2006-12-08

VOL. 4 ISSUE 49

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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006

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WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA —

$1.50 HOME DELIVERY (HST included); $2.00 RETAIL (HST included)

BUSINESS 13

OPINION 2

Local fur industry growing, needs money

Randy Simms questions need for Kilbride byelection

Unwanted imports

Injection drug use in rural Newfoundland and Labrador brought back from Alberta IVAN MORGAN

A

local expert says people are bringing their injection drug habits back with them from Alberta and other parts of Canada, and the problem is especially serious in rural Newfoundland.

An unreleased federal report obtained by The Independent says the increase in the number of people in the province infected with hepatitis B and C — which can be transmitted through shared needles — is partly attributable to the problem.

Tree Walsh, a harm reduction co-ordinator with the AIDS Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador, says the realities of small town Newfoundland can increase the danger of infection for injection drug users. She says people often have a naïve perception of outport Newfoundland, and most communities are not aware injection drug use is an issue for them — but it is.

“It’s a lovely little community. You’d never think anybody would stick a needle in their arm out there,” Walsh tells The Independent.

The federal report, Environmental Scan of Injection Drug Use, Related Infectious Diseases, was written by San Patten in March 2006. Patten says Newfoundland and Labrador is directly affected by the increase in drug use in northern Alberta.

“For sure we know that in Fort McMurray — and this affects Newfoundland directly because of the number of people working there from Newfoundland — along with the high levels of income there is higher drug use,” Patten says.

“It is just a factor of men being put into these work

Photo illustration by Paul Daly and John Andrews/The Independent

Which way?

Hydro investigating cost and techniques of transmitting lower Churchill power under water

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

T

he president of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says transmitting lower Churchill power via the so-called Maritime route, bypassing Quebec transmission lines, is viable — and the Crown corporation is currently costing the project.

But Jean-Thomas Bernard, a professor of economics at Laval University in Quebec, says undersea transmission is untested and probably too expensive. He says the best arrangement for the development of the lower Churchill is to partner with North Shore hydro projects in Quebec and share new transmission lines.

Ed Martin, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro president, says his company is actively looking into the possibility of undersea transmission.

He says the practice is already used successfully in many parts of the world.

“I have absolutely no doubt that technically this is feasible,” Martin tells The Independent. “This has been done many times. It comes down to cost, and that is what I am trying to ascertain right now. I won’t speculate on what it is.

“Actually I have a small group of engineers in Europe this week, and

they are visiting with the big firms over there, so we are comparing costs.”

He says sub-sea hydro links exist in Europe, linking Norway and Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, and Sweden and Poland. He’s looking at these as good examples of how power could be transmitted under sea from the lower Churchill to market, bypassing Quebec transmission lines.

“They are working at about the distance — maybe greater the distance and greater the capacity — that we would be looking at,” says Martin.

One example he cites is NORNED, that connects Norway and the Netherlands. It is a 700-megawatt line close to 600 kilometres long, which is further than anything Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro would need to export power to the Maritimes or the U.S. He says Hydro is considering two under sea routes: from Port aux Basques across to Nova Scotia, about 120-140 km; or direct to New Brunswick, which is 400-450 km.

Bernard says he does not see much promise in the idea of undersea transmission of electrical power bypassing Quebec.

“I think that it is a fairly dubious proposition in terms of technical feasibility and also in terms of cost,” he says.

See “Going to have,” page 2

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “This guy has worked until 6 a.m. laying flooring and I know one job he went to where the owners barred him in the house and wouldn’t let him out till he was done …”

— Edith Clarke, Marystown Paint Shop employee. See page 5.

See “The practice,” page 2

Ain’t what she used to be But old General hospital in St. John’s in line for facelift STEPHANIE PORTER

LIFE 17

Helping out in posttsunami Thailand SHIFT 23

Mark Wood on his ‘indoor motorcycle’ STYLE 21

Christmas gifts and decor In Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Paper Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Movie reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Don Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

A

fter years of vacancy and neglect, the guts of the old General Military Hospital — and those of the attached Victoria wing — are being ripped out.

Once all the environmental contaminants, disintegrating walls and ceilings, garbage and debris have been removed, the two heritage structures — located just off Forest Road, between Signal Hill and Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s — will be renovated into high-end condos and town homes.

“The idea for the exterior of the building, from a heritage point of view, is that the building will be maintained pretty much as is, with the original architectural features,” says Gerard Edwards of Southcott Homes, the project developer.

“Our intent is to redevelop the property to preserve the architectural integrity of the property and adapt the interior space to modern living.”

The landmark buildings have been in limbo for a number of years. The two-and-half-storey military hospital, built in 1851 — one of the oldest structures in St. John’s — was used by the British garrison and turned over to the Government of Newfoundland in 1870

Developer Gerard Edwards in front of the old General in St. John’s.

Paul Daly

for use as a men’s hospital.

In 1897, the adjacent Victoria Wing was built as a hospital for women.

Victoria Wing is recognizable for its two turrets, lending it the air of a castle.

Fallen out of use, the structures were scheduled for demolition in the 1990s, but public pressure kept the wrecking balls at bay.

St. John’s developer Myles-Leger was eventually given the property for $1 — a small price tag that came with many conditions — but the redevelopment wasn’t even started when the company went into bankruptcy in July, 2004.

Shortly afterwards, Edwards purchased the property “for a nominal amount.”

Sort of.

“The land came with various mortgages and commitments to the government and various environmental items,” says Edwards, a native of Lawn on the Burin Peninsula.

See “It’s been,” page 4

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

The Kilbride conundrum To hold a byelection or not, Randy Simms says that is the question

T

wo things are forcing the upcoming byelection in the provincial district of Kilbride: Ed Byrne’s impending resignation from his seat, and Bill 40, the elections bill proclaimed in December 2004.

Byrne says he will be finished as of Dec. 31 so that with the New Year he will be gone from politics. He won’t be gone from the public eye — there are some “touchy” things yet to be concluded in his political life — but as a member of the House of Assembly he will be no more.

What does that mean to us?

Sometime before the end of February Premier Danny Williams will have to call a byelection in the Kilbride district and within 30 days of dropping the writ voters will go to the polls. Why will the premier have to move so quickly, you ask? That’s where Bill 40 comes in. By law, the premier must call the byelection, but I’m here to argue that it does-

RANDY SIMMS

Page 2 talk n’t make a lot of sense, mainly because of another new election rule that does make sense — fixed election dates.

The fixed election date means the next provincial general election will be held on Oct. 9, 2007. The people of Kilbride will elect an MHA in late February or early March and their tenure will be roughly seven months before facing another vote. A good portion of that time — from mid August to Oct. 9 — will be spent running again for the seat. Talk about your tough politics!

It seems to me that we should rethink the byelection rule before we go any further with it. As it stands, a

member could resign in July and a byelection would have to be held before the Oct. 9 general election. It would be absurd to suggest that folks go to the polls to elect someone for three or four weeks and then do it all over again.

The idea behind Bill 40 was to take power out of the hands of future premiers so they could not delay a byelection on a whim or hold out until they considered the climate more favourable for their party. Come to think of it, fixed election dates are designed to do the same thing.

Under the Municipal Elections Act, a councillor may resign his seat but the council does not have to call a byelection if they are in the last year of the term. This avoids the possibility of someone winning a seat for a few weeks or months and having to quickly run again for the same job.

Prospective councillors knows they

will serve for at least a year before facing the electorate again — a very sensible approach.

Here’s a startling statistic: the recent election of Lorraine Michael in the Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi district had an impact on all of us. We just didn’t notice it. That byelection costs taxpayers $87,400 to run. There is also a $25,000 additional fund provided by the province so candidates who garner more than 15 per cent of the vote can get some of their election costs reimbursed. The $87,400 is paid out regardless of outcomes. If we throw in the money spent by the political parties the figure for a byelection is staggering.

So what about Kilbride? According to the chief electoral office, the byelection budget comes in at $102,000 because Kilbride is a little bigger district. Another $25,000 will be set aside for candidates entitled to reimbursements after that vote as well.

I believe we should not pay out better than $102,000 so the district of Kilbride can have a member for something like seven months. There are purists who would argue the right of people to representation, but in our democracy representation comes in many forms and a few months without a sitting MHA is not going to mean the end of Kilbride district or democracy as we know it. Using those public dollars for a nobler objective seems like a better idea.

So I’m arguing that we change Bill 40 to do one of two things: either elect a person in a byelection now and let them serve a full term up to October 2011 or not hold the byelection at all if it falls within the last year of a government mandate. Either option makes more sense to me then what we are doing now.

Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s Open-Line radio show.

‘Going to have every dime nailed down’ From page 1 Bernard says with existing lines from Labrador to southern Quebec at full capacity, new lines will have to be built. Bringing lower Churchill on line with La Romaine and other North Shore developments makes economic sense to both parties.

He says North Shore projects will be too expensive to develop without pairing with the lower Churchill, and it makes economic sense for the two projects to join forces and share the cost of transmission to markets in other parts of Canada and the U.S. Martin agrees with Bernard.

“I think his analysis with respect to where Quebec projects stack up to the lower Churchill is exactly right. They are nowhere near as economically

European undersea electricity transmission lines Sweden to Germany - 650 megawatts - 250 kilometres Sweden to Poland - 600 megawatts - 250 kilometres Norway to Netherlands - 700 megawatt - 600 kilometres Possible lower Churchill undersea routes Labrador to New Brunswick - megawatts to be determined - 450 kilometres Port aux Basques to Nova Scotia - megawatts to be determined - 140 kilometres

sound as we are,” he says. “That is crystal clear and I think he is 100 per cent correct on that. I think as far as sharing transmission between La Romaine and lower Churchill I think that any big project that you can synergize like that is going to be very attractive to both.”

Martin says his company is serious about undersea transmission as an option for getting lower Churchill power to market.

“No question about it,” says Martin.

“I am personally not of that mindset. I am here to put alternatives in front of the board of directors and the shareholders — the facts, the figures, the numbers, the technical considerations.

“And they’re going to have to look at that. I am going to have every dime nailed down and every technical decision nailed down. They are going to have to say ‘This is what I want to do.’” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

Paul Daly/The Independent

Number of Hepatitis B cases 2000: 3 Number of Hepatitis B cases 2004: 25 Number of Hepatitis C cases 2000: 43 Number of Hepatitis C cases 2004: 78 Per cent attributable to injection drug use: 24-35 per cent 10 per cent of new HIV infections in province identify injection drug use as a risk factor — federal government report

‘The practice is in the community’ From page 1 camps for 10 days at a time, and there is simply nothing better to do with their time and their money, and they’ve got money burning up in their wallets.”

