VOL. 4 ISSUE 44
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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006
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WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA —
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LIFE 17
SPORTS 29
Sara Tilley and her Fresh Fish (award)
Spend the winter gearing up for angling season
Norris Arm
Seeing stars Independent columnist Sean Panting makes his picks for the annual MusicNL awards, given out Nov. 5
clinic closing Physicians no longer want to work excessive hours; medical association says province must recruit twice as many doctors
STEPHENVILLE By Sean Panting For The Independent
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MANDY COOK
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rural health clinic is slated to shut its doors to patients in Norris Arm by year’s end, when the two doctors who work there scale back their workload. The facility is one of several clinics to close its doors in central Newfoundland in recent years, due to physician retirement. The two doctors who operate the part-time, privately owned clinic in Norris Arm say they plan to retire completely within the next four years. The closure of the clinic is their first step. Dr. K.T. Jim, a general practitioner for 30 years, says he and his partner are both nearing the age of 60 and want to cut down the amount of hours they work. “Both Dr. (Lionel) Kelland and I are getting old, therefore we thought we would at least slow down our practice and this would be the obvious place since we have our own practice clinic in Grand Falls itself,” he says. “We’ve essentially been coming here for the last 26 years, both he and I, for two halfdays a week each, but because we’re starting to slow down we want to eliminate our practice here.” Dr. Lydia Hatcher, chair of the physician resource planning committee and past president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association is in the process of assessing the number of physicians necessary to cover off regional medical healthcare needs in the province. Hatcher says the doctors of her generation who are nearing retirement were expected to work 60-80 hour work weeks plus be on call for emergencies and home visits. She says it’s harder to recruit new doctors to work in rural areas because they are no longer willing to devote as many hours to their practice, for fear of burnout. “Statistics show that it takes approximately two new physicians to replace one of these, what we call full-service physicians, who worked these very long hours doing all sorts of outreach and extra things and that is simply a lifestyle issue.” Hatcher says the lack of young replacement physicians is both a provincial and national problem. In Newfoundland and Labrador in particular, the aging population requires increased medical care and services — but, Hatcher says, new doctors want to move to larger centres where they have a better lifestyle and do not have to work excessive hours. She says it’s something the provincial government must recognize is impacting rural healthcare. “Our rural areas are suffering because of this and our government has to be very, very aware of the fact it will take more human resources to fill the positions in some of these areas in order for people to have the lifestyle they want and to provide the kind of medical care the older physicians were doing because they were willing to have that busier See “Doctor in your backyard,” page 10
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Springdale must be an empty place right now.” — Rhonda Hurdle, an Alberta recruiter.
The lineup outside the Capital Hotel Oct. 30. As many as 9,000 showed up, looking for work in Alberta. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We certainly love fishermen’ Newfoundlanders recruit their own for Alberta oil boom IVAN MORGAN
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honda Hurdle used to wish she could come home to Newfoundland, but a recent visit changed her mind. Hurdle, 33, a recruitment officer with Precision Well Servicing in Lloydminster, Alta., was born and raised in Harbour Grace. She says she used to have a problem recruiting workers from Newfoundland. “I used to feel terrible about it, because I wanted to go home too, and I didn’t want to take anybody from the province,” Hurdle tells The Independent from her Alberta home. “But I was home this summer, and now I feel fantastic about it.” She says the gratitude of Newfoundlanders she
IN CAMERA 8-9
The Independent’s final guest photo spread: Ned Pratt
gets work for has changed the way she sees her job. “When I was home this summer I gave out a lot of business cards,” says Hurdle. “I got this one particular candidate from Carbonear. He was out of the fishery a couple of years. He threw all his stuff in a car and drove up here . . . him and a buddy. “He’s working now out of Grand Prairie, and to see and hear how grateful he and his wife are,” says Hurdle. “Now they have money to pay their bills, $23.90 an hour starting off. So they are very happy.” She enjoys watching people get work — for some, it’s the first work they have had in a while. “When you see them come in and they are so excited when they hear the wages.” See “I would be,” page 4 Related stories pages 4, 12
BUSINESS 13
Cooke’s Aquaculture thinks big
GALLERY 18
Will Gill unveils new work
his weekend marks MusicNL’s annual general meeting, conference and showcases. Members of the province’s music industry association are in Stephenville from all over to meet and greet, see and be seen, discuss strategies for building a stronger homegrown music biz and even pass out some awards on Saturday afternoon and Sunday night. I guess I should expose my bias right off the top and confess I’ve been a member of the association since its formation in 1992. I have always believed we need an organization like MusicNL, if only because it helps foster the sense that there is indeed a music industry in this province — that if you want to listen to a good song, or go and see a killer band, you’re not stuck with whatever the folks in London, New York or Toronto feel like sending your way. Whether it’s just the way we’re wired as a people or there’s some other deeper psychosocial reason I’m not qualified to get into, Newfoundland and Labrador has never developed a star culture. We don’t mind showing up at the airport and making a fuss if you’ve represented the province well nationally or internationally, but once you’re back home the adulation quickly cools down. That’s why handing out awards is so important. Perception is a big part of the game, and being handed an award by your peers is a sign that what you’re doing is good and that people are paying attention. You get some name recognition. You get your mug in the paper and on TV. And that is exactly the kind of thing that can affect sales, concert attendance and, ultimately, success in the real world. Especially if you’re good at your job and you make worthwhile music. So in the interest of creating some new household names and at the risk of having my car egged by disgruntled runnersup, I thought I’d stick my neck out Ron Hynes Paul Daly photo and pick a few of the winners. Of the nominees for Male Artist of the Year — Mark Bragg, Ron Hynes, Andrew LeDrew, Kevin Collins and Bill Brennan — I think it’s got to be Ron Hynes. All the b’ys deserve a major pat on the back for what they’ve achieved this year, but Ron is a fan favourite, a national treasure, and he’s stuck it out longer and under tougher circumstances than just about anyone else I can think of. I’m calling for a second Ron Hynes victory in the Song of the Year category for Dry, partially because it’s a great song, and partially because it has Ron’s name attached to it. Hynes has turned up in the folk/roots category as well, and a win there isn’t out of the question, but I’m leaning more toward the Punters for their fourth album, Songs for a See “ A bit of a sweep,” page 11
Life Story . . . Paper Trail . . Style . . . . . . . Shift . . . . . . . . Sports . . . . . .
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2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
There is no escape T
he Notice of Assessment for property tax came in the mail a month ago, causing PATRICK no small dismay among people I talk to. In St. John’s, real estate prices have skyrocketO’FLAHERTY ed, driven up by news of the “oil boom,” the A Skeptic’s Diary arrival of retired mainlanders with deep pockets, and other factors. In certain areas, a house that might have sold for $20,000 in, say, the income tax at all. But no matter what a house 1970s, now goes on the market for $200,000. owner earns he has to pay property tax (unless This has played into the hands of City Hall, he’s on social assistance, in which case the tax always eager to find new sources of funding to is paid for him). The GST also operates differcover such expenditures as the yearly deficit ently. We can control how much GST we pay on money-sucking Mile One or the cost of put- by changing buying habits. Not so with properting artificial turf on the George V Soccer field ty tax. It’s beyond our reach — unless we go in place of real grass, which as everyone through the torturous appeal process, and even knows doesn’t grow in this latthen, supposing we win an itude. appeal, which is doubtful, the The average increase in tax tax wouldn’t be reduced by assessments in St. John’s is, I I wonder how many much. understand, over 20 per cent; I was curious to learn what some have risen 50 per cent happens a citizen who simhomes will be colder ply can’ttoafford and even higher. Property to pay the tax owners have the right to appeal and who isn’t on social assisin 2007 as a result the assessment, but the process tance. Here’s some news: is tormenting and unlikely to of increased property someone who lives in his own succeed. There is also a filing home can’t be evicted and taxes, how many fee of $60 to keep prospective forced to see his house sold to appellants at bay. pay tax arrears. But when he people will be forced, dies, the debt passes to the next One sentence in the fine print on the Notice of Assessowner. against their deepest property ment caught my eye: “PLEASE When a house is sold, tax TAKE NOTICE that the arrears are collected from the wishes, to go to inability of any person to pay proceeds. City hall may let you the taxes, rates or fees ... shall food banks or social pay taxes by installments, and not be a ground for appealing even arrange a collateral mortservices for help. an assessment to the Assessgage on your property to get its ment Review Court.” money. There is ultimately no It’s no good to appear before escape. the court and say you can’t I wonder how many homes afford to pay because you had to bury your will be colder in 2007 as a result of increased grandmother. The fact that you can’t pay the property taxes, how many people will be assessed tax is no defense — you still have to forced, against their deepest wishes, to go to pay it. You might have to put your daughter on food banks or social services for help. the street or sell your spoons. But you must get To quote Newfoundland prime minister E.P. the money. Morris in 1909, “We are on the eve of an How many things are there in life that you important industrial awakening,” and there is a must pay for even though you are unable to? good time coming. Meantime, we are crucified Property tax is virtually an uncontrollable by taxes, and the first duty of politicians is to expense. You live in a house one year and — bear this in mind before inflicting more wham — the very next year, as a result of mys- grandiose schemes upon us. If property values terious forces operating in the community, you keep climbing sharply, the province will have have to come up with $300 more. We can con- to step in. Maybe it should do so now. All trol transportation costs by cutting back unnec- municipalities in Newfoundland are creatures essary travel or selling the Chevy Nova. We can of, and subject to, the legislature, and I think a change eating habits to control food costs, wear case can be made for the province to limit, by old sweaters and drawers to control clothing statute, property tax hikes on individual housecosts. We can reduce the house temperature, holders. A two per cent annual limit on such change to a woodstove, or insulate the roof, to increases sounds about right. control the cost of fuel and electricity. But property tax is outside our influence. Patrick O’Flaherty is the author of Lost It’s not like other taxes. Income tax is deter- Country: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland, mined by what we earn. Many people pay no 1843-1933.
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NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3
SCRUNCHINS A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia
BEWARE THE WOODS The Ottawa Citizen carried an interesting piece this week, Wilderness weighs heavy on our psyche, about how the wilds of Canada have played a role in shaping myths. Wrote Chris Lackner, “From coast to coast, Canada’s landscape harbours many monsters: Celtic fairies haunt the woodlands of Newfoundland, the serpent Ogopogo lurks in the depths of British Columbia’s Lake Okanagan, and everything from the sasquatch to ghostly cannibals roam between.” That should keep the blueberry pickers out of the woods next year…
up, found in the Book Club picks column, had this to say: “For readers who savor indelible characters: From the widowed mom of an ecoterrorist to an alligator wrestler named Loyola, Moore conjures up a host of oddballs.”
If it wasn’t bad enough that 9,000 folks had to line up in the freezin’ cold outside the Capital Hotel in Town this week for a shot at a life in Alberta, a crowd of them faced parking tickets when they were done. According to the traffic department of the City of St. John’s, 33 parking tickets were issued in the area of the hotel on Kenmount Road on March 30, the day of the job fair. The tickets — issued mostly for parking on the sidewalk — result in a $50 fine. How’s that for a proper sendoff? At the same time, the tickets work out to $1,650 in revenue/blood money for the city. No wonder St. John’s is doing so well … AMBULANCE CHASER While on the subject of the Alberta job fair — the lineup was a sight to behold, four and five people deep in some places. A number of people worked the line, including journalists (a tag-team from The Independent), two girls promoting another job fair slated for this weekend, a good number of gawkers who were driving by and had to stop (nothing like a good lineup or fire to draw a crowd), and a St. John’s real-estate agent (who shall not be named), handing out his business card. The agent was looking to sell the homes of the Newfoundlanders who would be moving. I’d put him in the same category of an ambulance chaser. In this case, a U-Haul chaser …
Gerry Rogers
self will be included in any provincial government promotional material … PEOPLE MOVERS It’s not every day a Newfoundlander makes it to the pages of People, but the Oct. 16 edition of one of North America’s most popular magazines included a snippet on Lisa Moore’s book Alligator (it was the People edition with EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS! Of Anna Nicole’s Surprising Ceremony on the cover). The write-
BEST COSTUME Best Halloween costume this year goes to filmmaker and social activist Gerry Rogers, who was spotted in St. John’s on byelection night with pitcher plant flowers growing out of a sod on her head. It isn’t known whether Gerry her-
CLOSING THE BARN DOOR This particular Scrunchin falls under the category, “Closing the barn door after the horse has lined up for hours for a chance to get the hell out of there,” or that’s the way it was put to me. Two days after the phenomenon that was the Alberta job fair, Labour Minister Paul Shelley announced an open house to be held this past Thursday at the Career Information Resource Centre in Town. Here’s the government line: “The CIRC offers a full range of services designed to help individuals explore their career and employment options, access professional career counseling, participate in a facilitated job search, access relevant labour market information and use other tools to help them make an informed choice in pursuing meaningful and long-term employment.” Maybe the centre should have set up a booth outside the Capital Hotel. And given out pitcher-plant hats for prizes …
TONGUE IN CHEEK The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas carried a feature on George Street last month, covering the standard topics such as Screech-ins, fried cod tongues and scrunchins. The waiter refreshed my tea as I asked him, “This cod tongues, is that what I think it is?” “Oh, I’m afraid it is,” he said in a lilting accent. “And very good, too. Try some?” Before I could ask what a “scrunchin” was — I shuddered to think of the possibilities — he was off to the kitchen to (in my mind) prepare something for me to eat that may be tasting me as well. My favourite line from the piece: “Once you spend all day getting there, you find a place resolutely independent and unforgettably unique. The former colony of a half-dozen ruling nations, Newfoundland differs from the rest of its home country in its weather, terrain, clothing, food (obviously), language, industry and customs. Just like Texas!” Did you know that St. John’s is twice as far from Fort Worth as Honolulu? See, Scrunchins aren’t so bad after all … ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
PAIN This race isn’t for the faint of heart (or foot). The Athletics Northeast Running Club will hold a 20-km race Nov. 12 from Cape Spear to the top of Signal Hill. If the “trial run” goes well the club will have an official race next June. “The group intends to discover just how difficult it is in advance,” read the press release announcing the run. I could save them the trouble … in the words of Mr. T, “I pity the fool.”
Warming up to new realities Domestic firewood industry changing By Ivan Morgan The Independent
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ewfoundland and Labradorians cut more firewood than people in any other province. While that puts pressure on the forestry business, imminent industry changes are designed to ensure traditional domestic cutting practices actually continue. According to Jim Taylor, general manager of the Western Newfoundland Model Forest, domestic cutting is one of the unique things about this province. “If you take all the rest of the domestic cutting in Canada, it would not come near equalling what we cut here in this province. We cut a huge amount of domestic firewood to stay warm,” Taylor tells The Independent. “We are certainly unique in North America … we are pretty much alone on this part of the globe. You go outside of St. John’s and just about every second person burns wood.” But as the forestry industry grows, and more and more commercial pres-
sure is put on the the forestry division. “It resource, domestic woodis difficult to get a good Fire wood facts: cutters are going to have handle on.” A cord of wood: approximately one pickup load to learn to evolve with That may change soon. Amount of wood a 1982 permit allowed: 12 cords the times. As the industry develops Amount of wood a 2006 permit allows: 3-5 cords Bill Clarke, district new products and marNumber of permits for Avalon issued in 1982: 12,000 manager with the kets for forest resources, Department of Natural there is a need to look Number of permits for Avalon issued in 2005: 3,500 Resources’ forestry divimore closely at what is Number of permits for province in 2005: 23,000 sion, is responsible for cut where and what it is Per cent more efficient dry or seasoned wood is over green: 15-30 the Avalon region, which used for. Cubic metres of wood cut on the Avalon peninsula in 1982: 200,000 has the largest population There is some competiCubic metres of wood cut on the Avalon peninsula in 2005: 30,000 and the smallest forest tion, for instance, as the reserves. He says sustaindemand for firewood ability and good forest management are provincial silviculture programs, Clarke comes up against industry demand for key to ensuring a steady supply. He, too, says, that’s a sustainable rate. pulpwood or saw logs, as well as the says the industry has changed. Domestic cutting has never received pressure from the tourist industry and In 1982, an unsustainable 200,000 the attention other provincial forestry environmental movement to leave the cubic metres of firewood was cut on the industries have, and that means official forest standing as part of the natural Avalon. Since then, there has been a statistics are hard to come by. Most are ecosystem. gradual decline, to below 30,000 annu- estimates based on the number or perThe province is hoping to get domesally. Several years ago, the rate began to mits sold. tic cutters to harvest stands not economclimb again, related, says Clarke, to the “It is a difficult thing to track. People ically useful to industry. rising price of alternate fuels used for come and get a permit and they go and “There is so much softwood and heating. cut it, but there is no requirement to hardwood that is not suitable for highLast year, 30,000 cubic metres of report back as with commercial opera- value product. Ideally we would want to firewood were cut on the Avalon. With tions,” says Barry Garland, also with direct people to that unused portion, or
to stands and residues that are not suitable for anything else,” says Garland. People need not worry about not being able to cut their own wood. He says the goal is to have reserves that are better managed as opposed to more commercialized — not to cut people off, just have the resource better directed. That has already started and has been ongoing for the last 20 years. Taylor says the domestic cutting permit, and commercially produced firewood, is still a good deal. “It really is a pretty good buy, if you stop to see what the rest of Canada has to pay for it,” says Taylor. “In the rest of Canada you might get a person buying a cord for $200 to $300, which is probably a third to half of a cord we would get, and they would use it only around Christmas time for the ambiance. “The way we tend to look at it is as a value. And it is a value some people tend to hold quite dearly.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
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4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
‘I’ll do anything’
Thousands line up for job fair; most willing to pack up and move west tomorrow By Ivan Morgan The Independent
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raig Gosse stands in line in the cold outside the Capital Hotel on Kenmount Road in St. John’s with his 18-year-old son Cameron. He’s not alone. Thousands of Newfoundlanders — men, women, children, old and young — stand patiently for hours in the cold for a chance to meet with Albertan oil company representatives at Newcap Radio’s Alberta at Work Job Fair. The line stretched out the door, around the hotel and way down into the back parking area. Gosse is there for his son. “I just got back (from Alberta) five days ago. I am trying to get my son on, and a few of my buddies. I’ve been working on the Long Lake Project (a northern Alberta oil sands operation) for eight months,” Gosse tells The Independent. “They’re taking apprentices for training, and you’re looking at anywhere between $26 to $28 dollars an hour. Why would you go to school here and be in debt for $25,000 when you can get paid while you learn in Alberta?” He wants his son to try that out. Inside, where it is warm, representatives from six Alberta companies — Concord, Nabors, ATCO, Teco, Syncrude, and Stuart Olsen — deal with the throngs of people crowded around their booths. Wayne Totsi stands in front of his. He works for ATCO Electric, Alberta’s privatized power utility. He’s overwhelmed.
He says his company cannot find enough people to set up power lines. “We have people working overtime and working long hours because we don’t have the people to do all the work,” he says. His company is looking into recruiting Newfoundlanders. They have already recruited workers from the Philippines. “We actually hired nine of them, and they are now getting adjusted to the culture, and the cold,” he says. The adjustment isn’t so difficult for Newfoundlanders. People have come from all over the island to stand in line: Burin, Random Island, King’s Point, Cobb’s Arm. Whole families came together. Elderly people came with their adult children, young couples with their little children. Some, when asked where they were from, qualified their residence: “Mount Pearl, but originally from Roddickton.” As journalists work the line, calls came from the crowd. “Danny Williams should be here himself,” shouts one. A woman grabs a journalist’s arm, asking softly “Are they looking for cleaners, love?” “This is how desperate people are in rural Newfoundland,” shouts another. Rance Abbott and Joe Marsh stand together, easily an hour from getting inside. Abbot is from Bonavista, March from Random Island. They drove to St. John’s in the hope of getting work. March says if he gets a job in Alberta, he won’t be back.
“What am I going to come back here for? I came home six years ago from Ontario. Thought I could make it — but $7 or $8 an hour’s not gonna do it,” he says. “And I worked all last night too, in a seniors home.” Someone makes another joke about Danny Williams — he is mentioned a lot — but the laughs are few and far between. Most people just stare ahead, or at the ground, waiting patiently. Some people are afraid to give their names, in fear their current employer might find out they were here. Godfrey Butler, of St. John’s, says “I don’t mind the long line-up if it pays off.” The people around him mutter in agreement. A well-dressed young man sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of ballcaps, jeans and bomber jackets. He doesn’t want to give his name. He says he will take any work he can get, but prefers restaurant work. One feels guilty for having a job. Joanne Taylor, Hughie Taylor, and Mike Billard drove from Burin to stand in the cold. They say they all chipped in for gas money for the long drive. “The premier ought to see all the smart young people here today. He’s not doing a very good job is he? Do you see all the young people in the line-up here today?” says Joanne. “Tell Danny we would have liked him to be here with us, will you? Please put that in your paper.” Inside the hotel the line winds through the lobby and down the corridor to a large room. The girl behind the checkout desk is getting testy with the people
Paul Daly/The Independent
waiting in line in front of her. “Could you please not block access to the counter,” she scolds. People shuffle apologetically out of her way. No one makes eye contact. The line moves forward. Inside the large room, cheerful looking people in company shirts talk to crowds gathered around each display. Dennis Lewandowski, with Syncrude, says he’s amazed by the turnout. His colleague Keith Hill is “flabbergasted.” “Some people are coming in and saying ‘I’ll do anything,’” says Lewandowski. “There’s so many who will do anything, or who are multi-skilled, but really don’t have a skilled background. We are very specific in what we are looking for.” Robert Woodford, a young fisherman from Cobbs Arm, wanders from booth to booth. He is looking to go to Alberta.
