health inspectors blitzed

the downtown core Aug. 2 and 3.

They checked 39 carts and gave tickets to nine operators, closing one down because it didn’t have water and a basin for hand washing.

Other violations included not disposing liquid waste properly — the vendor dumped dirty water and garbage on the ground.

One operator didn’t have a proper approved thermometer, and another cart was found to be unsanitary.

The city has licensed more than 400 carts for operation. Last summer, 30 operators were charged with violating regulations, and two were closed down.

The city regularly receives complaints about hot dog carts,

says Gus Michaels, a supervisor in the municipal licensing and standards division.

“Usually the complaints are from one hot dog vendor against another,” Michaels says.

Complaints result in a visit by an inspector. Each cart must be licensed, and the vendor must have a permit.

Public Health also receives quite a few calls, Chan says, but no distinct statistics are kept since cart complaints aren’t distinguished from those that are received about stores and restaurants.

“Lots of people eat hot dogs and we do get calls all the time.

If we do get complaints, an inspector goes out to follow up

on the concern,” Chan says, adding people commonly notify them about vendors smoking or failing to wash their hands.

When a vendor applies for a licence, the cart must be examined by a public health inspector.

After carts have qualified for a licence, they are inspected at least annually, and more often if a problem has been reported, Chan says.

The carts are allowed to serve only hot dogs and sausages that are pre-cooked, Chan said.

Vendors aren’t permitted to cook foods like hamburgers or chicken because they do not have proper refrigeration — and they don’t serve mayonnaise anymore.

AUGUST 27, 2006

12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Create Your Own...

7-Piece Package Event!

7 Piece Package Event! Why buy one piece anywhere else when you can get a whole package for less at Surplus Freight Furniture!

7 Piece Packages are back for a limited time and while quantities last! Hurry in today! First come, first served! $

748

#2000

Sofa & Loveseat!

Sofa & Loveseat, 3pc Table Set And 2 Lamps!

7pc Package Only!

$

$

Choose From 5 Different 3pc Table Set Styles!

Buy More, Save More!

#3612

848

848 Sofa & Loveseat!

#3300

First Come, First Served!

Sofa & Loveseat, 3pc Table Set And 2 Lamps!

#6117

Choose From 5 Different Colours Of Lamps!

7pc Package Only!

$

948

Over 30 Different Sofa & Loveseat Packages To Choose From! $

868

#0300

Sofa & Loveseat!

7pc Package Only!

$

968

$

898

#0130

Sofa & Loveseat!

$

948

#1100

Sofa & Loveseat!

Just Arrived!

7pc Package Only!

$

998

7pc Package Only!

$

$

948

#3510

Sofa & Loveseat!

Just Arrived! $

1048 7pc Package Only! 1048

Incredible Deals You Can Feast On! Unbelievable Savings On All Dinette Sets! • Better Selection! #1119

5pc Dinette Set!

$

178

#1113

$

5pc Dinette Set!

248

#1020

5pc Dinette Set!

$

398

#1000

5pc Dinette Set!

$

398

Sleep Well Knowing That You’ve Saved On All Bedroom Sets! o Als ! st ble e Ch vaila A

#2200

Includes Dresser, Mirror, Headboard and Nightstand

o Als ! st ble e Ch vaila A

#8200

Includes Dresser, Mirror, Headboard and Nightstand

4pc Bedroom Set!

$

o Als ! st ble e Ch vaila A

#3100

Includes Dresser, Mirror, Headboard and Nightstand

548 4pc Bedroom Set!

$

568

o Als ! st ble e Ch vaila A

#0253

Includes Dresser, Mirror, Headboard and Nightstand

4pc Bedroom Set!

$

618

4pc Bedroom Set!

$

698

Free Bed Frame With The Purchase Of A Premium Mattress Set!

**

Quality Mattresses Starting At Only!

$

76

Any Value Plus Twin or Full Set

Sleep Aid TWIN .......... $109 ea. pc.

FULL ...........$139 ea. pc.

QUEEN ....... $154 ea. pc.

$

154

Queen Size each piece 5YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Posture Care TWIN ..........$144 ea. pc.

FULL ........... $164 ea. pc.

QUEEN ....... $194 ea. pc.

KING ........... $216 ea. pc.

$

194

Queen Size each piece 10YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Chiro Firm TWIN ..........$149 ea. pc.

FULL ........... $194 ea. pc.

QUEEN ....... $214 ea. pc.

KING ...........$223 ea. pc.

$

214

Queen Size each piece 15YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Mattress Pricing No Other Competitor Can Beat! p Pillowto ss

Eurotosps

Mattre

Mattre

Royal Comfort TWIN .......... $174 ea. pc.

FULL ........... $214 ea. pc.

QUEEN .......$244 ea. pc.

KING ...........$249 ea. pc.

$

244

Queen Size each piece 20YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Sunrise TWIN .......... $199 ea. pc.

FULL ...........$249 ea. pc.

QUEEN .......$269 ea. pc.

KING ...........$263 ea. pc.

$

269

Queen Size each piece 7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Nordic Rest TWIN .......... $214 ea. pc.

FULL ........... $274 ea. pc.

QUEEN .......$299 ea. pc.

KING ........... $276 ea. pc.

$

299

Queen Size each piece 7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Supreme Comfort TWIN ..........$249 ea. pc.

FULL ...........$309 ea. pc.

QUEEN .......$334 ea. pc.

KING ...........$299 ea. pc.

$

334

Queen Size each piece 7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Mattress Fabrics Vary By Store Location. Advertised mattresses sold in sets only. See store for individual mattresses at factory direct prices. King sets consist of 3 pieces.

ST. JOHN’S

22 O’Leary Ave. (709) 726-6466

Across from Avalon Mall next to Avalon Software Open To The Public

Mon-Thurs: 12-8 • Friday: 10-8 Saturday: 10-6 • Sunday: 12-5

We Accept: Cash, Interac, Visa, Master Card, American Express, Cheques, FREE Layaway

Locations Also In: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, & Newfoundland

† Tables, Fabrics and Colours may vary by store. * 7pc Package valid with #2221, #2213, #3612, #4710 and #3623 table sets, two lamps (#6117) and the purchase of a Sofa and Loveseat. 7pc Package cannot be combined with any other offer. ** Premium Mattress Sets Are Sunrise, Nordic Rest, Supreme Comfort, Majestic, Elite, Platinum Comfort, Hampton Pocket Coil.

StJohns_Tele_11.5x21.5.indd 1

8/17/06 10:22:04 AM

INDEPENDENTLIFE

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 — PAGE 13

April Norman in front of the Duckworth Street mural she and Derek Holmes painted.

Paul Daly/The Independent

On the wall Ambitious St. John’s mural artists explore the harbour city’s early 20th century history — and the role both women and men played “As a kid, the wharf was considered no place for a girl to visit. … But it seems like even as a kid, I wanted to go where there were wharves and boats.”

— Vesta Adams, Harbour Master, Shag Harbour, N.S. (from an interview in the July 2006 edition of The Navigator)

I

t is a gentle day, the soft air rippling as summer sinks, and I am standing on Duckworth Street looking at a goat. Not a flesh-and-blood goat; this one is painted on the wall that keeps a row of shackled houses from falling into the street between The Sprout restaurant and the end of Duckworth Terrace.

The goat seems to be sporting lobster claws on its horns, the sole Daliesque note in an otherwise conventionally rendered panorama of the city waterfront, where circa 1900, ’30, ’40 and ’50 overlap under a modern skyline.

Twelve feet high and 230 feet long, the

SUSAN RENDELL Screed and coke mural took artists Derek Holmes and April Norman about a month to design and three to execute. It’s their third city mural: the first was a giant Golden Pheasant Tea label on the side of the former East End Club, the second an historical mural on the rocks of the Southside Hills.

The new work, representing the history of St. John’s harbour, was funded by the City of St. John’s and the federal government, the latter pitching in thanks to “the hard work of Ms. Kay Anonsen,” says Holmes, “who worked all winter on the application process, and had (St. John’s) declared a cultural capital of Canada.” Anonsen is the city’s arts and cultural development co-ordinator.

So how do the artists feel about their latest

project? “I’m very pleased with it,” Norman tells me, “but I’m tired now and I’m glad it’s over.”

“It’s a large wall,” says Holmes. “It was scary … you’ve got to completely fill it out, and everyone’s going to be looking at it.”

Norman says people don’t realize what it takes “to turn a small piece of paper into a 12-foot image.” Mural painting is extremely physically demanding, and this summer’s gala wedding of heat and humidity didn’t help. Norman and Holmes ended up working tropical hours, beginning their days at 5:30 a.m., breaking during the hottest part of the day, labouring until the last of the light excused itself and followed the tourists down to George Street.

It turns out they’re not lobster claws on the goat’s horns after all. “It’s because I painted them pink, I guess; a lot of people ask that,” Norman says. She explains the horns were covered with old mittens or socks in case the billy goat — this particular one is pulling a Walsh’s Bakery cart — got gruff. I lean down to see if I can determine its sex, but there’s a hole in the wall at the critical spot. Can’t say I’m sorry. I look at its eyes and decide it’s a nanny goat (women’s intuition). The pink horns clinch it.

What would make someone want to sex painted goats? (Besides the fact that it’s a safer pastime than sexing live goats.) Well, I can’t speak for everyone who engages in the practice, but I’m tallying up the number of male and female images on this particular painting because gender and this mural

became an issue several weeks ago. CBCRadio got significant airplay out of the fact there are more men and boys than women and girls depicted.

That didn’t sit well with the artists, particularly Norman.

“The fact that I’m here doing this should let people know it (sexism) isn’t an issue,” Norman says. So why are there approximately 40 males and only about 10 females in the picture? Because, as Norman’s grandmother said to her after she heard about the fuss, “the men were all out on the boats, and cleaning fish, and I was home taking care of eight kids.”

I ask the artists if they think the city needs a mural focusing on the role of women in traditional culture. “Yes,” says Holmes. “The city needs a few more murals downtown. The content of a mural usually reflects the area in which it is placed … the people and the environment around it.”

“No!” says Norman, narrowing her enormous eyes. She’s had it up to here with art and politics — oil and water, in her opinion.

I make my way down the mural, past corner boys lounging against a shop window watching girls in white pinafores play in a muddy street; past the familiar figure of Bucky King, who looks rather like P.T. Barnum in his blue overcoat and yellow-andblack checked pants, which contrast beautifully with the generally muted tones of the piece.

See “It’s been fantastic,” page 15

‘We embarrass certain people’ Corner Brook punk band signs record deal with Manitoba label

By Sheena Goodyear For the Independent

T

he Embarrassments are not a typical Newfoundland band — their music is loud and distorted, their clothes don’t match, and their hair comes in all colours of the rainbow. But the five home-grown punk rockers are about to make the province proud by cutting their first record.

Hailing from Corner Brook, The Embarrassments have an energetic sound with positive lyrics about

friendship and making a better world.

“We wanted to keep it edgy and have something to say because to me music should have something to say, should have a positive message.

You’ve got a voice, so use it,” says Embarrassments guitarist and vocalist Patrick Neary.

A small record label from Winnipeg, 3rd Generation Recordz, liked the band’s sound and signed them this summer. They plan to start recording their first album in December.

“It was fantastic — someone basi-

cally sitting me down and saying ‘I’m going to make your dreams come true,’” Neary says. “It was unbelievable.”

Neary’s eccentric style and outgoing personality made him stand out while growing up in Labrador City. He began writing music in junior high and played in punk bands throughout high school.

He found his niche in Corner Brook, when he met vocalist and guitarist Justin Walsh. The duo immediately clicked as friends and musicians, and

together they founded The Embarrassments.

Bassist Alona Power, singer Tom Cochrane, and drummer Steve Cranford complete the band.

“We’re five friends who found each other through music. It’s about love,” says Neary. “For me it was about the love of music, and writing, and friendship.

“We all kind of have a feeling of being outcasts or black sheep; either the black sheep of our families or our towns … We all feel like we embarrass

certain people.”

The band’s name rings especially true for Walsh, who was always treated like an outsider in his hometown of Pasadena.

“I was called an embarrassment by my parents because I started doing my own thing and I started dressing a bit weird,” says Walsh.

“Everybody in the family called me an embarrassment to the town because I was always the guy with the mohawk See “We’re a family,” page 14

AUGUST 27, 2006

14 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

GALLERYPROFILE

Jacob Fergus Andrea Hurley Photographers

N

ot long after finishing the twoyear photography program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Jacob Fergus and Andrea Hurley decided to set up shop in St. John’s.

For Ontario-born Fergus, it’s a prime location to hone his skills and explore his love of landscape and nature photography; for Hurley, it’s home.

“Newfoundland is a good spot to develop ourselves for a bit,” Fergus continues. “It’s a lot less hustle and bustle …

“And I noticed this when I first came

here, I really feel that artistic things are respected a little more than they are at home. In Ottawa, everything’s really new and contemporary and it’s about do you fit into this clique or that and things like that. Here, there’s a lot of contemporary stuff going on, but some people are traditional too. It gives us a good outlet.”