Walsh says drug habits don’t only come from Fort McMurray.

“It could be Vancouver, it could be Toronto, or they come to St. John’s and learn about it here, or Corner Brook,” she says.

“The injection drug-use population is very transient. Some people acquired the knowledge and practice on the mainland and then came home. So then it is in the community — the practice is in the community.”

Patten says oil companies in northern Alberta have been cracking down on marijuana and alcohol abuse in the camps, using urine and blood tests to screen workers. These drugs stay in a person’s system for up to a week, she says, whereas drugs like cocaine or crack, which can be injected, are much more quickly metabolized — or not tested for.

“It almost forces the guys to choose a drug that is not going to show up on the tests.”

Patten’s report says that contributes to a serous public health issue in the province. It says numbers of hepatitis B cases have fallen in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, where the numbers of new infections rose to 25 in 2004 from two to four per year in 2000-2003, while new hepatitis C cases also increased to 78 in 2004, a

45 per cent increase from 2000.

Walsh says the rise is directly attributable to injection drug use. The report states a third of new Hepatitis C cases list injection drug as a risk factor.

Part of the concept of harm reduction, says Walsh, is to provide injection drug users with clean needles to protect them from diseases that can be contracted from sharing needles or using shared injection equipment.

Walsh says the stigma of injection drug use stops people in small towns from accessing the clean needles that could save them from infection. St. John’s has the only needle exchange in the province.

Walsh says the policies of some pharmacies prevent people from getting clean needles.

“In this province you don’t need a prescription to buy needles, although some pharmacies — for whatever reasons — have decided if you have a ‘legitimate’ need for needles you can get a note from your doctor,” she says.

“There’s no needle with no note, which I think is unconscionable because it is a public health matter.”

The situation is grim for people without access to clean needles.

“They keep using the same needles over and over again causing all kinds of harm to themselves. They share them, which puts them at risk for HIV and Hep C,” says Walsh.

When asked if the injection drug problem in the province is under control, she is succinct.

“No. Absolutely not.”

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DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

SCRUNCHINS

‘She’s coming’

A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia The people of Grand Bank can’t seem to catch a break. A rogue wave slammed into the Atlantic Pursuit Dec. 5, damaging the wheelhouse windows, electronics and communications aboard the 60-metre factory-freezer trawler while it rode out a storm 480 kilometres southeast of St. John’s.

The Clearwater-owned vessel, which fed clams to the fish plant in Grand Bank, was already scheduled to be decommissioned in 2007, raising the question whether Clearwater will invest money into fixing the ship. Both the Atlantic Pursuit and its sister ship, the Atlantic Vigor, are to be replaced by the spanking new Atlantic Seahunter — but not until next summer. Meantime, where will the clams come from to keep Grand Bank going? Rumours are already rampant in the south coast town that Clearwater is preparing to pull up anchor …

Shouts would ring out in the outports when one of the coastal boats in the alphabet fleet steamed into port

PERFECT STORM The Independent tried to reach the skipper of the Atlantic Pursuit but the vessel’s communication system was down, and the vessel accompanying it wasn’t taking ship-to-shore calls. Too bad — it’s not every day a crew experiences such a wave and lives to tell about it. Rogue waves are the stuff of legend … think Edmund Fitzgerald, Poseidon Adventure and The Perfect Storm. Once thought to be only legendary, such waves are known to be a natural ocean phenomenon — not rare, but rarely encountered.

According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, mid-ocean storm waves can reach seven metres (23 feet) in height, and in extreme conditions such waves can reach heights of 15 metres (50 feet). However, for centuries maritime lore told of the existence of massive waves —monsters up to 30 metres (100 feet) in height that could appear without warning in mid-ocean, against the prevailing current and wave direction …

SQUID MARKS Speaking of Newfoundland Adventures … that just happens to be the title of Jack Fitzgerald’s new book. Chapter 3 is an interesting one: Terror in Newfoundland waters, fishermen face sea monster. Which is scarier — a rogue wave or a giant squid? (I’d take the wave.) According to Fitzgerald, on Sept.

18, 1966 the United States naval oceanographic research vessel San Pablo was operating off Cape Bonavista when the crew noticed something unusual breaching the water.

“The spectacle that followed was something no man on the boat had ever witnessed, and not likely would again. A life-and-death battle was being played out between a sperm whale and a giant squid.” Where’s a camera when you need one …

OH MY JAYSUS Adventure isn’t found just off our shores — the Rock itself can be a thrilling place. The Toronto Star carried a feature earlier this month about one of Marble Mountain’s signature runs, known in certain circles as OMJ — Oh My Jaysus.

“Legend has it that local churchgoers were so offended that they threatened to keep their kids off the mountain unless the blasphemy was banned. And who knows if the final outcome was really more Newfie joke than religious conviction?” read the Star piece.

“The run was officially renamed Blow Me Down,” although locals still call it ‘the J’ …

The S.S. Lintrose

Memorial University archives

By Maura Hanrahan For The Independent

C

aptain Frank Wheeler of Conception Bay South had just turned five when he first travelled on the Glencoe in 1944. “From then on, going to sea was all I lived for.”

Wheeler was the son of the Glencoe’s captain, James Wheeler, a Greenspond native. “I was able to splice a rope before I went to school,” Frank Wheeler says. “Onboard, I was into it all, always fooling around with the sailors. There are a lot of good memories there.”

Wheeler’s father began his coastal boat career in 1924 as a seaman on the Sagona. He took command of the Glencoe in 1941, a year after getting his master’s certificate. He served as her skipper until 1950.

Sailing on the Glencoe was a family affair for the Wheelers: the captain’s brother, Fred, was a seaman on board the ship; his brother-in-law, Jim Carter, was a fireman; his son, Cyril, was a trimmer; and Fred Wheeler Jr., the captain’s nephew, served as the Glencoe’s steward.

The Glencoe was one of the alphabet fleet, so named because each steamship in the fleet was named alphabetically after places in Scotland (Robert Reid’s homeland). The ships served the communities along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast in the early 20th century.

The ships carried bright-eyed young teachers to their first outport assignments. They brought wedding dresses to excited brides and parcels and letters to eager hands. They brought books to a boy in Gallows Harbour who would become the president of Memorial (Leslie Harris). They carried the sick home from urban hospitals, and the dead to be buried in family plots. They were filled with raucous laughter and unrelenting sobs.

CHINA BEACH We’re most certainly a fearless lot … there’s another book just out, Voices of World War II, by Gene Quigley of St. John’s, first-person accounts of Newfoundlanders who took part in the action. James Hayden of Petite Forte served in the merchant navy aboard the Western Prince when the ship was attacked by a German plane in the Strait of Dover.

“As he came closer to our ship, he attacked us with 1,800 bullets a minute.

Our ship looked like a troop ship. He made three attacks. He was so close, I think I could have hit the plane. He was a real daredevil. I happened to be standing on one of the ladders of the ship, and he hit the handrail where I was.

Bullets went down between my feet, over my head, and behind me. They were 20-mm and they could have ripped me apart but they never hit me. Then I ran by the ship’s swimming pool and I stopped next to a stanchion or a post. He must have put 50 bullets in it.”

MATH CHALLENGED While on the topic of survival … Sherry Mantyka, an associate professor with Memorial’s math department, also has a new book out — The Math Plague, How to survive school mathematics. The book is designed to help the most mathematically challenged students. In the book, Mantyka writes how she often uses a quote from Newfoundland author Wayne Johnston’s book, Baltimore’s Mansion, to explain why we are in such a strong position to provide leadership “in assisting the mathematically uninspired to become competent mathematical practitioners.” Johnston’s quote: “Because of its climate and geography, Newfoundland is ideally suited for the production of alcoholics, royal commissions, snow, unsolvable enigmas, self-pity, mosquitoes and black flies, inferiority complexes, delusions of grandeur, savage irony, impotent malice, unwarranted optimism, entirely justified despair …” If I memorize that quote will I automatically be good at math …

••• By 1860 the Government of Newfoundland established regular steamer service linking one outport to another and one bay to another. An early coastal boat also travelled to Battle Harbour, Labrador.

Needing a better coastal service, the Newfoundland government signed a contract in 1898 with the sons of railway entrepreneur, Robert G. Reid. The contract gave the Reids a virtual monopoly over transportation in Newfoundland.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Liberal MHA Roland Butler had this to say on Dec. 4 in the House of Assembly regarding the Danny Williams government and its controversial fibre-optic deal: “They’re buying the wrong fibre … they have to get the fibre that goes to the food banks.” ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

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Under the contract’s terms, the Reids would operate the railway for 50 years in exchange for an additional 5,000 acres of land per mile of railway operated. They would purchase the St. John’s drydock and receive annual subsidies.

They would also own and operate the coastal boat service and immediately began building the alphabet fleet.

These were beautiful vessels. Some had “ladies’ parlours” and music rooms.

The dining saloon of the first Bruce was outfitted with Turkish carpets, dark mahogany panels fringed with gold, and chairs upholstered in blue Morroccan cloth. Most of the ship’s cabins were done in dark oak. In 1900, a passenger described the Argyle in the Evening Herald this way: “I can say she is comfort all through: a splendid sea-boat with good speed; her arrangements for a thorough passenger accommodation are the most modern style, and her freight capacity is equal to the traffic of Placentia Bay. In a word, she is as near perfection as possible …”

These ships became like friends to those who relied on them. Cyril Knight

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the SS Argyle the SS Bruce (I and II), the SS Clyde, the SS Dundee, the SS Ethie, the SS Fife, the SS Glencoe the SS Home the SS Invermore (sometimes wrongly referred to as the Inverness), the SS Kyle, the SS Lintrose, and the SS Meigle.

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wrote of the 1934 Christmas celebration on the Clyde: “We went below, arousing sleepy stokers, stewards, engineers, and all, never failing to get a hearty response for our greeting, even though one or two cussed good-naturedly at having been disturbed form his sleep. Not a man on the ship was missed; the ladies’ cabin was thoughtfully omitted, they being left to organize their own festivities.”

The Glencoe, the longest-serving ship in the alphabet fleet, was on the “FogoIsland run.” She stopped in no less than 51 ports between St. John’s and Lewisporte. The sea was Newfoundland’s highway then. Wheeler recalls that many ports did not have wharves so the crew went ashore in small mail boats, although it wasn’t all fun and games for young Frank Wheeler.