He says with a fiancé at home he’s not likely to move, but he is “fed up with the fishery,” and looking for a new line of work. He doesn’t care what — just not fishing. Outside, Placement Group representative Krista George and her colleagues are busy working the line, passing out flyers. They are looking for all manner of workers, skilled or unskilled. “As long as they are willing to relocate,” she says. Based in Calgary, she is originally from Mount Pearl. Close to the front door, Neil Doyle watches his wife, Carol, fuss over their twin five-and-a-half-year-old boys. He says he’d “take anything and leave tonight.” “There’s nothing for us here,” says Carol Doyle. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
‘I would love to come back’ From page 1
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Krista George, 27, is originally from Mount Pearl. She works with the Placement Group in Calgary. Unlike Hurdle, who recruits for one company, George’s employer represents many different companies looking for employees. She’s back in Newfoundland only briefly, organizing a job fair for her company, which has offices all across Canada, but not in Newfoundland. George says moving away to get work doesn’t have to be a permanent thing. She tells her recruits that moving away to get experience makes them more marketable. “I was at the (Avalon) Mall the other day and met a lady who has a masters degree. She went to school for eight to 10 years to obtain her masters, and she was actually serving me in a clothing store,” says George. “I spoke with her and she said ‘I can’t get a job because I don’t have the experience.’” George says going to Alberta for that experience makes sense. “The job we offer might be a stepping stone for someone to build their experience, because obviously with the labour shortage in Alberta you have opportunities to move up,” says George. “The turnover in Alberta is so great — it is a good opportunity for someone in Newfoundland without that experience.” While George says some of the companies she represents will pay their recruits to relocate, Hurdle says her potential employees have to get to Alberta on their own. Once there, however, she tries her best to help them get work. “The thing is with boys coming up, usually they’re broke. And they have to have their steeltoed boots, they have to have their gloves … they have to have a few dollars just to start,” says Hurdle. She says her company will usually put them up and give them a food allowance until their first cheque. She says most of their clients come from western Newfoundland. “Springdale must be an empty place right now,” she says. Hurdle says the work she offers is tough, and not for everyone. “We certainly love farmers and we certainly love fishermen. We know they have the work ethic. We know that they are used to long hours. It is long hours and it is hard work,” she says. “Some guys come up and work the winter (often in -30C) and go back to the fishery in the spring,” says Hurdle. “They’ll be calling us come September or October and they’re coming back, and we love them coming back.” George says many of her recruits will eventually return to the province. She says she might
Paul Daly/The Independent
even return herself — but not yet. “It’s home,” she says. “But right now if I was to come back here I would take a dramatic pay cut … when the time comes to raise a family, I would love to come back here. As would all my friends.” She says there are four people in her office from Newfoundland, and she has friends in Calgary from here, and they all feel the same way. She doesn’t see her job as taking people out of the province forever. “We don’t want to steal them forever,” she says. “The Newfoundland economy is growing right now and it is going to continue to grow. “We’ll all be back.” Hurdle says she is happy where she is — happy with her new life. “My husband has got an amazing job with Husky, and I am working with Precision, which is an amazing company,” she says. “And my sister is up here with her husband, and they are doing very well for themselves. There is nobody left back home. None of my friends are home.” Hurdle doesn’t have a Newfoundland accent. “Yeah,” she laughs, “I guess they made me get rid of it when I became a recruiter.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5
Parzival’s preening If forced to choose between a one-tune scholar and a grease-ball politician, Ray Guy chooses the latter RAY GUY
A Poke In The Eye
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don’t know what would happen if some academic suggested the population of Manitoba or of PEI be chopped in half. But some of us do recall the ruckshuns here when Dr. Parzival Copes, formerly Memorial University’s head of economics, made the same modest proposal regarding our own dear isle. Shit flew. Copes, who recently received Canada’s top gong, still blinks like an owl in a lightening storm about his Newfoundland experience. Surely, all he did was cast his pearls before swine. In 1972, Copes delivered a report on the future of the fishery and economy of Newfoundland. His conclusion was chastely simple. Half the population, 250,000, would just have to skeedaddle. Seems some simple. Reduce Newfoundlanders by half. The best place for 50 per cent of Newfoundlanders, according to Copes, was elsewhere. He was as scanty on his ideas as to what 250,000 of us would actually do “elsewhere” as he was selfsanctified in his conclusion that half of us had to jump ship and start rowing. Copes, with the sharp eye and beak of a vulture, ripped into the notion of “conventional wisdom,” professed astonishment that his dictum struck any knots at all and then skittered off to British Columbia with all the smug satisfaction of a sixmonth-old with a full diaper … all my own work. Lo, after many a long year, Copes reaps a headline in the local press again. Well, he got the Order of Canada. He once worked in Newfoundland. Stirred up a little fuss while he was here, didn’t he? We now have his own word on it: how right I was. How great I am. How wrong they were. He must have been greatly encouraged and felt rather redeemed when, last year, Memorial University of Newfoundland gave him an honourary degree ... when only these few decades ago he scarpered with sharp sticks to his bum. In 1994, Copes was given a prize for “controversy” from Simon Fraser University. He rather rolled around in the catnip of the fuss he had created in Newfoundland. There is no slacking in the arrogance we once knew and loved: “From my position, I now have the satisfaction,” he says, “of seeing my research vindicated and my credibility restored … and of being amused by the hyperbole with which national magazines now identify me as a brilliant prognosticator. “Of course, I take no pleasure in being proven right at the expense of the fishers of Newfoundland, who are the prime victims of the collective reliance on a conventional wisdom that has long outlived its usefulness.” He then proceeds, in typical Copesian fashion, to say that while the great economists of the nation all agreed with him they were quite content to let him bear the Newfoundland cross alone. Oh, Parzi, what a piece of work you were and are!
Today, with Newfoundland’s population dropping and thousands lined up around the block for something, anything, out west I wouldn’t venture a guess as to Copes’ current hat size. It wasn’t his face. It wasn’t his name. It wasn’t altogether his manner. But if I had to choose between someone who regarded human beings as little more than pins on a map and some oily politicians willing to ruin the fishery on behalf of their own sorry skins … I would have no hesitation in choosing the greaseball politician. Beware the specialist, the single-focus expert, the one-tune scholar. How will dear Parzival preen himself if and when, by hook or by crook, there really are only 250,000 left in Newfoundland? Any fool can sneer at “conventional wisdom” and play the selfappointed role of bad boy by, let us say, declaring that half the population of Canada must scatter to the U.S. Who can make some dust fly by doing so Parzival Copes and sit smug in his impish ways? Today, Newfoundland is bleeding population. The Williams administration won’t touch the subject with a 10-foot Parzival. The stink still lingers from “resettlement” which some might say had to be done even at the cost of gutting a generation. Back in the time, Smallwood put Colonel Alston on the job. The late George Story always claimed they arrived here as a pair, Alston and Bolston. But the Colonel’s last job before he stuck into the good work in Newfoundland was in “resettling” the thousands of European refugees after the Second World War. Strictly a “pins in the map” man was Alston as was Copes, who turned up on his heels. You can see how we were all a little gun-shy in the early 1970s after Alston lined up his moving barges and Copes reported that, wait!, moving them from the islands was only child’s play — moving half them off the island of Newfoundland is the more sophisticated thing to do. Today, when what used to be called “moving fever” is again in the air over Newfoundland, we’d do worse than remember the theories and times of both Alston and Copes and learn something. Let us not, as Copes scornfully proposes, give up on conventional wisdom altogether. We’ve been done over by “experts” and need not call in others to bomb us until the wreckage bounces. Experts? I make no comparison but the U.S. of A. grabbed the Nazi rocket scientist, Werner von Braun. He gave the U.S. some really great rockets but not much “conventional wisdom” to go along with them. There was a ditty: “I make zem go up. Who knows vere zey come down? Zat is not my concern,” says Werner von Braun. Ray Guy’s column returns Dec. 1.
Experienced snowplow operators move to Alberta; NAPE president worries about roads this winter By Mandy Cook The Independent
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APE president Carol Furlong says Newfoundland and Labrador will have a rough winter given so many seasoned snow plow operators have moved to Alberta and won’t be returning. A spokesman for the Transportation Department says government has a full fleet of operators and there is no cause for concern. “When the layoffs started, some of the workers went away to Alberta,” Furlong says. “Some of them we’re hearing now are not returning. We’re also hearing that because the ones who did come back this year came back with stories of the wage packages that there are, others have been enticed to go to Alberta and they’re taking a leave of absence.” The Williams administration introduced a pilot project in the summer of 2005 which saw the closure of 13 highway depots. The province’s highway equipment operators were laid off for the summer months, despite the need for summer maintenance work. Furlong says the operators are not just winter workers. “We’ve had rains and flooding,” she says. “We think a lot of that flooding could have been prevented had the people been available to do the work on the roads to do the proper maintenance on the highways.
“That’s the kind of work they do in the summer. They ensure the shoulders of the roads are cleared up, they fill in the culverts, they use the equipment to dig holes for signage. You need to have skilled workers to manipulate those big machines.” Dave Salter, communications director for the Transportation Department, says the province is ready for winter road clearing. “We have all of our operators in place,” says Salter. Furlong also says the lack of maintenance work on the roads during the summer will lead to deteriorating road conditions from winter wear. “It’s not just for the snow, this is all year the maintenance on the roads need to be carried out, otherwise we’re going to find a couple of years down the road where the roads once again are going to be in such a deplorable state no one is going to be able to drive on them.” Furlong says the workers do not feel there is any incentive to return to a job only to be laid off in the summer months. She says they are part of a “very loyal” workforce and feel they have been let down by their employer. “These are the people who were always ready at a moment’s notice to jump into these big machines and go out on the roads whenever needed … the closure of these depots has been more devastating than I anticipated. Pardon the pun, but they’re driving the snow plow operators out of the province.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
Mark Griffin, Charlotte Courage, Lesley Bishop in Harbourside Park.
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We owe it to them’ Social work students can’t let project go; planning homelessness forum for next week By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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wo weeks ago, The Independent published the story of three social work students who wanted a glimpse into the world of the homeless. For 24 hours, Lesley Bishop, Charlotte Courage and Mark Griffin lived on the streets of downtown St. John’s. Even though their experiment was short, and proper safety precautions were taken, the three were surprised at how demoralized they became — they were ignored by passers by, turned away from or kicked out of places. It was nearly impossible to find information about food banks, soup kitchens or shelters. The cold October night they spent on park benches was more conducive to anxiety and eavesdropping on drug deals than sleep. Since then, the trio has received more media attention — and plenty of feedback. Not content to let their experience fade, they’re planning a public forum for Nov. 7. “We’re going to give our presentation and then, after that, we’ll have discussion groups,” says Griffin. “We’re not going to have all the answers, we know that, and we’re hoping that people will bring us the information they have and we’ll all talk.” During their 24 hours on the streets, the three were refused food at one food bank (for not having their MCP cards), and weren’t able to find out about a daily soup kitchen until after it closed. Officials at RNC headquarters and the hospital were of no help. Although the students are disappointed they haven’t heard from those organizations yet, all have specifically been invited to the upcoming meeting. If they don’t turn up, the trio says they’ll try to arrange a separate meeting with them. “It’s not a chance to place blame,” says Courage. “But we really are looking for ideas and we really think everyone has a voice. Homelessness affects such a broad section of the population. “We’re just three students who think, we think we’re really on to something, but we need a lot of help and partnership.” “Awareness is key,” adds Bishop. “Before September (when she began a work placement at Choices for Youth), I never could imagine the wide scope of the problem … and it’s not any-
one’s fault but they don’t realize it.” One of the key things the students would like to see is an information card, listing phone numbers for shelters, food banks, help lines and other services, in the hands of anyone who may need it — bar staff, store owners, hospital workers, police officers, and so on. That way, at least, those who ask for help may be pointed in the right direction. “The homeless still don’t have access to information,” says Griffin. “That’s something that’s more easily solved.” On individual levels, the students say they’ve all received response from their work. “A lot of people were kind of like, ‘You didn’t spend all night on a bench, did you?’ — yes, we did,” says Courage. “Family and parents are really proud of what we did, that we’ve taken initiative, and say that more people need to step outside the box they’re in … if you feel passionately about something, you need to step up and do something about it.” Bishop says a family friend, after hearing about the project, bought sandwiches for some youth she saw on the street. “On that level, I’ve received a good response,” says Bishop. “People who didn’t realize that there was homelessness like that … but giving someone a toonie, or a sandwich, it’s good on an individual level, but we’re hoping for something on a larger level.” Griffin laughs. He says he’s been recognized, now, thanks to the media coverage. He recently stopped by a supermarket to buy a sandwich. “And the guy behind me was, like ‘So, you’re not hungry now, are you, b’y?’” Although they took the project on to fulfill a requirement for the fourth year social work program, the students have gone beyond their course outline — and what they would be graded on. “It’s something we really feel passionate about,” says Courage. “We can’t let it go. There are way too many people going to be out on the streets tonight or going to be on the streets this week … we owe it to them, that our experience not just be our experience. That we share it.” The public presentation and forum is scheduled for Nov. 7, at the Choices for Youth building on Carter’s Hill Place, St. John’s, 9:30-11 a.m. Space is limited, so anyone wishing to attend the forum is asked to RSVP at cmsrj@nfld.net.
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6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
Happy Make-Work Day M
onday past was Make-Work Day in Newfoundland and Labrador. You probably missed it, overshadowed by the bigger headline of the week — Alberta job fair chips last few lichen from Rock. The office crowd at the Capital Hotel on Kenmount Road are probably still kicking themselves for not charging a cover fee. The jobless horde (about the population of Gander) wouldn’t have been able to cram into Mile One. The ragtag assembly reminded me of New Orleans and the crowd that fled to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina last fall. Nothing like a national catastrophe (in our case, the fall of the fisheries), combined with an Alberta gold rush, to draw the suffering to the surface. Make-Work Day falls in line with the official announcement each fall of the total amount earmarked by the provincial government to help people qualify for employment insurance — $12.4 million in 2006. That’s half of the $25 million initially set aside last year, although only about $10.5 million was actually spent. Government overestimated the amount of help that would be needed as a result of the devastation in Harbour Breton and Fortune, as well as the fiasco in the 2005 crab fishery (bet-
RYAN CLEARY
Fighting Newfoundlander
ter too much make-work than not enough). The years 2003 and 2004 were relatively tame in terms of make-work spending — $4.25 million apiece. “Employment will be provided through funding community projects that strive to provide an enduring benefit to communities,” acting Municipal Affairs Minister John Ottenheimer said to rather light fanfare (most hands were off trying to book passage to Alberta). The thing about enduring benefits is there has to be someone around to appreciate them. “As minister responsible for employment support programs, my department recognizes the challenge faced by fish plant workers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.” The Danny Williams government may recognize the challenges plant workers face, but, like the administrations before it, this government doesn’t appear to have a sweet clue what to do about them. (At one point, former pre-
mier Clyde Wells announced an end to make-work — premature jubilation.) The wage rates on most make-work projects hover around $6.75 an hour — which should do absolutely nothing to stem the out-migration tide (it may probably push it along). By rights, Make-Work Day should be declared a provincial holiday like Labour Day, only a cheaper, artificial version. On that special day we could all, each and every one of us, write a thank-you to Danny on a good-sized rock and cart it to the nearest community wharf project for proper planting. We could write messages on more rocks and throw them in Ottawa’s direction, in gratitude for Confederation’s many blessings (EI being chief among them). All isn’t well in Dannyland (which, if the premier was to ask me, would have been the perfect wording for the new marketing brand — Dannyland, plus a clenched fist shaking westward). The collapse of the outports has never been more obvious; likewise, government’s complete inability to do anything about it. But then there’s not much government can do besides create the right environment for private enterprise to make a go of it. Therein lies the rub — the right environment hasn’t been cre-
All isn’t well in Dannyland (which, if the premier was to ask me, would have been the perfect wording for the new marketing brand — Dannyland, plus a clenched fist shaking westward). ated. Nothing has been done to bring about the return of fish stocks. The debate rages over whether anything can even be done (I’m a believer). More than one reader has asked The Independent why it bothers to continue writing fish stories. Partly because the industry problems are never solved, partly because we’re tied to the sea. Simple. Canada’s social programs may be the envy of the world, but they have inadvertently rotted our work ethic to the core. Our way of life stopped being real a generation or two ago. Rural New-
foundland needs a new blueprint for survival — and politicians with the balls to present it and follow it through. This place is in desperate new of a new breed of entrepreneurs with the tenacity and attitude to make rural Newfoundland and Labrador work. Besides creating the conditions for the fish to someday return, why can’t we do a better job of marketing the few fish we have? Wild fish from the North Atlantic are the highest quality product in the world — you’d think the highend markets of the Eastern Seaboard would pay a fortune to have a bit of fresh fish flown in from a family fish business in New Harbour or Arnold’s Cove or Port aux Choix or Bonavista. There may not be much product left, but that should boost the price. Direct flights between New York or Boston or London once or twice a week would be just the ticket. Government can’t solve our problems — only the people can. The byelection loss in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi was a message to the provincial Tories — don’t get too cocky or comfortable in your Confederation Building castle. All is not perfect in the Kingdom of Dannyland. Not as long as Make-Work Day is celebrated. ryan.cleary@hotmail.com
YOUR VOICE A job for ex-pats Dear editor, Just a note that may be of some worth in our ongoing battle with the federal government, and also to educate central Canadians on past and present issues that could have a huge impact on our province’s financial viability. The Rick Mercer Report of Oct. 24 highlighted a few of the issues that Newfoundland and Labrador is trying to achieve with no success — due to the federal government’s non-interest. A couple of examples: fallowfield legislation, as well as the province’s inability to get an equity stake in the oil industry, which Alberta already enjoys! The point of this note is that television programs of this nature have a vast audience from coast to coast … what better way than to use this media network to get our message out! I would think other well-known ex-pats Newfoundlanders would be
eager to get behind the cause and convey to the folks up-along the struggle and frustration that we face here on the Rock. A few names that come to mind: Rex Murphy, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Gordon Pinsent, Seamus O’ Regan. I’m sure I have missed many. I would like to think that if enough high-profile folks get involved that it would make a significant impact. Large numbers of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians live across this country, and we all know an election is not far away. We have to change the tunnel vision of the Margaret Wentes and Jeffery Simpsons, who spew the venom of Upper Canada. We certainly can’t count on the federal government. I intentionally didn’t mention politicians. They have been a part of the problem — it’s unlikely that they could/will be part of the solution. Bill Surette, Harbour Grace
Zachary Turner died of gender bias Dear editor, I am somewhat bemused at all the head scratching regarding the murder of Zachary Turner and the fact that no one has spoke the simple truth about how it occurred. Zachary Turner was the most tragic and innocent victim to date of the gender bias that pervades the Newfoundland and Labrador justice system. Shirley Turner was granted bail and custody of Zachary due to this bias. It is highly unlikely that a man charged with murdering his female spouse in the U.S. and who fled to Newfoundland would be granted bail while awaiting an extradition hearing.
He certainly wouldn’t have been granted sole, unsupervised custody of a young child — regardless of his lack of criminal history or high level of education. All violence is wrong and each case should be dealt with in an equitable manner regardless of the sex of the offender and the victim. Until such time as the police, Crown attorneys, victim services and even some judges are willing to look beyond their comfortable politically correct stereotype mentality that caused this problem, no solution will be found. Glenn Stockley, St. John’s
Whitbourne boys wait for justice Dear editor, I cannot understand how Premier Danny Williams can say he stands up for all of us when he and his government are still ignoring the victims of the old Whitbourne boys home. We have been waiting now for justice for over 30 years, and it seems like we are going to have to wait even longer before anything is resolved and we
can get on with our lives. Please, Mr. Williams, I beg of you on behalf of the other victims, could you please give this important matter your attention and let us pick up the pieces of what is left of our lives. Thank you. Tony Edwards, Mount Pearl
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When we were Vikings H
ollywood is free enterprise run by a communist on acid. It exists to make money but is regulated by a bloated bureaucracy of trickle down ass kicking and the sounds of people sucking up. Any half-decent entrepreneur in the world would fire the lot of them. That being said, what a blast it is to be an extra in an honest to goodness big-budget Hollywood movie. The Outlander is a sci-fi alien Viking horror action flick being shot in Halifax with a location in Lark Harbour in the Bay of Islands near Corner Brook. When I heard the casting call for large hairy white men I knew it was made for me. I arrived in Corner Brook (the prettiest mill town on the planet, for what that’s worth) at 9 p.m. and found out I was expected to be on the bus to Lark Harbour at 2 a.m. for an early call. I did the smart thing and drank a bottle of wine on an empty stomach and slept for about two hours. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined the lack of coffee I encountered when the bus arrived at the church the movie people had contracted in Lark Harbour. God is definitely asleep to have let the heathen into his basement without coffee or refreshments of any kind. I had to steal a coffee from a make-up lady, guzzle the sugary swill and go outside to vomit in the wet grass. Tired and disgusted I was stuffed into a sleeveless Viking Warrior costume and placed in a frozen bog facing brutal onshore winds and rain while the star of this piece, James Caviezel, learned how to use a bow and arrow. His only task, a task that was costing about $100,000 an hour, was to shoot a flaming arrow out to sea. It took all day. No one seemed in charge. When I realized I wasn’t cold anymore, I noticed my spear on the ground and my hand still welded into spear-gripping position. I was hypothermic and entering giddiness, my body like vulcanized rubber. Yet I couldn’t leave. This was the movies, the living expression of our culture, our dreams and our memories.
DOUG BIRD
Guest Column How could I walk away from that? I wasn’t going to bail on all the other people standing around me either. We bonded then, having been in the wars together, united by our mistreatment and proud of our stupidity like youngsters taking foolish risks. I stood in that bog staring out to sea, swearing I would not return … only to find myself back at 4 a.m. the next day, laughing easily with people I suddenly knew. I met the best people in the extra business, most of them simply wanting to be heroes to their families, cuddling up on the couch for Dad’s three seconds of fame. I was picked along with another extra to be one of the warriors that pulled the ropes on the gangplank of the Viking warship. When the director liked the take of my friend’s face and gave him the chance at some real face time in the movie, I high fived my friend with all the joy that will be in the room when he is watching it with his family. When people get together simply for an experience their whole minds are open and the experience is amplified by sharing it with others. We also came together in the realization that a good elementary school teacher could manage the movie chaos better than any of the people in charge. It’s easy for me to be glib, as I have no real stake in the project. It is not my life or career. Maybe I don’t understand the pressure a person feels as they piss away millions of dollars. I could stand in the bog and enjoy the spectacle,
But what started as a healthy contempt for all of them eased into a grudging respect.
never worrying about being discovered. But what started as a healthy contempt for all of them eased into a grudging respect. After all, every institution has its politics and the alternate posturing and brown-nosing of the movie business is not much different than that of a bank, except the people who are actually interesting. An extra is in the best position to enjoy the making of a movie. On the second day I stood with my new fast friends on a hill overlooking the entire harbour as the action unfolded. No joke was left untold, no words held back by the restraints of normal life. We were Vikings, our King was dead and we were sure the best tribute to him was to laugh until we ourselves perished from exhaustion. Helicopter cams whirred overhead. Cranes whipped cameras along side the flaming ship. It was Apocalypse Now with half the napalm and no one particularly caring how crazy the Colonel was. The atmosphere was open and free. It made me feel young. They do not put ugly women in movies, although that rule does not apply to men, yours truly a fine example. There were beautiful women everywhere (some I think found me charming). I love my partner more than she will ever believe for the dignity, joy and laughter she brings into my life but it doesn’t hurt to know one other beautiful woman in the world might have me. Then the horror of the thought overwhelmed me and my family life flashed before my eyes. I internalized how much I love my life and family and how lucky I was to be laughing myself hoarse in such good company. I had a holiday that skirted the fringes of bohemia — a little smoke, a little booze and a lot of laughs. I sucked in all that crazy energy and let it out ravenous for family life and happy with every decision I ever made. Not a bad week. Doug Bird, The Independent’s cartoonist, lives in Holyrood.