Prior to meeting at school, Hurley and Fergus were in very different worlds: Hurley has degrees in business and math and was working as an accountant; Fergus was an avid skier with training in guiding and outdoor skills. As it turns out, their talents complement each other perfectly.

The couple’s business, Hurley/Fergus Photography, offers a range of services,

including wedding photography, commercial shoots, portraiture and nature work. While Hurley holds down “a real job” as well, Fergus deals with the business end of their photography operations — the framing, matting, printing and bookkeeping.

When it comes to shooting, they share the work.

“Andrea’s really great at portraiture.

She’s good with kids and people, knows how to talk to people and make them comfortable,” Fergus says, laughing.

“Whereas I could use some work in the people department.

“We split the work, but with the people stuff, she usually makes the calls. I’ll do the landscapes, the commercial work

or, if someone wants me to properly shoot architecture or a plate of sushi …”

But his true passion still lies outdoors.

Fergus says he started taking pictures as a means to show others what lies off the beaten path.

“I was always an outdoors person …

I wanted to show real-life nature shots of anything from a meadow to a brook that no one’s seen or a mountaintop that has no name in the middle of British Columbia.”

He says his move to Newfoundland was “healthy” — away from skyscrapers and big business, he admires the pace and quality of life in the province. He also appreciates the quality photographers at work in the area, and the will-

ingness of others to help him out in his new home.

A member of the board of the East Coast Trail Association, Fergus says working with the organization has helped give him both a focus and an audience.

“Like many photographers or photojournalists, I guess, I want to get a point across while taking a picture,” he says.

“I’m trying to showcase the splendours of Newfoundland, at the same time raising some conservation issues and sustainability issues.”

More of Hurley and Fergus’ photography can be seen at www.hurleyfergusphotography.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

If all goes according to plan, The Embarrassments’ first record will be on shelves in April.

‘We’re a family’ From page 13 and the spiked jacket.”

Walsh didn’t let that get him down.

He moved to Corner Brook with a passion for music and a desire to start a band. He found what he was looking for.

“We’re a family,” says Walsh. “We may be embarrassments, but we’re still here to try and make a point about what we want to speak out about.”

Walsh is currently in Montreal studying recording arts. He hopes to someday have his own record label and recording studio. Despite his temporary absence, he’s dedicated to the band, and plans to return to Newfoundland soon to work on the album.

He’s been in shock since he found out about the record deal, but he’s not going to set his hopes too high.

“I got completely blown away. I don’t know what to think of it. I don’t expect what I know a lot of people expect when this happens, but I’m

really looking forward to it,” he says.

The band has come a long way since its beginnings two years ago. At first it was hard to break into Newfoundland’s music scene with a punk band, but their energetic performances gained them a following in Corner Brook.

“We have a lot of kids coming to the shows now, and a lot of faces coming back. The crowds are getting larger,” says Neary. “We’re all working together to make a more vibrant punk scene out here.”

They’ve also known success in St. John’s, where Neary says the punk scene is stronger.

During their visits to the capital city they tend to drew big crowds and sell plenty of merchandise.

If all goes according to plan, The Embarrassments’ first record will be on shelves in April. Next summer they will tour Canada with other bands from 3rd Generation Recordz and give the country a taste of Newfoundland punk.

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 15

Snakes doesn’t live up to hype Snakes on a Plane Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies 1/2 (out of four)

TIM CONWAY Film Score

Y

ou do the crime, you do the time.

That’s unless you’re Eddie Kim. To be fair, however, Mr. Kim doesn’t luck into his freedom from incarceration; he works for it. No effort is spared to ensure he stays out of jail, and no threat to his personal liberty is dealt with lightly. Consequently, law enforcement officials have had numerous difficulties and setbacks in their efforts to put him behind bars.

Finally the FBI manages to get hold of a witness to Eddie’s latest crime, a young man who is eventually convinced his only chance for survival is to testify against the gangster and lock him up for good.

Otherwise, Kim will ensure he isn’t capable of pointing him out to a jury.

So it is that FBI Agents Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) and John Saunders (Mark Houghton) commandeer the first class section of a 747 on a red-eye flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, affording them the most secure means to ensure that Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) stays alive long enough to testify against Eddie Kim. Of course, the diligent Mr. Kim has not been idle. Not only has he arranged to have hundreds of deadly snakes stored in the cargo bay of that same airliner, he has also managed to have pheromones applied to the leis that are draped around the necks of the passengers as they board the plane. When the jet is halfway to the mainland, a time-lock frees the snakes and, agitated by the pheromones, they begin to aggressively swarm about the fuselage.

Conveniently, they don’t immediately turn on one another, although we do get a token “back off” between two of them.

No, they save all of their venom and spite

for the passengers, and the occasional electronic component vital to the plane’s safe operation.

Despite the numerous versions of how this story was conceived, Snakes on a Plane was clearly developed along the lines of Airport meets Anaconda.

Jackson’s cool-headed and professional FBI agent is paired off with Margulies’ cool-headed and professional flight attendant to stand steadfast in the perils of not one, but two common phobias.

Supported by a number of solid performances, the acting talent here could have easily offset the film’s other failings, and salvaged a mediocre motion picture’s forced plot.

If it were only that simple. Long after filming had wrapped, the studio decided to shoot extra footage in response to Internet chatter by people who had not seen the film, but speculated on its content. The goal was to increase the violence and camp, and have Jackson’s character lose his cool and throw out a polysyllabic adjective. While this added to the hype, the resulting R-rating didn’t help at the box office, although some of this should be offset following a strategic home video campaign that’s certain to follow.

Worse, however, is that this additional material further degrades an already flawed film. In many cases, the extra shots are blatantly obvious, especially Jackson’s one-time delivery of what kind of snakes are on what kind of plane. Most of the amplified viciousness of the snakes serves to intensify and prolong scenes that were probably best left as they were.

By the halfway mark, with one exception, we’ve seen the worst of what the snakes dish out, and the remainder plays out much weaker as a result.

Putting snakes on a plane is a neat idea, but to work, it needs creative talent behind the scenes. Think of Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) who did such a fine job with The Faculty, “Aliens are taking over our school!”

How about Samuel L. Jackson, instead of an FBI agent, playing the reluctant hero a la Vin Diesel’s character in Pitch Black, wrangling reptiles and obnoxious passengers, providing colourful commen-

‘It’s been fantastic’ From page 13

Lush is the heart of the mural, Holmes says, because she represents A few feet from Bucky, there’s an every woman who was the heart of the Edwardian lady, the lone passenger in a home to which the men returned after a carriage drawn by a white horse, hard day on or beside the water. wrapped up like an orthodox Muslim Women who kept the house — the for her public appearance. The horse, a sanctuary — and bore the children, and mare, (yes, I checked) is slightly less washed and fed the men like children encumbered by a skimpy burlesque when they came back so bone-weary burka of black blinkers and harness. they could hardly stand up.

The commercial district, which I ask Holmes and Norman what the bookends the first quarter of the mural, general public’s response to the mural ends here, and so do the women — has been. I don’t really need an answer: with one exception — until the last we keep getting interrupted by both quarter of the mural. Although one of Townies and tourists. “Thank you so three Portuguese much for doing this!” ships huddled togeth– “C’est bon!” er like cows in rain Norman says it’s The faces of the has a woman’s name been “all positive, painted on its rump everyone’s been commen remind me of — Celeste Maria — plimenting us on our Van Gogh’s assertion work.” Holmes conlikely the name of a mother, a wife or a curs. “It’s been fantasthat he would rather tic, people love it.” He daughter.

No more women grins. “Although the paint people’s eyes for yards. But, man, odd guy’ll drive by, what men! Young and roll the window down than cathedrals. old, in cloth caps and and say, ‘Hey, buddy, fedoras, intent on getyou got that paint on Particularly those ting salt fish to marinside out!’” ket; paper boys At the bottom of the of the old men — hawking the April 1, mural, the women yarning, playing 1949 edition of The reappear. They are Evening Telegram; a working on the fish the fiddle … well-dressed gentleflakes in blue and pink man immersed in his dresses, a relief of remembering. copy, reading the colour. obituary of his counA small boy with an try. old man’s face carries a bucket from a The faces of the men remind me of shed; a woman’s bun seems about to Van Gogh’s assertion that he would lose a tendril of hair to the wind. There rather paint people’s eyes than cathe- is no wind, of course, but by the time I drals. Particularly those of the old men reach the end of my journey through — yarning, playing the fiddle … the harbour’s past, I’m a little dazed. remembering. Faces like the bowls of The artistry of Norman and Holmes is their pipes, carved by hard, honest sufficiently potent to have sucked me work — “right livelihood,” as the into thinking I smell fish and tar and Buddhists say. My generation will sweat, hear the joints of tired ships never have faces like that even if we all creaking, the nag of gulls — and all the live to be as old as Methuselah. clamouring, cursing cacophony of a In the dead centre of the mural is a vital port. (When I play the tape of the portrait of a woman wearing clothing interview, I find there were gulls, at belonging to the late 1940s or early least.) ’50s. Well-groomed, with a posture like The last figure of all is young and the Queen’s, she’s out of context, stand- slim; she is standing beside the site of ing next to a wooden wharf, flanked by her labours, looking into the distance. a bowler-hatted merchant and some Her delicate face, plain gown and white sort of gold-watch-and-whiskers minor headdress make her look like a Roman functionary.

Catholic novitiate; Our Lady of the Her name is Mrs. Anna Lush, Flakes, I think. Yeah, corny. But if Holmes tells me. She’s his grandmoth- Anna Lush is the heart of the mural and er, who was born in 1910 and died two the men its spirit, this woman seems months ago. The mother of nine chil- like its soul to me. Small and solitary dren, at the time of her death she was — but she will endure. the great-great-great-grandmother of a child named Anna.

Susan Rendell is a freelance writer and “Her husband worked on the water- editor living in downtown St. John’s. front,” says Homes. “He had polio as a Her collection of short stories, In the young child, and worked as a stevedore Chambers of the Sea, was published by for Harvey’s Oil even though one of his Killick Press in 2003. legs was six inches shorter than the other.” srendell@nf.sympatico.ca

Samuel L. Jackson stars in Snakes on a Plane.

tary along the way, instead of one line near the end of the film? This one was lame to begin with, and backtracking just made it worse.

Despite the studio’s disappointment with ticket sales, Snakes on a Plane has received much more money and praise than it deserves. The pre-release hype has managed to draw groups of people into theatres who have expectations for nothing more than a bit of mindless fun. Most of them are having a good time before they get to their seats, and that vibe contributes more to the whole experience than what’s on the screen. The energy of the audience is infectious, but what’s on the screen is diseased.

Tim Conway operates Capital Video in Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His column returns Sept. 10.

AUGUST 27, 2006

16 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

Four women MARK CALLANAN On the shelf The Corrigan Women

By M.T. Dohaney Goose Lane Editions, 2004

I

maintain a healthy skepticism of peer recommendations, dating back at least as far as high school when my girlfriend at the time begged me to read James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy, which, she assured me, was a life-changing sort of book. She was right, of course — reading it nearly killed me. And you simply can’t live out your life in the same way after a brush with death. It makes you appreciate the little things, such as writers who are actually capable of stringing together a sentence.

A while ago, someone suggested I should read M. T. Dohaney. I had often seen her books around — they seem to be omnipresent in local bookstores — but outside of that one recommendation, I had barely heard her name men-

tioned or seen her written about in Newfoundland. This got me wondering about the disparity between the presence of her books in stores and the almost complete lack of dialogue about her work. I decided to read her first novel and find out what was up.

The Corrigan Women, first published

by Ragweed Press in 1988 (and the first of a trilogy of books completed in 2000 with A Fit Month for Dying), delves into the lives of three women, each a generation of the Corrigan clan. In a brief graveside prologue we learn Carmel Corrigan has just died and Tessie, her daughter, is now the last of the line.

From there the story jumps back in time and begins working its way forward towards the present of the prologue.

Bertha’s Story, the first main division of the novel, begins with 15-year-old Bertha Ryan moving to the Cove to care for the aging Mrs. Selena, “a sharp-tongued old woman with chronic bronchial problems and a mind that was starting to wander.”

Bertha falls in love with Mrs. Selena’s youngest son Ned, while Vince, the eldest of the two boys, falls instantly for her. Vince is, as the saying goes, a bit foolish, and pursues her

relentlessly with a campaign of fumbled gropings.

A few years later the First World War breaks out, Bertha finds herself “in the family way,” and the two boys head off to France to fight for King and country.

This leaves Bertha alone to care for the crooked old creature who, by this point,

MAN IN MOTION

has suffered a stroke and is under the impression that her boys are mere children again. The baby Bertha is carrying is Carmel, the subject of the book’s second division. Carmel in turn begets Tessie whose story eventually connects us back to the burial scene and the conclusion of the narrative.

To say the Corrigan women don’t have much luck with men would be a callous understatement. Throughout the course of the novel they suffer through a rape, a spousal suicide and a marriage that turns out to have been a degrading sham.