“When I was a bit older, nine or 10, I was helping with the forward block and, being so inexperienced, I made a mistake in the way I grabbed it. The whole weight of the boat came down on my finger,” he says. “First Mate Albert Sellars slung me over his shoulder and we went to Twillingate Hospital where I got my nail removed. Oh my, I can feel it now!”

Through a life at sea, inspired by his early days on the Glencoe, Wheeler broke that same finger more than once.

Albeit an unofficial crewmember, at 68 he is one of the alphabet fleet’s last.

The fleet was no stranger to peril and loss. Fresh from her maiden voyage in 1900, the Fife sank off the west coast.

The first Bruce sank in 1911 on the Gulf run with one death, that of 25 year-old William Pike of St. Lawrence.

In 1914, the uninsured Invermore was wrecked near Smoky, Labrador. In 1919, the Dundee became wedged tightly on the rocks near Grassy Island and was abandoned. An enduring myth concerning a Newfoundland dog grew out of the loss of the Ethie just before Christmas that same year. The beloved Kyle, of course, broke her moorings, drifted, and got stuck off Riverhead, Harbour Grace, where she remains to this day, an eerie token of times that will never return. But it’s not the losses that stand out in Frank Wheeler’s mind.

“Everybody on the Glencoe was one big family,” he says.

“The skippers did favours, whatever people needed, and that wasn’t frowned upon. When those ships came into port, everyone gave a big shout –– ‘she’s coming!’ It was like a world event.”

4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

‘Made a nation and ceased to be a nation’ Historic landmark gets restoration cash from province

MANDY COOK

F

Interior of the Colonial Building

Rhonda Hayward/The Independent

our years since heritage conservationists urged the province to properly fix up the Colonial Building, the Williams administration has earmarked $500,000 to restore the former home of the Newfoundland Legislature.

Conservationists say it is “exactly the right approach.”

David Bradley of the Association of Heritage Industries says past administrations spent without thinking.

“All too often in the past it’s been the policy of provincial governments when they decide something is worth investing in, they throw money at it, work proceeds before a proper plan is done,” he says. “In this case, they’re taking the time to find out exactly what should be done. You can’t overemphasize the importance of that.”

The two contracts worth a total of $500,000 were awarded to PHB Group, a St. John’s architecture firm, and Apropos Planning of Ottawa.

PHB Group has already started work on a report that will detail what structural elements need updates or repairs in order to do a complete restoration of the 150-year-old building on Military Road.

Shane O’Dea, a St. John’s heritage advocate and member of a recently appointed committee guiding the restoration, says the Colonial Building must be made accessible and workable, and any changes made over the years must be undone.

He says there used to be a set of double doors leading into the building, which was replaced by a single door and two windows on either side. O’Dea also says there used to be a skylight, called a Belvedere, projecting out over the roof.

He says these alterations must be changed back to restore the building’s original form.

“I think Joey (Smallwood) may have taken out the double door … (the skylight) is an interesting feature because if you open that in the summer I think you can actually draw out all the warm air in the building.”

O’Dea also says the entire heating system dates back to the days of the National Convention (1946-1948) and it must be determined if it needs replacing.

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Part of your community.

Apropos Planning is due to start work on the interpretation of the building’s political history next week. The company will decide how best to present the building and its contents for visitors and guests.

Bradley says one of the recommendations his organization made to the provincial government was the “proper” restoration of the Legislature, where the House of Assembly met from 1850 to 1959. He also says the Legislative Council chamber should be used for public events, meetings or for other purposes.

The trend for historical interpretation has been moving away from static exhibits, or information plaques, to guides on site for visitor interaction, says Bradley.

“Certainly having someone there to help guide people through would probably be a necessity, but this is what the interpretive planners will work on now — trying to figure out how best to provide an interpretation that’s as engaging as possible.”

The third component of the building’s new lease on life is finding tenants for the available office space. Bradley says there are already three provincial heritage organizations housed in the basement offices, and he would like to see the remaining three groups move in.

Although the province hasn’t made any promises, Bradley says that by moving all the organizations together they will be more “efficient” and can share services and expenses. He stresses, however, that is not the most important consideration.

“Our primary concern is that the building is properly restored and gives a good, sound interpretation of our political history — something that is very much lacking, which you won’t find at The Rooms right now or anywhere else in the province,” he says.

O’Dea echoes the same thoughts, saying an interpretation centre would be complemented by the people in the offices. He also notes the building’s physical presence and historical significance.

“It’s quite impressive on the landscape so it’s a major figure there in an architectural and urban sense, but it’s also incredibly important historically because it’s where we were made a nation and ceased to be a nation.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

www.petro-canada.ca

“Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent cleaning up the buildings … the actual transfer prices were nominal, but there were city taxes owing to the tune of $15,000 and an $850,000 mortgage over the property. It’s quite a financial commitment.”

It’s also been a slow process, requiring regular communication with the province and St. John’s.

“It’s been very challenging,” Edwards says. “If you wade through the various regulatory bodies we had to deal with …

I have to say, councillor Shannie Duff assembled a process with the city and the province and we worked together over a lengthy period of time.”

Edwards’ plans include more than just the two heritage buildings. He has approval for the construction of five single-family detached houses along Forest Road ($300,000-plus each) and, along a newly constructed cul de sac, he’s planning to build 25 town homes (in the $200,000-range).

In the hospital buildings, he’s got the go-ahead to build as many as 20 condominiums — though he currently expects to do far less.

“We’re finally getting to look at what we’ve got inside, and there are some quite interesting features in there,” he says. “Sixteen-foot ceilings and beautiful brick arches ….

“Very sound building procedures were used. It’s built on bedrock … though it does look quite suspect at this point in time, from the outside.”

Richard Symonds is an architect with Sheppard Case, the firm working on the plans for the old buildings. On his first walk through, he remembers seeing plenty of reminders the space had been left vacant too long, including evidence of squatters and too many pigeons.

“But now that we’re seeing what was under all the old walls and dividers, we’re seeing tall ceilings, big stone arches,” he says. He imagines the finished living spaces will make use of the possibilities for exposed brick and timber.

“It has a lot of appeal, if that can be saved,” he says.

There have already been some presales of the properties, and Edwards expects full-scale construction to rev up as soon as spring breaks.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” he says.

“It’s been in my head two, three years, so it’s good to finally get it out and into the field.”

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

‘Almost out of control’ Alberta money fuels renovation fever in Marystown; stores and contractors try to keep up

By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent

T

Circa 1969, the completion of the rock excavation of the Churchill Falls powerhouse more than 1,000 feet underground.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

In and out

How much lower Churchill power will be kept for use in the province?

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

T

he president and CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says the province will be able to keep some, but not all, of the power from the lower Churchill to attract industrial development in the province.

Ed Martin says the Crown corporation is not looking to keep all the power in province.

“There is a very low probability we could. I mean in the outside case — and this is not a real high probability — but if someone came in and spoke for 2,800 megawatts of power on an industrial deal that made a lot of money for us, naturally we’d do it,” Martin tells The Independent.

“The probability of that occurring right now is not really high. There is a relatively decent probability that a portion of it could be done that way.”

To finance the lower Churchill, long-term contracts for electricity will be necessary, either from industrial clients setting up in the province, or from markets in other parts of Canada and the U.S., or a combination of the two.

Martin says he hopes some industrial clients will come on board, perhaps enough to allow the project to be financed by the province alone.

“I can’t talk about this in detail because of confidentiality arrangements, but we are still interested in talking to large industrials who might come in set up and give us a reasonable return on our power,” says Martin. “And that’s also something that might lead to financing, so we may not need to go outside.”

An energy expert says Newfoundland and Labrador will not be able to attract industry to the province with power from the lower Churchill, because industry can find cheaper power elsewhere in the world.

Jean-Thomas Bernard, a professor of economics at the University of Laval in Quebec, says except for power reserved for domestic use by the province, all the electricity from the lower Churchill will have to be sold in long-term contracts to Quebec, Ontario and the U.S. in order to arrange financing to build the project.

He says the problem is the lower Churchill project, at 2,800 megawatts, is too large for domestic use only, and too expensive to attract industry.

“That is a big chunk of power for

Newfoundland. That is the equivalent of about four or five aluminum smelters,” says Bernard. He says the projected cost of developing the lower Churchill will make the rate Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro will have to charge for its power too high for industry, but not for export.

He points to current aluminum development in Iceland and the Middle East, where they have signed long-term contracts for cheap electricity.

Alcan, who has operated smelters in Quebec for decades, is now building new plants in Qatar and South Africa.

“Quebec is no more in that market,” says Bernard. “We cannot attract (industry) anymore.”

He says the lower Churchill, with higher costs, will not be viable either.

“I think that is incorrect,” says Martin. He says lower Churchill power can attract industry to the province, and his company is working on that right now.

Martin says his company is assessing how much of the proposed development’s power will be needed for domestic use. Factored into that equation will be power for industries that may want to set up in the province — attracted by cheap, reliable long-term power rates. Long-term contracts from these industries would allow the Crown corporation to finance the project.

“Obviously for the power for internal use, a primary focus is industrial development in Labrador and industrial development on the island,” says Martin.

He says big companies are planning ahead 15-25 years, and are looking, not only at the current price of power, but also at future prices.

“We know where electricity and oil and gas prices are going and they are going up significantly over time. Any of these big companies are looking to deal with demand down the road in the future, and they are doing their planning with respect to where costs are going.”

Martin says Newfoundland and Labrador can offer competitive rates for industry.

“If you look at the lower Churchill project in terms of how it stacks up to any other hydro development project that is in the world today, it is very good,” says Martin. “What Hydro gives you is a long-term stable costing just about forever.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

Colour Light Blonde

he Paint Shop in Marystown ran out of its most popular brands of paint on a few occasions in November.

“We ran out again today actually,” says employee Edith Clarke. The store orders stock based on projections from previous years, but the situation this year has left them at a loss.

“There is a lot of money in the Marystown area,” she says. “We might not have the jobs here, but the men are working away in Alberta and they are making big money and sending that back here to their families.”

That extra money is being spent locally, she says, and a portion is going into home improvement.

Clarke originally forecasted a slow season.

“September is (usually) slow and we normally pick up again closer to Christmas, but this year we haven’t had any slow days, we are just all run off our feet, and that’s a good complaint — job security,” she says with a laugh.

Women are not only buying products, Clarke continues, but are also getting instructions on how to use what they buy. They’re coming in the store in record numbers and “doing it themselves for the first time.” Clarke provides the names of local handymen to those who can’t, or don’t want to, do the work.

“We only have two or three professional painters in the area, we have one man who lays vinyl, and it’s hard to get someone to do any work in the home. They are all busier than they have ever been.”