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7
Cutting down another generation I
am old enough and lucky enough to clearly remember my great-grandfather. He was very old when I was very young, but the connection is there. He was born in 1878 and it is now 2006 — that is quite a generational span. He was a beloved St. John’s doctor, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army, and a front line doctor in the First World War who invented the gas mask. He was, as we would say today, the alpha male of his time, and still a serious dude in his 80s. I remember him, and I got to know him through reading his letters and other writing. We don’t have a lot in common. He was class bound (upper), had an almost fascist disdain for politics, was a true believer in raw capitalism, and yet was, paradoxically, generous to a fault with his patients. There is one trait we share — we are both passionate Newfoundlanders. The defining event of his and his sibling’s lives was the First World War. It was devastating. It was said his sister — my great aunt, who I also remember — never married, in memory of her
IVAN MORGAN
Rant & Reason suitors who were killed in the War. No family in Newfoundland was untouched. It was said Newfoundland’s political and economic troubles were brought on by the death of so many young men. The “flower of a generation” was cut down, so they weren’t here to save us from Commission of Government, or perhaps even Confederation. Or perhaps they would have embraced both. We will never know. I was raised to believe we paid a terrible price for their loss. It is something my ancestors wanted me to understand and remember. It was important to them, and they wanted it to be important to me. It is, if you will, an important inter-generational message. Which brings me to our own, less troubled times. Mercifully, the flower
YOUR VOICE ‘The story was great to come home to’ Dear editor, I just wanted to send a quick thanks for the great job Mandy Cook did with my story in the Oct. 13 edition (‘I can’t escape it’, Music has always been part of Karla Pilgrim’s life — from her earliest days in a bassinette under the piano at church, to her current job as a gigging musician. Next stop: Nashville.) The story was great to come home to. Just so you know, I won’t be the next Nashville star, but I made some great contacts and con-
of our youth isn’t being slaughtered. tics. How many have we lost? Are the Certainly we have brave men and best and the brightest going? How do women in Afghanistan, and the loss of we define the term “best and brighteven one is inconceivable, but it is not est”? Are we losing our leaders? Our comparable to the “war to end all entrepreneurs? Our doctors, nurses, and wars.” teachers? What about Our young are those of us who stay? There is even work whole, and healthy, Do we have desirable and leaving. They are characteristics too, or for the philosophy leaving to go elseare we only the ones where for opportunitoo old, to stubborn, department. Is this ties this province canor with no initiative? not offer them. love of place a curse? Or is it the other What will be the way? Are the only future effect of their people left going to loss? With so much talk about out- be oil company employees, bureaucrats migration, and with the Williams gov- and people on social assistance? What ernment launching consultations all does this massive out-migration mean over the place, is anyone asking the in the long term? What will be the cost? question: what will be the long-term Or is there no impact? Perhaps this is effect of so many leaving? all much ado about nothing. Perhaps it is time for the university to So much work is being done to look launch a multi-disciplinary study. With at our forest, fishery, and mining indusan election in a year, and the political tries. But the trees are cut, the fish rhetoric factories gearing up, maybe we caught and the ore dug for someone need a reality check. I think we need else, not us. Couldn’t we have a look at real numbers from an independent something that really affects every last source, not dubious government statis- (and here’s a bitter quote) mother’s son
(and daughter) of us? Could our economists, sociologists, political scientists, and historians give this some attention? Could a framework of study be hammered out? Could some money be found? The university would ensure no political interference tainted the outcome. There is even work for the philosophy department. Is this love of place a curse? Is the need to look around and say, “this is my home” nothing more than the romantic nonsense some say it is? Should economics be the sole guide of our lives? Politicians will be bawling for the next year about issues that affect us. It would be nice to get some hard data to guide us through the storm. Who’s leaving, how many of them are there, and what does their loss mean for the fools like myself, who would never consider leaving. Will my great-grandchildren study in history class about the generation cut down in Europe, and the one that bloomed in Alberta? ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
NDP TAKE IT
nections while I was there and will be going back in the summer to follow up on some things. Also, I loved the picture with the article, so if you wouldn’t mind passing that along that would be awesome! I am working on getting a website up and getting my debut album done for a summer release so keep you’re eyes and ears open for that. Thanks again for your support. Karla Pilgrim, St. John’s
Time for government to get serious Dear editor, This most recent fisheries consultation process being touted by Premier Danny Williams is, in my opinion, nothing but more political chicanery. If there was serious intent on the part of the government to do something meaningful about the terrible state of the fisheries and associated demise of rural Newfoundland, the focus would be: first, on demanding compensation from the feds for the destruction caused by their mindless mismanagement and abuse of the resource; second, on the restructuring of DFO (that useless and self-serving bureaucratic regime head-
quartered on the Rideau); third, on increased funding for scientific research so essential for any rebuilding of the stocks; and fourth, on ending the uncontrolled pillaging by foreign fishing fleets operating both inside and outside our economic zone. It seems that in all those areas the status quo is fine. It is only as it relates to the relatively helpless fisher folk that drastic changes have to be made in order to further accommodate the failure of their political leaders to properly manage and protect the resource. Lloyd Rees, Conception Bay South
NDP leader Lorraine Michael (left) is congratulated by Progressive Conservative candidate Jerome Kennedy and Premier Danny Williams after her Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi byelection win Wednesday night. Michael received 1,968 votes to Kennedy’s 1,595, a difference of 373 votes. Jack Harris (second from left), who passed the NDP leadership position on to Michael after 16 years, was on hand for the celebrations. Voter turnout for the byelection was pegged at 43 per cent. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘This province needs investigative journalism’ Dear editor, If the pitcher plant is ubiquitous, why haven’t I seen a photograph in The Independent? Is government vindictive toward a medium that digs up a few fingers with rusty rings? I cannot believe the crowd on the hill would use my
taxes to attempt to silent a strong democratic voice. I don’t mind a few bucks being shared among all media to promote the new logo, even though it doesn’t grow on rocks as government literature states. What has become of fair and open
Credit where credit isn’t due Dear editor, The announcement of the influx of dollars and hopefully the full-time jobs promised last week by Cooke Aquaculture in Belleoram is great news for the coast of bays. The Danny Williams government could not hold back the enthusiasm and excitement of the day, with every member jumping to the media to celebrate and take credit for the jobs and financial benefits that accompany the announcement for rural Newfoundland. The PC government played little or no part in bringing Cooke to Belleoram, the island and the benefits of the island itself brought to Cooke. Cooke did not come to Belleoram because of the investment of the provincial government (remember Stephenville, the investment of $150 million did not get the paper mill to remain open). The PC
government is starved to take credit for something, anything positive that happens outside the overpass and is first to claim bragging rights. Whether it is a broken down ferry, a closed fish plant or a paper mill, the PC government is nowhere to be seen. I say to Tom Rideout, who stated the jobs were not on Water Street but in rural Newfoundland, this was due mainly because freshly hatched salmon would not survive in St. John’s harbour, it has nothing to do with his government promoting rural Newfoundland, although they like to take credit. I say to the members of the House of Assembly: get back to governing the province instead of spending time cheerleading the premier or playing the part of a puppet — all the residents of the province do not wear blinkers. Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl
government? Do they want golden bells on their toes? I’m waiting for guilty parties to be brought to justice. What’s happening with the political spending scandal investigation over all these months? Are the politicians waiting for time to dim public memories, so rings won’t
shine too brightly by election time next October? This province needs investigative journalism. Those who make laws, people receiving the second highest political salaries in the country, ministers who refuse to increase the country’s lowest
minimum wage, can be assured that the voice of democracy will be alive and well long after their political ashes are scattered by the shifting winds. Jim Combden, Badger’s Quay
How about a ban, Dan? Dear editor, Something about the job fare held earlier this week in St. John’s rubs me the wrong way. Why is our government not banning this sort of recruitment from outside entities looking for our work force? If people want to leave on their own free will without any external influence, that’s fair. Never in our history has our province been in such a crisis regarding out-migration. If ever we needed our government to put a plan in place to stop such a mass exodus of our people the time is now. If things were different, and the people drain was not such a huge issue, well then in that case, there is nothing wrong with outside recruiters because of the healthy balance of people coming and going. So Danny, step up to the plate and say no to these leaches seducing our most valuable resource (no premier it’s not the precious oil I speak of — it’s our people). If you are serious about out-migration take this step and say no to outside job fairs. Roger Linehan, St. John’s
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9
IN CAMERA
Ned Pratt says he has no problem switching gears between assignments. He could be on an industrial site, shooting a musician at work, putting together a corporate report, standing on the barrens of the Avalon Peninsula, or shooting a decaying fish in his freezer: each picture is high-end, well considered, and has a bit of himself in it. For the final installment of The Independent’s series of guest-photo portfolios, Pratt has selected examples of his sumptuous, striking work.
‘Face and eyes into it’ By Stephanie Porter The Independent
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ed Pratt says it was the “speed of photography” that initially drew him into his current
career. He later came to appreciate the freedom the medium gave him to create, document events, explore emotions, and spend time with objects of beauty — though not always in the traditional sense of the word. Photography wasn’t the first career Pratt tried on. He has an undergrad degree in art history from Acadia, and studied a year of architecture at the University of British Columbia. He went on to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he originally intended to study painting. But the required photography
course there caught him off guard. He enjoyed the process and the results he got — and hasn’t turned back. He laughs as he thinks back. “I often wonder if, maybe now would be a good time to go back to architecture school,” he says. “Because I’ve lived in buildings now, I have a sense of what a building should do, what a house should be … then I was so young, maybe I could have designed a dorm room, that was about it. “But it’s too slow a process for me. I like things to be quick. One of the reasons I pursued photography instead of painting … the speed of photography was something I really enjoyed. “I do daydream about painting sometimes, but I don’t ever do it. I feel like I’ve made the right decisions. I like what I do.” After graduating in 1990, Pratt
started his career with the Sunday Express as a photojournalist — where speed is certainly a virtue. When the paper folded in 1991, Pratt set up his own business, which is still going strong. Pratt’s studio on Brine Street in downtown St. John’s looks a bit like a yellow barn from the outside. Inside, the high ceilings, white walls and raw wood surround a flexible, airy, and unpretentious workspace. The darkroom, virtually unused for two years, is slowly being taken over by files of printed work, and equipment new and old. Pratt has come to embrace digital technology almost completely — the one exception being his breathtaking and vast landscape photographs, which are still taken on film. “It sort of rejuvenated my interest in
photography,” he says. “The new technology got me interested in experimenting once again … as soon as I realized the plusses of it, I couldn’t wait to get face and eyes into it.” VERSATILE These days, Pratt travels frequently across the country on commercial, industrial and corporate jobs. He still does portraits, publicity shots, food photography and shoots artwork. “I’ve been working away, trying to keep the business as versatile as I can, because it has to be,” he says. Whether shooting film or digital, Pratt says he’s always preferred to work with medium or large-format cameras (meaning, in film terms, the actual size of the negative is larger) — providing great detail, clarity and always high-end work.
And that’s not all. “I’m always trying to keep up with my own work and trying to subsidize that end of things,” he says. Pratt, the art photographer, is represented by Christina Parker Gallery in St. John’s. He’s had a number of solo and group exhibitions over the years, and he’s working on a couple of bodies of work that may evolve into future shows. (“Although that doesn’t always matter to me,” he says. “Sometimes just doing it is enough, and if the pictures end up in a box, I’m just as happy.”) One, a series of photos of a salmon, was inspired by a dream. “When I was a kid, my father (artist Christopher Pratt) and I had the same dream: that you would be out fishing for salmon, and the salmon would come in, and instead of being this
wonderful, strong, silver thing, it would be this dead, decaying mass,” he says. “It was an incredibly disappointing dream. And I always have this nightmare in times of stress.” Pratt decided to photograph a salmon — starting off fresh and complete — over and over, taking it out of the freezer for a photo session every four months. “The thing that’s sort of interesting, as this thing starts to deteriorate, it’s still beautiful. It’s not silver or pristine any more, but … there’s all these great textures and colours and it still photographs beautifully even though it’s repulsive. So it’s a lovely thing. “It’s about beauty in places you don’t necessarily look for it. It’s sort of nice when you’re a photographer because … you don’t feel there’s lots of people looking at it, thinking it’s
beautiful. You’re on your own, it’s your own idea. “Maybe you’re spending time with less-than-beautiful things, but you’re still enjoying it.” The fish looks a little worse for wear — and due for another round of portraits just before Christmas. Pratt’s other new body of work is a series of nudes. He says his first attempts at shooting nude models was stiff — he wasn’t able to relax, and couldn’t help his models relax. Realizing this, he changed tactics. SCULPTURAL “Instead of trying to soften it up, I’d try to stiffen her up,” he says. A makeup artist painted the model completely white, stone-like, and Pratt photographed her against a black background.
“We wanted to make it as sculptural as possible,” he says. To give the illusion of missing limbs, they painted arms and legs black, so they faded into the background. The result is stark, transfixing, and gorgeous. “It wound up for me being a way for me to deal with (shooting nudes),” he says. “It looks visceral but also very beautiful — but not easily beautiful.” When he has time, Pratt still enjoys driving around the Avalon Peninsula, shooting the landscape. His pieces are generally large, favouring barrens or wide expanses of fields or water. Again, the shapes are stark, and engaging. “I always look for the subtle things that break that line of the horizon,” he says. “I look for things that have a lot of room around them, a lot of air around them, like the landscape does
itself. That’s what always catches my eye. “I like putting things in the middle. I’d like to have a show just called Stuff in the middle, just simple shapes with a lot of air … I think of it as clean composition. Not clean as in sparse, or sterile, but clean in the sense you don’t feel tempted to look outside the frame for more information. It’s selfcontained.” For publication in The Independent, Pratt chose primarily portrait work — but the examples run the gamut, from his first published newspaper photo (the three mischievous children) to a publicity shot of fiddler Dannette Eddy to corporate work. Two pieces from his statue shoot are also included. Getting ready to zip off to New Brunswick on another assignment,
Pratt seems to take it all in stride, treating each shot with as much care and importance as the last — whether it’s of a lawyer, a telephone pole, a celebrity, or a dead fish. “It’s all your own work,” he says. “No matter what you photograph, you’re responsible for the end product. Your own work, it just depends how collaborative it is. In a commercial shoot, you collaborate with art directors and clients — you put your spin on things but give them what they need. “When you’re working on your own things, your responsibility is to yourself. It’s not hard, it’s kind of interesting. The trick is, when you’re done working, make sure you have the energy to keep working for yourself.” stephanie.porter@theindependent.ca
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
LIFE STORY
‘The road of a lifetime’ Verner Morgan of Upper Gullies witnessed the sinking of The Bismark By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent VERNER ALLEN MORGAN 1919-2006
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erner Morgan was many things: father, husband, grandfather, uncle, brother, friend. He also served in the Second World War and deserves to be honoured for the contributions and the sacrifices he made at that time — and all through his 86 years. Spencer Morgan has warm memories of his father who, by all accounts, was kind, loving, and incredibly gentle. He says his father was “excellent in every way you can mention or imagine.” His father had one mood. “His way was a patient way,” he says. Morgan’s wife of 63 years, Marion (nee Tilley) mourns her husband’s absence and proudly displays their memories on every wall in her home. “He was a perfect husband, a perfect father, he was always around. Being out in the garden made him the happiest, and the proudest,” she says, admiring the fall colours that envelop her pretty home. “All that beauty just isn’t the same without him around to share it with. I go out on the deck and remember the times we Verner Morgan in his Navy days spent out there. But like his favourite passage in the Bible, to everything there is a season, and as sad as I am, time has still the tale to wide-eyed grandchildren, describing how The passed.” Bismarck was upside down with only one-quarter of the bow Morgan didn’t speak much about his time in the war. “Our above the water when he saw her. They were not assigned to grandkids were the ones who were curious, and they would pick up the survivors — that task was for smaller ships. come and ask questions from time to time,” Marion says. He spent 22 months on the ship that sank The Bismarck. She says she got a shock one day when one of them asked While his boat was being refitted, he went to Portsmouth what he thought of the Germans at the time of the war. Barracks where he trained for the Dieppe raid. He also “He paused and said, ‘I suppose they were only doing what served for a short time on the submarine P-31 Seawolf. they had to do, they were told to do it, so they did it.’ That Morgan was later sent to Halifax, where he worked at the was Verner’s way, not to blame, but I was shocked he felt that depot driving the trucks that supplied the ships he once way, to hear it put that way made sense,” she says. sailed on. The last year of the war he was transferred to Fleet While many who enlisted were unemployed, Morgan, at Air Arm Base in Seaborn, N.S. In November, 1945, he 21, left a job with United Towns Electric Company, where he returned home, his tour of duty over. earned $12 a week, to serve in the Royal Navy. He returned to Upper Gullies, and to the wife he had marHe was sent to Skaghness, England for six week of train- ried while on an eight-day leave. He was welcomed back at ing. During his first night there, he experienced his first air the United Towns Electric Company (now Newfoundland raid. He was sent on a torpedo course in Gangees, England, Power) where he worked as supervisor of the line department before joining the crew on the HMS King George V. until his retirement in 1983. The ship sailed to Reykjavik, Iceland where American “The 20 years of his retirement we spent out here,” Marion convoys carried their supplies. The King George V took the says of her deck. “Every day we sat together and read the supplies on to Russia. Morgan served as a shell gunner on Bible side by side.” gun No. 3, in the front of the ship. His job was to put the shell He was her good friend, her life partner, and he valued his into the gun. family as much as they valued him. “He used to say he was One evening in May 1941, while at Scapa Flow, the crew on the road a lifetime — gone for the war, gone on the road watched the HMS Hood and the HMS Prince of Wales, for work — so he just valued being home and being out in accompanied by some escorting vessels, set sail. Morgan’s the yard at the flowers and at the vegetables.” ship left port later that evening. The next morning he heard She proudly displays a pantry full of things they grew and rumblings the Hood had been sunk and all on board went canned together in his last year. down. The captain confirmed the rumours, and told them that “We just did everything together,” she says as she watches the Prince of Wales had been put out of commission. the leaves fall and sorts through their many photographs, The King George V would now be engaging the German their lifetime of memories. battleship, The Bismarck, before the day was done. Bags of apples from the tree in the garden lie on the back While Morgan didn’t see much from his position behind porch, waiting to be turned into something wonderful. “It’s the gun, as The Bismarck sank all hands were called on deck that time of year again,” she says. to watch and experience their place in history. He recounted There is, it seems, a season for everything.
‘Doctor in your backyard’ From page 1 lifestyle,” she says. Dr. Ed Hunt, medical consultant for the Department of Health, says he is unaware of any shortage of doctors in central Newfoundland. He says Central Health has done an “exceptional job” recruiting Newfoundland-trained doctors to the area and the Norris Arm clinic closure is a loss of convenience — not care — to the residents of that community. “These are private physicians who made their own personal deci-
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sions to set up clinics in those communities,” he says. “If a private physician goes there, as a government official we would not have any control over that, nor any control over why they would not continue to go there. “It’s nice to have a doctor in your backyard but whether or not you actually need one 15 minutes drive away, the community and the region would have to speak to that.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
Newfoundland and Labrador statistics for 2005-2006, as of March 31, 2006 Number of practicing physicians: 971 Number of general practitioners: 471 Number of fee-for-service GPs: 338 Number of salaried GPs: 133 Average physician age: 46 (287 physicians under the age of 40; 137 over the age of 60)
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11
AROUND THE BAY The New Industries – Eckhart Knitting Mills at Brigus employs 100 people. Adlers an English chocolate firm which transferred its whole plant from England is putting out a good product with 100 employees. Koch shoes in Harbour Grace are turning out four hundred pairs a day. Fifty per cent of its goods are sold outside the province. It employs 150 persons. — The Stephenville News, Oct.12, 1957 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “This country has already spoken in no uncertain way as to whether solicitors of large corporations, which may have dealings with the government, shall become its prime minister. In 1900, when Mr. Movine then solicitor for the Reid Newfoundland Company, made a bid for the premiership, he was whipped to a frazzle.” – Hon. J.S. Currie — The St. John’s Daily Star, Oct. 23, 1919
The big winners? Clockwise from top: Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann of Great Big Sea; Sherry Ryan; Tim Baker of Hey! Rosetta. Paul Daly photos/The Independent
‘A bit of a sweep’ From page 1 Sunday Morning. Joy Norman, Sherry Ryan, Jacinda Beals, Colleen Power and Cherie Pyne are nominated for Female Artist of the Year. This one is tougher to call, but I’ll say it’s Sherry Ryan this time. Joy Norman is coming up fast, though. Call it pro-Townie bias if you will, but I’m going to make a bold prediction and give Hey Rosetta! a bit of a sweep in the New Artist/Group, Pop/Rock Group and Album of the Year. The year 2005 was one of big shows, recording and touring for this band formed in 2004. It’s great stuff if you haven’t heard it, and the buzz is hitting other Canadian cities. Great Big Sea only appear twice on the ballot — Entertainer of the Year and Group of the Year — and they’ll probably win both. The only band that could ever give GBS a run for their money is the mighty Buddy Whasisname and the Other Fellers, and they’ve declined their nominations this year — a generous move GBS and the Fables have also employed from time to time in the interests of giving lesser-known performers a crack at the spotlight. This year MusicNL has done the right thing by adding a Side Musician Award to honour all the brave men and women whose job it is to play beside and behind the artist at centre stage and
Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
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Comité sénatorial permanent des pêches et des océans
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ou have the floor!
The Senate Fisheries Committee is studying fisheries management beyond 200 miles and the challenges the industry faces. It will be in St. John’s for public hearings on Thursday, November 9, 2006.
make them look and sound good without drawing attention to themselves in the process. It’s not easy, but if you had to pick somebody who makes it seem that way, you need look no further than Sandy Morris. An honourable mention here should go to Pat Boyle, who appears to have played with everybody Sandy missed. Finally there’s my own selfish reason for showing up. I, too, am nominated for an award: Alternative Artist of the Year. I’m not picking a winner here, but I am going to attend the gala in case my name gets called so I can run up to the podium and prattle on for about a minute-and-ahalf too long about how great it is to win an award, any award (which it is), how much fun I had making the album (which is true) and how much I appreciate everyone’s efforts (which sounds true, but is in fact the understatement of the century). As with all the awards, the competition for alternative artist is stiff — Mark Bragg, Trailer Camp, LizBand and Madman Orchestra — so I don’t think I’ll knock myself out rehearsing my triumphant speech. During much of the drive out I worked on my “classy disappointment” face. You know the one: it’s the face Martin Scorsese wears to the Oscars every year. Next week I’ll take a look at what went down at the MusicNL conference, what was achieved, who won what and whether I was right or wrong.
vous la parole !