Amid all these grim happenings, Martin, Carmel’s brother (and Tessie’s uncle), affords much-needed comic relief. While campaigning for Confederation, he is labeled Judas Iscariot. “Judas got 30 pieces of silver,” he counters, “I’m not getting a damn cent.” When Tessie presents him with a bottle of Bertha’s St. Anne’s oil, he inquires: “When did Maw render out St. Anne?”

Point-of-view is a problem early on in the book. In Bertha’s Story, Dohaney seems unable to decide whose perspective is most suitable for her purposes. A scene featuring Ned, Vince, Bertha and

POET’S CORNER

EVENTS

Sonnet for the First Students of the New (Newfoundland) University

AUGUST 27 • Eastern Edge Gallery’s Express ’06: A Festival of Art in 24 Hours, also known as the 24 hour art marathon, ends at noon with a silent and live auction.

• The Avalon Unitarian Fellowship weekly service, 10:30 a.m., Anna Templeton Centre.

• Gerry Strong and Bill Bowman lead a traditional session on the deck behind the historic Rorke Shed on Water Street West, Carbonear.

(Rain venue: inside the Rorke Shed and/or the Stonehouse Pub across the street), scheduled to begin between 1 and 2 p.m.

• Groovin’ & Improvin’ workshop and jam session, hosted by the St. John’s Jazz Festival, 2-4 p.m., 62 Campbell Ave., 739-7734.

By A. C. Wornell “The war after the next will be fought with bows and arrows.” —Einstein Perchance Beothuck chiefs expounded truths Upon this site, some centuries ago, To nimble-limbed, athletic, tribal youths Who learnt the use of tomahawk and bow.

They self-reliance found in isolation, And practiced pristine arts for their survival; Quite unaware that tragic immolation Awaited them in Science’s arrival.

Within these walls, ingeniously erected, You now pursue the academic prize; Aware that Nuclear Science, misdirected, Can cultural achievements pulverize.

Should atom-bombs arrive, ’twere good to know Beothuck arts forgotten years ago!

Rick Hansen 2oth Anniversary of Rick's Man in Motion Tour at Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Paul Daly/The Independent

A.C. Wornell was born in Greenspond, Bonavista Bay, in 1914. This poem won an O’Leary Newfoundland Poetry Award in 1952.

‘I’m going to be a singer one day’: Craig Sharpe

By Nadya Bell The Independent

C

raig Sharpe says being on Canadian Idol is better than going to Ascension Collegiate High School, he likes the Chinese food in Toronto, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Sharpe spent all day Aug. 24 doing interviews with media from his home province. Most of the questions he answered were about his experience at the show and his plans for the future.

“So many fans and so many more people can recognize me now,” he said. “That never really happened before because at

home I wasn’t really out in the public eye.

“I feel a lot of good things will come out of this.”

Sharpe, 16, lives in Upper Island Cove in Conception Bay North.

Sharpe says he would like to get his grade 12 education, but he doesn’t have any specific plans if his singing career doesn’t succeed.

“I know this is what I want to do, so I don’t really have a plan if this doesn’t work out, but I’m going to keep trying until it actually works out.

“Regardless, I’m going to be a singer one day.”

After the competition, Sharpe says he

would like to move to Toronto and perform. He says he’s eating a lot of Chinese takeout — one of his favourite things about the big city.

“Toronto, you can’t be bored up here, there is so many places to go. It’s like you constantly got something to do so it’s not like being home, because if this was my summer vacation I’d be doing nothing anyway.

“Hopefully Canadian Idol is going to boost my attitude towards all this and keep all my fans and stuff.”

Former Canadian Idol finalist Rex Goudie had some advice for Sharpe, telling him to be himself and do what he

Mrs. Selena alternately picks the minds of each, scavenging their inner thoughts with the dizzying greed of a bird flitting back and forth between feeders.

In a later exchange, the perspective jumps from Bertha’s inner monologue to that of Father Flannigan, by any reckoning a minor character whose thoughts add little to the narrative as a whole.

That being said, the bulk of the novel does settle into a much surer rhythm.

If there’s a lesson implicit in the text, it is summed up by Millie, a longtime friend of the Corrigan family: “A lot of good it does now,” she says to Tessie after Carmel’s death. “Them it mattered to are all gone.” In other words, there is little comfort for the dead; put more optimistically, even the worst will eventually come to an end.

This is the sort of homegrown wisdom Dohaney excels at. Largely though, she is just trying tell a compelling story. And that she does reasonably well. While this might not constitute the strongest argument for reading her books, it certainly explains their popular appeal.

Mark Callanan’s column returns Sept.

10.

has to do.

“I’m not really looking to going past Jason or beating Rex or anything like that, I’m here to just start a career for myself,” he says.

Sharpe spends his days practicing his songs with the vocal coach and piano player. “I don’t even have time to have a girlfriend. That’s the hard thing about it all,” he says.

The support from Newfoundlanders has been a surprise.

“People home are so supportive and gone nuts, and it’s great,” he says. “I’m just so excited to come home and see all my family and all my friends and stuff.”

AUGUST 28 • Buon Appetito Italiano! (A great Italian repast is happening), a fourcourse Italian meal to raise funds for the Anna Templeton Centre, 6:30, Ship Pub, 739-7623.

• Tuach-Kao-Graham piano trio, Petro Canada Hall, Memorial University, 8 p.m.

AUGUST 30 • Organ concert by David Drinkell, 1:15-1:45 p.m at the Anglican Cathedral, Gower Street.

• Folk night at the Ship Pub with Blair Harvey, 9 p.m.

AUGUST 31 • James Dundass, tenor, in concert at Cochrane Street United Church, 8 p.m., 722-3023 .

SEPTEMBER 2 • The Cape St. Mary’s Performance Series featuring the Branch Accordion Group, Gerald Campbell, Andrea Monro, the Black Swanns, 8 p.m., Cape St. Mary’s interpretation centre.

• Tour de Shore cycling race, running from Riverhead, St. Mary’s Bay to Goulds and includes competitive and recreational races, bicycle workshops, social events and more.

Continues Sept. 3, www.tourdeshore.ca.

IN THE GALLERIES • Annual members exhibit, Craft Council Gallery, Devon House, until Sept. 1.

• Annual summer show, Leyton Gallery of Fine Art, until Aug. 24.

• Douglas Coupland, Play Again? at The Rooms, until Sept. 17.

• Silver and Stone, the art of Michael Massie, The Rooms, until Sept. 4.

• Ralph Jarvis and Tina Riche, Victoria Manor, Harbour Grace.

Breathe through a straw for 60 seconds.

That’s what breathing is like with cystic fibrosis.

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...

No wonder so many people with CF stop breathing in their early 30s.

Please help us.

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

1-800-378-CCFF • www.cysticfibrosis.ca

INDEPENDENTSTYLE

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 — PAGE 17

‘Who wants to enforce it?’

The advantages of school uniforms probably not enough to bring them back

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

C

an the school uniform make a comeback?

There has been a movement in some parts of North America to return to school uniforms as a way of sidestepping inappropriate clothing, slogans and, in some places, gang insignia. Could it catch on in Newfoundland and Labrador?

“Who wants to enforce it?” asks Denise Pike, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils.

“Who wants to take on a bunch of teenagers and tell them what they have to wear? Not me.”

Pike’s joke reflects the reality of the barriers faced by those who want to reinstate school uniforms.

These days, few schools in the province even offer the option of school uniforms — the main exception being the navy, gold and red of St. Bonaventure’s College, the private Roman Catholic school in St. John’s.

Pike notes that this is also an “age appropriate” issue. She feels that parents of children in primary and elementary schools would be more inclined to accept the idea than parents of older children.

There are — pardon the pun — two schools of thought on the issue. Some parents see uniforms as an “equalizer.” Too often children living in lower income homes can feel the social sting of not having the latest expensive jeans or T-shirts. A school uniform solves that problem by erasing income lines — everyone wears the same thing.

Some argue uniforms are conducive to learning, setting a “down to business” attitude for students, and preparing students for the working world.

On the other side of the coin, some think a school uniform policy sends the wrong message. They say it promotes conformity over self-expression, and could possibly violate Charter rights.

Karen Mitchell, program co-ordinator with the Single Parent’s Association of Newfoundland and Labrador sees both sides.

“In one sense, uniforms are a real advantage’” says Mitchell. “A parent never has to worry what their kids are going to wear to school.”

But there can be a downside for low-income single parents. “Single parents are often limited in what they can buy. Many have to go to second-hand clothing outlets. If a parent can come across some really nice khaki pants at a bargain, it is difficult if that is not the school colour. Limiting their children’s colour options can very restrictive for a parent struggling to cover the costs of sending their child to school.”

She also says things like vests with school crests can be expensive, and parents are often limited in where they can buy such items.

Uniforms may be a generational thing. Parents will remember rocker Angus Young of AC/DC fame hating his school so much he wore his uniform on stage as an act of rebellion.

But AC/DC is grandpa rock for most school-aged kids, and the idea of uniforms is not as outrageous as it seemed a decade ago.

Kelly Rose, 18, a Gonzaga student, has attended a school that requires a uniform, though Gonzaga does not. She likes the idea.

“I think they are fantastic. I think they set everyone up so they are on the same plane, and they last a long time,” she says. “If there’s enough versatility, then you can still be creative within the uniform.”

At right, Peyton Morrissey models her school uniform (left) — and what she’d prefer to wear on the first day of school.

Photos by Paul Daly/The Independent Photo illustration by John Andrews

Basic training I

t wasn’t that long ago I moved away in search of a food career. I was significantly older than the rest of my classmates, I had some kitchen experience and I thought I knew it all.

Boy, was I wrong.

Going to culinary school is a bit like going to boot camp. Large groups of fresh-faced kids, for the most part right

NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path

out of high school, are herded into a large classroom and told the facts of life.

We were to wear uniforms — without

fail. Houndstooth pants, made of tough polyester, cotton neckties, doublebreasted chef’s coats with our names stitched into them, and paper chefs’ toques. The moment we entered the campus we were expected to be in uniform. No exceptions.

For most of these kids it was laughable. Unfortunately, the steel faces of

the instructors told another story. They were world-wise and had seen countless thousands of kids go through. The instructors knew the truth: the kids would comply or they would be kicked out without hesitation. This was going to be “tough love” for the first time.

I liked the thought of the discipline, I revelled in it. As the months progressed

it was clear that I wasn’t really part of the class. I had life skills and I worked hard for the marks in the kitchen.

One fateful day in SSS class (soup, stocks and sauces) was the turning point in how I was viewed in class. I’m quiet.

I like to put my head down and work See “Now, that’s funny,” page 18

AUGUST 27, 2006

18 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

Reasons to giggle

DRINK

Leia Feltham learns to let herself laugh from the soul

T

Paul Daly/The Independent

Spilling the beans

By Nicholas Gardner For The Independent

“B

ring back a couple of coffees before we head out for breakfast.”

That was my order and off we went. We pulled out of the driveway of the cabin, turned onto Main Street and drove down until we saw a yellow house and a lot of cars in the driveway.

Destination: Java Jacks.

When we reached the counter inside we could see a chalkboard menu listing all various shades of caffeinated beverages — latte, cappuccino, chai latte — options included soy or rice milk, no fat, all fat — it was a full service coffee bar. Then the bomb dropped.

“We only have decaf for the espresso machine; we’re waiting for some regular to come in.”

“OK,” we said. “Then brewed coffee will do.”

“Fair trade organic OK?” That’ll do. That’ll do nicely.

Who knew some of the best coffee on the island could be found in Rocky Harbour, deep inside Gros Morne National

Park some 800 km from St. John’s?

Many of the coffee chains have the same “burnt” taste to the coffee, which always puts me off. I do, however, like “Big Stop” coffee — suitable for truckers and long distance drivers. Solid coffee and plenty of refills, that’s my kind of service station.

During the summer my wife and I have had some trips out of town (including the Rocky Harbour sojourn) and have stayed in self-catering rooms/cabins. The value for money is great and you can guarantee good coffee along the way by packing a portable espresso coffee maker — a stove top version or “Moka Pot” — and a small saucepan for milk.

Instantly you have latte for breakfast, without the latte cost.

The same holds true for those of you setting up for the new school year. Good coffee is essential to get through long days.

Currently I am in the “grind your own” phase of coffee exis-

tence. I search out the blends of the city and grind my own, making adjustments for the desired brewing method.

We are enjoying the fruits of the trip to Rocky Harbour. From the café we got some fair trade organic beans called Rocky Brew, and it is a strong cup of coffee. We enjoy it in a ratio of one-eighth cup of coffee grounds to a two-cup mark on the coffee pot. I would recommend using filtered water, even if you like your tap water.

Filtered water softens the taste of the coffee and enhances the overall drinking experience.

We have fiddled with the grind and we do a good 12 count on the grinder shaking the machine a couple of times during the grinding process.

Three “scoops” and six cups of water makes a perfect amount for two people including a little top up after the first cup cools down. Coffee is like life — it is all about experience. Once you experience fresh ground coffee in the morning all other brews pale in comparison. nicholas.gardner@gmail.com

hey always say laughter is the best medicine. True enough — LEIA laughing can make you feel FELTHAM good, offering a distraction from the stress caused by life’s daily struggles Guest Column and worries.