Jim Farrell from nearby Little Bay says there’s no shortage of work for a painter in the Burin/Marystown area. “It started to pick up last year and now it’s almost out of control,” he says. Farrell used to work in Alberta, but is now taking advantage of the fact others are making big money away so he can earn a living for his family in the province.

“It’s been four years since I’ve had to leave to work, and I’ve spent those four years painting with no break.” Farrell works seven days a week, starting at 8 a.m. and ending “whenever they drive me home … I hope this keeps up because it keeps the lights on and food on the table and as long as I’m working here I don’t

have to go away.”

Fred Stapleton is another handyman in the area. He also works seven days a week and claims this year is the busiest.

“There is spring cleaning coming up after the Christmas painting rush, so this isn’t going to slow down and this pace is just crazy. You can’t keep up with it,” he says. Despite the work, Stapleton is considering leaving the province and is hoping for a permanent position in Alberta.

“My kids are all gone from the area, so that’s part of it, but I also want something that’s full-time, but not all the time like this can be,” he says. “When you work for yourself you just have to keep going full go and you gets no down time at all, and it’s hard work.”

HOME REPAIR BOOM Bill Murley, owner of Murley’s Building Supplies in Marystown says, while there is a boom in home repairs in the area, it hasn’t translated into a boom in general construction.

“There is very little new construction being done around here, but yes, I’d say people are upgrading what they do have,” he says. The homeowners he sees are those who have purchased older homes, or who have lived in the same one for 20 or 30 years.

“People can’t afford to do major overhauls, but they are redoing their roofing, upgrading their windows, siding and insulation … anything they can to keep heating costs down … and painting is always on the go because it’s an easy and affordable way to improve the look of a home.”

At the Paint Shop in Marystown, Clarke and fellow employee Marilyn Buffett are gleefully “run ragged.” While they’re busy selling paints and flooring, Clarke says, the ones doing the work have it worse.

She knows one man in the area who works all day on one job, then works on another at night — his opportunities are endless.

“This guy has worked until 6 a.m. laying flooring, and I know one job he went to where the owners barred him in the house and wouldn’t let him out till he was done because they knew that once he left they might not see him back for a while, he is that busy.”

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

Snow days O

n Tuesday, news broke about a Corner Brook boy who had been charged with throwing snowballs at his teacher during recess.

My immediate reaction was to question whether there was something wrong with the teacher’s brain — what 12year-old hasn’t tried to drill a snowball between a set of eyes or two? A painful offence, but not exactly an indictable one.

Snowballs are as much a part of the childhood experience as sliding down a hill and plowing into a barb-wire fence, stealing crab apples and being chased by the stingy old landowner with a salt gun, or getting your tongue stuck to an icy Fudgestick during recess and screaming for the class to run for “kelp,” chocolate and blood pooling on the floor tiles.

About the only form of fighting tolerated on school grounds when I was a kid involved snowballs (unless there were rocks in them, which meant a declaration of war). Snowballs these days have gotten out of hand. (How did that pun wedge its way into my column?)

On Wednesday, while driving up LeMarchant Road in St. John’s aboard a Bugden’s Cab, a snowball slammed into the driver’s-side window. To his credit, the driver didn’t flinch and kept the car on the straight and narrow, unlike his

RYAN CLEARY

Fighting Newfoundlander front-seat passenger (not saying any names), who had to peel his face off his window. Needless to say, my opinion of snowballs did an immediate 180.

The kid who launched the projectile continued strolling up the sidewalk with two other buddies — they didn’t even make a run for it. The taxi didn’t turn around either. “It happens all the time,” the driver said. It’s apparently too much trouble to run the culprits down and, even then, what would the authorities do — charge the kid with one count of snowball tossing? The answer to that question, if the Corner Brook charges work out, may just be yes. We could lock the guilty parties in a snow fort next to Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in Town and throw away the key until spring thaw …

SNOWBALLING SCANDAL With that off my chest, I move along to the political spending scandal that keeps snowballing in terms of breadth and depth. Five MHAs have now been

charged with overspending their constituency allowances by $1.6 million.

Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan has come down hard on the poor buggers, saying they should be made to pay the money back. But how exactly can they be made to do that when the politicians in question say all spending was approved and receipts signed off. Percy Barrett and Ed Byrne are sure their names will be cleared. Former Liberal MHA Paul Dicks may have picked up a 1982 Bordeaux or two with money from the public purse, but who’s to say he couldn’t legitimately write off the expense as entertainment? It’s hard to charge someone when there apparently weren’t any laws in the legislative land.

The way Sullivan sees it, “If you owe money to government you should pay it back … and whether that’s criminal, or whether it’s not, does not take away from the fact that money was inappropriately received.”

Right Loyola — we could ask the boys to pay back the overpayments because it’s the right thing to do. Good luck with that …

BAN ON THE RUN Sullivan and Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout both sat on the House of Assembly’s Internal Economy

Commission — along with five Liberal members — when it was decided to ban the auditor general from the legislature’s books.

Now Sullivan is saying that probably wasn’t such a good idea. “No doubt about it,” he told reporters this week. So why exactly was the AG locked out?

Will the Constabulary get to the bottom of that question?

Who knows — police aren’t talking.

John Noseworthy won’t touch the political question with a 10-foot fridge magnet. Then there’s the other side of the story. Averill Baker, lawyer for the civil servant at the centre of the scandal, told The Independent in July that her client is innocent of the allegations against him and only did what politicians directed him to do.

Baker has said her client, Bill Murray, the suspended director of financial operations for the House of Assembly, points the finger of blame at the MHAs on the Internal Economy Commission (which, presumably, would include Sullivan).

Said Baker, “I simply don’t understand about my client being ganged up on or blamed for this in that the one time he did try to dispute a claim he was told, ‘Look, who are you to ask me about this? Who are you to ask me what this is for?’”

The auditor general himself has said there had to be “collusion.”

In another bizarre twist, Murray’s hand-written notes were stolen the same day Baker picked them up from the mental hospital where her client had checked himself in. Baker told The Independent she suspects her briefcase was targeted because it contained Murray’s papers.

To review the scandal story: politicians have been told not to speak to the media about it; the AG’s investigation won’t be wrapped up until 2008; and the police are on the case but they’re not talking.

The more I think about it, the more I think a down-and-dirty public inquiry was the way to go with the spending scandal. Our entire political system is in need of a major overhaul — from the number of MHAs in the House, to their spending controls, to what we expect from our leaders. Hiding the scandal away from public view — with the exception of a scattered shocking news conference — doesn’t do this place any good. And considering politicians are left to make the call, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of learning the truth. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE Marketing Burin’s ‘haunting moodiness’ Dear editor, Our copy of the Nov. 24 edition just arrived and I wish to comment on the article concerning Newfoundland’s portrayal in European travel guides (‘Strange thing from the bottom of the deep’, province portrayed in negative light in European travel guides).

Last year we purchased my grandfather’s house in old Burin, and we are in the process of restoring it. One of the factors that prompted us to buy property on the Burin was the stunning beauty of the area. As “bony” as most of the peninsula may be, it exudes a haunting moodiness akin to that of the Yorkshire moors, and whose colours change with each day’s light. The drive from Goobies to Marystown is one of the most spectacular in Canada, and the coves around Burin define picturesque.

Notwithstanding the area’s physical beauty, I can understand why it may not receive good press in the European travel media. Despite the presence of some well-managed and charming heritage houses in Burin and Grand Bank, and some delightful small museums such as the Miners’ Museum in St. Lawrence, I have been struck by the absence of a co-ordinated effort to market the Burin to tourists. Each town puts out a pam-

phlet about local places of interest, but there appears to be little effort to publicize the area as a whole.

Marketing individual towns to tourists will not produce results; foreign tourists must be given good reasons to spend two or three days on the Burin as a whole.

Aspects of the tourism infrastructure also remain undeveloped. Ecotourism — which appeals to mobile Europeans in their 20s and 30s — is minimal. Yet the potential for hiking trails up both the Placentia and Fortune Bay coasts is enormous, and one need only pick up kayaking books to learn that parts of the Burin’s Placentia Bay coastline are ranked amongst the best in Newfoundland.

Although in the immediate future my wife and I will only be able to spend a month each year in Burin, I hope we can contribute in some small way to the development of the area’s tourism. The tourism potential of the Burin is significant; throw in a dash of the can-do attitude exhorted by Harry Tucker in his recent article and the residents of the Burin could build up tourism as a major contributor to the local economy.

David Brown, Toronto (and sometimes at 484 Main St., Burin)

‘Bad attitude’ not to blame for everything Dear editor, In response to Dave Rudofsky’s letter regarding the negative attitudes of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians (Why is there no uprising? Nov. 24 edition) I would like to make a couple of comments. The turnaround in Ireland’s economy and immigration patterns had much more to do with the sympathetic policies of the European Union which offered massive subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives to kick-start poor European economies such as Ireland’s and Portugal’s.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s ongoing loss of population and mediocre economy cannot be fully credited to a “bad attitude.” Perhaps if

the Canadian government would do as the EU does and invest massively in poorer regions while not insisting on resource giveaways for compensation, Newfoundland and Labrador and other “bad-attitude” regions such as Saskatchewan and the Maritimes would have stronger economies and positive immigration.

As for action, positive attitude and a proactive stance, Mr. Rudofksy might find what he’s looking for in the Newfoundland and Labrador Defence League, a political advocacy group devoted to positive change for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Stephen Penney, (A positive and proactive idealist recently returned to St. John’s)

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

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Proving the point

O

rdinarily I welcome an open exchange of opinions. I personally believe that one of the tenets of our democracy is the wonderful ability for people to express different opinions. It is by expressing different opinions and by listening to the opinions of others that we are presented the opportunity to grow as people, as a community and as a nation.

That being said, I have to express some concern over statements made by Randy Simms in his guest column, Open for business, in the Dec. 1 edition of The Independent.

I welcome Mr. Simms’ difference of opinion with my original article, whereby I indicated that we in this province must embrace a culture of abundance and not one of scarcity. To do otherwise is to miss many great business opportunities in this wonderful province of ours.

It is clear that Mr. Simms and I are both extremely passionate about this beautiful province. However, I believe that Mr. Simms crossed the line when he made the following statements: “Let’s get something straight. Mr. Tucker did not come to Newfoundland to provide us the benefit of his worldview. He did not come home to simply contribute to the local economy. He came home looking for an investment opportunity that would make him money.

“That his business seems to have failed is unfortunate, but such failures can’t be blamed on the attitudes of our people. Mr. Tucker does just that, which is why I have to raise a voice in protest.”