Le Comité sénatorial des pêches étudie la gestion des pêches au-delà de la limite de 200 milles et sur les défis qu’affronte l’industrie. Il tiendra des audiences publiques à St. John’s le jeudi 9 novembre 2006.
Hearings will be held in the Garrison/ Signal Room of the Fairmont Newfoundland, 115 Cavendish Square, starting at 8:00 a.m.
Les audiences auront lieu au salon Garrison/Signal au Fairmont Newfoundland, 115, Cavendish Square, St. John’s, dès 8 h.
As of 4:30 p.m., members of the public are invited to share their views on the fisheries with the Committee by making short statements (approximately 4 minutes). There will be sameday on-site registration.
À compter de 16 h 30, le public est invité à partager sa vision des pêches avec le comité sous forme de courtes présentations (environ 4 minutes). L’inscription se fera sur place la journée même.
The public is invited to attend these meetings at:
Fairmont Newfoundland 115 Cavendish Square, St. John’s
Le public est invité à assister aux rencontres qui se tiendront à l’hôtel :
The Fairmont Newfoundland 115, Cavendish Square, St. John’s
Renseignements / Information 1 (800) 267-7362
www.senate-senat.ca/fopo.asp
AROUND THE WORLD The Postmaster has received letters asking the whereabouts of Moses de Brabant and William Brown. The latter is a cooper, formerly of Newfoundland, and if he wishes not to be responsible for a mother’s broken heart he will write to his mother, Mrs. Catherine Brown, care of Mrs. D. Morrissey, 109 New Gower Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland. The letter to the Postmaster tells a pitiful story of the way he left her. — The Times, St. John’s, Nov.4, 1891 EDITORIAL STAND If there is any one thing more disagreeable than another in the social circle, really loathsome in any kind of society, it is to hear a poverty stricken aristocrat, too lazy to work and ashamed to beg, talk of what he once was, of his rich uncles, aunts and cousins, of the splendour of his father’s mansion and his mother’s ‘first society.’ He had far better date his origin from a hogsty, and then the public, now bored to death with stories of his ancient eminence, would give him credit for some energy in getting up in the world. — The Carbonear Sentinel, Oct. 29, 1840
The Daily Star, OCt. 26, 1926
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor – I, along with a large number of other residents of Happy Valley, am getting perturbed over the large number of four-legged monsters known as “dogs” that are constantly roaming the streets of the Valley. Not too many people like to walk to a nearby store or a friend’s house with a shotgun under one arm and a stick under the other for protection. Some people have to tie their dog while the so-called “big wheels” (as they think) can let theirs run loose. These dogs are going to bite someone yet, or else be the cause of an accident because if you are scared of them you could run almost anywhere. If any dog crosses my path from this out and I have a stick handy you can say Bon Voyage to your dog!!! Yours truly, (Miss) R.C. Thomey — The Northern Reporter, Oct. 21, 1967 YEARS PAST We regret to observe that the present Executive has adopted the most notorious of the acts of its predecessor, namely, dispatching Soldiers on the eve of an Election to the scene of the contest to overawe the friends of the popular candidate, and to bias the votes in favour of the Executive nominee. Can we be living under the aegis of the British Constitution, when such illegal and unconstitutional acts as this are perpetrated upon the people with impunity? — The Patriot, Nov.7, 1868
12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
VOICE FROM AWAY
A place to meet For a Newfoundlander in Ontario in the 1960s, solace came Saturday afternoons, when dozens of homesick gathered at a local watering hole By Anshuman Iddamsetty For The Independent
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or a Newfoundlander in the 1960s, working abroad meant more than a few short months out west — it was a decision that tore young men from their roots, where moving a province away was akin to being stranded, alone, in the loneliest corner of the Earth. With the advent of cell phones and the Internet, travel today is much different — home is always just a click away. Bob Peddle of Port Rexton remembers moving to Ontario in 1968, and an entirely different image: a faded snapshot where scores of displaced Newfoundlanders from all over the island came together to share in their isolation and misery. “We would meet at The Conroy, a local watering hole. And right in the middle of the table would be this mighty jug of ale. The question would then be — who heard from Downtown Toronto home?” says Peddle. This was the ritual that helped him and Particularly those things related to the sea — many other Newfoundlanders in Toronto deal those weren’t far from our hearts.” with their isolation. “I was 19 at the time Letters became the lifeblood for the people attending university … whatever was going on who gathered every Saturday, as there were litat home, we couldn’t be part of.” tle to no alternatives to reach loved ones back Located north of Toronto in Downsview, the home. pub saw hundreds of Newfoundlanders gather “You have to put yourself back in 1968. and, over drinks, trade stories and letters — Long-distance calls were very expensive and any scrap of information about the island. very rare. Few of us would even have the “Even though it was, say, 1,000 miles, it was money to make these calls,” Peddle says. “If the same as going to the there was a phone call it end of the world. We were was regarding a death in “We were all full grown so disconnected from a family.” home, and so lonely — Peddle was one of the albeit young men. Bawling some of us had a rough lucky few who would time,” recalls Peddle. in our beer mugs … It’s an have fairly current news “Many of them, young by exchanging letters image that will go to the men too … they were not with his family back there because they wanted home. grave with me.” to settle, they were forced “One of the little to make a living.” promises I made to my Bob Peddle The isolation was parents,” says Peddle. emphasized by the total “They in turn would lack of local news coverage on send me a letter once a week, so almost invariNewfoundland. “Around the pub we’d find ably I would have something from home close out some of the big news items, of fishermen by.” being lost for example … we became aware of Peddle discovered The Conroy through these things not from the national news pick- cousins and high-school friends who were also ing it up — not at all — but often through the in Downsview, working at the factories. letters. “There were thousands of Newfs literally in “These letters back and forth provided both Downsview, of all ages too. It wouldn’t be the good news and the bad news. It might not uncommon to see 100 at the pub, which was a have been bad family news, but provincial. fairly large dance club/bar by today’s stan-
Reuters
dards.” According to Peddle, the Downsview area in the 1960s was the place where Newfoundlanders lived, the ancestor to the Brampton of today. For a decade it was their “little Newfoundland.” “We gravitated towards one another … and the common meeting ground was the local watering hole.” This was a necessity in one way, as Ontario four decades ago was not a very inviting province for an isolated Newfoundlander. “The Newfie jokes were rampant,” says Peddle. “They cut deeply. “There wasn’t even a rivalry … a jealousy perhaps, from the locals about us — we were prepared to take on jobs that locals in Ontario wouldn’t touch.” When Christmas break arrived, Peddle was hard pressed to leave Hodge’s Cove and return to his studies. “I did come from an isolated community, but there was social warmth present that was lost in a city as big as Toronto.” The picture of 100 men, huddled over their beer, hanging on to any shred of news from home will never leave Peddle. “We were all full grown albeit young men,” he says. “Bawling in our beer mugs … it’s an image that will go to the grave with me.” Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Please e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca.
‘This is Canada’
I
don’t write columns. I have been involved with newspapers most of my adult life, but on Monday, Oct. 30, for the very first time, I found myself in the position of being overwhelmed by what I saw. A reporter and I were assigned to cover the Alberta Job Fair, taking place at the Capital Hotel in St. John’s. I wasn’t prepared for the thousands of faces in the lineup that stretched around the building. I felt as though my rose-coloured glasses of Newfoundland were ripped off, and I came face to face with the rural reality. The Independent has done stories on out-migration, but never before have I been so impacted. I was reminded of images of refugees lining up outside foreign embassies, people looking for a way out. How could I capture this image in a single frame? The reporter and I made our way inside. The recruiters, too, seemed flabbergasted by the turnout. I started talking with a fellow from one of the oil companies. Curious, I asked what sort of worker they were targeting. His response was: “Individuals with trades, highly trained and skilled.” For the right people, they were prepared to pay up to $60,000 moving expenses.
Job fair in St. John’s. Paul Daly/The Independent
The assistant manager took me upstairs in the building to get an image, and I tried to capture what I saw from a couple of viewpoints. I did what I could and reconnected with the reporter and we headed outside. A woman reached out and tugged on my jacket. “Are they looking for cleaners, m’ love?” I looked at her and said, “I don’t know ma’am.” I did know — the recruiter inside had said they were only interested in highly skilled
workers, but I took the coward’s way out. Every Newfoundland and Labrador politician should see what I saw — federal, provincial, past, present, no matter the political stripe. The entire scene shook me to my core. This is Canada. When I moved here in 1998 from Ireland, Canada was voted Best country in which to live. An older gentleman standing to the side of the hotel looked gobsmacked. “Doesn’t it remind you of pictures of the Depression?” he asked me. I’m not from Newfoundland. I married a Newfoundlander and we lived in Alberta for a few years. We didn’t like it. While there, an interesting column appeared in the Calgary Herald about Newfoundland and Newfoundlanders. The writer, who had just returned from a visit to the province, said if you ever lose your sense of humanity, you should visit Newfoundland. “If you look for a hand, they will give you an army.” Reports say 9,000 people were in the lineup last Monday. How much of an army does Alberta need? Paul Daly is the photo editor at The Independent.
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006 — PAGE 13
Paul Daly/The Independent
Stepping up to the global plate Analysts say Cooke’s Aquaculture needs to grow to stay competitive; Newfoundland may be only place to expand By Ivan Morgan The Independent
C
ooke’s Aquaculture’s move to Newfoundland’s south coast will make the New Brunswick-based company more competitive in the global farmed salmon industry, say industry analysts. With no suitable sites left in New Brunswick, and opposition to aquaculture an obstacle in Nova Scotia, experts say the move was logical. Canada produces eight per cent of the total world production of 1.3 million tonnes of farmed salmon. Almost a quarter of all farmed salmon in the world comes from four major farms — all European. Each of them has farms in at least five different countries, including Scotland and Chile. “It has really become a global industry,” says Neil Ridler, aqua-
culture expert and professor of economics at the University of New Brunswick. “(There is) always a danger of being crushed by the global giants. That is why they (Cooke’s) are always looking for a competitive advantage, and one of them is
presumably economies of scale — they are getting bigger. They will be able to lower some of their fixed costs.” Growing was a problem for Cooke’s in New Brunswick — they simply ran out of space. “New Brunswick is boxed in
because they have run out of shoreline, and Nova Scotia has resource conflicts,” says Gordon Gislason, aquaculture industry analyst and author of a recent federal government report on the Canadian farmed salmon industry. “Newfoundland seems to have a
Key Advantages & Disadvantages of Canadian Farmed Salmon Industry ADVANTAGE 1. Proximity to US market • high transportation cost advantage on perishable products • farm site to customer within 48-72 hours possible 2. Quality of product • greater shelf life • water quality • food safety
DISADVANTAGE 1. Cumbersome, inefficient regulations • lack of federal/provincial harmonization • prevent access to new sites, economies of scale • First Nations consultation onerous — no federal rules 2. Lack of effective communications • health benefits of seafood • counteract ENGO falsehoods • market Canadian quality • garner political & community support
3. Familiarity with U.S. • direct neighbours • similar language, culture
3. Higher input costs
huge potential. Cooke’s is going into Newfoundland because there is substantial growth potential there, and there isn’t in their own backyard.” Nova Scotia, while geographically closer to markets in central Canada and the north eastern United States, has resisted salmon farming. “I heard that a lot of the prime aquaculture site potential is the same as lobsters in southwest Nova Scotia. There would be huge issues,” says Gislason. The fishing industry wasn’t the only obstacle in Nova Scotia, says Ridler. “There is a lot of opposition to all aquaculture because I think the (people who own) cottages don’t want what they perceive to be ugly sites outside their cottages.” Gislason says there are other
Federal government study
See “You have to,” page 14
Your last word M
y brother Frank expresses a rather interesting view of our time on earth. He believes — congenital anomalies and accidents aside — every human heart has a certain number of “beats till failure” invisibly stamped on it. Our “number is up,” as it were, when we’ve used all of them. He says we can extend our life by consciously slowing down the pace by which we use the beats. This is achieved, he says, through a regular regime of exercise and by being sensible in what we eat, how much we drink and whether or not we smoke. Those of us who fail to take these kinds of cautions use beats faster. The outcome is obvious. This professional engineer is evidently a frustrated philosopher, and quite a profound one.
AL ANTLE
Your Finances This view — or any we hold— confirms we definitely understand our time here is limited. Yet, the human condition gives us permission to postpone planning for financial and other events, which will be necessary when we run out of beats. When I run out and proceed (hopefully) to glory, I’ll go knowing my plans have been set out to achieve two goals. Firstly, everything I’ve worked for will have been distributed as I want. Secondly, I know I’ll be lying in permanent repose on Blackmarsh Road —
Purity Factories close by to ensure the sweet aroma of Jam-Jams wafts above me for all eternity and that I’ll still hear brass music from time to time. I take estate planning quite seriously and I regularly review my will. I look around at the things my wife and I have amassed and I examine my insurance holdings, RSPs, bank balances and so forth. My last review was in May. Even though you may think you’ve got very little, you still need a will. You also need two powers of attorney, one for your property, and one for your care as you age or decline physically and mentally. My primary concern, given my role, is the papers dealing with your assets and finances and what will happen to these. Thinking about this kind of thing is off-putting at the very least, and quite
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uncomfortable for almost everyone. But believe it or not, these future directions are not all about you — after all, you’re dead. They’re about the people who survive you. Without a will you may be setting the stage for family
Seeing to all the matters relating to your estate is something you and your partner should do together. upheaval, for bickering, suspicion, hurt feelings and, in some cases, outright brawls. We’ve all heard horror stories about families who completely rupture
following the passing of a loved one. Without a will, you’re inviting the government in to deal with your estate. How matters are handled will be dictated by legislation. Outcomes you might prefer as a demonstration of love and affection for any number of individuals, or for community causes important to you, never see the light of day. And you can’t influence anything anymore. Adding to the emotional discomfort is a perceived practical consideration — cost. This fear has always fascinated me. All necessary legal documents, including your will, can be had for as little as several hundred dollars. That said, if your assets are extensive or your children young, causing the necessity of trusts and guardianships, then the See “Permission,” page 15
14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
CUSTOMER BEWARE
YOUR VOICE Another fibre-optic cable across the Gulf won’t ‘save us’ Dear editor, From time to time we see references parroted by a media person as being “gospel” because the point being made came from a politician. When that politician is Premier Danny Williams people tend to sit up and take notice. In the Oct. 27 edition of The Telegram, writer Tara Brautigam of The Canadian Press reports that the premier said that Newfoundland is considering construction of a second fibre-optic link to Nova Scotia that would prevent 911 services from shutting down as they did last week. It is unfortunate that the advice being given to the premier on this matter is incorrect. There have been two fibreoptic cables connecting Newfoundland and Labrador to the national telecommunications network for 10 years. The presence of this second cable did not prevent the 911 system from failing on Oct. 20. Neither would a third cable provide any increased protection for the 911 system. The Gulf fibre cables have nothing to do with providing protection for the 911 system. Two Aliant fibre-optic cables already exist across the Gulf and carry huge amounts of telecommunication voice and data traffic (including the Internet). They
are diverse both physically and electrically and telecommunications traffic is carried simultaneously over both cables. Likewise across the island there are two physically and electrically diverse fibreoptic cable routes that simultaneously carry the traffic. These cable systems are supported and maintained by a very experienced and dedicated team of engineers, technicians, construction and repair personnel. The article referenced above and statements since Oct. 20 by various municipal and provincial politicians, including the premier, are leading the public to believe that another fibre-optic cable across the Gulf will save us. A third fibre-optic cable is not required for service diversity or protection purposes nor is it required to provide additional capacity to meet the needs of the province. The article referenced above goes on to report that the provincial government is considering investing in an $82 million proposal by Rogers Communications, MTS Allstream, and Persona Inc. to build this new cable system. If investment by the provincial government triggers the building of a third cable, the revenue generated will only go to serve the interests of the companies and their shareholders who will own and control the
cable. The general interests of the people of the province will be secondary. The two Aliant cables that exist today were totally financed by Newtel Communication (now part of Aliant). There was no financial support by the provincial government — neither offered nor requested. Aliant is obligated to provide universal access to basic local and long-distance telecommunications services in the province. The companies wishing to tap into the public purse to help finance their infrastructure investments operate totally in the competitive environment and carry no such obligation to serve and provide access to basic services. The telecommunications failure on Oct. 20, 2006 should not be used by the provincial government as a rationale in attempting to convince the public that we should make an investment in unrequired infrastucture. If the business proponents of the third fibre-optics cable wish to have the capability, which this cable will give them, of competing in the long haul telecommunications marketplace, then I say, let them build the cable themselves — with their own money. R.F. Davis, P.Eng., St. John’s
‘You have to process them in the region’ From page 13 advantages to salmon farming in this province. “The regulatory regime might be more friendly in Newfoundland and Labrador than in Nova Scotia,” he says. “My understanding is that there aren’t a lot of the user conflicts there. There is nothing there to displace. In that sense it is less contentious. That would make the regulatory regime less complex, and there would be fewer resource conflicts.” Cooke’s $120-million investment in their south coast venture proves they are
serious about competing with the other global producers for the valuable American market, which is 500,000plus tonnes a year. “I do know that they bought out a whole bunch of existing players in New Brunswick,” says Gislason. “It’s not clear where the money came from.” Both experts say lowering the unit cost of the finished product — whole fresh farmed salmon — is the key to success, and expanding production is the way to do that. Other benefits of farming salmon in Newfoundland include water temperature, isolation (from disease), pristine
BUSINESS CLASSIFIED
water quality and available labour. The benefits are obvious. “The farmed salmon industry is not concentrated in urban environments,” says Gislason. “So you grow them in the region and you have to process them in the region as well. It is an opportunity for people in coastal fishing communities to find a job and stay where they are as opposed to move somewhere else. “There is a huge potential out there and I think the market is there. Farmed Atlantic salmon is a good product, there’s lots of good vibes about omega3 and good health benefits.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (Eastern Newfoundland) unveiled their new ad campaign Oct. 30. On hand for the launch were (l-r) Chris Janes, senior market analyst with CMHC, Rhonda Neary, CEO of the local builders’ association, and Ed Power, author of The Backgrounder on the Undergrounders. The marketing campaign, scheduled to begin Nov. 2, is intended to promote safe practices in the hiring of contractors — and the dangers of hiring underground workers. Paul Daly/The Independent
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15
YOUR VOICE No more money for Mile One Editor’s note: the following letter was forwarded to members of St. John’s city council.
I
appeal to you to carefully consider your decision regarding the proposal for a 50 per cent increase in the annual bailout of Mile One Center. Lisa Neville appeared on the NTV news recently and repeatedly referred to the Mile One operation as a “business” and suggested that we, as taxpayers, should be delighted to “invest” in this operation because of the spin-off benefits of the stadium and convention center. I prefer to choose my own investments — I don’t expect our elected representatives to use our taxes to invest in any business, that’s not what a city council is elected to do. And I strongly object to seeing my tax dollars used to subsidize the shortcomings of a local “business” that is already in the hole to the tune of $7.5 million. The George Street bar owners can also lay claim to drawing tourism dollars and spinoff benefits to the City of St. John’s but for the past year bar owners have been grumbling about reduced incomes due to the smoking ban and the reduction in VLT machines. Would council ever entertain the notion of subsidizing the George Street bar owners to the tune of $500,000 a year? I think not. I also have great concern that several of the members of the board of
Permission to postpone planning From page 13 cost will increase. But I ask you, are there any better reasons to spend this money than the fact that you’ve got tons of loot, lots of booty and young children? Most of us have a lawyer or can arrange access to one. So call and ask for a quote. Then do some comparative shopping by checking other law firms. The outcome will pleasantly surprise you. When seeing your lawyer, you’ll find the process isn’t morbid at all, unless you choose to make it so. She or he will have all kinds of knowledge, will provide great council and without you ever consciously directing them so to do, will possibly become the most outstanding advocate for you and the people you love. They will encourage, clarify and even warn you about almost every fear and question you have. They may even tell a joke or two. The process won’t take a long time and may involve several trips to your lawyer’s office, again depending upon the complexities. Your lawyer will direct you to name someone to administer your wishes. Make sure this is someone you trust. This individual is known as the executor, or executrix for those of us who name a woman but who are still thinking back in the last century. It’s vital he or she be provided with all the details of your wishes. It’s equally vital they know you’ve actually named them … would you want to find out you’ve been named for a job like this without your consent? Seeing to all the matters relating to your estate is something you and your partner should do together. While it is possible that you’ll both exit the world at the same time, the chances are remote. So talk things out and seek the values, fears and opinions of the other as you formulate your own decisions. What’s really great about this whole process is that you get to have the last word, literally. And nobody can talk back, even if they want to. And thanks Frank — I love the “beats” analogy. Al Antle is executive director of Credit and Debt Solutions, a St. John’s-based charitable family service agency. His column returns Nov. 17.
The silver bullet Molson Coors Ltd. says most of its growth over the summer came from its Coors Light brand, while Molson Canadian continued to struggle. The company reported sharply higher profits last week, despite stagnant growth in sales volume, as higher U.S. sales, lower costs and strategic pricecutting helped support key brands. Profit jumped 25.5 per cent to $135.8 million (U.S.), or $1.56 a share, exceeding analysts' estimates by a wide margin. Volume was flat at 11.2 million barrels but sales in dollars increased 3.3 per cent to $1.58 billion. — Torstar wire service
directors of this “business” are also sitting council members or highranking city officials who will decide on this request for additional funding. I’m not suggesting there is any collusion but this hardly gives the appearance of being a transparent and arms-length decision-making process. If Mile One and the convention center are such great generators of money, why aren’t the hotel and restaurant operators kicking in this additional $500,000? In fact, why aren’t they providing the $1-million subsidy that already has to be pumped into this operation? Stadiums don’t make money. That was a given even before ground was broken on the Mile One site. If Skydome can’t survive in the heart of the richest city in the country, it is unfathomable that anyone would have thought that Mile One could be profitable here. Lisa Neville suggested that a large reason for the $7.5-million debt already incurred on the operation of this stadium was directly related to the hockey franchise. But the hockey franchise was the reason Mile One was originally constructed. Drawing conventions and concerts to the city was viewed as a spin-off benefit of having a larger hockey arena with higher seating capacity. In fact, the city didn’t even want to see the adjoining convention center built but agreed to the construction of the convention center in order to obtain
A united stand against Quebec Editor’s note: the following letter was written to Liberal leader Gerry Reid, with a copy forwarded to The Independent.
the $15-million funding contribution of the provincial government. So why is the Maple Leafs franchise being blamed for the massive debt? Was it incompetence then, or is it incompetence now? The city’s financial “experts” analyzed the Maple Leafs deal and thought that building a $45-million stadium and convention center was a good idea. Are these the same “experts” who now claim that Mile One is doing so well we should be ecstatic that the Mile One board is asking for a 50 per cent increase in the city’s annual subsidy? How many more times will the management come back to the trough? This is still a new building. Who will provide the funds to replace the roof, or the cooling plant, or other sections of the stadium infrastructure as it ages? I think enough is enough. If management feels they have done such a great job in reducing the operating costs of the stadium, then they don’t need more money from us. Paul Malone, St. John’s
Earlier this year Premier Danny Williams publicly invited me (in a radio show on which he was interviewed and I participated) to his office. In mid-June, I met with Premier Williams and his executive assistant, Stephen Dinn, for about 30 minutes. In our meeting the premier asked me what I would like to do. I told him my objective is to demonstrate that — rather than his plan to export Labrador hydropower to Quebec, Ontario and the U.S. — we should link Labrador hydropower development with rural Newfoundland’s urgent need for new long-term jobs, a new Gulf of St. Lawrence North Shore Trans-Canada Highway, a Strait of Belle Isle fixed link, and Quebec’s illegal but official claim to a very large area of Labrador that this province brought to Canada in 1949. I also said my professional experience tells me that based on Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s record over the past 32 years, lower Churchill hydropower developer is not the right role for Hydro. I suggested that Labrador hydropower could be developed more successfully by an investor group with global financing capabilities. Hydro should be a provincial regulator — not a developer. I also told the premier that I was prepared to act as a consultant to the province on the above subjects for a fee of $1 per year. The premier has not contacted me about my offer since our meeting.