But when I’m sick — I mean the achy, sneezing, coughing kind of sick Honestly seems a rarer trait in a world they make Buckley’s commercials that is so caught up in images and about — having a good laugh isn’t real- appearances. ly on my mind. I want to be pumped While on vacation, I met people who full of drugs that will allow me to drift affected me in a way I never imagined into a coma-like sleep where I don’t anyone could. They didn’t have the have to suffer any more and wake up instinct to think before speaking in feeling like a person again and not a order to avoid embarrassing situations used tissue. I can laugh at the thought — and it wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, I of that now, but it sure as hell isn’t loved it. funny when I’m experiencing it.

They weren’t concerned about what Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about others in the room would think about the way people use laughter, and an what they had to say, because it didn’t antidote for the flu is only matter to them if anyone one of them. else agreed. The truth I learned Meeting new people wasn’t sugar-coated or can be an awkward situaaltered for anyone else’s something tion, especially if you’re benefit, but put out there be as shy as I am someimportant from as bluntly as possible. times. Shyness can be For me, it was like my new friends, breathing in clean, fresh mistaken for snobbishness, and that’s not the air after being locked in a whether they impression I want to give. dingy attic for years.

In order to avoid this, I use know it or not. Their humor was the comedy as a way of hiding kind that hides nothing, my nervousness. My and with tears running sense of humour is sometimes unappre- down my face and my side twisting in ciated to say the least. pain from laughing, I knew this was I’ll say something in my mind I think different than the polite giggles I see is hilarious, but once it’s out of my everywhere. This was real. mouth I get the immediate feeling I What is or isn’t funny is always up might as well have spoken an alien lan- for debate. Whatever floats your boat, guage. The looks I receive usually indi- as the saying goes, but there are times cate the new people I’ve met already when I’ve laughed and I wish I hadn’t. think I should return to whatever planet There are the dirty jokes, and shows I came from. like America’s Funniest Home Videos The desire to be liked and feel that are funny in their own simple way. accepted is always there, and if it It’s the really degrading jokes, like means tossing in a lame joke or two in the racist kind, that I wish were left hopes of getting a chuckle to break the unsaid. The laughter those jokes ice, I’ll take the risk. Yet, as much as receive comes from fear — there’s laughter can chip away at some frozen always someone who is afraid to be the situations, it can worsen them too. one not laughing.

There’s a poem I read that comes to I can’t enjoy jokes that stem from my mind every time I think about this. stereotypes and prejudice. I’d rather The author discusses how people wear stick to videos of people being nailed in masks and act a certain way because it the crotch (which is apparently still is expected of them. They may put on a funny after all these years). pleasant face and act friendly, but the I learned something important from true feelings underneath their forced my new friends, whether they know it smiles could be the complete opposite. or not. Their crazy and sometimes The problem with my lame joke humiliating antics taught me I shouldtechnique is I never really know if peo- n’t be afraid of the person I am. I find ple are genuinely amused by what I’ve myself holding back a little less, socialsaid, or are reacting the way they think izing a little more and casting off those they should, to seem friendly. I don’t masks and laughing right from my soul. know which would bother me more though — knowing I’m not funny at Leia Feltham graduated from all, or that the person is pretending to Gonzaga High School in June. Her colfeel or be something he/she is not. umn returns Sept. 10.

‘Now, that’s funny’ From page 17 and I like to do things precisely as asked. I was not a joker and I was not part of the gang who got kicked out of class for having a fight with pig’s blood in butchery class. I was “boring.”

But on this day, things would change.

I was assigned to a small group in charge of making soup for the entire school. I was at my station looking after my chowder when I was approached by a fellow student.

“Hey, do you want to see something funny?” he asked.

At which point a super-heated metal

soup spoon was pressed into the soft flesh of my left hand between my thumb and index finger. The skin seared and I stifled my scream. I quickly moved to a sink to get my hand under cold water to stop the burn.

I turned and saw my “classmates” having a good laugh. My instructor came over and asked what was wrong and I said, “nothing.” I wasn’t going to be seen as a wimp and a rat at the same time.

After several minutes of soaking I went back to the group and confronted the guy who had injured me.

“I don’t think that was funny.

Make no bones about it; cooking “on the line” is brutal.

However …,” I said, and paused.

In front of me was a large seasoning tray containing salt, pepper, and other spices. I picked up the pepper insert and walked calmly over to his pot of soup — which would be worth marks — and dumped in the whole thing, all two cups

of black pepper, and slowly and while looking at my nemesis, deliberately stirred it in.

I turned to him. “Now, that’s funny,” I said. I turned and went back to my station.

He stood there dumbfounded and his cohorts were in fits of uncontrollable laughter. He now had to come up with an explanation for why, after four hours of work, he had no soup for the instructor.

It was an important lesson. Professional cooking is tough. You get burned and it hurts and you have to take it. This life is not for everyone. Chefs are per-

ceived as having a noble existence creatively working their craft for others to enjoy. Make no bones about it; cooking “on the line” is brutal. My scar from that burn has faded but the outline still shows.

On that fateful day I learned that standing up for yourself is as important as working harder, smarter and faster than anyone else. Cooking as a career is Social Darwinism at its most basic level.

Nicholas is a freelance writer and erstwhile chef now living in St. John’s nicholas.gardner@gmail.com

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 19

DETAILS

Shoes and boots for the upcoming season, at Twisted Sisters Boutik

Rhonda Hayward/For The Independent

Cute, scruffy, sexy …

Mandy Cook searches out the hottest looks for university students

W

ho wants to look smokin’ on the first day back on campus this year?

Everybody does, of course, so when you’re making the scene finding your classes and swapping used texts, your style will speak volumes about your own personal brand of cool.

This year, the style experts all agree the classic jeans and T-shirt combo is selling like, well, Living Planet T-shirts (i.e. insanely fast). But it’s the fit that will prove to be the ultimate for standing out in the crowd.

Ah, the heady high that comes from assembling the perfect outfit!

Tennille Ashley, co-owner of Twisted Sisters Boutik on Water Street, says T-shirts and jeans are always top sellers at her store. Shoppers are still buying similar styles from last season, but the fit is slightly less body-conscious.

“T-shirts aren’t so fitted anymore,” says Ashley. “Women don’t want them too tight — so as not to show lumps and bumps.”

For fall, they feature EC Star (from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware) and Smoking Lily (from Victoria, B.C.) tees, with both lines featuring fun and popular silkscreen designs. The thin, comfy cotton shirts have with regular round or boat necks, and short or long sleeves. Pictures of birds and flowers dominate, but rabbits, helicopters and pistols can also be found. EC Star has a sassy female sailor in an anchor for a vintage, tattoo look. EC Star will run you about $40 a shirt and Smoking Lily costs a little more, at $42 a piece.

To cover the bottoms, girls are still snapping up the denim. The slim leg, boot cut is still available, but if you don’t have the “skinny jean” you will be slightly out of touch for what is hot, hot, hot for the feet (more on that later).

Last year’s look was all about a feathered or “whiskered” wash down the leg, but this year’s colour is more solid, venturing from dark navy into black. Jessie Farewell, a recent English graduate, focuses less on the wash and more on the cut.

“Lois jeans are really comfortable,” says the 23-year-old. “They’re not too low — low-slung jeans are moving out. They’re kind of a higher cut with a straighter leg.”

Lois, a Canadian-made denim brand available at Johnny Ruth on Water Street, is just one of the

designer names co-owner Kim Winsor carries at her store. But at $65 a pair, they run nowhere near designer prices of $150 a pop.

But it is the shoes that gets ’em in the shop, says Winsor. The politically-savvy students come looking for her Adbusters Black Spot ankle boots, which are made of an organic canvas upper and recycled tire bottom and cost $115.

The No Sweat high tops are available in white, olive, black, red and pink hemp and start at $59 a pair.

Best of all, both guys and girls can make a statement with their feet, as both kinds of the footwear are unisex.

But if you’re looking for the hottest look of the season, the boots have it. Long boots, mid-calf boots or ankle boots — they are a must to pair with the only jean slim enough to stuff down inside without creating a sausage shin. The “skinny jean” is tapered down to the anklebone, sometimes with enough left over to roll into a little cuff. Reminiscent of punk, they are now paired with a pretty flat shoe or tucked down a tall boot to emphasize a long, lean leg.

“Boots make your plain old jeans damn sexy,” says 25-year-old Elizabeth Acorn, a University of Toronto law student. “But I’m also attracted to a pair of Mary Jane wedges. They’re just so cute, but less dorky than the flat version.”

As for the guys, Don Murphy, manager of Bootlegger, says it is jeans, jeans, polo shirts and more jeans this season. Polos are always popular, but right now the classic prep school shirt is in high demand. Layering is key, he says, and the polo is extremely versatile as it can be layered over itself, a V-neck or a woven long sleeve — easily done as they average at $26 a piece. Think of it as an “edgy collegiate” look; preppy with a bit of sexy scruff.

Shirts are also featuring rock ’n’ roll elements of paint-spattered graffiti on black, white and red.

Then there is the still hugely popular plain T-shirt with some kind of saucy message on the front.

“Guys like the flirty message,” says Murphy.

“They like to push buttons. Some are clean, some not so clean. Some are totally inappropriate for the 15 year olds, but the 20-year-old wants someone to stop and notice him and sometimes it takes a shirt to do it.”

TASTE

Say green in Italian … … and use up some of that zucchini while you’re at it

By Amy Pataki Torstar wire service

U

nlike its fiery Mexican cousins, salsa verde (“green sauce” in Italian) is a rare and subtle emulsion of fresh herbs, olive oil and aromatics.

It certainly is green, thanks to copious amounts of parsley, but is similar to Latin food only in name. Salsa verde gets its depth from such oh-so Italian ingredients as pungent anchovies and briny capers, the whole brightened with lemon juice or vinegar and bound by good quality extravirgin olive oil. When finished — it takes just five minutes in a blender or food processor — the sauce is excellent with boiled meat or grilled fish.

Don’t make salsa verde unless your herbs are fresh. Those with overflowing gardens will appreciate the variation below, in which two zucchini substitute for some of the herbs. The result is both lively and silky, perfect for tossing with spaghetti or serving with grilled shrimp.

ZUCCHINI SALSA VERDE • 2 small zucchini • 1/4 cup olive oil

• Salt to taste + 1/4 tsp • 1/3 cup each: tightly packed mint, tightly packed parsley • 1/2 tsp lemon zest • 2 tsp lemon juice • 1 tbsp capers, drained • 1 clove garlic, chopped • 1 anchovy fillet or 1/2 tsp anchovy paste • 1/4 tsp dijon mustard • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper Light grill or preheat broiler to high. Cut zucchini lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Brush with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with salt to taste. Grill or broil zucchini until soft and lightly browned, about 7 minutes, turning halfway. Cool briefly. Cut slices crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.

Transfer zucchini to food processor. Add mint, parsley, lemon zest and juice, capers, garlic, anchovy, dijon, pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Pulse to chop 6 times. With machine running, add remaining oil in thin stream until sauce is smooth.

Serve at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

Bottom line Men looking for fitted jeans stepping into new territory

I

t is with much relish The Independent reports a fascinating new development in men’s fashion: ladies jeans.

We’ve all heard of women stealing their boyfriend’s low-slung Levis to avoid the not-so-flattering, waistband-up-to-the-ribs look, but now it is the reverse. In desperation, some men are resorting to women’s jeans as they claim there is nowhere in Newfoundland to buy jeans that aren’t “gangster or baggy” — even though their friends might do a double-take.

“Lots of people find it weird,” says 21-year-old Will Dray, an ex-psychology/anthropology student and now fulltime musician. “But a lot of my friends started doing it, too. It’s impossible to find guys jeans that aren’t a really loose fit.”

Whereas Dray wears his ladies’ jeans so tight they look like they’re painted on, 23year-old Chris Stevens says he has yet to purchase a pair. He has tried them on, however, and describes the fit as being extremely comfortable and “real different.”

Different how?

“Well, it’s a lot more snug,” he says. “They don’t leave much to the imagination.”

— Mandy Cook

Rhonda Hayward/For The Independent

AUGUST 27, 2006

20 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Structure: abbr.

5 Floating platform 9 Dressed 13 Like easy piano pieces (2 wds.)

16 Messy 17 Large continent 18 Latvia’s capital 19 Meadow bellow 20 Without the due formalities 23 “___ goes the weasel!”

24 Tooth covering 25 Baby elephant 26 Teachings 28 “Take a load off!”

29 Indigo plant 31 Pooch’s parasite 33 Pine 34 View 35 A McGarrigle sister 36 Prov. with an official soil 37 Store 39 Weeds 42 Paint pitifully 44 TLC providers 45 Obey the + sign 46 Annette, …milie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie 49 Italian first 52 Old, torn clothes 54 Sea (Fr.)

55 Facts and figures 56 Charged atom 57 French currency 58 Tempo 59 Temper control number 60 Traditional Japanese instrument 62 Wind dir.