Mr. Simms then proceeds to offer a lecture regarding how real start-ups survive and what causes them to fail, implying that my alleged failed business was as a result of one or more of these poor attributes.

First of all, Mr. Simms, it is clear that you either know nothing of my intentions for returning to this province

HARRY TUCKER

Guest Column For the record, I am an employee of one of the largest software and services companies in the world. If this business has failed, it will be heard in the media around the world. or you have been misinformed. Truth be told, I did not return looking for an investment opportunity here. I work in New York, a place filled with investment opportunity. When I returned to this province, my income was derived from sources in the U.S. as it continues to be to this day.

For Mr. Simms’ information, I have not started a business in this province, although I welcomed the opportunity to bring business opportunities here.

Since I did not start a business in this province, it is not possible for that nonexistent business to have failed. For the record, I am an employee of one of the largest software and services companies in the world. If this business has failed, it will be heard in the media around the world.

For the record as well, I also cofounded a very successful multi-million dollar software company in New York that was subsequently successfully sold. My track record for business results, if Mr. Simms had researched his information correctly, is one of award-winning success.

I stated my opinion in my original article. Opinions are never wrong; they are the perceptions of individuals.

Opinions for and against someone else’s opinion are also not wrong and, in fact, it is through open dialogue that conversation for positive change comes about. However, when someone doesn’t have valid counter-reasons to form an opposing opinion, many times that person resorts to personal attacks as a fall-back strategy. This does not contribute to constructive dialogue, dialogue necessary to make positive change. When things get personal, it is difficult to know when a line has been crossed; that line being the separator between a personal attack and statements that are false and damaging.

I reached out to Mr. Simms to see if he had a desire to correct these statements or for us to meet. It is clear that while our passions are aligned towards the same goal, our respective plans towards that goal are different. I felt that a dialogue between us would clear up the confusion that appears to exist.

My requests have gone unanswered.

I would suggest to Mr. Simms and people like him that if someone expresses an opinion and the opinion seems to sting — stop and reflect on the reason for the pain. If the opinion differs sharply from your own, express your opinion and encourage dialogue to incubate growth and change. To personally attack the messenger and to make false statements suggests that Mr. Simms does not have a strong counter argument and in doing so, perhaps validates my original message — that some of us would rather complain and bash other opinions than to explore ideas and dialogue geared towards success.

Harry Tucker (A New Yorker in a Newfoundlander’s body), Topsail (soon to be New York again; this time by choice) htucker@dynamexconsulting.com

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

Women’s movement needs new strategy I

am a feminist. I believe in feminism, but I also think the feminist movement has lost its way. I think the movement is tired, starved of new ideas and out of steam. The public reaction to the recent cutting by the Harper administration of funding for groups that advocate, lobby or perform research on women’s issues reflects this. There wasn’t much of one.

You have to be a little careful when you go up against orthodoxies. Just asking questions can land you in a world of trouble. But here goes.

These cuts are political. Harper is the most ideological prime minister we have ever had. You have to go back as far as Trudeau to find a leader so motivated by ideology. Harper and his followers don’t see the wisdom in using taxpayers’ money to fund groups that are not ideological fellow travellers.

Literacy groups, court challenges and now women’s policy offices — down they go, victims to the very new broom that is sweeping through the federal government.

Past governments have seen the value

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason to democracy of funding groups that will challenge them publicly. The Conservatives do not. They see value in cutting these programs.

Was this political decision made with the presumption that there wouldn’t be much of a fuss from the public?

One of the key platforms of the Conservatives that I think resonates with the public is the issue of government waste.

The federal bureaucracy, rightly or wrongly, is viewed by many as wasting a great deal of money on programs and services which aren’t relevant, or aren’t effective. The public expects value for their tax dollars. The Conservatives have managed to harness this discontent to their political advantage. Were these cuts examples of this?

Please don’t confuse the baby with the bathwater. I know that feminism has

YOUR VOICE ‘Fish farming is anything but stupidity’ Dear editor, I am writing in response to a letter published in the Dec. 1 edition of The Independent by Lloyd C. Rees headlined, Cooke Aquaculture proposal ultimate in stupidity. Mr. Rees is incorrect in stating that Norway and the United States are turning away from aquaculture. Norwegian aquaculture continues to grow and is the third largest component of the economy of Norway. The U.S. has passed legislation to increase fish farming at least five fold in the next decade to counter a huge trade deficit on fish imports. Fish farming accounts for 40 per cent of global fish production (80 per cent in China) and there are no other sources to increase healthy fish protein for human consumption.

Mr. Rees’ facts are confused. Cooke Aquaculture proposes to produce 17,000 tonnes per year of salmon — not 50,000 tonnes. He predicts this will require 150,000 tonnes of raw fish for feed from wild fish sources.

The reality is the fish he mentions are not used in feeds, nor are they even sourced in Canada. In fact, wild fisheries have grown in all areas of salmon and mussel farming across Atlantic Canada, most notably the

lobster fisheries, according to two independent studies from Atlantic universities.

About 50 per cent of world fishmeal is used to produce poultry and pork and the other 50 per cent to produce fish such as salmon. Pork and poultry require three to four kilograms of fish feed to make one kilogram, whereas the ratio is about one-to-one for fish farming — much more efficient and environmentally sustainable conversion of feed by most accounts.

Up to 99 per cent of the fish meal used in fish diets comes from fisheries certified as sustainable. According to the United Nations, global fisheries presently discard 40 per cent of the fish caught at sea, so there are large untapped sources of fish protein out there.

Lastly, I hope that your readers can read beyond Mr. Rees’ comments and see that, in fact, fish farming is anything but “stupidity” and that Premier Danny Williams and Cooke Aquaculture should be commended for supporting such initiatives to revitalize our province’s economy.

Cyr Couturier, President, Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association

a long way to go. I can pass for male, and I have often been in the presence of other men — employers — and heard them say things about their female staff that would make Art Reid blush (or Borat, if you prefer). I know men who hire many of their female staff solely on how “attractive” they found them.

I remember a young high school student I encountered in my previous job. I was talking with a group of students about equality. I mentioned female fighter jet pilots. She flatly refused to be convinced women should be allowed to fly fighter jets. She thought I was ridiculous for even mentioning it. She used evidence of a recent passenger jet crash in Florida — where the woman was the pilot — as an example. I pointed out that plenty of men have crashed jets. Nope.

No dice. I was wrong. It should not be allowed. Flying was a man’s job.

My encounter with that kid still bugs me. We didn’t get through to her. After all the years of activism, something isn’t working. How can you get to high school harbouring this belief?

The easy answer to this is more fund-

What worries me more than the funding cuts is the relative silence of the general public. ing, not less. Perhaps. But that isn’t going to happen with this government.

So what next? Dare I suggest feminists re-examine their strategies? Dare I suggest that new ideas, new faces and new approaches are long overdue?

I am a big believer in grassroots.

There are a lot of non-profit organizations out there that work hard to raise money to promote their cause. They don’t have to go cap in hand to government. They are independent. They are forced, by necessity, to keep in touch with their constituency or run the risk of irrelevancy and bankruptcy. Might this be a path for the women’s movement?

I know there is a little of “kicking

them when they’re down” going on here, but I like to think of this more as a good shake. I hate that these cuts mean people will lose their jobs. That is always tough. I hated it when it happened to me. Been there, done that, got the box of tattered T-shirts. To mix a well-known metaphor, I have worked on enough worthy projects that were strangled or outright cut by idiot politicians and bureaucrats that I didn’t get hot breakfasts.

But there it is.

What worries me more than the funding cuts is the relative silence of the general public. This should worry the leaders of the feminist movement. Publicly they will fight these cuts. Privately, they should have a cold hard look at the programs that were cut. What could be done better? Where are they going from here?

The struggle isn’t over. Sexism is still a big problem in society. The cause is just — but it might be time to look at the strategy. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

ANOTHER STINK

Construction on the sewage treatment facility continues in spite of the wintry weather this week. The facility is already nearly $20 million over the $93-million budget set seven years ago. St. John’s has asked the province and neighbouring municipalities Mount Pearl and Paradise to help with the cost-overruns. Mount Pearl has so far refused the request.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Byrne’s benefits should be held in trust

Professor’s rights and academic freedoms weren’t infringed

Dear editor, I’ve been wondering why former minister Ed Byrne’s severance pay of $78,000 (to be awarded to him in January when he leaves government) and payments into his current pension plan (he will be entitled to about $60,000 a year in two years) are not held in trust until the outcome of auditor general John Noseworthy’s final report?

If Byrne is found guilty of misusing constituency funds to the tune of $467,653, then why not? Finally, how about a clawback? Just like in the

Dear editor, I write with reference to a guest column headlined A diatribe against me that appeared in The Independent’s Nov. 24 edition by Dr. Rani Panjabi.

In the column, Dr. Panjabi made a number of assertions regarding her employment at Memorial University and some university administrators.

Neither her rights nor academic freedom have been infringed.

Furthermore, as a faculty member of long standing, she knows there are well-established internal mechanisms in place, including a collective agree-

church and the military, shouldn’t Byrne be ex-communicated, defrocked or dishonourably discharged?

What’s good for the goose in the church and military should be good for the gander in governmental affairs.

Of course, I understand Byrne is innocent until proven otherwise.

Meantime, I think all his benefits should be put on hold immediately and held in-trust.

Bill Westcott, Clarke’s Beach

ment, to which she can turn if she has problems with her working arrangements.

Her column also referenced the investigation by Dr. Shirley Katz of York University who reviewed the work experience of the late Dr. Deepa Khosla and the working environment at Memorial University.

Your readers should know that Dr. Katz is a faculty member at York University and a lawyer with considerable experience in investigating equity and human rights issues. She is very knowledgeable about the university

both as an academic and former academic administrator and legal counsel.

Dr. Katz’s report included 12 recommendations; all of which the university is acting upon.

Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Katz found that university administrators, in terms of their dealings with Dr. Khosla, acted with “alacrity and utter good faith.”

Peter Morris, associate director (communications) Memorial University of Newfoundland

How Memorial’s ‘dominant male culture; manifests itself Dear editor, The release of a highly censored version of the Dr. Shirley Katz report raises a number of ethical and legal issues for the entire Memorial University community. The purpose of the report was fourfold: to better understand the late Dr. Deepa Khosla’s experience at Memorial; to consider the environment for women on campus; to examine university policy on student conduct; and to recommend any necessary policy changes.

Only the last of these four objectives might be considered as having been

achieved by the report, and even there the logic behind the recommendations is not always clear. Indeed, half the recommendations on improving communications at the university is itself blacked out.