On Oct. 3rd, following your kind invitation, I also met with you and your Liberal caucus to discuss the same subjects that I had discussed with Premier Williams. As you know, I repeated to your caucus what I said to our premier. In summary, that my professional experience clearly tells me that at this time in the life of this Canadian province, it is essential to our future that our relatively small population of only 500,000 people with responsibility for immense natural resources should be as united as possible. In particular, we are too small in numbers to be divided, either physically or politically, in resolving problems arising from the location of politically powerful Quebec between our Labrador hydropower and other energy markets. Moreover, Quebec is now openly claiming in its official government maps a huge area of Labrador that Newfoundland brought into Canada in 1949. This Quebec claim is a clear challenge to the agreement between Canada and the then-Dominion of Newfoundland. To end Quebec’s illegal claim and also create new long-term jobs in this province to end our high out-migration, all Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans must unite in spirit and as far as possible politically. There should be no higher priority than our need for unity in the face of such threats to our very existence. My reason for sending you this letter is that they may be useful to you to initiate discussion on the above issues in coming House of Assembly sessions. Tom Kierans, St. John’s
16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
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INDEPENDENTLIFE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006 — PAGE 17
Sara Tilley
Photo by Paul Daly/Digital illustration by John Andrews/The Independent
SUSAN RENDELL Screed and Coke I may be smelly and I may be old, Rough in my pebbles, reedy in my pools, But where my fish float by I bless their swimming And I like the people to bathe in me, especially women. — Stevie Smith, “The River God”
T
he first time I met Sara Tilley she was wearing a grey felt fish over her head, its tail trailing down over a vintage ’50s party dress. Striped arm warmers to her elbows, black lipstick. A solemn little face in which the eyes were doing most of the work. She reminded me of Bob Dylan’s song: “Sara, Sara/So easy to look at, so hard to define.” Well, intriguing to look at, for sure. That was a few weeks ago, at the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador’s annual banquet, which had a Halloween theme. Tilley was one of three writers up for the Fresh Fish Award, sponsored by Newfoundland author Brian O’Dea, whose autobiographical book, High: Confessions of a Pot Smuggler, was published by Random House last spring. The new award is for Newfoundland and Labrador authors writing in any genre who haven’t been published in
Fresh face
Sara Tilley, winner of the inaugural Fresh Fish Award, talks about writing, clowning and life above the tree-line book-length form, and O’Dea has committed to it for the next 10 years. Today Tilley and I are in Hava Java, and I’m wondering if the tape recorder is going to be able to pick her voice out of the din of people making a joyful noise unto the dark roast coffee gods; it’s a Sunday afternoon of torrential rain, and the mood inside is in inverse proportion to the weather’s. But we do a test and her small voice turns out to be strong, which shouldn’t surprise me because I’ve read Snowflake-Young, the novel that won her the inaugural Fresh Fish Award. And the 2004 Percy Janes First Novel Award. At the Writers’ Alliance banquet, O’Dea, former drug smuggler and ex-con turned film and television producer, hugged Tilley the fish girl and presented her with a $4,000 cheque. Tilley also received a bronze plaque made by
local artist Jim Maunder in the style of his sculpture called Man Nailed to a Fish, and $1,000 for professional editing services. O’Dea explained that in prison parlance a fish is a new inmate, which inspired the title of the award. He also said he was shocked to learn that his award was one of the largest in terms of money for a Canadian literary award of its kind; it didn’t seem like much to him, even though it was all he could afford. Where are the patrons of the arts, he wanted to know. Why is so there so little money available to writers? (Perhaps there should be a prize for whoever figures that one out. The Gutted Fish Award, maybe.) Sara is explaining her Halloween costume to me. Besides its obvious reference to the award, “I always wanted to be a Goth,” she says, “but I never had the guts to go whole
hog.” Goth fish seems pretty whole hog to me. Her costume’s other advantage, she tells me, was that being in disguise made her feel less self-conscious at the award ceremony. Like many writers, Tilley is an introvert, happiest in the company of her own characters and those of other writers — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, for instance — and at home with Craig Francis Power, her boyfriend, also a writer, and a visual artist. She says she used to think she wanted to be a paleontologist, because she could work outdoors and there wouldn’t be a lot of other people around. Tilley’s family moved to Nain when she was five, spending two years there before moving to Sanikiluaq in what was then the Northwest Territories. Tilley lived in Sanikiluaq until she was 12. “It’s a totally different universe up there,” she says. “It’s like landing on the moon. It’s completely flat and white, and the winds never stop. When I was homesick, I would go out by myself on the barrens and look at the moss and the rocks, the little stuff, that miniworld, because it reminded me of Newfoundland.” She and her brother were the only two nonInuit children in Sanikiluaq for several years, which Tilley says was an interesting but sometimes difficult experience. “As a white person, See “A collaboration,” page 20
Stories tall and short, from near and far The third annual storytelling festival is underway with music and yarns, workshops and sessions A few nights ago, I was up to Grampa Walcott’s house cuffin’ the yarn with Grampa while Grandma sat by knittin’ socks. Grampa turned on the radio and we listened for a spell. ’Twas about a fellow tryin’ to murder another fellow ‘cause the second fellow had run off with the other one’s wife… — “Crime Wave in Pigeon Inlet,” Ted Russell
By Heidi Wicks For The Independent
T
he most memorable Newfoundland stories, from Pigeon Inlet yarns to Joel Hynes’ Down to the Dirt, are the ones that leap off the page, injecting local audio directly into your eardrum. Reading these stories, the downhome dialect and saucy attitude makes your head pound and
your lips grin. The third annual St. John’s Storytelling Festival, sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Council, celebrates the essence of local tales — tall, short, musical or spoken word. Thanks to artists like Kelly Russell, who continues his father’s tradition through song and speech, the window into another time will remain open
for a while yet. For the first time, Russell will be leading workshops in this year’s festival. Citing the Pigeon Inlet tales as his earliest influence, Russell continues his longtime affair with traditional tales, and loves giving them a makeover for contemporary society. He often compares the art of good storytelling to folk music performance.
“In a sense, when you’re playing folk music, you have the aid of instrumentation, melody, lyrics — which of course is also present in storytelling — and musicality, which makes it easier to engage your audience,” he says. “But with folk singing and storytelling, it’s important to make them accessible to a contemporary audience.” Holding an audience’s atten-
tion is no simple feat. Storytellers have to be wildly imaginative when telling their tales, shooting for a perfect balance of captivation and curiosity within their listeners. According to Russell, storytelling is a form of entertainment, first and foremost. But it’s also a compelling history lesson, providing a vehicle See “Precious,” page 18
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
INDEPENDENTLIFE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006 — PAGE 17
Sara Tilley
Photo by Paul Daly/Digital illustration by John Andrews/The Independent
SUSAN RENDELL Screed and Coke I may be smelly and I may be old, Rough in my pebbles, reedy in my pools, But where my fish float by I bless their swimming And I like the people to bathe in me, especially women. — Stevie Smith, “The River God”
T
he first time I met Sara Tilley she was wearing a grey felt fish over her head, its tail trailing down over a vintage ’50s party dress. Striped arm warmers to her elbows, black lipstick. A solemn little face in which the eyes were doing most of the work. She reminded me of Bob Dylan’s song: “Sara, Sara/So easy to look at, so hard to define.” Well, intriguing to look at, for sure. That was a few weeks ago, at the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador’s annual banquet, which had a Halloween theme. Tilley was one of three writers up for the Fresh Fish Award, sponsored by Newfoundland author Brian O’Dea, whose autobiographical book, High: Confessions of a Pot Smuggler, was published by Random House last spring. The new award is for Newfoundland and Labrador authors writing in any genre who haven’t been published in
Fresh face
Sara Tilley, winner of the inaugural Fresh Fish Award, talks about writing, clowning and life above the tree-line book-length form, and O’Dea has committed to it for the next 10 years. Today Tilley and I are in Hava Java, and I’m wondering if the tape recorder is going to be able to pick her voice out of the din of people making a joyful noise unto the dark roast coffee gods; it’s a Sunday afternoon of torrential rain, and the mood inside is in inverse proportion to the weather’s. But we do a test and her small voice turns out to be strong, which shouldn’t surprise me because I’ve read Snowflake-Young, the novel that won her the inaugural Fresh Fish Award. And the 2004 Percy Janes First Novel Award. At the Writers’ Alliance banquet, O’Dea, former drug smuggler and ex-con turned film and television producer, hugged Tilley the fish girl and presented her with a $4,000 cheque. Tilley also received a bronze plaque made by
local artist Jim Maunder in the style of his sculpture called Man Nailed to a Fish, and $1,000 for professional editing services. O’Dea explained that in prison parlance a fish is a new inmate, which inspired the title of the award. He also said he was shocked to learn that his award was one of the largest in terms of money for a Canadian literary award of its kind; it didn’t seem like much to him, even though it was all he could afford. Where are the patrons of the arts, he wanted to know. Why is so there so little money available to writers? (Perhaps there should be a prize for whoever figures that one out. The Gutted Fish Award, maybe.) Sara is explaining her Halloween costume to me. Besides its obvious reference to the award, “I always wanted to be a Goth,” she says, “but I never had the guts to go whole
hog.” Goth fish seems pretty whole hog to me. Her costume’s other advantage, she tells me, was that being in disguise made her feel less self-conscious at the award ceremony. Like many writers, Tilley is an introvert, happiest in the company of her own characters and those of other writers — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, for instance — and at home with Craig Francis Power, her boyfriend, also a writer, and a visual artist. She says she used to think she wanted to be a paleontologist, because she could work outdoors and there wouldn’t be a lot of other people around. Tilley’s family moved to Nain when she was five, spending two years there before moving to Sanikiluaq in what was then the Northwest Territories. Tilley lived in Sanikiluaq until she was 12. “It’s a totally different universe up there,” she says. “It’s like landing on the moon. It’s completely flat and white, and the winds never stop. When I was homesick, I would go out by myself on the barrens and look at the moss and the rocks, the little stuff, that miniworld, because it reminded me of Newfoundland.” She and her brother were the only two nonInuit children in Sanikiluaq for several years, which Tilley says was an interesting but sometimes difficult experience. “As a white person, See “A collaboration,” page 20
Stories tall and short, from near and far The third annual storytelling festival is underway with music and yarns, workshops and sessions A few nights ago, I was up to Grampa Walcott’s house cuffin’ the yarn with Grampa while Grandma sat by knittin’ socks. Grampa turned on the radio and we listened for a spell. ’Twas about a fellow tryin’ to murder another fellow ‘cause the second fellow had run off with the other one’s wife… — “Crime Wave in Pigeon Inlet,” Ted Russell
By Heidi Wicks For The Independent
T
he most memorable Newfoundland stories, from Pigeon Inlet yarns to Joel Hynes’ Down to the Dirt, are the ones that leap off the page, injecting local audio directly into your eardrum. Reading these stories, the downhome dialect and saucy attitude makes your head pound and
your lips grin. The third annual St. John’s Storytelling Festival, sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Council, celebrates the essence of local tales — tall, short, musical or spoken word. Thanks to artists like Kelly Russell, who continues his father’s tradition through song and speech, the window into another time will remain open
for a while yet. For the first time, Russell will be leading workshops in this year’s festival. Citing the Pigeon Inlet tales as his earliest influence, Russell continues his longtime affair with traditional tales, and loves giving them a makeover for contemporary society. He often compares the art of good storytelling to folk music performance.
“In a sense, when you’re playing folk music, you have the aid of instrumentation, melody, lyrics — which of course is also present in storytelling — and musicality, which makes it easier to engage your audience,” he says. “But with folk singing and storytelling, it’s important to make them accessible to a contemporary audience.” Holding an audience’s atten-
tion is no simple feat. Storytellers have to be wildly imaginative when telling their tales, shooting for a perfect balance of captivation and curiosity within their listeners. According to Russell, storytelling is a form of entertainment, first and foremost. But it’s also a compelling history lesson, providing a vehicle See “Precious,” page 18
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
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
GALLERYPROFILE WILL GILL Visual Artist
W
ill Gill likes to use power tools in his work as a painter, but don’t accuse him of being an alpha male. “Some people say it’s a macho thing, guys want to work with power tools, it’s not like that at all, it’s just another tool that I use that makes things a whole lot easier,” he says. “I could take forever and do it with a hand chisel.” Gill says power tools are necessary to achieve the effect he wanted for his upcoming show of new works at the Leyton Gallery, running Nov. 4-26. Gill, whose work regularly shows provincially and nationally, won the inaugural EVA (recognizing Excellence in Visual Arts in the province) Large Year Award last June. Primarily a sculptor, Gill wanted to transfer the three-dimensional qualities he is accustomed to into the two-dimensional plane. He says it is a sensibility that requires him to get “physical and aggressive” with the construction plywood he uses to paint on. “That’s why I work into the wood — I work with tools to change the surface. To keep the texture, keep the small amount of form, even if it’s a very low relief, still keep that three-dimensional element, within the flat plane. “You can’t really do that with canvas or paper — wood you can sand it down, you can cut into it with a router, you can saw it, you can burn it, it’s just really resilient and builds back up and comes back to life so it’s going back and forth, taking away and giving back,” he says. In Coloured Lights, Spotlight, Gill has stretched several strings of patio lanterns across the top of the picture, festively bobbing against irregularly overlapping stage curtains. Floor boards are lightly suggested, angling stage right. The washed out
browns, blues and greens dominate the colour scheme, save for one baby pink bulb nudging its hospital-green neighbour. Many of the lanterns have been roughly dug out of the plywood, heightening the sense the lights are gently jostling about. “For me that idea of lights hanging up or patio lanterns have always conjured up images of real happiness and celebration, but it’s also really solitary, it’s related to partying for a lot of people, but for me it’s always been sitting there watching them,” he says. “It’s kind of the lantern thing on a stage and that quiet before the curtains come up, so there’s kind of like these curtains in a theatre on a stage floor. It’s something about drama but at the same time,
there’s action and no action. “I’m interested in a lot of contrast in my work and trying to get this dichotomy between different extremes, opposites and trying to make that balance in a way. So that for me is a very quiet reflective piece.” Gill has included one sculptural installment in the show, a bronzed pair of a man’s simple work boots which will stand under a cloud mounted on the wall — something he says came about after some thought about a man who recently went missing on the ferry crossing to Port aux Basques — but he is showing mostly wall work in the show. The paintings share a pale, washed-out colour palette, save for some sporadic black, which Gill
says he first took note of painted on homes in and around the island. “These really strange artificial teal greens, that bathroom green, it’s such a strange colour that you don’t really see in nature too much but people enjoy painting their houses,” he says. “You can go to an outport and you’ll see five or six different houses painted in slightly different tones … Other than that, I really like using candy colours because of their almost commercial artificiality, like everything has a commercial basis to it and luring you in with candy colours. It’s another way of working … to create an artificial image — because that’s what art is, artificial.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
Precious traditions From page 17 for education. If a storyteller has the right level of charisma, they have the power to entrance their audience, transporting them into a traditional fishing village full of sleveen fairies and touton-eating lads and lassies. And the stories are reaching out beyond the confines of the province. Russell gives the example of Jack Five Oh, a play written by Andy Jones and Philip Dinn bringing authentic Newfoundland folk tales and storytelling traditions to the stage. The play was produced by the Sheila’s Brush theatre company, who brought it to international children’s festivals in Canmore, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa in 2003, and to Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in May 2004. Jack makes a reappearance, of sorts, Nov. 4 at the Masonic Temple in St. John’s, where Chris Brookes, Andy Jones, and others will lead Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick, an evening with a Newfoundland folktale hero. This year’s festival also features such local raconteurs as Dale Jarvis, Fergus O’Byrne and Anita Best, as well as international artists like ScottishCanadian storyteller Norma Cameron, Ireland’s Anne Farrell, and Quebec’s Judith Poirier. While most participating storytellers work as entertainers and performing artists, they accentuate the value of animated speaking to every type of career. This year’s workshop titles include Incorporating visualization in your storytelling, and Externalizing the spirit of storytelling. The sessions are designed to help speakers lull their listeners into an almost hypnotic state. From Newfoundland and Labrador’s earliest settlers to the currently thriving arts industry and perpetually competitive commercial development of the cutthroat world of enterprise, storytelling can benefit everyone. Storytelling preserves the precious traditions of this province, and enriches the lives of contemporary citizens. Kelly returns to the links he draws between song and story. “When we have kitchen parties today, we use all sorts of instruments that wouldn’t have been around back then, but we hold on to the essence of a traditional kitchen party,” he says. “The same has to be done when telling a story.” The St. John’s Storytelling Festival continues until Nov. 5. The full schedule of events is available at www.nlfolk.com. heidi_renee79@hotmail.com
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19
POET’S CORNER November prepares By Bertille Tobin September started clearing house By tinting leaves like flowers; October briskly set to work And pulled them off in showers; November came, much more austere, And said there must not be Any signs of softness left For winter’s hordes to see. So any ragged tapestry That yet on trees was found, Or clinging tight to copse or hedge Was brusquely whisked to ground. The busy wind was set to work To see that all was done, And as it snatched off trembling leaves It whirled them round for fun.
The few remaining birds were snubbed, In such a frigid way That only solemn caw of crows Now sounds throughout the day — Or hardy gull, which seasons’ change Has never power to daunt, With graceful swoop draws near the wave Where herring sequins taunt.
y k n Fine Fu & Divine! at the
And when the landscape all around Was looking bleakly neat, The cleansing rain in torrents came To make the work complete. It even washed the fields so hard, They’re green again in places, As friction, semblance, brings — of youth’s Fresh bloom — to aged faces
Fine Craft & Design Fair St. John’s Convention Centre Nov 16 - 19, 2006
This poem was an honourable mention for the 1946 O’Leary Newfoundland Poetry Award.
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New This Year! Moms Shopping Break Friday Morning (pre-registration required) A Fashion Theme with 3 Mini Fashion Shows Live Music And a Whole Lot More.... Hours: Thursday 12 - 10 Friday 10 - 10 Saturday 10 - 6 Sunday 10 - 6
Derek Luke and Tim Robbins star in Catch a Fire.
Apartheid story brisk, intelligent TIM CONWAY Film Score Catch a Fire Starring Derek Luke and Tim Robbins (out of four) 101 min.
I
n 1980, Patrick Chamusso was living his version of the American Dream in South Africa. Since arriving from Mozambique when he was 15 years old, he had worked for the Secunda Oil Refinery and rose through the ranks to become a foreman with the company. He had his own car and a nice house. A solid provider to his beautiful wife and children, he was the picture of the perfect family man. He even coached the local soccer team. In 1980, South Africa still operated under its policy of apartheid as it had for more than three decades. While drawing international criticism and sanctions, for Patrick Chamusso, it meant nothing. His focus was on his work and his family, and the consideration of anything political could jeopardize either one. He kept his head down, did his work as best he could, and went home with a paycheque. What else could be expected of him? One evening, there was an explosion and fire at the Secunda refinery, in an area that threw suspicion upon Patrick. Coincidentally, he had been off work that day, calling in sick to avoid trouble with management, when he was really on the road with the soccer team. Unfortunately, trouble found him. A senior member of South Africa’s anti-terrorism squad, Nic Vos, took his job as seriously as one could. He too had a wife and children, and while he accepted that white domination could not go on forever in South Africa, he was committed to ensuring the protection of his family. His methods, however, were no less violent than those attributed to the terrorist element he vowed to fight. With respect to the incident at the Secunda refinery, Vos zeroed in on Chamusso as an integral participant in the sabotage. He had the man arrested, and interrogated in a not very subtle manner. For days, Chamusso was tortured, and it wasn’t until he confessed to the crime, in order to protect his family, that Vos was convinced of his innocence. Without as much as an apology, Chamusso was released, but the man who had kept his head down for his entire adult life found himself forced to take a position. It was time to look up, to take a stand.
Catch a Fire recounts the true story of how mild-mannered Patrick Chamusso was wrongly arrested and eventually became the kind of man he was accused of being. It isn’t a revenge picture, nor an insightful, revealing account of apartheid as it existed 25 years ago. It’s a cautionary tale. Chamusso’s story is perhaps one of many from that time and place, yet in many respects, it could mirror that of any number of individuals, anywhere, where power is abused, and justice and fairness do not prevail. Although a tragic story in many respects, his life, actions, and values served to guide him away from further tragedy later on. Derek Luke, who first appeared on the scene with a starring role in Antoine Fisher a few years ago, is captivating in the role of Patrick Chamusso, giving us a man who is completely endearing as the benevolent family guy, and later as the driven revolutionary. Likewise, Tim Robbins provides us with another fine example that Oscar-winners in the category of supporting actor are rarely undeserving of the accolade. While his Vos appears to be a simple construction of cruelty and purpose, Robbins adds a few layers of complexity to the character that make him more of a believable, real life villain than something conjured up for the movies. Director Phillip Noyce, who made a name for himself directing Harrison Ford in a couple of Tom Clancy adaptations, has since attracted attention from a different angle following Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Quiet American. He’s in his element here, juggling incendiary politics, exotic locations, and the people affected by them. While the pace moves slightly slower than the thriller the film is marketed to be, it’s brisker than many biographical dramas that are vying for Oscar gold this time of year. Noyce manages to keep his eye on the lessons of the story, and heads towards it without too much digression. As a result, viewers anticipating one kind of film are sure to find this one wanting. With a little more action and suspense, it could have been a topnotch thriller. With more character development, or exploration of the big political picture, it could have been a more substantial drama. Catch a Fire is done very well in nearly every respect. Sometimes subtle, other times a little too blunt, it does recognize, however, that the audience isn’t made up of dummies, and sticks to the business of telling a worthwhile story in an engaging manner. It’s the kind of motion picture that plays well on the big screen, and exemplifies the kind of solid film-making we should expect every time we go to the movies. Tim Conway operates Capitol Video in Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His column returns Nov. 17.