63 The ref drops it 64 Ballpark 66 One devoted to love 68 Cold weather exclamation 69 Ferguson of “Air Farce” 70 Thick slice 71 Temporary alliances 75 Engrave with acid 77 Einstein’s birthplace 78 “I want you, I ___ you, I love you” 79 Hockey great from Parry Sound 82 Poi tuber 84 Piece of fencing 86 Ooze 87 Quebec law 88 Greed 90 Belgian river 92 Forgive 95 ___ and weave 96 Do the accounts (3 wds.)

99 Olive ___ 100 Bit of news

101 Henri’s honey 102 Composer Alexina ___ 103 Mined find 104 Profound 105 Russian despot 106 Cigar end?

DOWN 1 Canada’s last aircraft carrier (nickname) 2 Found 3 Consider 4 Circular ocean current 5 Merino male 6 Not mixing with others 7 Ultimate 8 End of animal’s spine 9 French vineyard 10 Cotton hosiery type 11 Shining 12 “Those were the ___, my friend ...”

13 Overly persistent 14 Not a soul 15 Thicket of trees 16 Winnipeg rockers: The ___ Who 21 Antelopes 22 Cause displeasure 27 Run aground 30 Wind dir.

32 Fleur de ___ 35 Part of A.D. 36 Seed containers

38 Flap 40 Toogood ___, Nfld.

41 Villain in Othello 43 Asian pepper plant 46 Patio alternative 47 Anger 48 Dune material 49 Rockies rodent 50 Chat ___ 51 Unendurable 52 Oxidize 53 Have being 54 PC cousin 57 Hook shape 58 Knitting stitch 61 Gifted speaker 63 British baby carriage 64 Fast ___ 65 Country lodging 67 Inuit Broadcasting Corp.

68 One of Henry VIII’s Annes 69 Site of disastrous 1942 raid 71 Hint to a ham 72 Sluggishness 73 Golf peg 74 No tickets left (2 wds.)

76 Strait between Queen Charlottes and mainland B.C. 80 Novice 81 Get the soap out 82 Forbidden

83 To have in Le Havre 85 Park on L. Erie: Point ___

86 Appears 89 Footnote abbr.

91 Bear droppings

93 Fit 94 Type of vegetable 97 Elec. unit

98 That girl Solutions page 27

WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR.21 TO APR. 19) This week could offer more opportunities for ambitious Lambs eager to get ahead. But don’t rush into making decisions until you’ve checked for possible hidden problems.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Work prospects are back on track.

But watch what you say. A thoughtless comment to the wrong person — even if it’s said in jest — could delay or even derail your progress.

TAURUS (APRIL 20 TO MAY 20) Some light begins to shine on professional and/or personal situations that have long eluded explanation. Best advice: Don’t rush things. All will be made clear in time.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUGUST 22) A colleague might try to goad you into saying or doing the wrong thing. Best to ignore the troublemaker, even if he or she riles your royal self. Your supporters will stand with you.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Although you might want to protest what seems to be an unfair situation, it’s best to keep your tongue and temper in check for now. The full story hasn’t yet come out.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Careful not to let your on-the-job zealousness create resentment with co-workers who might feel you shut them out. Prove them wrong by including them in your project.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Although it’s not quite what you hoped for, use your good business sense to make the most of what you’re being offered at this time.

Things will improve down the line.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) A more positive picture of what lies ahead is beginning to take shape. But there are still too many gaps that need to be filled in before you make definitive plans.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Continue to keep a tight hold on the reins so that you don’t charge willy-nilly into a situation that might appear attractive on the surface but lack substance.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) You still need to demand those

answers to your questions. Remember, your wise counseling earns you respect, but it’s your search for truth that gives you wisdom.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) You’ll find people happy to help you deal with some difficult situations. And, of course, knowing you, you’ll be happy to return those favors anytime. Won’t you?

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) Give that special someone in your personal life a large, loving dollop of reassurance. That will go a long way toward restoring the wellbeing of your ailing relationship.

YOU BORN THIS WEEK You are a delightful paradox. You like things neat and tidy. But you’re also a wonderful host who can throw a really great party. (c) 2006 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each column of nine and each section of nine (three squares by three) contains the numbers 1 through 9 in any order.

There is only one solution to each puzzle. Solutions, tips and computer program available at www.sudoko.com SOLUTION ON PAGE 27

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 — PAGE 21

Come By Chance refinery

Paul Daly/The Independent

Refinery revenue New buyer says plant will pay for itself in less than four years

By Nadya Bell The Independent

C

Gunther Baumgartner, president of North Atlantic and refinery manager with Harvest President and CEO John Zahary.

Paul Daly/The Independent

ome By Chance’s refinery will make a profit for its new owners in less than four years, says John Zahary, president of Harvest Energy Trust.

“In the past 12 months this refinery has been cash-flowing a considerable amount of money and we see the opportunity for that to stay at this level or get better as we move forward,” Zahary says.

“It’s a successful operation — it has had its troubles some many years ago, but it’s a successful operation, it’s a profitable venture and we’re just looking for ways to make it even more profitable as we move forward.”

Zahary says the $1.6 billion price tag on the refinery, gas stations and other operations was 3.7 times its annual cash flow, meaning the operation will turn a profit for Harvest in at least four years.

North Atlantic had $214 million operating cash flow in the first half of 2006.

After signing the agreement to purchase the refinery from North Atlantic Refining

Ltd., Calgary-based Harvest Energy Trust said they do not intend to make any changes to the refinery’s management or workforce.

“We’ll be an owner, we’ll co-ordinate with the team here, and we’ll work closely with them, but certainly I think we don’t have any plans for changes,” Zahary says.

No Harvest executives or employees will move to the island as a result of the purchase.

Harvest Energy trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and as a new acquisition, North Atlantic Refining’s financial statements will be available under their financial reports. The previous owner of North Atlantic, Vitol Group, was privately owned. Vitol has said around $700 million should be invested in the plant to make it globally competitive.

Harvest’s shares were slightly down on the news of their purchase.

While they have no immediate plans for expansion, Zahary says they may increase See “We think,” page 22

Setting financial goals

M

any of us recoil from the notion of setting financial goals. We placate ourselves with the logic that it’s a process for the very wealthy, or at least the financially “very comfortable.” We may also tell ourselves we don’t know how to set financial goals, that doing so is really tough, or that we’re too old to start something new like that.

When we hear these types of responses from clients, we usually ask: “You have no plans for your paychecque on Wednesday?”

Generally, the client responds: “I do, I’ve got to get groceries, pay the phone bill, buy some clothes” … or some other list along the same line.

AL ANTLE

Your Finances They perk up after they hear our next response.

“What do you mean you don’t goal set? You just listed a bunch of plans.

They all belong to your immediate financial goal list. So, now that you’ve confirmed you do in fact set goals, let’s work on expanding your list and start looking at the big picture.”

Financial goal setting is remarkably uncomplicated. It involves a written list

of the things you want to do or achieve with the money you earn.

At the outset, setting goals requires no more from you than an ability to realistically dream, while at the same time taking note of reasonable time frames and understanding the practical benefits of the process you’ve undertaken.

So, when you look to your financial future, what do you see? An end to financial worries, lists of things you want to buy, an education or two to pay for, debt to get rid of, a retirement to fund? Your list may be much longer or even shorter. Either is perfectly fine.

There are no right or wrong things on your list; after all, this is your life.

If you’re having trouble building a list, try asking yourself where you want to be financially in six months, 12 months, five years, 20 years and so on.

Things will magically appear.

It’s important to write your goals down. Experts say by writing goal-oriented things down, we’ll be much more likely to achieve them. If we take them from thoughts inside our own head to an externalized written list, we’ve taken the first steps to making our goals a reality.

Next you’ll want to take that long list and break it down. The idea is to decide what things belong on each of four smaller lists. The four are: immediate, short-term, mid-range and long-term

goals.

Some examples of immediate goals are the priorities to be achieved on your next payday or within the next few: upgrade a computer, pay for a child’s birthday party or buy paint for the living room.

Short-term things are priorities for the next six months to three years: saving for a vacation, paying off buy-now pay-later accounts, or purchasing a bigscreen TV. Mid-range financial goals are things you want to achieve in three to six years. This list might be a second car for the family, a major home renovaSee “Best laid,” page 22

A stunning collection of photography from the portfolio of The Independent’s own Paul Daly.

Available in September. To preorder your copy, contact

Boulder Publications at 895-6483

22 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

AUGUST 27, 2006

Waiting for the wind Gerry Skinner says he could build a wind farm to virtually replace the Holyrood generating station — all he needs is government go-ahead

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

I

f he was given a long-awaited thumbs up from government today, Gerry Skinner says he’d be ready to start construction on an ambitious Southern Shore wind farm by spring 2007.

But that’s proving to be a big “if.”

Skinner is owner of Labrador Coastal Equipment Ltd., a Newfoundlandbased company specializing in wind, solar and other alternative energy products. He’s completed a number of small-scale projects — windmills and solar panels for single cabins, for example — and some larger ones. He’s currently involved in a two-windmill (100 kilowatt) project near St. Brendan’s, aimed at reducing the community’s reliance on their diesel-powered electricity plant.

But Skinner’s vision for the Trepassey-St. Shott’s area of the Avalon Peninsula goes beyond anything he’s done before.

Skinner’s plan involves building 300 two-megawatt wind turbines across “a 10-mile radius” of the windswept barrens. The maximum 600 MW of electrical power would, he says, connect to Newfoundland Power’s electrical grid, travelling overland to supplement — and, ideally, replace — power created by the Holyrood generating station.

“We could keep Holyrood as a backup, emergency power solution,” says Skinner. He says the plant is polluting, ageing, and increasingly expensive to run.

“At the height of its production, it’s using 18,000 barrels of oil a day,” he says. “Part of the recent increase to cost of electricity is because of the increase in diesel price … who’s to say we can’t replace that diesel plant with windmills?”

So far, the provincial government hasn’t given Skinner much support. On one hand, the Department of Natural Resources has stated there will be no green lights to major new energy projects until the publication of its touted energy plan, due sometime before year’s end.

In 2005, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro publicized a request for proposals to purchase 25 MW of wind-generated power for its system on the island. The 13 expressions of inter-

Gerry Skinner

est are being evaluated, with the hopes of first power in 2008.

Hydro CEO Ed Martin told The Independent earlier this month the Crown corporation is taking “a measured approach” to wind energy. There have been a number of publicized business proposals dealing with alternative energy — but Hydro is taking baby steps.

“You have to look at the pricing, we have to look at our own costs, have to look at what’s best in terms of the province,” he says. “That’s why Hydro is forced to stand back and say, this looks really interesting, but we have to be prudent.”

Skinner doesn’t understand the government hesitation. “We’ll reduce greenhouse gasses, it’s technically fea-

‘We think it will provide a great return’ From page 21 Come By Chance’s refining capacity to include heavier crude oils than those currently processed.

Zahary says two processes are options for growth: Visbreaking, making thick oil less sticky; and coking, turning asphalt into gasoline and diesel fuel, leaving coke as a byproduct.

Come By Chance refines average thickness and density crude oil. Sweet crude — the source oil for car gasoline produced in Newfoundland’s offshore industry — is much lighter and is not optimal for the refinery, says North Atlantic president Gunther Baumgartner.

Harvest’s background is in oil and gas production in western Canada.

They produce about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day; North Atlantic processes 115,000 barrels of oil per day.

“We made a significant investment, we’ve done a lot of work to justify making that investment, and we like the cash-flow characteristics,” Zahary says.

“We think we’ve been able to get this at a good price, and we think it will provide a great return for current Harvest shareholders and future Harvest shareholders.”

To finance the purchase, Harvest was supported by CIBC World Markets and TD Securities. The refinery went up for sale in December, and Harvest and Vitol hope to close the deal by October.

Paul Daly/The Independent

sible,” he says. “It’ll create jobs and we’ll train Newfoundlanders in new technology …

“There would be hundreds of people trained, engineers trained in exactly how to do these installations. And there are places all over the world, begging for this expertise.”

Carrying his vision even further, Skinner says he’s had exploratory discussions with European companies about setting up an “environmentally friendly manufacturing facility” of wind turbines and equipment in the province — and creating up to 2,500 jobs.

But the first step is establishing the farm. To install the 300 turbines and the roads, transmission lines and everything else — including flying in

experts and purchasing long-term warranties on all products — Skinner puts the project’s price tag at about $1 billion.

He says he has financing from Europe, pending the province’s agreement to purchase the power at about the same rate it pays for the electricity currently generated in Holyrood.

Skinner is aware any agreement with the province would come with a large number of conditions and standards to be met. The province would ask for guarantees on the quality and amount of power — and if the conditions weren’t met, Skinner knows his dream contract would be terminated.

“The people that are financing this project are so satisfied with the wind regime, they’re satisfied (the province)

is capable of paying the bills.”

Skinner has already mapped the 300 chosen windmill sites. He points to a hefty environmental assessment he spent thousands of his own dollars completing, with the assistance of geologists, engineers, and wind experts.

(He says the wind, at 50 metres above sea level — the height of the turbines — hasn’t stopped in 54 years.)

“There’s a thousand questions you can ask when you’re putting up a wind farm, and every one of them is answered there,” says Skinner, who has clearly been frustrated at the lack of enthusiasm others have shown for a project he believes so deeply in.