The censored report is available on the university website, and I would encourage everyone to examine it; if only to see how badly mangled the final product really is. Of the seven chapters in the table of contents, only two have all their subheadings; four chapters have had most of their topics suppressed.

The censorship of the Katz report severely limits discussion of fundamental policy questions, and it seriously handicaps our resolution of the problems that have been identified.

Privacy laws exist in Canada to ensure that information collected by public authorities is not used for purposes other than that for which it was first intended.

Dr. Katz did not have the right to subpoena witnesses, so any information provided her by the people she interviewed was presumably freely given and in the full knowledge that she was

writing a report which had the four objectives cited above. It may well be, therefore, that much of the allegedly personal information in the report actually falls outside of any privacy legislation.

From the little that we have been allowed to see of her report, Dr Katz identified very serious problems here at Memorial. These problems will require a sustained and collegial effort by the entire university community to resolve.

Sadly, the singular failure to respect this community’s right to know, the presumption that it is the senior admin-

istration that best knows how to handle these matters, and the idea that ad-hoc “working groups” named by and responsible only to the president is the appropriate next step, all suggest just how far we, as a university community, are from effectively addressing, as Dr Katz put it, “the diverse ways that the dominant male culture manifests itself at Memorial.”

Robert C.H. Sweeny, professor of history Memorial University of Newfoundland

DECEMBER 8, 2006

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9

IN CAMERA

A scandal’s time line Wally Andersen

Danny Williams

Randy Collins

Ed Byrne

Loyola Sullivan

Brian Tobin

Tom Rideout

Auditor general John Nosewothy rocked politicial circles — not to mention the public’s confidence — last June when he announced his discovery of massive constituency allowance overspending by sitting and former politicians.

Below, editor-in-chief Ryan Cleary takes a look back at the events to date. All photos by picture editor Paul Daly.

Jim Walsh

A

uditor general John Noseworthy wrapped up phase 1 of his investigation this week into the political spending scandal with a complete report on excess constituency allowance spending dating back to 1989, when the allowances were first brought in. Four sitting politicians — Tory Ed Byrne, Liberals Wally Andersen and Percy Barrett, and New Democrat Randy Collins — as well as former Liberal MHA Jim Walsh are alleged to have overspent their allowances by almost $1.6 million. The review involved 122 MHAs and an estimated 17,000 expense claims …

••• The overspending apparently began in 1998 when Brian Tobin was Liberal premier.

•••

In 2000, the auditor general’s office was barred from the legislature after uncovering questionable constituency allowance claims, reportedly by Paul Dicks, a then-sitting Liberal cabinet minister, for artwork and wine. Sources say Dicks’ spirit of choice in 1989 when he was a minister of the Crown was a 1982 Bordeaux. Most of the artwork he purchased, sources say, was from Nova Scotia.

••• In 2002, the legislature’s Internal Economies Commission changed the rules to keep the auditor general’s office out altogether. The commission, which oversees the administration of the House, was made up of five Liberals and two Tories — including Loyola Sullivan, current Finance minister, and Tom Rideout,

Auditor general John Noseworthy at a press conference, Dec. 5.

Fisheries minister.

••• Premier Danny Williams changed the rules in 2004 and allowed the auditor general’s office back into the House of Assembly. An investigation began soon after.

••• On June 21 of this year, the premier held a news conference just prior to the 6 p.m. supper-hour news to announce he had accepted the resignation of Ed Byrne, one of his senior cabinet ministers.

Noseworthy later told The Independent the House of Assembly was “ripe” for the sort of alleged wild overspending that led to Byrne leaving his Natural Resources portfolio. Noseworthy said there was no way an MHA could spend 10 times their con-

stituency limit without “collusion” in the system.

••• In late June, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was called in to investigate. At about the same time, a memo was circulated to security at Confederation Building in St. John’s stating that Bill Murray, director of financial operations for the House of Assembly, was not allowed on the premises. Murray had been suspended from his job, although he hadn’t worked in some time, having left his post on sick leave soon after Noseworthy began his investigation.

••• On July 2, The Independent published a controversial front-page story outlining total expenses of all

48 MHAs — with a breakdown of constituency allowances. MHA Harvey Hodder, speaker of the House of Assembly, demanded an apology and that papers be pulled from store shelves, charging the numbers made it appear dozens of MHAs had overspent their allowances. The Independent refused to apologize and papers stayed in the stores.

••• On July 9, The Independent published a front-page story quoting Averill Baker, the lawyer for Bill Murray, saying her client was innocent of the allegations against him and only did what politicians directed him to do. Baker said Murray pointed the finger of blame at the MHAs on the Internal Economy Commission who, in

Percy Barrett

Baker’s opinion, “had been dictating to him what to do.” Baker said the one time Murray tried to dispute an expense claim he was shot down.

Baker alleged the auditor general and an assistant visited Murray on June 22, while he was a patient at the Waterford Hospital — a meeting she described as inappropriate considering her client was in a weakened mental state.

••• In the same edition of The Independent, Baker alleged a briefcase stolen from her car in late June was specifically targeted because it contained papers prepared by Bill Murray, who wrote them by hand while a patient at the Waterford and, later, the Health Sciences Centre.

Baker said the documents “named

names and there were dollar values … political names, past and present.”

The briefcase was reportedly stolen June 28 from Baker’s car while parked outside her St. John’s home on King’s Bridge Road. The case was taken the same day Baker says she picked up Murray’s handwritten statements. Baker said she didn’t bring her briefcase into her home that particular night because she thought it would be safer in the car.

••• The July 16 edition of The Independent outlined how thenNatural Resources minister Ed Byrne sponsored a women’s intermediate rowing team for the 2005 Regatta to the tune of $3,500. Heidi Murphy, a member of the rowing

crew, resident of Kilbride and summer student in the Natural Resources Department, confirmed Byrne gave her the cheque. The team was called Procon (Progressive Conservative). The donation highlighted concerns over the ability of MHAs to use their constituency allowances for donations to specific groups, which may be seen as garnering political favour.

••• Also in July, the premier decided against calling an inquiry into the spending scandal, choosing instead to allow the auditor general’s office to conduct a more extensive review going back to 1989. That same month Chief Justice Derek Green was called in to review the MHA compensation package.

••• On Dec. 5, the auditor general held a news conference to announce phase 1 of his investigation into excessive constituency allowance spending had been completed.

The results: Ed Byrne — $467,000 in overspending between 1999-2004.

Randy Collins — $358,000 in overspending between 2000-2006.

Wally Andersen — $344,000 in overspending between 1998-2006.

Jim Walsh — $298,000 in overspending between 1999-2004.

Percy Barrett — $117,000 in overspending between 1998-2004.

In addition, payments of $2.6 million to three companies — Zodiac Agencies, JAS Enterprises Ltd. and Cedar Scents International between 1998 and 2005 have also

been called into question.

Another $170,000 in questionable payments were made to Unique Keepsakes, a company owned by Bill Murray or his spouse between 2001 and 2005.

••• On Dec. 6, Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan said MHAs should have to repay overpayments.

••• Phase 2 of Noseworthy’s investigation looks into the “appropriateness” of how constituency allowances were spent. A review of the current crop of 48 MHAs is expected to be completed before next October’s provincial election, with a review back to 1989 expected to be wrapped up in early 2008. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

DECEMBER 8, 2006

10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS AROUND THE BAY Santa arrived at the Lab City Arena as an invited guest of USWA local 5795. He had the children join him in a song, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer — and seemed to have a jolly good time. The little mishap where he slipped and fell on the ice did not hurt the good fellow and he said he was happy to meet so many children.

— The Carol Link, Labrador City, Dec. 17, 1970 YEARS PAST Never despair of becoming a good writer when Esterbrook’s steel pens are within the easy reach of all, both in the case with which they can everywhere be procured from the stationers, and the low price at which they are sold.

— The Public Ledger, St. John’s, Dec.12, 1882

YOUR VOICE Wanted: grinch for boundaries commission (must be politically heartless) Dear editor, Santa is wrapping a lucrative gift for our 48 MHAs. Although the province’s population has decreased by many thousands, government will carve the poorest province into 48 neat parcels and stuff them into members’ stockings while constituents dream of sugarplums. Government hopes you won’t notice the manipulation and deception.

Your open and transparent government has mandated a boundaries commission to evenly divide the population, based on the out-dated 2001 census, into 48 Christmas gifts. This political trick, designed to garner votes and protect political turf, is being performed while you’re busy cutting brush or gassing up the UHaul.

Santa figured the poor devils on the hill can’t afford to lose their $100,000 salaries (including allowances and committee appointments) and pensions after as little as five years, with no training or pre-requsite required.

Ed Byrne has walked away with a $60,000 pension, after 14 years. It would take a teacher or social worker 75 years to receive a Byrne-like pension.

AROUND THE WORLD 1938 Passes Out — Not many people will be sorry for the passing of 1938. It has been a year of alarms and fear. More than once during the year it looked as though the whole world was on the trembling edge of warfare.

Hitler marched on Austria, Czechoslavakia, and, at the present time, as The Barrelman goes to press, the world is waiting to see where next Hitler will strike. The year 1939 will be one of more alarms. No man can say when the war will come. All we can do, we who do not control the destinies of the world, is hope, and that if it cannot be averted altogether, it will at least be postponed.

— The Barrelman, St. John’s, December, 1938 EDITORIAL STAND To the man in the street, the second provincial elections have passed into history and the story is told. The Smallwood government has returned almost its entire slate of candidates. The Progressive Conservatives with some four members will constitute the one and only, and in our opinion almost insignificant, force to extract from the government information not spontaneously released. That their efforts will be even reasonably effective is too much to expect and to all intents and purposes the people of Newfoundland will be governed during the next half decade by a dictatorship. That it will be a benevolent one must surely be the hope and prayer of every Newfoundlander.

— The Twillingate Sun, Dec.1, 1951 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Madam – As The Foghorn is a beacon of light and hope to storm-tossed fishermen and sailors, so may your ‘Paper’ with its interesting and timely features remind us one and all, in the days ahead to strive to reecho the message of the Angels on the first Christmas Day: “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to men.” Regardless of our troubled world we can, and please God, may we Newfoundland and indeed all Canadians find peace and joy in Golden Sunsets, Gently falling rain on a warm day in Spring, A rainbow on a summer evening. A happy and holy Christmas to us all. Sincerely yours, Hilda Spencer — The Foghorn, Harbour Breton, Dec.20, 1976

What’s occurring with the boundaries commission is a disgrace similar to the abuse of constituency allowances. reflect the present population? Does the Avalon, where people have access to big town councils and live near the Confederation Building’s steps, need more than two members? What’s occurring with the boundaries commission is a disgrace similar to the abuse of constituency allowances. We have to wake up and reverse a flagrant abuse of our taxes. Santa is a robber, a thief in the dark.