$4.50 gets you in twice! children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult
20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
Like a rock?
New collection by Don McKay, writer-in-residence at Memorial, solidifies his position at the forefront of Canadian poetry MARK CALLANAN On the shelf Strike/Slip, By Don McKay McClelland & Stewart, 2006, 78 pages
D
uring this semester at the newly re-branded Memorial University, Canadian poet Don McKay is serving as writer-in-residence. McKay, the author of 11 books of poetry and two essay collections, is a decorated veteran of the national literary scene. He has twice won the Governor General’s Award for poetry and been shortlisted as many times for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Camber, a volume of selected poems, was published in 2004, to much acclaim. Strike/Slip is McKay’s latest collection. The book begins with characteristic agility: “astounded, astonied, astunned,” he riffs on the poem’s title (Astonished), “stopped short / and turned toward stone, the moment / filling with its slow / stratified time.” This rhythmic dexterity combined with a frenetic knack for bouncing from association to associa-
tion makes McKay’s writing instantly recognizable. “Take death rattle,” he writes in Song for the Song of the Chipping Sparrow, “take / automatic rifle fire, take t-t-t-t- Tommy Moss / day after day in grade two failing / to finish his name.” McKay has always been a poet of the elements, though largely of the air. His
poems concerning various species of birds are, to my mind, among the best written on the subject — by which I mean they most capture the essential spirit of their target. And though much of Strike/Slip deals with various matters geological, the voice that channels them is the same. Despite its (literally) denser subject matter, the language here remains light as a hummingbird and flits about with something of that same reckless joy. According to an author’s note at the end of the collection, the geological term from which Strike/Slip takes its title is a type of “high-angle fault along which rocks on one side move horizontally in relation to rocks on the other side with a shearing motion.” A similar tension and friction underlies the poems themselves, surfacing in the form of a question implied at points throughout: Is language adequate to describe the actual? “Does the forest simply go on making moss,” McKay wonders in Waiting for Shay, “and rot and whispering translations of translations, rain / into leaf into berry into bear.” Varves, states McKay’s proposition most explicitly of all: “Language itself has long since backed out of the room on tiptoe.” And while arguments on the failure of art to adequately reflect reali-
ty have been around at least as far back as Plato, it seems McKay brings it up here to make plain the insignificance of the human when it is placed beside the monumental stature of the natural world—how the earth, on a geologic time schedule, has outlasted its various species of fauna. There is some truly enviable writing here. A logging train labouring under its load of wood in Waiting for Shay is described as: Four-fifths animal, eats wood and water, breathes, whistles, relieves itself of pressure with a sigh, and harnesses the power of the sneeze to haul its mass of gears and rods and big avuncular belly up the ridge… In Pond, a poem emphasizing the distinction between its namesake and the infinitely clearer pool, McKay considers Narcissus, the mythical character who fell in love with his own reflection: …would the course of self-love run so smooth with that exquisite face rendered in bruin undertone, shaken, and floated in the murk
between the deep sky and the ooze? Despite its overall success, there is a substratum of rhetoric in this collection that feels quite out of place in McKay’s work. An abandoned cable found in the woods is “the snarl / that … yarded / megatons of timber and erased / the forest that once was.” In Ken, a forwarder or some other piece of logging machinery is “like us, heartsick, horror- / stricken Doctor Frankensteins— / quite deaf” to “the song of mother rock.” The speaker in Après Chainsaw, standing near “stumps oozing resin,” thinks of executions, “the man on the platform.” It’s a bit heavy-handed. McKay has always managed to convey his sense of wonder and reverence in the presence of nature without having to resort to preachy politics. His greatest strength is not in moralizing but in conjuring the earth, air, birds and trees, and, by means of pure language, connecting us to nature on a spiritual level. The bulk of this collection does just that and justifies McKay’s place at the forefront of Canadian poetry. Strike/Slip is a necessary pleasure. Mark Callanan lives in St. John’s. His column returns Nov. 17.
EVENTS NOVEMBER 3 • The Woman In Black, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill, starring Aiden Flynn and Steve O’Connell, LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 8 p.m. Until Nov. 4. • Third annual St. John’s Storytelling Festival continues, with performances (for kids and adults) and workshops running until Nov. 5. Visit www.nlfolk.com for a complete schedule. • Deadpan Alley presents C.L.U.E. (Colorful Liars Uproariously
Exposed), a whodunnit packed with murder, mayhem, music and mystery, 8 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre, Duckworth Street, St. John’s. • Andrew LeDrew and Mike Hanrahan, Whalen’s Gate, Corner Brook, 10 p.m. Also Nov. 4. NOVEMBER 4 • The Nordic Beat, with the Human Soundtrack and Trailer Camp, The Backlot, Corner Brook. NOVEMBER 5 • Winter In the Cove exhibition
opening, featuring paintings, pottery, photographs and hooked rugs by more than 20 artists. Opening reception, 1-4 p.m., Five Island Art Gallery, 7 Cove Rd., Tors Cove, 334-3645. • MusicNL awards and gala, Stephenville Arts and Culture Centre. NOVEMBER 6 • Roger Hodgson (formerly of Supertramp) at the Molson Club, Mile One Stadium, 8 p.m. • Women in Science and Engineering annual general
meeting, Marine Institute, Room C1214, 7 p.m. Guest speaker is Charlene Johnson, MHA. NOVEMBER 8 • c2c Theatre presents The Stendhal Syndrome: Full Frontal Nudity and Prelude & Liebstod by Terrence McNally. Featuring Petrina Bromley, Neil Butler, Phil Churchill, Sandy Gow, Chuck Herriott and directed by Brad Hodder. LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 8 p.m. Continues until Nov. 12.
Dennis Minty’s photos will be part of the Winter in the Cove exhibition at Five Island Art Gallery, Tors Cove, starting Nov. 5.
‘A collaboration between me and my family tree’ From page 17 you don’t get to be in the minority very often.” It shaped her imagination, she tells me, and also ended up making her feel “outside, a lot of the time.” (Which is where most writers are to some extent, by temperament or choice, or sometimes because something or someone cracks them in half, and one of those halves is the watcher forever after.) Tilley, who turns 28 next month, was born in St. John’s and lived in Brigus South before her family left for Nain. She started to write at the age of three, she says, right after she learned to read. (I quickly repair my flabbered gast, and wait for her to continue.) “My mother made a word jar for me. She put words in the jar and I would take a couple out and write a story, and I have those books still.” So both nature and nurture eventually made Tilley the author of SnowflakeYoung, a powerful novel that moves between St. John’s and Sanikiluaq, between the landscape of the protagonist’s childhood and that of her adult
self. (As the song says, it’s partly truth and partly fiction — no, it’s all truth, like every good book, even when there’s no truth there at all in the mundane sense.) “I had an interesting … visceral education,” says Tilley, who’s a vegetarian, as she describes life in Sanikiluaq. At least one Saturday outing ended with Tilley and her brother standing beside “a walrus carcass, and its intestines.” A room in the school had a tile floor that sloped down to a drain. The older boys brought in freshly killed seals, skinned them and handed the meat around, to be eaten raw by the other students. Her voice is neutral, slightly offhand, as she tells me this; no details. They’re all there in the book though. “I put the meat into my mouth before I can think about it too much. It’s warm and it fills up my whole mouth so I feel like I’m suffocating. There’s thick blood going down my throat and it tastes like pennies.” (Teresa Norman, SnowflakeYoung’s heroine.) I too had a visceral education by the time I finished Snowflake-Young, but like Tilley, there are no regrets. “I don’t
think I would have traded it in,” she says. “It was such a unique way to grow up.” After finishing high school in St. John’s, Tilley completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting at York University. That’s where she became interested in a form of clowning developed by Richard Pochinko, mask-based theatre with roots in Native American shamanism. Eventually, Tilley formed her own theatre company called She Said Yes! Tilley has written and performed three solo shows for various theatre companies; her own company’s latest production was local playwright Robert Chafe’s Butler’s Marsh, staged at night in Pippy Park last summer. Performing is difficult for someone as shy and sensitive as Tilley. But the terror is worth it: her brand of theatre, she says, is “full of panic and vulnerability … it’s really spontaneous and it’s really hard and it’s wonderful; I use it in my writing now.” A voice teacher at York helped Tilley realize she had had “a fist in my throat since I was a child” from the trauma of switching cultures. “It was such a complicated time,” she says. “I shut it away, I couldn’t look at it.” Snowflake-Young helped her “open up that fist.” When I ask her how she writes, what her process is, she says, “I write around images, sensory memories, the taste, the feel of something and out of that comes a scene. I don’t plan the characters or the plot.” Tilley began Snowflake-Young in 2001, but didn’t work full time on it until 2003, when she had Lisa Moore as a mentor at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Although the publication future of Snowflake-Young hasn’t been settled yet, Tilley is already at work on another novel. In a house that’s been in her family for several generations, she recently discovered “a stack of correspondence from the 1880s on to the 1940s … a lot of it was from my great-great grandfather, Duke, who spent 14 years in Alaska during the gold rush.” It will be, Tilley says, “a collaboration between me and my family tree.” As Tilley’s theatric inspiration Richard Pochinko once said, “Clowning is about the freedom that comes from a state of total, unconditional acceptance of our most authentic selves, warts and all. It offers us respite from our self doubts and fears, and opens the door to joy.” The same could be said about Tilley’s writing, and so can this: like a snowflake, it is exquisite and unique. Susan Rendell is a freelance writer and editor living in downtown St. John’s. Her collection of short stories, In the Chambers of the Sea, was published by Killick Press in 2003. srendell@nf.sympatico.ca
INDEPENDENTSTYLE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006 — PAGE 21
Wrought beauty with
Trinity blacksmiths are fashioning functional and beautiful home accessories that are built to last
“I remember the hot metal and the sparks flying, he’d be beating out grapnels (anchors) and stuff for the local fishermen, that was one of the major things he did. A fiveclaw grapnel. I can see Cyril beating those out now.” Ivany says the forge is so busy making the smaller items such as letter openers and coat hooks there is little time left over to create new designs. The forge is producing a new coat rack, however, which is fashioned after fish tails. Ivany says new designs tend to come to him in dreams, or he might pick up on an idea or two while watching period films such as Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. “Some of the sconces and candleholders in the background were pretty cool — but you miss a lot of the movie that way,” he laughs. One of the more popular big ticket pieces is the sevencandle hanging candelabra. Ivany says they are very labour-intensive, and take about two-and-a-half days to make. He estimates that most of the 10 pieces he’s made over the last couple of years have sold locally – one an anniversary gift a local man bought for his son in St. John’s — as they are hard for tourists to pack and ship out of the province. All the wrought iron creations can be purchased directly at the forge during the six-month tourist season, online at the Trinity Historical Society website, and at the Devon House craft shop in St. John’s. Meanwhile, Ivany says he’s a happy man to have the opportunity to play with the iron, work in his own community, and make what he says is “a good honest living.” It’s a job he never thought he would inherit from Cyril Hiscock. “We thought with the modern age he was probably the last of them.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
By Mandy Cook The Independent
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or anyone with a decorative penchant for all things medieval, you’re in luck. As part of the Trinity Historical Society, the Green Family Forge is a fully operational forge making wrought iron coat hooks, candleholders, candelabras, fireplace poker sets, plant hangers and more. The forge dates back to 1895, as does the hand-operated bellows that coaxes the fire to life each morning. It is in this large, drafty heritage site local blacksmiths hammer out household items. They use intense coal-fired heat on a sturdy anvil, just as their predecessors did while crafting schooner anchors in the 18th century. Today, it is a unique shopping stop to stock your house with solid, elemental hardware. Wade Ivany, Green Family forge blacksmith for the past six years, never dreamed he’d make a living by molding iron rods into useful shapes. He thought it was a “dying art” and recalls watching a local blacksmith — who “fired up” until the spry age of 70 — hard at work in the forge when he was a young boy. “Cyril Hiscock, he was always a blacksmith here in Trinity and he still fires up actually, he’s 87, he’s still got his own forge,” says Ivany. “He’s fit as a fiddle. My dad hung out at his blacksmithing shop a fair bit and I always hung out with some of his sons.
Cod Jigger coat hook, $25
Paul Daly/The Independent
Paradise by the fridge door light
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t’s late. The lights are off in the rest of the house and I am wide awake and sitting in the office typing away like a furious madman. The house it as quiet as a tomb and the only sound is the droning of the compressor in the fridge. My wife is blissfully asleep and I have the munchies. The bedtime snack is sometimes a necessary evil. Hunger pains during the late evening culminate into cramps or worse — they keep you awake, which in this sleep-deprived world is a fate worse than death. The ritual of the bed snack is as traditional as the cup of Sleepytime tea before bed. It must happen or else the night is a wreck.
NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path There are a lot of foods that are sleep inducing and others that are not. It really is a chemistry course, but I will navigate you through as best I can. There is a lot of history with the latenight snack. The most popular one is the Dagwood sandwich, named after the cartoon character of the 1930s in the Blondie comic strip. Dagwood Bumstead is his name and he made
night-time degustation a living art form. He made sandwiches — milehigh Dagwoods. The notion of a Dagwood is to cram anything that will fit between two pieces of bread, to be consumed by the eerie glow of the open fridge door. Too cold for my liking. Warm milk is another option. The science of warm milk is brilliant. Tryptophan — the sleepy drug — is also the reason why all you want to do after a big turkey dinner is sleep. Milk and turkey contain tryptophan, a chemical cousin of seratonin, the warm, fuzzy and sleep-inducing chemical your body naturally makes. Your body
naturally wants to go to sleep. As well, science has shown warm food, which slightly raises your blood temperature, is enough to make you feel sleepy, which is why warm milk has been mother’s little helper to get kids to sleep for generations. I don’t like warm milk — so scratch that one too. Other sleep-inducing foods include eggs, meats, tofu, cheese, beans and rice. Some complex carbohydrate foods like bread can be either good for sleeping or bad, depending on the components. Scientists recommend a good balance of carbohydrates and proteins for
a good night’s sleep — so Dagwood wasn’t too far off after all. Foods to avoid are foods high in sugar or empty calories. So that latenight trip to the drive-through for some heavy fast food is more likely to keep you awake than it is to put you to sleep, so it is not recommended. Sometimes history is the best teacher. Some stories, which seem unbelievable, are in fact very true. Like the one about the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich that the King, Elvis Presley, was said to be a fan of. Legend has it that during his See “Elvis-style,” page 22
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE
DRINK
TASTE
Prepping for Wine Fest By Nicholas Gardner For The Independent
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feel like a kid at Christmas. I have a bag full of wines, not even released to the general public. I am on the inside for the first time. I have the opportunity to taste some of the wines selected for the upcoming NLC Wine Fest, at the Delta Hotel in St. John’s, Nov. 16-18. For those of you who have purchased tickets to the NLC wine show — are you in for a treat. For wine connoisseurs or those who want to see what’s new to the wine market in the city, it’s a good chance to wrap your lips around some spectacular wines — and pick up some great bargains as well. Take the Long Neck cabernet sauvignon for example. South Africa is developing a strong international reputation for high quality product without high prices. This is a new release from the Cape Town region. Situated on the coast, the terroir lends itself to strong growing conditions of hot sun combined with the cooling breeze from the ocean. It makes for a good mixture. This dark plum or purple coloured wine is full of deep, rich and ripe fruit. The nose sends hints of acetone; however it soon mellows out. A fruity palate of flavours descends on the tongue. A moderate long finish seals the deal with ripe cherries and plum overtones. This is one wine that will be well liked at the show. Raimat Abadia 2003 is sure to be another favourite. This Spanish wine is a mature tasting blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and tempranillo grapes. The tempranillo is the best
known of the Spanish grapes of the Rioja region. What comes out is smooth and creamy wine. The mouth feel is velvety smooth. Notes of pepper and tobacco are noticeable without being overbearing, and it ends with a long, elegant finish. Raimont will be one of the hits of the show. I am sure that this wine, if cellared, will only get better with age. On the white wine side of things we have the Placido Pinot Grigio. When slightly chilled it retains a floral nose, a true mark of pinot gris. As a pure pinot wine it is a good example. Exotic fruits, citrus and rose petals are present. It has a delicate body, slightly spicy and sweet, but not sickly. This light coloured wine would be perfect with a light salad and citrus vinaigrette, or even just simple heatkissed whitefish. I can see it working its way onto many dinner tables when this show is over. Rounding out the white wines on hand is the Fish Hoek sauvignon blanc, another choice wine from South Africa. While I do enjoy sauvignon blancs from all over the world I was slightly underwhelmed by this example. I found it syrupy and sweet — perhaps that is the selling point — but not to me. This wine was a bit dull as the muted flavour palate of traditional apple and florals didn’t make me dance for joy in the least. It just proves you can’t win them all. But there are many other choices to be had at the upcoming wine show — these are but a few to look for. Taste, and enjoy. nicholas.gardner@gmail.com
Tasty tomatoes Jennifer Bain Torstar wire service
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here are still freshly grown tomatoes to be had, even in this end of the country. Try these tasty recipes for a different spin on the healthy red fruit.
ELAINA’S TOMATO JAM Elaina Asselin pairs this flavour-packed, savoury jam with everything from breakfast sausages and burgers to roast meats. It works well on cheese plates, too. • 1 tsp coriander seeds • 1/2 tsp cardamom pods • 1 tsp freshly ground pepper • 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar • 1/4 cup each: balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar • 4 large tomatoes, peeled, diced (about 2 lb/900 g) • 1 onion, diced • 1/3 cup peeled, minced ginger In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast coriander and cardamom until they start to smoke, about 5 to 7 minutes. In coffee grinder or using mortar and pestle, grind coriander and cardamom into fine powder (make sure no slivers of pods remain). Stir in pepper. In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and vinegars. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add tomatoes, onion and ginger. Simmer, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if necessary, 2 hours (cooking time will vary depending on water content of your tomatoes) or until jam thickens to desired consistency. Stir in coriander mixture. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate in
sealed container up to 1 month or freeze in smaller containers up to 6 months. Makes about 3 cups. TOMATO SALAD WITH CUMIN & SMOKED PAPRIKA From Spain, this tomato salad makes inspired use of cumin and Spanish smoked paprika (now widely available from gourmet shops). Outside of tomato season, try hothouse Campari tomatoes (but adjust the quantity). The recipe is from The 150 Best American Recipes: Indispensable Dishes from Legendary Chefs and Undiscovered Cooks (2006, $39.95) by Fran McCullough, Molly Stevens and Rick Bayless. • 2 large cloves garlic, peeled • 1 tsp kosher salt • 5 large tomatoes (about 2-1/2 lb/1-1/4 kg) • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar • Pinch freshly ground pepper • 1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika • 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed • 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil Using mortar and pestle, mash garlic with salt into paste. Peel one tomato; chop. Add to mortar. Pound until well blended. Add vinegar, pepper, paprika and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Pound until smooth. Add oil. Whisk into vinaigrette. (Makes about 1 cup.) Cut remaining four tomatoes crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange on serving platter in single layer, overlapping as little as possible. Pour vinaigrette over tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Makes 4 to 6 side servings.
Elvis-style sandwich From page 21 “wilderness years,” Elvis would consume many of these before going to bed. Here it is in all its glory: a peanut butter and banana sandwich, Elvisstyle. • 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter • 2 slices bread • 1 small ripe banana, mashed with a fork • 2 tablespoons butter Spread peanut butter evenly on one slice of bread, then spread mashed banana on other slice. Put sandwich together. Heat butter in frying pan over moderate heat until foam subsides, then fry sandwich, turning over once, until golden brown, about two minutes total. Eat immediately. It fills all the criteria perfectly: carbohydrates, protein and plenty of tryptophan. While it seems like a good choice any time of the day, I am not so sure it is perfect for bedtime. It is a bit labour intensive and requires cooking and cleaning up afterwards, which in my mind is a no-no. I like the stealthy approach to the bed snack. Simple food and no clean up. So the next time you look in the fridge for a late night snack, think of the proper ingredients for a good night’s sleep. Nicholas is a freelance writer and erstwhile chef living in St.John’s
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23
Never too old for fright night
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hile I have holidays on my mind and Christmas is still months away, I want to talk about my personal favorite: Halloween. This unfortunate process called growing up has become a bit of a pain when it comes to Halloween. I’ve reached the age where if I went trick or treating I’d get a few suspicious glances and a handful of glares. Enough of those would deter just about anybody. During my last real outing I dressed up as Slash from Guns ‘n’ Roses. As a last minute costume decision I thought it was an OK idea. I had the aged leather jacket, the curly locks (all natural) and the finishing touch — the top hat. The only part of the ensemble missing was a cigarette hanging from my lip. I wasn’t willing to get that involved in a character. Now I’ve been branded the adult, the one waiting on the doorbell. I’m on the other side now and there’s no going
LEIA FELTHAM Falling face first back. I’ll be damned though if I say anything like, “Oh, what a cute costume” just yet. While I hand out treats I can reflect on how Halloween, like most childhood experiences, has its share of awkward moments. I wish I could entirely blame Newfoundland weather for all the times my mother forced me to wear winter coats under my costume. Her motherly instincts were sometimes off and the temperature didn’t plummet below freezing so not only did I look bloated, but I’d be sweating buckets as well. The worst year was when I was an angel. I looked more like Mr. Stay Puft from Ghostbusters — big, white and poofy. I would
rather have dealt with the cold. I still wish I could experience coming home and dumping out my hard-earned loot. After all that work, all a kid wants to do is dig in. The torture of waiting for it to be carefully inspected seems unfair. It’s one of the first lessons you get from your parents that strangers can’t be trusted. A lot can hide behind smiling eyes and generous hands. Once the feast commenced and the parents took their pick of the stash by means of bartering and trade, the tradition of a scary movie marathon would begin. The odd thing is, it’s not the ghosts, werewolves, or any creepy creatures that get me jumping. Movies about people, especially true stories of the cruel and twisted, will give me chills down my spine. I can always tell myself the monsters aren’t real, yet the truth of the potential for evil that exists in the darker corners of the human heart can’t be denied.