“I’ve already invested a lot of my own money into this. And if nothing happens, it’s all down the drain.”

Max Ruelokke quiet on qualifications

T

he man selected for the top job at the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board is unwilling to discuss his qualifications for the job.

“I don’t think there’s any real relevance in that, the only people to whom the qualifications matter were the selection panel and they liked what they saw and selected me,” says Max Ruelokke, when asked about his professional experience.

“This whole debate about qualifications is really just a distraction from the real issue which is that the province is refusing to obey the law.”

Ruelokke was selected as the chair for the C-NLOPB by a three-person panel in December 2005. Premier Danny Williams has fought against the appointment of Ruelokke.

Williams would prefer to see St.

John’s Mayor Andy Wells in the position — or, at the least, he wants to see Wells and Ruelokke share it.

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled the job is Ruelokke’s. The province has until Sept. 6 to appeal the ruling.

Ruelokke has worked in the oil and gas industry for 37 years, recently as general manager for AMEC Oil and Gas, East Coast Canada. His positions include offshore support, shipbuilding — he chaired the board of directors for Marystown Shipyard — and deputy minister under the Liberals for the department of Industry, Trade and Technology.

Ruelokke also chaired the provincial Offshore Petroleum Engineering Task Force in 1999. In December 2003 Ruelokke was nominated to the C-CORE board of directors.

— Nadya Bell

Best-laid financial plans are ‘tentative’ From page 21 tion, or doubling the size of your RSP contribution. Longrange goals would list things like paying off your mortgage, retiring comfortably or deciding where you’ll live in retirement.

You need to determine the cost of each priority as well, since that number and a time factor will pinpoint the potential achievement of your goal. For example, if you want to purchase a new Ski-Doo in fall 2009, it will fit on your midrange list.

If you know the cost will be $5,000, then you need to set aside about $130 every month. As you look particularly at mid- and long-range goals, don’t forget to factor in things like the effect of inflation on costs and the benefit of interest on savings.

Also remember the best-laid financial plans are, for the most part, “tentative.” If something comes along to change your life, chances are your plans and goals will have to change too.

If you’re laid off at 45, and it takes three years to find another stable job, your goal to retire at 55 is most likely no longer attainable. Likewise, if the roof blows off your house, and replacing it becomes your expense, a spring vacation in the Dominican Republic may have to be put on hold.

Next time around we’ll be talking about shopping for food for your family.

Al Antle is executive director of Credit Counselling Service of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. His column returns Sept. 10.

What’s new in the automotive industry

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006

FEATURED VEHICLE

The newest luxury sedan in the Acura line-up, the Acura CSX, is both distinguished and sporty. With its 155 hp, 2.0 Litre, 5-speed automatic transmission with F1-inspired paddle shifting, the CSX blends sports car spirit with luxury sedan credentials. This vehicle is available at Tucker Acura, 915 Topsail Rd. Paul Daly/The Independent

Distinguished and sporty

Red Book blues I

've been looking for a new addition to the family fleet for the past month and found \ the demand for decent used vehicles has exceeded supply. It's probably a reaction to increasing fuel costs, with consumers venturing into my territory of four-cylinder, fuel-injected efficiency.

Whether they're bought as a second car, primary ride, or both, the ability to squeeze as much as 100 km out of 10 litres of pricey fuel is quite attractive.

The criteria for my next purchase was limited to an import, standard transmission, four-door, fourcylinder, less than 200,000 km, under 10 years of age, and with everything in good working order. It is possible. The Buy and Sell is always a fine read. but no freebie section or dirtbikes for me on this

goode eve, I was on the hunt for the import-car section and circled a few possibilities. Remember, buy the car not the deal. Stick to the criteria. Some people had sold their cars before I called.

Dejected, I returned to reading the Oddball Items section and other lively pursuits. I found this gem under Trades and Barter: Wanted to trade, one button accordion for another. If you ever see two accordion players in a parking lot backing away slowly, you know what's going on.

I ended up finding the car I wanted — in traffic.

Pulled right up next to it at a set of lights, read the sign in the window and wrote down the phone number. Within 15 minutes we were on the phone, half an hour later we met, and I gave the car the

once over twice.

The effective age of a car is accurately measured by looking underneath, so get down there and feel around. Pop the hood and listen to the motor. No clicking, rattling, whining or leaks. I went for a little low-speed spin and we settled on a price.

The owner went back to work, I went to the bank and after supper we met again. I took it for a little high-speed cruise, money changed hands, papers were signed and I had an excellent 10-year old motor carriage for $2,000.

That was the easy part. Anyone can buy a car, now you have to jump through

MARK WOOD

WOODY’S WHEELS

a few small hoops to legally drive it in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

You have precisely 10 days to have a car inspected mechanically, followed by a personal visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to present your bill of sale, inspection slip and proof of insurance. If everything is in order you're ready to pay for the transfer of ownership, registration and sales tax. The sales tax is the weirdest part of the whole process.

My car was about $20,000 dollars new, See “Book value,” page 25

24 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT

AUGUST 27, 2006

The best advice? Presume every driver is an idiot

H

ave you ever had a constant pain You will not be able to tell, just by in the neck? No, not the one you looking, the extent of damage your car promised to love, honour and may have sustained. You will also not dismay as you slid a ring on his finger so immediately know the extent of damage many years ago. An actual pain in your your body may have sustained. I was neck. most angry that my car had been baffed Courtesy of a car accident about five in. Even though it was a 1994 Intrepid years ago, I now have a full understand- and this was 2001, this was the ‘good’ ing of just what your neck car, and the thought of having does. Because mine can no to replace it was overwhelmlonger do it very well. ing.

All of the insurance compaI wanted to wring the neck of nies provide information on the silly woman who made the what to do if you’re in an accimistake of telling me she had dent. You can carry a little been on her way to pick up a checklist with you (there’s one tube of touch up paint for her on my website www.lorcar — following a previous raineonline.ca), which covers accident. When the police offiLORRAINE SOMMERFELD all the information you’ll need cer asked if I was hurt, I insistto have, and provide, in the ed I was fine. The following event you find yourself in this morning the only things I could unfortunate situation. move were my eyeballs.

Here’s what none of these In many ways, we were guides tell you: lucky. We had lots of witnessYou will be in shock. Even if you just es; the course of the accident was obvihave a little fender bender, you will not ous; our injuries weren’t serious; we be yourself. Proving the oft-quoted fact were allowed to fix the car. My webgod, that most accidents happen within a mile Jeff, recently walked away from a violent of your home, we were T-boned at an hit. I asked how his neck was. He said intersection by a woman running a red great. Until the drugs wore off. light, just blocks from our driveway.

The not-so-lucky part? I got an upWith the passenger side caved in, I close course in Accident 101. All the scrambled across the front seat, hopped things you never hear about. In less then out and insisted I was fine. I asked a a second, someone else’s carelessness homeowner standing watching for a delivered me an injury that has permabroom, because I was worried about the nently changed many parts of my life. glass on the road. Me? Sweeping up? With soft tissue damage (I had whiplash), There was the first clue that I wasn’t you can’t see anything. It’s easy to think myself. someone’s faking, because they don’t

POWER SHIFT

have a bone sticking out of their neck.

Blood is more convincing.

I was dealing with insurance adjusters, body shops, car rentals, physiotherapists, doctors, work, household stuff and children, all while being in chronic pain and mewling like a kitten. This minor accident left me with a concrete neck I couldn’t turn. The pain went on steadily for months, and intermittently to this day. To help, insurance provides things like a specially designed rake for you to use on the leaves, a long handled scrubber so you can clean your tub. Thanks.

I already suffer from migraines, so I fought hard against adding another ingredient to the chronic pain stew. But every time you have a good day, you overdo it and get slammed back to square one. And I was one of the lucky ones.

Driving a car is a complicated procedure. Put down the damned phone. Turn down the music. Tell your kids to shut up, and quit talking with your hands. You do not need to look at your passenger; you need to watch where you’re going, continually. You need to look down the road, and at the side roads. Anticipate lights, watch for pedestrians. If you’re running late, too bad. You should have left sooner.

This is the most distracted generation of drivers to ever hit the road, and increasingly, each other. The best advice I now follow is to presume everyone on the road is an idiot.

Everyone but me, of course. www.lorraineonline.ca

Cameros to come from Oshawa

By Tara Perkins Torstar wire service

G

eneral Motors Corp. will spend hundreds of millions of dollars reconfiguring its Oshawa plant to churn out Camaros, and its new Canadian president says most of the necessary job cuts at the plant can probably be achieved through retirements.

But questions remain about the plant’s future size, design and products. And there will likely be short-term layoffs as it is transformed.

Oshawa won the battle to become the home of the new Camaro, which will start rolling off the assembly line in 2008, six years after GM stopped making the muscle cars in Quebec.

“The groundwork for the future has been set,” says Arturo Elias, president of General Motors of Canada, formerly with GM Mexico. “My priority is going to be to get that up and running as soon as possible.”

Provincial and federal politicians cheered the announcement, which marks the end of a heated battle against other jurisdictions.

“The competition is huge,” says Chris Piper, a professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business. “Every state governor, every city that’s got a plant, the mayor of that city, they were all licking their chops for this one.

“There’s not much new business going around. Most of the news is about closing plants, not building new models.”

Ontario, North America’s largest car manufacturer, had a powerful arsenal, Piper says.

“The Oshawa plant has been kept right up to date, they’ve got a union that’s willing to make a deal to preserve jobs, they’ve got a health-care situation in Canada that saves the employer thousands of dollars a year in health insurance, they’ve got an infrastructure within 150 miles of Oshawa that’s second-to-none in terms of parts suppliers,” he says.

GM announced last week it will be investing $740 million into the Oshawa facility, but about $500 million of that was previously announced.

That half-billion dollars will be used to transform the operation into a flexible manufacturing facility that can quickly switch production between different types of cars depending on customer demand. It is not known what other vehicles will be made on the new flexible line, which will manufacture both rear- and frontwheel drive models.

Last fall, GM announced it would close the Oshawa No. 2 car plant and cut back a third shift at the adjacent No. 1 plant, costing more than 3,000 jobs. Both Elias and the president of the Canadian Auto Workers, Buzz Hargrove, decline to be specific about how many jobs this announcement could save.

“I can’t give you numbers,” Hargrove says. “This is the first part of what we hope will be some announcements down the road. One hundred thousand vehicles is not going to do a lot, but the fact they’re putting it there, they’re putting in $740 million, means there’s more to come,” he says.

“You have to be positive about these things … There’s nothing in there that guarantees anything, and that’s why I can’t say for sure how long the third shift is going to last.”

Earlier this year, the union bargained an early retirement incentive program that makes about 2,500 people eligible for retirement over the next couple of years, Hargrove says.

“So, we believe with the changes coming, the downsizing, the new models coming in, and the workforce going back up in 2008 or 2009, we can get through this without any permanent layoffs at all.”

Elias says numerous factors affect job numbers.

“On the one hand, we continue to see very strong demand for our Impalas and Monte Carlos — our vehicles that are built here in Oshawa — and therefore we have not established a firm date yet for the elimination of the third shift,” he says.

“The second factor is the reorganization that we have to do in the complex ... consolidation of the lines, and the establishment of a new flexible manufacturing. To that, you add a third component market demand, so it’s very hard to give a precise number except to say that aside from normal attrition levels, we don’t expect to see a major change from where we are.”

GM Canada vice-president David Paterson says “it would be absolutely normal to see short-term layoffs when you go through a plant conversion.

“We’ll have some ups and downs along the way, in terms of short-term layoffs — totally normal in the auto industry — but we would expect no long-term layoffs,” he says.

Elias says the flexible assembly line is all about diversifying the risk the plant faces if one of its cars stumbles in the market.

“Flexibility is like diversifying your portfolio, diversifying your risk,” he says. “That is why this investment is so important, because the flex line allows us to put the Camaro and potentially other projects or other vehicles on that line.”

AUGUST 27, 2006

INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 25

Looking forward to the Grand Prix of Mosport AMERICAN LIZ HALLIDAY TO TAKE ON A MALE-DOMINATED FIELD IN ONTARIO LABOUR DAY WEEKEND That Danica Patrick and Katherine I don’t really have a horse for 2008.”

Legge are envious, let there be no doubt.

Halliday admits to being as ambitious Now, Halliday is as much a success about her car racing as she is about her with the horses as she is with horsepow- equestrian pursuits. er. An accomplished equestri“I’d love to be in an LMP1 an, she owns three nags and car, but it comes down to competes regularly. money,” she says. “I’m really She hopes one day to be looking hard for sponsors this named to the U.S. Olympic year. My aim is to win the 24 team.

Hours of Le Mans but I would Halliday started racing in never say no to a competitive her native California when ride in another series. she was 16 (she rode her first “I would never say no, for horse at 8). No driving school instance, if someone offered NORRIS for this woman; she received me a Champ Car test.”