We need a grinch on the boundaries commission. Cut the number of districts, burn allowances without accountability, flush golden pensions, eliminate double dipping, put credibility back in politics. An empty vamp this Christmas is far better than a flour sack stuffed with hypocrisy and narcissism.

THIEF IN THE DARK Should not the number of MHAs

Jim Combden, Badger’s Quay

Ships to shore

Twillingate Sun, 1951

Dear editor, I am writing a book on the so-called alphabet fleet, Newfoundland and Labrador’s coastal boats.

The fleet included the Argyle, the Bruce (1 and 2), the Clyde, the Dundee, the Ethie, the Fife, the Glencoe, the Home, the Invermore (sometimes wrongly referred to as the Inverness), the famous Kyle, the Lintrose, and the Meigle.

If you have any memories of being a passenger or crewmember on any of these ships or if you have other perti-

nent information, I would very much like to receive a letter from you. This search for information is being supplemented by extensive archival and library research.

My address: suite 304, 155 Water St., St. John’s, NL, A1C 1B3. Please include your phone number and mailing address. Many thanks in advance for any details or memories you are happy to share.

Maura Hanrahan, St. John’s

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DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11

LIFE STORY

An ex-pupil’s tribute Brother Augustus Fidelis Brennan is remembered as a great teacher and inspiration

By Gary Bambrick For The Independent

B

rother Augustus Fidelis Brennan passed away suddenly at Mount St. Francis at the age of 84 on Nov. 29 — one week before the new church year and one year before his 70th year as a Brother.

Just hours before, he attended a celebration for 70 years service in the congregation for Brothers P. J. Batterton, J. B. Darcy, and J. G. Shea.

In 1960-61, Brennan was my Grade 11 teacher at St. Patrick’s Hall School . I remember our first day in September 1960. Our names were called out in the gym and we were led away to our classroom. Brennan had no discipline problems because he was well respected and an excellent teacher.

He taught us all the subjects except physics. He didn’t waste any time in class — time on task was high. It took me about five hours a night to keep up with the written homework. On weekends and other times he would take us to the gym for basketball. Being tall, he was pretty good in basketball, and

earned the nickname “Stalks” Brennan.

There were many activities in the school — cadets, sports, various clubs, and just hanging around. In 1960 and again in 1961, St. Pat’s won the Boyle Trophy. In the last few weeks (or months) of the school year, Brennan would stay after class to prepare us for the Council of Higher Education exams.

This paid off, as a good number of us won government scholarships.

About 10 people in the class entered the priesthood or religious life, no doubt inspired by Brennan and others. We paid $2 a month in school fees — that was 10 cents a day for 10 subjects. To receive over 1,000 hours of instruction by one so eminent for $20 was a great bargain.

Brennan had a great interest in outdoor education. He was able to start the Brother Brennan Environment Centre at Salmonier. All the materials for the first building were carried to the site by motorboat, and for the first few years, students and teachers also travelled by boat to get to the site.

Later, a road was built around the pond. I had the opportunity to take several classes to this centre, and on one

occasion I was able to give Brennan a videotape of the activities of one group.

He didn’t think I should take up filmmaking.

It is ironic that on the very day he died the city of St. John’s had a workshop on vandalism — a clear sign that crime and vandalism is on the rise throughout the province.

In those days, we were taught great respect for persons and property as well as the environment.

Brennan taught at Regina High School, Corner Brook, from 1954 to 1960. He was founding principal of the school, took on the full high school teaching load, and also taught three university courses affiliated with St. Francis Xavier University — thus holding three full time jobs. In 1982, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Laws from that university.

In 1979, Brennan became superintendent of the Roman Catholic School Board for St. John’s, and frequently showed his versatility.

I remember attending a teachers’ professional day in the Arts and Culture Centre in the early 1980s. Around 9:15 we were informed the guest speaker couldn’t land. Shortly afterwards, Brennan took the mike and gave a fullday workshop and keynote address with

YOUR VOICE ‘We are living in a chemical jungle’ Dear editor, I write in response to the letter that appeared in The Independent by Peter Dawe of the Canadian Cancer Society (Cancer society exists to ‘do something’ about cancer, Nov. 24 edition).

He stated that the cancer society is run by a small group of volunteers.

That seems to be true of many organizations these days. I am upset because again it seems that the running theme from people in the cancer society is that cancer is caused by the things we do or don’t do. I am not an imbecile and I realize that a number of cancers are caused by our lifestyles, as are a number of other illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.

Nevertheless, I am again appalled at

the fact that there is no mention by the writer that there are quite a few carcinogenic or cancer-causing agents in our environment. Our government, industry and the Canadian Cancer Society have a very poor track record of not telling us what carcinogens are in our environment or giving us information to help us minimize our exposure to them (sun exposure and smoking being the exceptions).

It is all too apparent we are living in a chemical jungle. The Canadian Cancer Society is doing nothing to warn Canadians about the chemicals we are exposed to every day. While the Canadian Cancer Society website states that the Canadian government is going to “study” the potential cancer causing

chemicals in products that we use every day I say we do not need to reinvent the wheel. The World Health Organization already has a list of known chemicals that are potentially carcinogenic or are ‘known” to cause cancer in humans and animals.

We need the information on these carcinogens now. Canadians need to know ways and means of preventing cancer before it ever starts. In my opinion one in three Canadians being diagnosed with cancer is not an acceptable statistic. We need to pull out all stops and help prevent this disease from increasing in even greater numbers.

Marg Osbourne, St. John’s

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Brennan is certainly one of many venerable Newfoundlanders who have contributed greatly to this province and we must ensure his legacy is preserved for future generations.

Brother Augustus Brennan

great competence.

Three Christian Brothers were elected president of Newfoundland Teachers’ Association — Brothers O’Hehir, Darcy and Brennan — and I had the opportunity to be taught by all three. Brennan was also President of Canadian Teachers’ Federation.

I would like to give credit to the Christian Brothers for the great education I have received.

Brennan is certainly one of many venerable Newfoundlanders who have contributed greatly to this province and we must ensure his legacy is preserved for future generations.

To his immediate family and to his fellow Christian Brothers at Mount St. Francis, I offer my condolences.

“They that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity.”

(Daniel 12:2) Gary Bambrick is a retired teacher living in St. John’s

DECEMBER 8, 2006

12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

YOURVOICE Fish farming generating optimism and renewal Dear editor, Congratulations to Ivan Morgan for his feature in the Dec. 1 edition of The Independent on Belleoram, Queen of the South Coast.

Mr. Morgan very nicely points out the sense of optimism and renewal occurring not only in small communities like Belleoram, but all across our province over the past few years. This sense of optimism is related in part to the development of sustainable aquaculture, which is helping to diversify our rural economy.

Communities such as Daniel’s Harbour, Boxey, Poole’s Cove, St. Alban’s, Benoit’s Cove, Pilley’s Island, Pleasantview, Glovertown, Harbour Breton and many more have benefited directly from the development of aquaculture businesses in the supply, service, production and processing sectors of our economy, and

VOICE FROM AWAY

All of this rural diversification is occurring in conjunction with, and addition to, regions with wild fisheries, recreational pursuits, shipping and other coastal activities. this should continue for the benefit of all.

In our current year, the aquaculture sector will contribute in excess of 500 jobs in rural areas, about $50 million in farm-gate landings (third highest in the province’s aquatic

food production sector after shrimp and crab), more than $100 million to our rural economy and provincial coffers, in addition to supporting in some fashion more than 1,500 children, women and men in families across our beautiful island.

All of this rural diversification is occurring in conjunction with, and addition to, regions with wild fisheries, recreational pursuits, shipping and other coastal activities, all sharing the same areas to a large extent.

We look forward to providing further benefits and helping to diversify our rural economy by providing meaningful, sustainable employment and activities to add to our important fisheries and other activities in rural areas.

Cyr Couturier, St. John’s

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PRIME

‘Getting grungy is the fun part’

Little Harbour native Lindsay Abbott loves to shop, dress up, and cook. She also loves her job as a welder and night-time foreman in Alberta

By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent

L

ittle Harbour native Lindsay Abbott first fell in love with welding when she was a child.

“Dad had this little welder in the shed and I was fooling around with it one day (on the sly) and I fixed my little brother’s peddle bike,” she says. She used it a few more times, then forgot about it — for a few years anyway.

Abbott left her Newfoundland home after graduating from high school and moved to Alberta where she took on odd jobs — mostly landscaping —until she was accepted into a welding course Lindsay Abbott in St. John’s. She returned home, finished the program, and went back to per hour, and now makes $34.

“This career has done a lot for me,” Alberta “to make big money.”

Things didn’t happen as fast in Fort she says. “It’s bought my car, my new McMurray as Abbott, now 24, thought home … this house will let me save money so I can get back home where I they would.

“I started with one construction com- want to open up my own business, live pany and I drove the heavy equip- and raise a family.”

Abbott might be working out west, ment,” she says. “But I kept putting resumes around to try and break into but she hopes to return east. “I would rather be doing what I’m doing at welding.”

Sorges Welding eventually took her home,” Abbott says, but acknowledges on, and she has been there for over that isn’t possible at the moment. She three years. In that time she also went remains optimistic the situation will back to school to get her second- and soon change. In the meantime, she keeps focusing on being her best. third-year welding ticket.

The need to get women involved in Abbott is now a journeyman ironworker with B pressure, which means the trades is being recognized these days, by governshe can do welds on ment, industry, and pipes that have gas “The odd person might educational instituor fuel running tions. through them. start off thinking you Cindy Clarke is a “There aren’t board member with many women doing can’t do it, but you Women in Resource what I do,” Abbott says, adding that one show them you can and D e v e l o p m e n t , which is involved young female their attitude changes with a 27-week oriapprentice just entation program joined her company pretty fast.” providing hands-on and she knows of exposure to women only three other women in her trade. Despite being in interested in trades and technology, the minority, Abbott says she’s treated especially as it relates to the oil and gas industry. well.

“The College of the North Atlantic “The odd person might start off thinking you can’t do it, but you show delivers this training in partnership them you can and their attitude changes with WRDC at various campuses in the pretty fast,” she says. Abbott has province,” Clarke says. “We have been proven herself to her peers and has suc- completely focused on getting women cessfully integrated herself in the male- into the trades and we are seeing great successes. dominated welding trade.