It’s not something I want to see and I’ll gladly cower behind a pillow. Give me a decent zombie flick over that any day. The last good fright I got was when the phones and Internet went down. After my little paranoid rant about technology taking revenge, I was almost prepared to board up the windows and break out the baseball bats and shotguns. Lucky for me that wasn’t necessary — I’m sure my aim sucks. The temptation to become someone else for a night is very appealing. With deadlines and stress I’d love to pretend to be a superhero or an important figure from the past. Maybe even something off-the-wall like a water cooler or a deck of cards. Ideas keep filling my head and I run off to find materials to make a costume then I pass the front door and remember my place. This year there are no piles of candy spread over my floor. The only sweets I got were the leftovers from my house,
DETAILS
Todd Sharpe
Paul Daly/The Independent
The old stereotype If you’re a guy and a hairstylist, chances are, people are going to make certain assumptions By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent
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odd Sharpe, 25, wanted to be a cop or a hairstylist while growing up in Upper Island Cove. He settled on stylist — though he says he would look as good in a uniform as he does in his colourist apron. While it didn’t enter his mind at the time, he says he’s become the stereotypical male stylist in one way at least — Sharpe is gay. “I had more of a passion for this,” he says of his flair for hair, recalling early childhood memories of braiding his sister’s long hair at his mother’s side. Sharpe says his family and friends supported his decision from the start. “It didn’t and doesn’t enter my mind, that gay thing, not at all,” he says. “Maybe once in a blue moon people make comments, but I’m a professional and I just take it as a personality difference so when a client gets curious I try and be honest and still do my job.” People, he says, are respectful — at least to his face. Sharpe doesn’t see himself as flamboyant, and because his sexuality is not an issue for him, it hasn’t become one for others. “No one has given me a hard time about being gay and I have just as many men and women clients,” he says. He does admit some men who sit in his chair seem nervous at first. “This is a busy industry. If they want their hair done now, they might have to have it done by
the gay guy, but generally people are just really great. “Ten years ago maybe there would be issues, but not in this city at this time … That I’m gay is an old topic. The stereotyping of who does what — manly men do this job and feminine men do that — is not there so much anymore.” There was a time, Sharpe jokes, “when we were the good dressers … But now, that’s another stereotype out the window and straight men dress as good as us, or sometimes better.” Sharpe says there were four men in his class while he studied to be a hair stylist — and, yes, “all of us were gay. But I have worked with straight male stylists, they are out there.” Cory Stuckless, 35, has a wife and kids and is living happily in Mount Pearl. He was studying engineering when he realized he wanted to become a stylist. “I got involved as a model for a hair show and I found what the stylists did was so creative that I just knew it was for me,” he says. The road wasn’t easy. “Back in Grand Falls (where he’s from), it’s unheard of for a straight guy to do hair,” he laughs. His family and friends thought he was “crazy” — but now they’re all satisfied clients. “My father won’t let anyone else touch his hair now,” he adds. “You automatically get tagged,” he says. “I’m a good dresser, I’m flirty, I’m not a bad
looking guy and what is your typical gay man like anyway? I guess that would be the impression someone might get.” Most new clients who sit in his chair won’t ask directly, but Stuckless knows the pattern. “They ask in a roundabout way — what did you do this weekend? Or they inquire about pictures you have up and that kind of thing. “I’m a tough guy with a deep voice. I am a guy’s guy — only with flair — and I have a twist, I can make you look absolutely utterly beautiful. How many men can do that?” Stuckless understands the hesitation some men have going to a male stylist. “How many other professions get to touch you the way a stylist does?” he asks. “People have to put their stereotyping aside, and men are just as fashion-conscious these days as women, so they just have to get over it, and for the most part they have.” Stuckless says, in general, social barriers are coming down and sexuality has little to do with the profession anymore. “The other men stylists here are all straight ... now that’s not the norm, it just is right now,” he says. “But when we get a compliment from a gay guy, why wouldn’t that mean as much as one coming from a woman? “My clients don’t care, as long as they look fantastic when they leave my chair, and trust me, they all do.” pamelamichpardy@yahoo.com
which somehow doesn’t feel the same as trick or treating for it. Like the grass is always greener, the candy always appears better on the other side. Mardi Gras is still a year away and I’m hardly looking forward to it. It would seem this holiday has lost some of its enticement. I’m not giving up yet though, because it’s given me so many years of fun — not to mention headaches and toothaches. Maybe I’ll even shrug off the nasty looks and ditch my post at the door to visit a few houses next year. I believe age has no limits, except the boundaries we put on ourselves. Live as old as you feel. Young and foolish is how I’m feeling so it will be a night of horror, laughter and stomachaches for me. And if you’re wondering what I’m most afraid of … I’ll never tell. Leia Feltham is a first-year student at Memorial University. Her column returns Nov. 17.
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE
High-def TV more than a pretty picture By Andrew Chung Torstar wire service
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We’re all over CHEAP SUITS By David Graham Torstar wire service
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rances Massey, the owner of Davenport Tailors and Dressmakers, one of Toronto’s busiest alteration companies, has some words of caution for men shopping for an affordable suit. “It’s all in the shoulders,” she says. “It is the most important part of the suit. It’s the foundation. If it doesn’t fit in the shoulder, it makes our job that much more difficult. It can be done but it’s a big job. A good tailor can perform miracles. But it’s best to
start with as good a fit as possible.” She says most men can tell immediately if the shoulders of a suit are balanced. “You can tell by the way it feels and the way it hangs,” she says. And it’s preferable to buy a suit that’s a little too big rather than too small. “Inexpensive suits often don’t come with a lot of extra fabric. They can be a little skimpy with off-the-rack suits so letting it out is a challenge,” says Massey. “It’s always easier to take it in than let it out. The length of a jacket can be shortened.” Taking the sleeves in is one of the
most frequent requests at Davenport Tailors. Massey has a tip if the sleeves are too long: “Check to make sure the buttonholes on the surgeon’s sleeves are not cut through the fabric. Again, it can be fixed but it’s just that much more work.” Massey says it’s impossible to estimate the cost of alterations without having the suit in front of her. But for example, shortening the sleeves (including vent and lining) costs about $45. And nipping in the waist of a suit jacket is complicated and usually comes in at around $55. Fit is the real challenge, she asserts.
Style is subjective, though three-piece suits are making a return. Fabric, as well, is a chump’s game. “If the material appeals to your eye and your hand then you should go with it. You can ask where the fabric came from and where the suit was made. It could be from Spain or China but even that doesn’t tell you a lot.” Mostly Massey wants to emphasize that if you’ve got the money, there’s nothing like a designer Italian suit from a pricey Bloor Street haberdasher. But if money’s tight, consider an off-the-rack number and factor in a few extra dollars for alterations.
hose poor cathode-ray tube TVs, all lonely in the dark, dusty corners of the electronics department. They’re kind of awkward looking Quasimodos, what with those humps jutting out their backs. The staff ignore them. Not many want them any more. So they’re peddled cheap. All the action is in the “sexy” department housing the flats. Flat-screen, highdefinition digital TVs. They’re sleek, they look great and sound amazing. But there’s one gigantic problem: whereas buying a good ol’ tube TV was pretty straightforward (Colour? Check. Remote? Check), buying a flat-screen HDTV can be daunting, filled with scary abbreviations and little reliable help at the store. That’s what I found a few months ago when I bought a Toshiba Theaterwide HDTV, only to take it back to Futureshop after a few days of bewilderment and grief. Most of the channels I watched looked terrible. What was I doing wrong? Turns out nothing. I simply hadn’t done my homework. I wasn’t asking the right questions. For example, this is something they won’t tell you in the store: remember that the hi-def digital content broadcast on cable, satellite or over the air is still limited. Depending on the TV you buy and your personal expectations, regular, or analog, TV could actually look worse on your new HDTV than on your old set. So make sure you can return the TV if you don’t like it. Here are a few other tips to increase your chances of buying the right one for you: • Don’t be afraid to make the salesperson work. When you go to a big store, they undoubtedly will be playing DVDs to ensure the best picture on the display models. Ask if they can show you regular cable or satellite channels. If that’s impossible, ensure the same DVD is playing on all the TVs that you want to compare. Ask to place those TVs side by side for the best comparison. • If you don’t have cable or satellite and want to catch hi-def digital signals over the air, your TV must have an integrated ATSC tuner to receive HDTV programs (most don’t) or you must buy one. • HDTV is all about resolution; its picture is much more detailed. You should look for the abbreviations 1080i or 760p, or even 1080p for the best picture for films and sports. • The jury is still out on plasma versus liquid-crystal display (LCD). Many suggest LCD is longer lasting and not subject to a station identity logo “burning” into the screen. But the biggest flatscreens are still available only in plasma. • For easy connection of video game consoles or video cameras, look for audio-video (or S-video) inputs and outputs on the front or side of the TV. Despite all the hype, there’s still no urgency to buy an HDTV set. Analog signals are scheduled to end in the United States in 2009. But there is no date yet for Canada, and it’s a given that analog will be around here longer than that. If you can afford it, buy an HDTV widescreen. Chances are you’ll be happy with it. But if not, don’t fret about giving those dusty Quasimodos at the back of the store a second look.
What’s new in the automotive industry
NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006
FEATURED VEHICLE
2006 NISSAN 350Z ROADSTER This hot little number boasts 300 HP and 260 lb-ft of torque proving that really good things come in small packages. The seamless 7000 rpm shift and 4-valve heads’ free-breathing abilities make driving the 350Z an emotional experience. Model shown starts at $53,698 and is available at O’Neill Motors, Topsail Rd. Above: Pier 17, St. John’s waterfront. Paul Daly/The Independent
Card-carrying member of the Kiss Army I
really like what kids are driving complete without the wild paint and these days, those hopped up graphics … nothing is. machines called “Tuners.” They’re The whole package takes a lot of customized, individualized, rolling work. Work to build it and work to pay pieces of art, oozing past the it off; that means kids are soccer moms and working occupied and take pride in dads, always on their way their possessions. That builds towards someone cooler character. It stimulates the than thou. economy too. They run on lowered susBusinesses grow and pension, “slammed to the accommodate consumer ground” as it were, with demand, whether it be for cuswide, oversized wheels tom rims or massive car steresporting tires so thin it looks os. If the kids want it they’ll MARK like they’re painted on. sell it to them and install it too. WOOD Then there’s the big wing It’s all good. on the back and tinted winI like what the kids drive, I WOODY’S dows. Slow, booming music like the whole idea, but it’s not WHEELS for me. You see, the lowered you can feel in your chest as it rolls by, like there’s a party suspension on thin rubber passing you with the curtains drawn. amounts to a pretty stiff ride, and the Tuners have hot little motors with all music, and the wings, and the paint ... kinds of bolt-on goodies — probably it’s all a bit too conspicuous. Besides, even a chip to override the stock com- you look foolish, although don’t take it puter so she can dance with the best. personally. I was a teenager in the ’70s And they sound good too, with the fat — the last great age of rolling foolish“can” peeking out back, singing a ness. throaty, mellow note. It wouldn’t be It was a time of muscle cars, when
Chargers, Camaros and Mustangs ruled the roads and we customized those superb cars as no car ought to be customized. Forgive us for jacking them up in the back and reducing their handling. Big, fat slicks always look good on a car — besides you had to have something for those awesome big V-8s to smoke. The air was scented with burnt rubber as we listened to Smoke on the Water on the 8-track. We put “shag” carpet in everything (especially vans); that’s why it’s called “shag” carpet. Some of us were victims of the CBradio craze, made popular by movies like Smokey and the Bandit. A huge CB whip antenna was the icing on the cake for many a Dodge Dart, with gold, adhesive letters across the trunk spelling out the cryptic “Hi, I’m XM-66-4444.” Those would be the call letters for communicating with the owner of said Dart. I know, it was awful, but cell phones weren’t invented then. Neither was FM radio or cable TV. What else was there to do but cus-
tomize your car and smoke the tires off it? We were foolish long before you were — card-carrying members of the Kiss Army. Now we’re the largest, most powerful group of consumers ever targeted — the Boomers. To catch our fancy, Dodge came back with the Charger,
‘cept it’s running on oversize wheels, not-too-thin tires and it’s a four-door with room for the family. It’s a smart package, cool enough for a kid but built for a dad. Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philips still has 8-track tapes.
26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT
TESTING, TESTING
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
Lessons learned KART RACING SUCCESS REQUIRES TALENT, LUCK - AND A LOT OF MONEY
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o near and yet so far. Marco Di oh, and have at least one car between Leo, 19, one-half of the kart rac- them. ing Di Leo brothers of It very nearly happened. Markham, Ont. - Daniel, 24, being the If a young racer named Peter other - went into last Sunday’s final Husser, another American, hadn’t spun races in the Skip Barber U.S. National out on the last corner of the last lap Racing Series holding a slim, four- when Di Leo passed him, he would point lead in the championship. have finished between the Canadian Four points ahead of a thundering and Goring and Di Leo would have throng of similarly young, ambitious been champ. and lightning quick formula car racers, But Husser did spin - and Goring all intent on turning heads and proving got past him to finish in fifth place, points going into the final one spot behind Di Leo, two rounds of the 14-race which gave him 647 points championship in which they to Di Leo’s 645. all drove identical machines. Bummer. Four points which, if they “It was a tough weekend,” held up, would mean not Marco Di Leo said. “We all only a championship trophy drive Skip Barber cars in that (and the bragging rights) but series and a lot of us had a cheque for $100,000 that trouble in the Saturday race would go a long way toward with engines overheating. NORRIS raising the budget needed to But I finished third in that MCDONALD continue climbing U.S. auto race and that was OK. racing’s professional ladder. “Sunday, I had such a Four points that might good race. The whole objeclead to a ride in the Star tive was to keep him Mazda series, for instance, (Goring) behind me, which I which was the path to stardom chosen did. And everything worked out perby Brian Herta, Marco Andretti and fectly when I passed (Husser) at the A.J. Allmendinger, among others last corner. Four points ahead after 12 races. “It paid off for about a second. Then But two days and two races later, at he spun out and my heart sank because Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, those that meant Goring was through (past four points ahead became two points Husser).” behind. Marco Di Leo just missed Marco Di Leo did not sound diswinning that championship and the couraged. But he is now in exactly the money that went with it. A young same bind as his older brother Daniel: American, Jonathan Goring, took a driver with a tonne of talent and a home the spoils while Di Leo came in promising future and the only thing a disappointing second. holding him back from fame and glory It was a tough title to lose. After fin- is moolah, or the lack thereof. ishing third in the first race of the As any number of young and talentweekend (Oct. 28), all Di Leo had to ed Canadian racing drivers might say do to claim first place was finish ahead welcome to the club. of Goring in the final race on Sunday Daniel Di Leo, for instance, was
TRACK TALK
Bahraini Ali Aryan, 32, the first Arab to hold Top-Fuel Dragster licence, makes his first test run last week at the Bahrain International Circuit, 25 km south of Manama. Hamad Mohammed/Reuters
North American karting champion four times. He also went the Skip Barber route, finishing third in his first year in the National series (Allmendinger was second). He then moved on to the Barber Dodge Pro series in 2002 and was rookie-of-the year in his first season, in which he finished fourth in the championship. The next year he was second in the title chase. In 2004, he was offered a ride in the Star Mazda series and continued to impress people by finishing second in the championship and winning rookieof-the-year. But then, things sort of came to a grinding halt. “With bigger and better series come bigger and better budgets,” said Daniel, in an interview. “I wanted to go into Formula Atlantic last year (2005), but a season in those cars costs $750,000 and I just couldn’t raise that amount of money. “I got to do one race in Atlantics last year, at Road America in Wisconsin, and I finished third and that got the attention of some of the owners. I was close to a deal with Forsythe Racing’s Atlantic team for this year but I got outbid at the last minute. “It’s killing me to be on the sidelines. But I have some irons in the fire - I expect to race next February in the 24 Hours of Daytona and that could lead to a ride in the Grand Am series but there’s nothing really definite.” Marco, meantime, has his eye on the Star Mazda series but - as it is with his brother and so many others - it comes down to money. “A full season is going to cost about $400,000,” he said. “I’m in a big hole but there are some subsidized rides around in auto racing — that’s where if a team can sign up somebody who‘s able to bring a full budget, then they can afford to run a second car for not quite as much money. “I’ve been talking to a few teams like that. I got $20,000 from Skip Barber for finishing second, so I think I could probably go racing next year with a good team for $100,000. I just have to come up with the other $80,000.” On any weekend in summer, when you go to a family kartway, or a road course like Mosport or a race track like Avondale Speedway in Newfoundland and Labrador, you’ll see a lot of dreams racing around. Thousands of kids (and not-soyoung kids) start out determined to be the next Michael Schumacher or Danica Patrick or Tony Stewart. The problem, when you get right down to it, is that there are fewer than 200 driver jobs, in total, in the upper echelons of big-league auto racing. Which means that most of those thousands of ambitious and talented people don’t make it. Although they remain determined to get to the top, the Di Leo brothers are very fortunate in that they do have something to fall back on - a business that will keep them close to the sport they adore. Many years ago, father Frank decided that it would be a good experience for his then nine-year-old son Daniel to take up go-kart racing. They went to Goodwood Kartways in Stouffville, Ont., and, first time out, Daniel won his race. “My mom, Rita, wasn’t too happy about the racing,” said Daniel. “But I came home with a big trophy that was just about up to my waist and that won her over. She’s been very supportive of my brother’s and my racing activities ever since.” The Di Leos continued to practice and race at Goodwood while they racked up their championships. Ten years or so ago, Frank Di Leo purchased the Goodwood business. He leased it out until last year, but then let his two sons take it over. “I’m still dreaming,” said Daniel, “but we have the business now and I’m learning that. I still want to go racing, but life goes on.” Marco, five years younger, is still bullish on his open wheel racing future. But he’s in his third year of studying business at the University of Ontario in Oshawa — just in case. — Torstar Syndication Services lives here.
It’s here in our community. Please make a difference by volunteering.
1-800-268-7582 www.mssociety.ca
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27
Looking for a live deal LORRAINE SOMMERFELD DOESN’T TRUST EBAY — SHE’S LOOKING TO BUY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
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Pierce Brosnan with the Aston Martin he drove as James Bond in 2002’s Die Another Day. Reuters
James Bond back with Aston Martin James Bond, the legendary British secret agent, will drive an Aston Martin in the next 007 film, Casino Royale, being released later this month. Daniel Craig plays James Bond in the film. In the true tradition of Bond, full details of the car are being kept top secret, but the company did confirm that it would be a new model called the Aston Martin DBS. Chairman and chief executive officer Dr. Ulrich Bez said: “It is great
that Bond will drive an Aston Martin again and we have built him something special to enable him to do his job in style.” The association with the marque began in 1964 with the film Goldfinger when the DB5 was fitted with “optional extras” such as ejector seats and rockets. The last Bond film, Die Another Day, tragically the final outing with Pierce Brosnan as Bond, featured Aston Martin’s flagship model, the Vanquish.
Ford’s US numbers up Ford Motor Company’s dealers delivered 215,985 vehicles to U.S. customers in October, up 8 per cent compared with a year ago. It is the second monthly sales increase for the company, which posted a 5 per cent increase in September. October car sales were up 22 per cent as sales for the company’s new mid-size cars (Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ) were more than double a year ago. The Ford Focus and the outgoing Ford Taurus also posted sharply higher sales. Truck sales were up 1 per cent, led
Jaguar’s journalist of the year
A
t an event gathering a group of Canada's leading automotive journalists last week, Jaguar Canada recently presented the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada (AJAC) Automotive Journalist of the Year Award to Metro Newspapers’ journalist Nadine Filion. This coveted award was inaugurated in 1984 by past Jaguar Canada president, John Mackie, who was on hand to present the award, to “reward excellence in automotive journalism.” A variety of submissions are considered for this award including feature story, car review, general editorial opinion, with personal style and mastery of the subject taken into account for all applications of media — print, television, radio and Internet. Filion is a second-time winner of this prestigious award. The panel of three judges with extensive journalism and literary backgrounds was impressed with the way in which Filion broke through the clutter of automotive reviews to bring her audience interesting stories to read. FRESH AND FLOWING “In a genre dominated by stories that all start to sound the same after a while, Nadine's stories were consistently fresh and flowed easily, never dragging in terms of pace or of content,” said Marc Lalonde, journalist with the West Island Chronicle in Montreal and one of the judges on the panel. “This year’s winner showed an ability to make automotive articles interesting to all readers — not just those who open the automotive section first.” First runner-up, Robert Bosetelaar, a writer for the Ottawa Citizen, was said by the judges to have a “consistently clean, conversational writing style and produced well-balanced car reviews that neither salivate nor skewer each test vehicle.” Second runner-up was awarded to Jil McIntosh of the Toronto Star for providing “exceptionally interesting behind-the-scenes information of which the public likely would not be aware.” McIntosh’s articles “were especially informative and evidenced excellent investigative reporting.” www.ford.ca
by gains for the new 2007 Expedition and Navigator, which now are on sale in dealerships. Expedition sales were 8,553 (up 41 per cent), and Navigator sales were 2,066 (up 44 per cent). Ford’s F-Series pickup also was up 3 per cent, and the Ford Econoline full-size van was up 31 per cent. October sales for the Ford Escape (9,603) lifted the vehicle’s lifetime sales to more than one million. The Escape has been the best-selling small utility vehicle in the United States since it was introduced in 2000.
arc, 15, has just purchased a bike. It’s not new - no, he has an almost new bike I bought him last spring that apparently isn’t good enough. The days of kids just riding around are over. Now they have to pretend they’re in the circus, jumping off steps and climbing mountains, all on their bikes. He announced that he was going to go on EBay to find a great used bike that had all the miracle parts he required. Every time he starts listing all the specialty parts he needs on a bike, I read one of my columns aloud to him. Stops him every time. He had been showing me new bikes that cost about $3,000. After I came to, I chased him around determined to slap some sense into him. I do not like EBay. I do not trust EBay. It is a deep-seated mistrust of blindly purchasing something I can’t see. My father bred into me a lifelong fear of being stuck with a pig in a poke. I have no clue what a poke is, though I do know what a pig is and I don’t think I would want one, with or without the poke. And I sure wouldn’t want to end up with a pig when I believed I was purchasing a bicycle. I caught Marc e-mailing people in Vancouver, enquiring about mailing costs for a bike. I told him to stop. (“They say they’re a 16-year-old boy, but that means nothing!”) I caught another bid he was putting in. As I read the fine print, I asked if he was aware that he was bidding on a box of parts. He gulped. I yanked the EBay account. I announced that he may only buy a bike here in town, from a place where we can go and see it first. I told him I want to meet parents. As he prepared to die of embarrassment, I reminded him that while he indeed knew more than I did about bikes, I knew more about absolutely everything else in life. My kid was not going to purchase a hot bike from some little criminal in training. In the middle of all this, I received a press release. There’s a new website here in Canada that allows you to do just what I was begging Marc to do. It came to me with regard to selling cars, but they have pretty much every category of merchandise that you can imagine. It’s called LiveDeal.ca, and in conjunction with Torstar Digital it’s a site that serves as a marketplace that can be as large or as small as you like. You can punch in an area code and shop right in your town. If you’re selling something, you can post it for free. It allows you to comparison shop between private sellers and car dealerships, and to check availability of items across Canada. I know people love EBay. I know a guy who bought a car on EBay. A whole car. Craziness, I tell you. I’ve only concentrated on the horror stories I’ve heard — people mailing boxes of rocks - because when I have a point to make, I am highly selective about my facts. Marc found his dream bike. He saved for months, and we picked it up on the weekend. For $1,100 (no, that’s not a typo), he has a bike that to my mother-eye looks like every other bike in the garage, and it didn’t even come with a pig. He can now apparently climb Mount Everest on this bike. He also has a badly sprained ankle, and I told him he’s not allowed to ride it yet. He hasn’t looked this sad since I took away the EBay account.