MCDONALD her instructions from her Jerry Priddle, vice-president father, Don, who was a Sports of marketing for Mosport, says Car Club of America (SCCA) he considers this year’s lineup driver trainer for more than 20 “the most exciting road-racing years. program in Canada and one of “I raced at the lower levels until 2004, the best on the continent.” when I did some races in the Rolex Priddle says Mississauga resident sports car series and then the last two Fellows will again do double duty, partraces of the year in the ALMS,” she says nering American Johnny O’Connell in via cellphone from a barnyard in the factory Corvette for the ALMS feaEngland, where she’d just finished rid- ture and driving a Cadillac factory entry ing one of her horses. in the SPEED World Challenge GT race, “I was really keen to do Le Mans (the which he won last Labour Day. 24-hour race) … and I wanted to see if I “Ron is a thrilling driver to watch,” could cut the mustard.” (She’s qualified Priddle says. “He made a daring last-corfor two 24 Hours of Le Mans races ner, last-lap pass to win the SPEED GT since.) race for Cadillac at Long Beach last She says she’s confident of winning spring and spectators can expect the her class again at Mosport, “but the same sort of commitment here at Porsche is running well and is a formida- Mosport.” ble opponent.

Quebec driver Kevin Lacroix, who’s “I like our chances at Mosport, been running in the top five in the standthough, because it’s such a fantastic cir- ings all season, will lead the Canadian cuit. It’s very fast. I like to drive fast and contingent in the Star Mazda race, which it’s fun to race there.” will also feature Jay Pasante of Calgary.

Halliday says she tries not to be away Practice for all classes start Sept. 1. from her horses for more than two weeks ALMS qualifying is scheduled for Sept. at a time.

2 and the day’s races include the Star “I finish the race and head for the air- Mazda championship, the IMSA GT3 port,” she says. “I live in England Challenge, the SPEED World Challenge because this is the centre of equestrian GT sprint and the first F-BMW contest. sport. All the major events are here and Sunday (Sept. 3), the SPEED World this is where your performances are Challenge Touring race will kick things judged. off late in the morning, followed by the “I’d like to be selected for the 2008 second F-BMW race in early afternoon.

(Olympic) team but, more realistically, The headline Mobil 1 presents the I’m looking at 2012. I have a young Labour Day Grand Prix of Mosport goes horse that I think will be ready in 2012; to the post at 3 p.m..

TRACK TALK

Book value From page 23 throw in 200,000 km, and I made a reasonable purchase for $2,000. The bill of sale is actually useless for accurate sales tax unless it's accompanied by an affidavit signed by both buyer and seller and witnessed by a legal professional. The DMV uses an online program

by Red Book Inc. that provides their fair value assessment of Canadian motor vehicles. They’re based in Oakville, Ont. and figure my car is worth $4,800. I'm standing at the counter of DMV, after waiting for a half an hour for them to call my number, and I'm in my 10th day of grace period to have my car registered. Like every

other law-abiding citizen in line, I need my car today and I'm here to pay. But not pay that much. There used to be a number you could call to find out the book value of your car and make arrangements for affidavits. I was told there’s a Red Book available at the A. C. Hunter Library for public use.

Sure enough they had one, never been used. I read the fairy tale about my inflated appraisal and checked the foreword on the title page … “not responsible for any errors or omissions.” The only accurate thing in the whole book.

Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s strictly adheres to the Provincial Motor Vehicle Act.

The Remaining ’06 Hondas Are Ready to Go!

Pilot LX 4WD

2006

PILOT

PILOT Here’s full-size fun – ready and able to take you and seven friends wherever your heart desires in a style that’s First Class all the way.

2,700

$

Element Y-PKG

8 Passenger Pilot LX 4WD *

@

$ from

%

418 2.9

Purchase Finance

*

@

$ from

48 Month Lease with

48 Month Lease with

$

$

2.9

%

%

278 1.9

0 Security Deposit

¥

or CHOOSE Low 60 Month

Element 2WD 5-speed

on 2006 Pilot, Element and Ridgeline †

ELEMENT

Delivering unprecedented versatility and distinctive personality ready to load up at the garden shop or take your dog for a walk on the beach.

0 Security Deposit Quadruple 5-Star Safety

Every Honda Truck Delivers a 5-Star Safety rating for BOTH Front and Side Collisions †1 2006

RIDGELINE With its rigid unibody construction, class-leading safety and innovative features – Ridgeline delivers unmatched advantages to pickup truck owners.

RIDGELINE MOTOR TREND ™

Truck of theYear

†5

2,000

$

Ridgeline LX V6 4WD *

$

398

@

%

4.9

48 Month Lease with

BONUS

$

0 Security Deposit Ridgeline LX 4WD

¥

.

from

All lease and finance offers are from Honda Canada Finance Inc., O.A.C. *Leases are based on new 2006: Pilot LX Auto (model YF1816E)/Element 2WD 5-speed (model YH1726P)/Ridgeline LX 4WD (YK1646E) for 48/48/48 month terms respectively, OAC. Monthly payment is $418/$278/$398 with $6,087/$2,916/$6,811 down payment or equivalent trade-in, respectively. Payments include $1,445/$1,445/$1,445 freight and PDI. $0/$0/$0 security deposit required, respectively. Lease rates are 2.9%/1.9%/4.9%, respectively. 96,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. Total lease obligation is $23,073.60/$15,345.60/$21,969.60. License, insurance, applicable taxes and registration are extra. Option to purchase at lease end for $17,730/$10,648/$15,136 plus taxes. †: 2.9% purchase financing for up to 60 months available on new 2006: Pilot, Element and Ridgeline models, O.A.C. Finance example based on a 60 month finance term, OAC: $28,000 at 2.9% per annum equals $501.88 per month for 60 months. Cost of borrowing is $2,112.80, for a total obligation of $30,112.80. †1: Quadruple 5-star safety rating based on crash tests by NHTSA for Pilot, Ridgeline, and Element for driver, front passenger and rear seat passengers in both front-impact and side-impact crash tests, www.nhtsa.com. †5: 2006 Truck of the Year awarded to 2006 Honda Ridgeline by Motor Trend on December 20, 2005; www.motortrend.com. ¥: Maximum value of Pilot gas offer is $2,700 including taxes, OAC. Maximum value of Ridgeline gas offer is $2,000 including taxes, OAC. Gas offers apply only to new in-stock 2006 Ridgelines and Pilots purchased/leased between August 1 and August 31, 2006, OAC. Limited time offers. See your Honda dealer for full details.

D

anica Patrick is the best-known woman racecar driver in North America. She’s just about done it all, except for one thing: she hasn’t won a race.

Katherine Legge is another famous female racer but, likewise, hasn’t finished first in the bigs.

Liz Halliday is different. She’s a winner.

Although less well-known than the other two, Halliday is not only a winner but a champion in the American LeMans Series for sports cars, an organization overwhelmingly populated by male drivers.

And Canadian fans will be able to appreciate her talents in Ontario next weekend when Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, featuring the cars (the Audi R10 Diesel, for instance) and drivers (Canadian aces Scott Maxwell and Ron Fellows are two) of the ALMS. The ALMS, for those of you who’ve never been to one of its races, presents some of the most exciting on-track competition to be seen anywhere. A race features four classes of cars (two prototype and two production), in which the drivers in each class race against each other while trying to stay out of the way of other, faster cars.

There’s never a dull moment when all of them are turned loose at once.

Halliday, 28, won her class in the race at Mosport last Labour Day, co-driving with 22-year-old Clint Field, and has led the Prototype 2 standings (LMP2) in Intersport Racing’s Lola B05/40 for most of this season.

Halliday — with help from Field — won the LMP2 class championship last year but has faced increased competition this season, particularly from the new Porsche team that is prepared, maintained and race-managed by the legendary Roger Penske.

Of the six races she’s driven in already this season, she’s won her class three times. And of the 14 she’s driven in total, since joining the series at the end of 2004, she’s won six.

All Honda vehicles are delivered with a full tank.

Fuel Efficiency is Engineered into Every Honda www.honda.ca

26 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

AUGUST 27, 2006

A workhorse makes good

By Cathal Kelly Torstar wire service

S

hould you doubt the influence a World Cup has on the imagination of soccer fans, turn your attention to the example of Owen Hargreaves. In the space of three games this summer, the Canadian-born player transformed himself from national whipping boy into England’s most admired player.

As a result, the former Calgarian is now caught in a tug-of-war between two of Europe’s biggest clubs. Bayern Munich — the Bundesliga giant that nurtured him since the age of 16 — has threatened Manchester United with a tampering charge if they don’t stop wooing their man.

United has publicly called on the midfielder to quit Germany and fill the void in their side left by the departure of Roy Keane. Bayern’s general manager retorted that even if an extortionate $70 million (Canadian) fee is offered “we will still not let him go.”

Owen Hargreaves — soft-spoken, floppy-haired, Owen Hargreaves — now occupies the same financial plane as Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko.

My, how five hours and eight minutes of industrious play on the right stage can alter the landscape.

Twelve weeks ago, the English fans were questioning Hargreaves’ manhood and his motives. His talent was thought too meagre to bother picking on. One tabloid wondered if he’d blackmailed his way into the side.

Another likened him to a “mass murderer.”

When Hargreaves was substituted into England’s first game, his own fans roundly booed him. “I would rather

England's Owen Hargreaves (R) is tackled by Greece's Angelos Charisteas (C) and Loukas Vyntra (L) during their international friendly soccer match at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England, August 16, 2006.

REUTERS/David Moir

win the World Cup than be loved,” Hargreaves shrugged at the time. He was used to the poor treatment.

Since he spurned Canada for England in 2001, Hargreaves has been treated with general disdain in his adopted country. His quality, his

Canadian accent, his plugging style and his suspicious mastery of German — all were fodder for a legion of critics. His presence was barely tolerated at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

Things got really ugly after he was named in this summer’s team, assum-

ing a spot that might have gone to a fifth striker.

But England’s thoroughbreds faded in steamy Germany, while the 25-yearold was proving himself the side’s lone workhorse. By the time England staggered into the quarter-finals against

Portugal, he’d been made a starter.

Seldom has an opportunity been gripped so tightly. When the side looked spent in extra time, Hargreaves picked it up by the scruff and dragged it into penalty kicks. Once there, he was the lone Englishman to convert.

After the match, the same frustrated fans that booed him days before gave him a standing ovation.

In the weeks that followed, he was voted England’s best player in a Football Association poll. One newspaper made him a personal apology.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called a hard-working cabinet minister “my Owen Hargreaves.”

More than any other player in the English team, Hargreaves was a creation of the discredited Sven-Goren Eriksson. But when it came time for new manager Steve McClaren to purge his predecessor’s favourites, he singled out Hargreaves as a cornerstone going forward. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that he has inherited David Beckham’s No.7 jersey.

After Hargreaves turned Canada down, there was a natural inclination here to overstate the loss. He was never more than a backup for his country who sometimes struggled to find a regular spot at his club. Now he has unexpectedly transformed himself into a star. Most fans in this country forgave Hargreaves long ago. Everyone I’ve talked to took pleasure watching him force the doubters to eat their words.

But if Hargreaves blossoms into the player he suddenly looks capable of becoming, won’t that mean that we have to reassess just how much we lost when he left? And maybe what once seemed only a hurtful rejection really was a major tragedy for Canadian sport.

Sporting the silver tongue Perfect calls have made for some memorable broadcasting moments

By Chris Zelkovich Torstar wire service

T

hey are the virtuosos of the sports broadcasting world. In a field dominated by ex-jocks who apparently failed Grade 6 English and overheated play-by-play announcers, they stand out for their ability to capture the moment with wit, insight and honesty.

Today we salute those with the rare ability to utter quotes that add to the enjoyment of a game.

The best are those who do it with regularity: Johnny Miller, Mary Carillo, Harry Neale, David Feherty, Glenn Healy, Nick Faldo and Cris Collinsworth. But there are others who rise to the occasion from time to time, supplying the spice in an all-too-often bland stew served up to sports fans.

“It’s a rare talent,” says Raptors announcer Chuck Swirsky, who’s been known to break from the mundane on occasion. “And it’s becoming even

rarer. There are very few announcers who are willing to take a chance any more and say something out of the ordinary.”

It takes a combination of an incisive wit, humour and fearlessness to produce the kind of words that become topics of water cooler discussion the next day.

When Phil Mickelson melted down at this year’s U.S. Open, NBC’s Miller could have done the usual and blamed it on bad luck or questionable decisions. Instead, he provided a quote that not only summed things up but laid the blame squarely on Mickelson’s shoulders.

“You don’t have to run down the last stretch on a white stallion,” Miller said of Mickelson’s attempt to go for broke. “This was just crazy shot selection.”

Announcers agree that none of those great quotes can be scripted.

“You have to be spontaneous,” says tennis ana-

lyst Carillo. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many of my television brethren try so hard to come up with the perfect allegory or metaphor on how majestic Roger Federer is.

“You hear biblical and Shakespearean references as they kill themselves trying to come up with the great quote. Not too many work.”

Swirsky says he’s never worked with an analyst who prepared quotes before a game.

“If you were determined to get a line in, you’d be tempted to use it no matter what,” he says. “It wouldn’t work.”

The same goes for those memorable play-byplay calls.