LORRAINE SOMMERFELD From now on, we’ll be going to the LiveDeal site to source things. I’ve caught myself looking up things I don’t even want, just to test it. I paused over the free items. I’m not sure why someone would have a female mannequin, let alone be giving it away, but it’s more interesting than the free manure. LiveDeal was too late to help Marc in his quest for a bike, but we’re due for a new car in the very near future. It’ll be helpful. It’ll also be helpful if Jackson, 12, doesn’t find out they also have pets. — Torstar Syndication Services
POWER SHIFT
28 • INDEPENDENTFUN
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Takes a curving course 5 Part of a blind 9 Anesthetized 13 Prov. half covered by forest 17 Untrue story 18 ___-fairy 19 Crossing the Atlantic 20 Citrus hybrid 21 Hlinka of hockey 22 Bring up 23 Peddle 24 Liona with the guitar 25 Talked with hands 28 Not: prefix 30 Within 31 ___ and void 32 Unit of loudness 36 Like Audrey Hepburn 39 Clarity of thought or expression 40 The ___ Diaries (Carol Shields) 43 At least a little 44 Sports nut 45 Heavily engaged with 46 Adjoin 47 Japanese waist wrap 48 The ref drops it 49 Boy Scouts founder: ___-Powell 50 Ballet step 51 GG’s residence: Rideau ___ 52 Baseball stat. 53 ___ cent
54 Decline 56 Snake that squeezes 57 Region of oldest Acadian settlement in N.S. 60 Soften (flax) 61 Symbol of slyness 62 Symbols of similarity 63 Choose (to) 65 Hairlike structure on a cell 68 Black Sea fish now in L. Erie: Round ___ 69 Supply with weapons 70 Meat spread 71 Bearded flower 72 Afternoon do’s 73 ___ Lanka 74 Singled out 75 Canadian city with 1832 cholera epidemic 77 Faster 79 More irate 80 Start of a day? 81 Mob member 85 Summer time in Peggy’s Cove 86 Try to transmit a system of thought 89 Author Vonnegut 92 Healthy 94 Hungarian sheepdog 95 Heron’s kin 96 Fix firmly 97 Foil relative 98 State (Fr.) 99 Mailed 100 Move with the wind 101 Communists, once
SOLUTION ON PAGE 30
102 Staffs 103 Three (Span.) DOWN 1 Inuit hooded shirt worn under parka 2 Yukon’s official bird 3 Category 4 Able to feel and perceive 5 Native community near Calgary 6 Stead 7 Vanishing sea of central Asia 8 Unrestrained exercise of power 9 Orange variety 10 Drew on 11 Cape Breton coal miners’ choir: ___ of the Deeps 12 N.S. town with Alexander Graham Bell Museum 13 Company controlled by a parent company 14 Gone by 15 Wily 16 Child 26 Not being used 27 Word of disapproval 29 “___ Farce Canada!” 32 N.S.’s official dog: ___ tolling retriever 33 Wrap tightly 34 Suffix with lay 35 Leader of Upper Canada Rebellion
(1837): William ___ Mackenzie 37 Type of roof 38 Indigo plant 39 Plural of locus 40 It runs in spring 41 Slope ascender 42 English river 44 Ukrainian mayor of Winnipeg, 1957-77 47 Hop-drying kiln 48 Authorized agent 49 Asks for alms 51 Paint-chip offerings 53 English baby carriage 55 Thwarted 56 Moves like a boxer: ___ and weaves 57 Eagle’s nest 58 Rich soil 59 French river painted by Monet 61 Stable new-born 62 Skin 64 Dry flax 65 Fine cotton 66 Decrease? 67 Kind of cod 68 One of four on the floor 70 Writer of mocking imitations 72 It’s for baby to bite on 73 P.E.I.’s official flower: lady’s ___ 74 No (Ger.) 76 Free
77 To and ___ 78 Characteristics 80 Liberates 82 River through Rome
83 Online magazine 84 They’re found in scores 86 Entered a plea
87 Prefix: self 88 Delighted 89 Secret police, once 90 Mod or glob ending
91 Flee 93 Silverback, e.g.
WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19) Temper your direct approach with a little more diplomacy. Not everyone appreciates the Aries’ penchant for telling it like it is. A gentler method earns trust. TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) A former associate wants to reward your creative skills with a tempting job offer. But are you sure you want to accept the conditions that come with it? GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) A relationship you’d like to cultivate presents some challenges that you’re not sure you can handle. Don’t make any decisions until you feel more confident about the situation.
CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Your need for attention can create on-the-job tensions with co-workers who feel you don’t like to share the credit. Show them that you can be a generous colleague. LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) Going to the mall is like rolling in catnip for you fine Felines. But temper your urge to splurge until you’ve resolved those lingering financial problems. VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Even a human dynamo like yourself needs time out to restore those depleted energy reserves. Do something spontaneous and wonderful. LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Some fraying friendships might
be beyond repair. Accept it, and go on to build other relationships. Expect good news about a new project. SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Accept the fact that you really need more training if you plan to compete for new opportunities in your workplace — and then go out and get it! SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) A new work situation could conflict with your penchant for doing things your way. A sensible compromise resolves matters. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) The Capricorn Goat is both cautious and capricious. So set your conservative self aside for a while and indulge in some new adventures.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEBR. 18) Your ability to keep an open mind about people helps you deal with an unexpected situation that suddenly erupts in your personal life. PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) It’s a good time to patch up neglected friendships. Make those overdue calls and start planning reunions with some wonderful people. BORN THIS WEEK You’re the model for what a friend should be: You’re loyal and devoted and can be depended on to be fair and open-minded. (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 30
INDEPENDENTSPORTS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3-9, 2006 — PAGE 29
John Morrissey salmon fishes on the Exploits River.
Paul Daly/The Independent
A hobby for cold, dark nights If it wasn’t for fly tying, writes Paul Smith, winter would just be too long
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aylight saving time ended Oct. 29 and the sun set at 4:48 p.m., for a day that was only 10 hours and eight minutes long. Monday was three minutes and eight seconds shorter. From now on, each successive day will get a little shorter until we reach Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year. The long lazy days of summer are behind us for another year, and all angling seasons are closed. No more evenings by the pond, casting a fly to rising trout while the sun slowly sinks in the western sky. What’s an angler to do, with all the cold and darkness ahead? Tie flies, of course. Long dark winter evenings are opportune for tying flies and dreaming about next year’s fishing. My dedicated tying season begins with the end of daylight savings time. I tie the occasional small batch of emergency flies throughout the fishing season, but when darkness comes early, the tying gets serious.
PAUL SMITH
The Rock
Outdoors This year I’m trying to be more organized. I’ve blocked my tying time according to fish species: sea-run browns, salmon, brook trout, and so on. Maybe this hobby of mine is getting just a tad too serious. My two salmon fishing buddies continue to praise my “brown bombers” but shy away from fly tying their own. This leaves me with about 60 bombers to tie at about 20 minutes each, about 20 hours of tying altogether. Bombers are the least enjoyable to tie, so I’ll tackle them first. I usually tie flies about two hours per night and get in about four nights per week so the bombers will take me about three weeks — give or take a few days for visitors,
Christmas shopping and writing deadlines. I suppose my hobby sounds like work or a burden to many, but on the contrary, I enjoy tying flies almost as much as casting them. It keeps me attuned to my sport while the snow blows and keeps me distanced from those stupid TV reality shows. I have a small room downstairs dedicated to the outdoors. Here I can practice my craft, surrounded by my fishing gear, rifles, books, magazines and fly rods. I make as much mess as I like without dire domestic consequences. It’s the only room Goldie doesn’t clean and arrange. It’s my 10x10 escape from work and reality. I put on some music or VOCM’s Open Line and it’s the next best thing to fishing. Tying sessions end with a voice from above: “Are you staying down there all night or what?” Winter would be just too long without flies to tie. If I didn’t fish I’d probably put together model airplanes, build furniture, or play blues guitar —
something to get me through the snow. So if you like to fish and also find winter nights boring, consider tying your own flies. There’s something extra rewarding about fooling a trout or salmon with fur, feather and steel brought together tastefully by your own hands. I hope my fishing buddies are reading this. With Christmas around the corner, maybe Santa could help out with some gear to get started. Kits are great but often contain a bunch of stuff you don’t need while missing some essential materials for the flies you use the most. If you know a seasoned fly tyer, take advantage and ask for advice on what you really need. Pick out no more than 10 simple flies and have your tyer friend list the materials (fur and feather) you need. Stick to simple patterns like the Hare’s Ear or Brown Hackle for trout and the Blue See “Vice, bobbin and scissors,” page 30
We’ve got some growing to do Are kids born late in the year missing out on athletic opportunities?
L
hope
ate in the school year several years back, my son came home totally excited. “Dad, tomorrow we’re going to the park for Fun Day.” Unaware of such an event, I asked what exactly it entailed. He told me there would be events, like a sack race and a three-legged race. “Oh, Sports Day,” I remember saying, recalling the days of my youth and one of the great traditions of the education system. “You’ll enjoy that. Everybody participates in races, and the top three finishers get ribbons.” “Oh no, Dad,” he assured me. “My teacher says everybody gets a ribbon. There are no winners or losers, she said. Everybody is equal.” Now, I knew he was young, but I had to sit him down immediately. “Listen,” I said. “Every race has a
DON POWER
Power Point winner and losers. Everybody is not equal. You’re going to be able to do some things better than other kids. Other kids are going to be able to do some things better than you. Some kids are faster. Some are slower. Some are taller. Everybody has his or her own talents. “You go back and tell Miss that I said she’s wrong: everybody is not equal, and the quicker she starts teaching that message to her students, the better off you all will be.” I don’t know that he ever followed up on our conversation, but my words
have been proven true ever since. The boy plays baseball in the summer and hockey and basketball in the winter. (He’s also tried and enjoyed diving, gymnastics, skateboarding, street hockey, golf and swimming.) At each sport, especially at the minor level, some kids are way ahead of the others. There are also others who have trouble grasping the game. (That’s also true in adulthood.) It’s called life. And I figured the quicker the kid understands that, the quicker he can learn to handle things like disappointment, which — if he continues to play sports — will definitely come. Not everybody was born to be an athlete. Young athletes come in all shapes and sizes. Some have natural athletic ability, while others need to develop their skill.
Some kids are faster. Some are slower. Some are taller. Everybody has his or her own talents.
And some become better at their chosen sport later in life. We all know little hockey or soccer phenoms at 11 who are average at best at 18. Now comes word from a University of Saskatchewan researcher that kids who are born late in the year are more
likely to be weeded out of minor hockey. According to a recent Toronto Star article, Lauren Sherar, a PhD student in kinesiology, studied 619 boys aged 14 and 15 who participated in the Saskatchewan provincial team selection camps in 2003. Obviously, there are size and strength discrepancies in children at that age. But what Sherar found out was that of the 40 boys selected for the teams, 31 had birthdays in the first half of the year. (This study was done on hockey players, but past experience tells me this rule applies equally at all minor sports where age defines the category in which you compete.) “All coaches would agree they want to pick the best team,” Sherar was quoted in the Star, “but they also need See “Exceptions to the rule,” page 30
For every question there is an answer.
Hope through education, support and solutions.
We’re here.
1.800.321.1433 www.arthritis.ca
30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
A recreational pursuit Colin Higgs conducting ‘visionary but realistic’ public consultations to guide provincial sports department By Don Power For The Independent
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Paul Smith photo
Vice, bobbin and scissors From page 29 Charm for salmon. Simple patterns will teach you the basics without too much frustration. Leave classic salmon patterns and extended body trout flies until you gain experience and confidence. “A carpenter is only as good as his or her tools,” and “you got to have the right gear.” These are wise words and are so true in fishing and fly tying. The basic tying tools are the vice, bobbin and scissors. Buy the best vice you can afford. A decent one will cost about $50, but it is the foundation of fly tying and a poor quality vice will cause nothing but aggravation. Its function is to hold the hook securely while you attach materials; simple but critical. Learning fly tying can be difficult enough without the hook constantly slipping. The bobbin holds the thread you use to tie materials to the hook. They sell for somewhere between $5 and $10 and most types function adequately. Models with ceramic tubes are best because they are less prone to cutting the thread
when you apply pressure. Snapping the thread with a fly half tied spoils the fun. Fly tyers are very fussy over their scissors and for good reason. Quality scissors are expensive and easy to ruin by using them for household stuff like wrapping Christmas presents and opening milk cans. Sharp scissors are essential to cleanly cut fur and feather. A decent pair can be had for $20. For $100 you can get a decent start in fly tying with tools that won’t need replacing and enough material to tie 10 or so of your favourite patterns. A final word of advice: don’t tie flies on the kitchen table. Goldie got very upset one morning when she found a caribou hair in her cornflakes. Better get a room, or at least a corner, of your very own. Paul Smith is a freelance writer living in Spaniard’s Bay, enjoying all outdoors Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com
olin Higgs is a man of integrity. So when THE FULL SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS the provincial government handpicked FOR THE RECREATION AND SPORT the former director of Memorial STRATEGY SESSIONS: University’s School of Human Kinetics and All dates subject to change Recreation to conduct public consultations for a new recreation and sport study — one that Labrador City/Wabush: Nov. 7 would potentially guide the Department of Happy Valley/Goose Bay: Nov. 8 Tourism, Culture and Recreation’s sport policies Corner Brook: Nov. 15 for the next decade or more — Higgs knew the public would roll its collective eyes at the Clarenville: TBA thought of “another study.” Bay Roberts, or CBN: Nov. 22 That’s why he wanted two conditions attached St. John’s: Nov. 23 to the project before he agreed to proceed. He requested and received a meeting with Minister A videoconference for areas of Tom Hedderson to lay them out. province not covered may “One is that these were genuine and legitimate be held Nov. 28. public consultations, not where we ask what you want and then go ahead and do what we want anyway,” Higgs says. “To me, from my own personal integrity, it was really important that these were genuine public consultations. “The second one was that if there was a good plan, there would be more funding made available for sport and recreation. Quite correctly, the minister said while he couldn’t make any such sport stakeholders who have a direct vested promise, that was certainly his intention — to go interest. to cabinet and try to improve sport and recreHowever, while the meetings are for select ation in the province.” individuals, the end result will be better recreAfter an initial brainstorming session with “all ation for the entire population of the province. the key players,” Higgs designed a questionnaire Over the past 20 years, whenever a provincial for the meetings. These events, he notes, are not government has been short on funds (which is to designed to rehash old problems or mistakes; say every budget), sport and recreation often had they’re to project a path for the future. its funding cut. Higgs’ goal for this new strategy, Higgs held the first of these meetings last which he plans to have in the minister’s hands by week in Grand Falls-Windsor. Dec. 31, is to increase funding. “I put together a one-page document on what This new document, he stresses, will show people thought was going well and government government not only that more money is needed, should continue to do,” he says, “what things but also exactly where it should go. were not going well and they wanted govern“What my hope is, and I believe this to be true ment to stop doing, and what things were not in presenting a well thought out and realistic being done that they wanted government to start plan, we can actually get more money from govdoing. ernment for recreation and “In each case, it’s about what sport,” Higgs sasys. do we need to do, how do we “Obviously I’m not in any “It’s always more move forward. Being a little bit position to say that will happen. visionary but still having both simply saying that’s the appealing to put your I’m feet on the ground about what agenda I have in mind. If we is possible. money behind a well can get the right kind of realis“If all 400 recreation comtic but aggressive plan, then it thought out plan than will be much easier for governmissions in the province want a pool, a rink and a multi-purment to invest funds into it, behind a group of pose indoor facility, then I rather than just putting money people who want to in the pot without any plan. don’t think that’s going to be real possible. The idea is to be “It’s always more appealing do good things but realistic.” to put your money behind a From Hedderson’s standwell thought out plan than haven’t given you a point, the series of meetings behind a group of people who (full schedule above) will guide plan as to how they’re want to do good things but his department’s mandate — as haven’t given you a plan as to going to do it.” well as its spending — over the how they’re going to do it.” course of the next decade. The Hedderson is optimistic the Colin Higgs cultural side of the department program will be successful. did the same format, and it’s a “It’s not an easy task but I blueprint that worked. believe that Dr. Higgs and his “It’s very important because it gives us the committee are capable of putting on my plate direction and the vision that we need in order to what I need to go forward to my government and move forward in recreation. There are many to represent the people of Newfoundland and demands out there and many changes over the Labrador,” Hedderson said during the recent last number of years that are pointing different Sport Newfoundland and Labrador meeting. directions.” “This is to put our vision on paper so we canHiggs points out that the term “public consul- not only be guided by it, but all of us can partner tations” is a bit of a misnomer, since the meet- on it, and know where we’re going.” ings are invitation only, sent to recreation and donniep@nl.rogers.com
Exceptions to the rule From page 29 to consider how best to foster future talent. By selecting only the biggest kids, they are possibly ignoring the smaller, more talented kid who is small because they are late maturing or have a birthday late in the selection year.” And while Sherar’s research — which will be published this month in the Journal of Sports Sciences — was done at the 14-15 age bracket, it applies equally at eight or nine, 10 or 12. At those younger ages, a couple of months — never mind years — can have a big impact on the child’s development. A January boy may be stronger or more developed than a boy born 11 months later, in December of the same year. Yet they’re competing for the same spot. Naturally, in those instances, the coach is going to select the stronger kid. The problem then becomes finding a spot for the smaller latebloomers. If they continually get passed over for all-star teams, then they’re going to gravitate away from that sport, and into something they can succeed at. Although hockey is changing for the better today, size is still one of the first characteristics
Solutions for crossword on page 28
looked at by coaches and scouts. But while that rule applies generally, there are always exceptions. For every Terry Ryan (Jan. 14), Harold Druken (Jan. 26) or John Slaney (Feb. 7), there is a Daniel Cleary, whose Dec. 18 birthday obviously didn’t impact his hockey development. Ted Purcell, now at the University of Maine, was one of those late bloomers. A September baby, Purcell is now, at 21, a sturdy six-foot-two, 175 pounds. Yet five years ago, he was considered a small player. Coaches picking teams are selecting kids for the here and now. They don’t care that Purcell grew about five inches after midget hockey. It’s a now generation: we want immediate results. Kids who take longer to mature are often pushed aside by ones who mature early. That doesn’t mean the early kids will be better athletes as adults. It just means they’ll be given a lot more opportunity to prove and establish themselves early. Which often leaves the late bloomers looking on from the sidelines. Sadly, that too, is life. donniep@nl.rogers.com
Solutions for sudoku on page 28
NOVEMBER 3, 2006
INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED • 31
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utes a night to score in single digits yet be well worth the money he’s being paid. ike Peca took no offence, “In those critical areas of the game, although he cautioned against when it’s on the line, he’s outstanding,” hasty predictions. said Leaf coach Paul Maurice. It had been suggested to the Maple Peca has quickly fit into the Leaf Leaf centre, you see, that a 50-goal sea- group and established himself as a son might not be in the offing. leader, something he said he found dif“Well, there’s a lot of games left, you ficult to do last year in Edmonton. know,” he said, employing his favourite “I’m being myself,” he said, sitting in deadpan delivery. skates in a big comfy chair salivating in With 69 games to go, Peca has thus anticipation of a chicken dinner that far held his fire admirably, denting the was awaiting his attention. twine just once. “I’m saying what I feel, speaking up To some, that would be cause for sometimes, and the guys here seem to complaint. The veteran pivot, after all, appreciate that. I just feel more at ease earns $2.5 million (U.S.), and value is asserting myself here than I did in often equated with points in the NHL Edmonton.” despite the fact games are won and lost Part of that is likely due to the fact by plays for which points aren’t award- the Leafs brought him to Toronto with ed. the understanding Still, in these days that he would fill of the salary cap, the role of defenwhen every dollar sive stopper, while At 32, Peca no longer spent means a dollar last year with the wants to change the not spent elsewhere, Oilers he had to all the question is worth but nag head coach world or win the posing: can a player, Craig MacTavish to a centre for that matagainst the Rocket Richard trophy, play ter, be seen to be opposition’s top worth such an expenplayers. yet he has clearly diture if he is on pace At 32, Peca no for fewer than 10 longer wants to been a progressive goals? change the world or element in the altered “I feel I can do win the Rocket things other players Richard trophy, yet Leaf dressing room can’t do on defence he has clearly been and with penalty a progressive eleatmosphere. killing,” Peca said. ment in the altered “Well, in football you Leaf dressing room can have players atmosphere that make a lot of money playing on the only a year ago seemed oppressive and defensive side of the ball. suspicious. “There are roles we all play. I’ve When near-hysteria locally greeted accepted how I can best help this team the two one-sided losses to Ottawa last win a championship.” week, it was, according to Maurice, the Last week, in a very solid 4-2 victory calming leadership of the Leaf squad, over an explosive Atlanta team that had including Peca, captain Mats Sundin, lost just once in regulation coming in, winger Darcy Tucker, defenceman Peca was a dominant factor, arguably Tomas Kaberle and rearguard Bryan the best Leaf on the ice along with McCabe, that righted the ship. defenceman Hal Gill. Wins over Montreal and Atlanta over Peca didn’t score or pick up an assist, the past three days were, quite obviousbut he had three hits, two takeaways, ly, positive results for the Leaf coachtwo blocked shots and spent four min- ing staff. utes and 15 seconds killing penalties on But doing one via the dreaded a night when doing that job well made shootout and the other through a strong all the difference. defensive showing made the wins that When the Thrashers were still in the much more encouraging. game late in the second period and had Peca, interestingly, wasn’t asked to a 5-on-3 power play, Peca defused the participate in the Oct. 28 shootout advantage almost single-handedly by against the Habs even though a fellow winning battles for the puck twice and one-goal man, Alex Steen, was invited clearing the zone. to give it a whirl. It was the perfect night to illustrate He’s the anti-Jason Allison, the selfthat, yes, even in the new NHL it may less, go-to defensive conscience for a indeed be possible for a $2.5 million-a- team that hasn’t had one in a long, long year centre who averages about 18 min- time.
M
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