Will anyone ever forget the late Tom Cheek’s call of Joe Carter’s World Series-winning homer in 1993? “Touch ’em all Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life” kind of sums it all up, doesn’t it?

Or how about Al Michaels’ succinct rhetorical

question following the U.S. hockey team’s improbable upset of the powerful Soviets at the 1980 Olympics: “Do you believe in miracles?”

You can’t possibly prepare for those, says TSN play-by-play man Chris Cuthbert.

Even if Cheek or Michaels had somehow anticipated those improbable events, a prepared quote would have come off as scripted, he says.

But those moments do guarantee immortality.

“Come up with one of those and you’ve pretty well earned a spot in the announcer’s hall of fame,” Cuthbert says.

Cuthbert does admit, though, that he has one line prepared.

“If the day ever comes when the Leafs win the Stanley Cup, I know exactly what I’ll say,” he admits.

But he’s not telling.

“I just hope I live long enough to be there,” he says.

Even Sox slugger wowed by how NY whupped ’em “It’s not fair, man. Those guys aren’t playing around. They should let us win that game to make it interesting, huh?”

That was Boston’s Big Papi Ortiz Aug. 20 — the Yankees’ historic raid on Fenway only four-fifths complete. He was kidding, but Red Sox fans seemed too stunned, too dismayed and devastated to even begin to appreciate it.

In all his years, said Ortiz, it was the best he’d ever seen the Yankees play. “Not too much you can say, man,” he said. “We had our best pitching (Curt Schilling) and they still beat us. I think this is the first time in a long time I have seen the Yankees all confident, all the way ’round.”

For the record, it went down like so: 12-4 and 14-11 in the Friday (Aug. 18) day-nighter, 13-5, 8-5 and, for a change of pace, 2-1 on the Monday.

It was the first time the Sox had been swept in a fivegame series since the 111-win Indians stormed them in 1954; the third-ever such Yankee sweep over their ancient rivals (1951 in New York; ’43 in Boston) and the first fivegame sweep in the majors since July, 2002, when the Red Sox stoned the Blue Jays.

Angry Ozzie Anything on Ozzie Guillen’s mind these days? Well, how about dealing with continued accusations the White Sox are stealing signs. Earlier this season both the Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals voiced suspicions and, a week back in the Boston Globe, Red Sox owner John Henry said he had to wonder, too. “(Henry) made some comment about us cheating? He doesn’t even know what a field looks like,” said Ozzie Guillen Guillen, who was then off to the races, eventually tearing a strip off the entire National League Central.

“Mulder (Mark, of the Cardinals) wouldn’t even make my team,” Guillen said. “He couldn’t start for us, and he’s not better than (Neal) Cotts or (Matt) Thornton in our bullpen.

“When you play (Johan) Santana, (Brad) Radke, (Francisco) Liriano, the guy from Cleveland ... (C.C.) Sabathia, all the other guys ... ah, (bleep). If we played National League teams, the Central Division, we might win 150 games in that (bleeping) league.

“We’re cheating on the mound? Our pitching staff gets beat up once in awhile. They (other teams, owner managers) are mad. They can’t admit that a Latino kicked their ass (in 2006).”

AUGUST 27, 2006

‘A step further’

INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 27 Solutions for crossword on page 20

From page 28 senior nationals.

“It was the best we’ve ever done and now we want to take it a step further and get to the medal round. We think we have a chance to win, if everyone comes to play and does what they are supposed to do. We can compete with any team there.”

For now, DeHart will spend the remainder of this season trying to help his Gonzaga Vikings team to the St. John’s league title. He figures it’s a three-team race, with Shamrocks, Holy Cross and the Vikings being legitimate contenders for the title. The Guards team is on the decline after losing some key players. Still, Dehart feels the league is as competitive as he’s seen it in years.

“We’re down from five teams last year to four this year, but that team was dispersed and split up amongst the remaining four teams and that made each team considerably stronger,” he says. “All teams make the playoffs so it should be interesting.” whitebobby@yahoo.com

Solutions for sudoku on page 20

Berry lessons From page 28 Many kids picked berries to pay for their schoolbooks and clothes. Instead of sitting at home playing video games and chatting on message manager, they were out on the hills earning money for back to school.

I once told my daughter she had to pick berries to pay for her new school clothes. “Dad, I know you’re joking, so give it up,” was her reply. She can’t even imagine it.

I was one of the fortunate kids. I didn’t have to pick berries for the necessities of back to school. Thankfully, my parents provided all that stuff. For me, berry picking was an opportunity to get the extra stuff my parents wouldn’t buy, like fringed rawhide jackets and civil war boots. I liked being outdoors anyway, so why not make some money on the hills?

I saw a partridge for the first time while berry picking.

Another day, a fox tried to steal my lunch. There’s a unique feeling of satisfaction when you buy something special with dollars earned from the land. I really should dig out my old rake from the garage and take Allison berry picking.

Paul Smith is a freelance writer living in Spaniard’s Bay, enjoying all the outdoors Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com

National beach volleyball faces uncertain future

W

hen Mark Heese and John Childs won a beach volleyball bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, sponsors rushed in to set up a Canadian pro tour with homegrown talent.

But after finishing fifth in Sydney in 2000, the sponsors pulled out and the domestic circuit vanished. Suddenly, Canada’s pro beach players had to make money on international tours or not at all.

Heading into this year’s Beach Volleyball National Championships, which are running for the first time in Toronto until Aug. 27, several beach volleyball veterans are wondering how the game can regain momentum here.

“Canada has come a long way in terms of development, but we still haven’t been able to compete in terms of developing a pro tour,” Heese says.

“The tour did a lot to develop the athletes and let them gain some experience. But the sport has kind of suffered since (the tour folded).”

Riding the buzz of Heese and Childs’ medal in Atlanta, the Labatt’s pro tour gave homegrown players a chance to earn money and experience before trying out pro circuits in the U.S. and Europe.

Four years later the tour disbanded, replaced by provincial leagues that offer some competition but no money.

These days, Canada’s best beach volleyball players fall into two categories: people who play internationally and people who don’t.

NEED WORLD TOUR The result, says Calgary’s Jason Kruger, is that Canada no longer has a way to prepare provincial-level players for world-class competition.

“The younger players don’t have a tour to wet their feet before playing internationally,” he says. “Players that are really young have to take that big step.”

Kruger and partner Wes Montgomery are fresh off a tour of North Africa and Europe.

Heese, who is seeking a national title with new partner Richard Van Huizen, worries the lack of a domestic pro league will stunt young players’ ambitions.

“I like the tour concept,” he says. “It gets the spirit out and it gives something for the young kids across Canada to aspire to.”

Although they are favoured to win, Heese knows he and Van Huizen are a target for several teams, including fellow national team members Ahren Cadieux and Conrad Leinemann.

The last time the two teams played, Heese and Van Huizen needed three sets and some lucky calls from the referees to win.

“We’re undefeated against them, so they’re going to be gunning for us,” Heese says.

Without a nationwide league, this tournament is the only chance for many provincial level players to prove they can beat national team members, he says. For them, a win could mean a chance to play overseas.

“Realistically, they have that opportunity, And beating us this weekend could help them do that.”

— Torstar wire service

“ ” The accommodations are magnificent. “ Canada’s best kept secret. ” ” “ You have to see it to believe it.

Bad bounce San Diego’s recent run of pitching problems nearly spread to reliever Alan Embree on Aug, 21, when he was struck in the pitching hand by a pre-game ceremonial pitch thrown by an overzealous dignitary.

Said Embree: “I was trying to transfer my glove when the ball bounced up and smoked me.”

1.866.686.8100 humbervalley.com

INDEPENDENTSPORTS

SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 — PAGE 28

Karl DeHart

Paul Daly/The Independent

By Bob White For The Independent

D

espite winning seven consecutive provincial titles against Corner Brook in senior baseball, St. John’s pitcher Karl DeHart says you can never take the west-coast team for granted. The rivalry is as intense as ever.

DeHart, a southpaw who was named top pitcher at the annual showdown earlier this month, says while the final scores in some of the games might have indicated a lopsided series, it was far from a blowout. In fact, he says St. John’s was fortunate to win the games they did, and the Corner Brook Barons were a threat in most contests, right up until the late innings.

RESPECT FOR BARONS If anyone is going to have respect for the Barons, it’s understandable DeHart would. After all, when he first broke into the senior ranks with the Capitals eight years ago, he was on the losing end of the provincial final, the last time Corner Brook defeated St. John’s.

That year, he was the only player picked up for Corner Brook’s trip to the nationals, and the experience was memorable. It boosted his confidence and he also got to learn from one of the province’s top pitchers of all time.

“Frank Humber gave me some great

Play ball Karl DeHart pitches St. John’s Caps to seventh straight provincial title; now focused on winning season with Vikings

tips so that really helped me as a young pitcher,” says DeHart, now a veteran at 26. “Corner Brook had a great bunch of guys and they were good teammates to me.”

However fond of his brief Barons experience he might be, DeHart admits he looks forward to the annual battle for provincial bragging rights.

“It’s such a great series playing against those guys,” he says. “It does get heated on the field sometimes, but we leave it on the field. There’s no problem getting up for games against Corner Brook.”

DeHart is one of five Caps who have been on each of the last seven championship teams. Mark Healy, Dean Norman, Andrew Symonds and

Michael Pottle are the others.

DeHart mentions newcomers like Bernie Madden, Matthew Bannister and John Rose, who made strong contributions to the seventh title. By comparison, DeHart says, Corner Brook doesn’t have the influx of new blood in recent years to help their chances against the capital city team.

“The past couple of years, we’ve got more depth and it shows. Our younger players have moved in and made a difference.”

DeHart himself has made a big difference and, for a guy who has been pitching for 14 years, shows no signs of burnout. Apart from some minor elbow problems, recently alleviated by having some scar tissue removed, DeHart has

been a consistent force for St. John’s over the years.

In 15 innings of action against Corner Brook in the final Aug. 19, DeHart put up some impressive stats. He had just one walk, no earned runs and 17 strike outs. His simple game plan worked to perfection.

“I just wanted to get ahead of the hitters in the count,” he says. “And any time you can get more strikeouts and less walks, that’s always good.”

Asked whether he has done anything differently this season to prepare himself, DeHart couldn’t think of anything other than physio and massage therapy in the off season, which he has been doing for a few years now.

“To be honest, my arm has been feeling good all season. And my control has been on.”

PROVINCIAL TITLE With the provincial title, St. John’s earned the right to represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the national championships next year. The team didn’t make it to this summer’s nationals for financial reasons, but they’re determined to make the trip next year and build on one of their most successful showings. In 2005, St. John’s finished with two wins and two losses, and DeHart picked up his first win at the See “A step further,” page 27

Blueberry season not what it was Rakes in hand, Paul Smith and his friends turned morning in the berry patch into spending money

T

he blueberries are ripe and I love no dessert better than blueberry pie. I’m not particularly fond of picking berries by hand, but I crave fresh pie enough to bend over and pick, one berry at a time. You know the drill.

These days I hardly ever go just berry picking; usually it gets combined with fly-fishing or game scouting. In my formative years it was very different.

When I was growing up in Spaniard’s Bay, blueberry picking was our annual bonanza of cash. And we didn’t pick them one at a time; this was an allout commercial venture. The berries were scraped from the bushes with rakes 10 to 12-inches wide. They’re

PAUL SMITH

The Rock

Outdoors probably best described as dustpans with knitting needles sticking out the front. You just bend over and scrape the berries from the bushes with a back and forth raking motion.

When the rake or berry picker, as we called them, was full (two or three pints) we’d dump the contents of the rake in a bucket, ripe berries, raw berries, leaves and twigs alike. If a

decent breeze was blowing, we’d hold the picker high over the bucket when emptying, so the leaves would blow out. If not, we’d have to blow them out later on a windy day. If the market was good that year, buyers would take our berries leaves and all.

Since rakes can’t distinguish between raw and ripe berries, the government set a date that harvesting with pickers would be allowed. It was a big deal in those days. The forestry department would hire people to guard the blueberry hills from us impatient entrepreneurs. The enforcers started work at 8 a.m. — but we could pick quite a few berries before then.

The money was good, but commercial berry picking was hard work.

Last Sunday I handpicked a butter tub full — enough for a blueberry pie.

My back ached before I was done, so I sat on a rock in the middle of a patch and topped up. I laughed out loud at how ridiculous I looked. What a contrast to my berry-picking heyday.

I guess it’s all about motivation.

Back then, we each headed to the berry hills with a three- to five-gallon bucket, a berry rake and a cardboard berry box that held five or six gallons.

We carried the boxes on our backs using a set of makeshift straps fashioned from rope and an old potato sack.

The potato sack cut and folded to form a shoulder pad, and the rope would be tied securely around each end to form a loop big enough to place the box in.

Mountain Equipment Co-op would not be impressed with the ergonomics of our carrying device.

Some years back, before I owned a quad, I hiked out with a moose quarter attached to my back with a set of berry straps. I had strap marks in my shoulders for at least a month. A quarter of moose is much heavier than five gallons of blueberries — or maybe I’m softening with age.

See “Berry lessons,” page 27