“It is a great time for women to “I am a foreman on the night shift,” she says, adding that it was difficult at explore trades and technology … the first. “I was 24 (years old), telling peo- estimated labour market shortages will ple twice as old as me what to do, but it not be satisfied otherwise.”

Abbott thinks programs like that are only took a few nights for them to trust me once I proved myself, and I don’t a great start.

“Girls need to know that you can still mind that. I earn respect, that’s the best be feminine and be a welder, or a way.”

Many are shocked when they find mechanic, or anything you want to be,” out what this beautiful woman does for she says. “I definitely picked the best a living. “People guess that I’m a nurse, profession for me.” Abbott says both or something else more traditional,” her parents are hard workers. Her Abbott laughs. “I love to dress up and mother has worked in the carpentry shopping is my favourite hobby. I wear field most of her life, her grandparents high boots and short skirts. I like to were great role models, and her brother cook and I love looking like a woman, will follow her to Alberta when he but I also don’t mind getting dirty. graduates this year.

“My family is very proud of me, and Getting grungy is the fun part of my job.” when I look at what I have accomOf course, the money she makes is plished in a few years, I am pretty also a plus. Abbott started making $15 proud of me myself.”

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006 — PAGE 13

Gwen Peyton models a mink at Cape Spear

Paul Daly/The Independent

Strutting their stuff

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

T

he federal government has invested more than $3.2 million in the provincial fur industry in the past three years, yet there are concerns support is dwindling at a vital time in the industry’s development.

In 2002, the Newfoundland and Labrador fur industry was worth $500,000. This year, it’s worth $40 million, producing 175,000 skins in mink and about 5,000 in fox fur.

“That did not happen by accident,” says Mervin Wiseman, president of the Fur Breeders’ Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. “That happened by design. It was a very strategic approach.”

New demand for fur from the fashion capitals of the world and new markets in Asia have local producers excited about industry prospects, Wiseman says, in spite of decades of lobbying by anticruelty and animal-rights activists.

“We have brand-new world renowned designers … in the United States, Europe, England in particular,” says Wiseman.

“There is a resurgence of fur there, the use of fur on the (fashion) runways.”

Wiseman says the revived interest in fur would be enough to buoy the industry, but new markets in Russia and China have further improved the local industry’s prospects. He says China has led the world in fur production in the last three years.

Fashion revival boon to rapidly growing fur industry; producers fear stall in government funding ACOA funding for mink farms in Newfoundland and Labrador 2004 - $ 630,087 2005 - $1,517,000 2006 - $1,114,118 Average 2006 price range for a mink pelt $70 - $90

The country is also the world’s biggest purchaser of fur.

The fur industry has overcome many hurdles, including negative public opinion stoked by animalrights groups.

Wiseman says the industry has addressed this problem by establishing strict professional guidelines. He says claims of cruelty are offset by the responsible approach of the farming and trapping industry, which have developed humane methods recognized all over the world.

He says the public was looking for, and are satisfied by, these guidelines.

He cites an upcoming fur breeders training program offered by the College of the North Atlantic — 17 weeks in the classroom, 34 weeks on the

farm, including training in animal welfare, animal husbandry and nutritional requirements — as an example of how professionalism and education will counter any bad publicity. “(Are) the animal rights people having some effect? Yeah, sure, of course they are,” Wiseman says. “I’d be a fool not to say that, but it just seems that the more aggressive the animal welfare proponents have gotten, the higher the price of fur is going.

“The trend is there. Animalrights people have been very aggressively protesting over the last five years in particular.

During the last five years the price of fur has never reached such a high level before.”

See “Fur breeders” page 14

Rise early, work hard, hope the market cooperates

F

amous industrialist J. Paul Getty once described the formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. With the cooling off of oil prices and an unexpectedly long shutdown on the Terra Nova FPSO, it appears that even the diligent execution of J.P.’s strategy may not be enough to make ends meet in our province every year.

Back in March, when Budget 2006 was released, the provincial government was projecting the books to show a small surplus in the range of $6 million come the end of this 200607 fiscal year.

But, as our minister of Finance and Treasury Board president’s recent mid-year fiscal update revealed, our valuable offshore oil resources not only giveth, they also taketh away.

RAY DILLON

Board of Trade Our government deserves a lot of credit for the province’s fiscal turnaround by taking steps to stem the tide of recurring annual budget deficits. At the same time, we cannot escape the reality that the state of the public treasury is really riding to a large degree on the cash brought in by offshore oil.

Government projects that close to 30 per cent of all provincial-source revenues are derived from oil royalties and taxes. That is much-needed money that helps pay for our infra-

structure, social programs and other areas.

So, with production at the Terra Nova oil field being shut down for an unexpectedly extended period this year, the numbers at the end of the fiscal year may not look so rosy. The mid-year update indicated that we could see a $40 million deficit instead of the $6 million surplus originally projected.

Maybe the final numbers will look a fair bit better than that. We all know governments tend to forecast their financial performance on the conservative side.

The point is, our high level of dependence on oil money leaves the province’s fiscal performance more than a tad sensitive to swings in prices and production levels. If one or the

other or both of those variables go south on us, it can really change our financial outlook for the worse.

The Board of Trade made this point back at budget time, and it’s one of several good reasons the government has to stay prudent in managing the province’s finances. Despite all the progress that has been made in recent years, we are still vulnerable to the volatility of oil prices and production.

The fact Budget 2006 called for a year-over-year increase in program expenditures of nearly eight per cent made us somewhat uneasy. We cautioned that annual program spending increases in this range are likely not sustainable. We noted, while revenues are relatively healthy, the government must stay on track in controlling spending and reducing Newfoundland

and Labrador’s $23,000 per capita net debt by recording budget surpluses on a more frequent basis.

Here we are, nine months later and, as the potential impacts on the treasury of the Terra Nova disruption start to come into focus, our government appears to have the right idea.

“This result shows the volatility of these revenues, and demonstrates the need to continue to be prudent and conservative in our fiscal planning,” Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan said in reference to the mid-year forecast.

“We will remain vigilant for the rest of the year to ensure that all reasonable efforts are taken to mitigate the impact of the reduced oil production in 200607. We are mindful, though, that we See “Tax relief,” page 14

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14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

Forget UFOs; keep eyes peeled for UAVs Local aviation company flies first unmanned aerial vehicle in Canadian airspace

By Mandy Cook The Independent

I

f you happened to be in Clarenville and gazed skyward on Nov. 23, you may have witnessed Canadian aviation history.

Memorial University and Provincial Aerospace Ltd., a St. John’s-based aerospace and defence contracting company, flew the first commercial unmanned aerial vehicle flight in Canada over the Clarenville airstrip for approximately two hours. Transport Canada shut down the airspace in order to complete the test.

The UAV, as it is called, is basically a “drone” — an aircraft with no pilot. It has the capability of collecting data and information in situations where it is too dangerous or inaccessible for manned aircraft.

Keith Stoodley, vice president of marketing with PAL, says the goal of the project is to equip the UAV with cameras and video equipment in order to monitor overfishing activities or polluters at sea, and for other maritime surveillance use.

“There was a Transport Canada announcement (last week) of a Dash 8 that had some very sophisticated technology used to monitor bilge

pumping at sea. Ultimately wouldn’t it be really neat if we could miniaturize that technology and put it on a UAV?” Stoodley says it is emerging, not “mature,” technology. He says PAL and Memorial eventually want to equip the aircraft with advanced radar in addition to film and video cameras. He says the aircraft have been used in the private sector to study hurricanes, collect wind speed and direction data, sea surface temperatures and a host of meteorological information.

PAL was presented with three awards at the St. John’s Board of Trade’s annual business excellence award Dec. 6. The company won awards for business excellence, contribution to community and community service, and growth in domestic/export markets award.

The aircraft has a wingspan of approximately 10 feet tip to tip. The main body is about three feet long, and about six inches deep. It is capable of continuous flight for over 38 hours or 3,000 km (the distance to Scotland and back) and holds eight litres of fuel, or the equivalent of four milk cartons. It can reach heights of 20,000 feet.

The UAV flight plan, or “mis-

St. John’s Board of Trade president Ray Dillon presents an award to Provincial Aerospace Ltd.’s executive vice president Brian Chafe Dec. 6 at the Delta Hotel, St. John’s.

Paul Daly/The Independent

sion,” is pre-programmed before take-off, says Stoodley.

“It’s totally autonomous, it’s guided by an operator on a land base and it uses a combination of advanced navigational systems, GPS (global positioning system), to guide it along,” he says. “It’s sent from a particular location, the mission parameters are programmed in and it performs the mission, comes back,

and lands on the location as prescribed in the mission.”

Pip Rudkin, project manager of the UAV program at PAL, says the maiden flight was the happy result of four years of work.

“It was obviously exciting to get the aircraft off the ground,” he says.

“After all that time, it was exciting to get something in the air, for sure.”

At $70,000 a pop, Rudkin says

the UAV received “a pretty good round” of applause from the senior executives present when it touched back down to Earth safely.

Now that the technology has been tested — the UAV completed three other flights, one starting in Clarenville and cruising through Smith and Random Sounds with a satellite-based camera attached — Rudkin says the UAV is available for hire. He says some of the more common requests for the aircraft are for fire monitoring.

“They go out and put infrared sensors on it and sit there and circle over the fire for 30-40 hours and you use that information to direct the water bombers and other things in,” he says.

The cost of renting the UAV depends on the likelihood of losing an aircraft — activities such as lowlevel hurricane research flying 300 feet off the ocean’s surface would carry a high risk — but Rudkin estimates $1,000 per hour of flight. A manned aircraft within that range would run about $6,000 per hour.

The next mission assigned to the UAV is monitoring icebergs in February and the ice break-up and flooding patterns on the Exploits River.

Tax relief long overdue From page 13 must use our oil revenues strategically to reduce our debt burden and debt servicing costs, to renew and revitalize public infrastructure, and to diversify the economy.”

PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS The department of Finance is in the middle of cross-province pre-budget consultations and, as usual, there will be calls far and wide for spending here and more spending there.

We should definitely not get into the habit of unsustainable spending increases. The minister’s words are encouraging. It sounds like the main plan will

Sounds like a pretty good plan. However, it would be a shame if, with slightly tighter revenues projected, government were to let tax relief slip further down its priority list. be to keep an emphasis on dealing with the debt, and as far as spending goes, sticking to investments in strategic areas like infrastructure, which

are tied closely to our quality of life and economic competitiveness.

Sounds like a pretty good plan. However, it would be a shame if, with slightly tighter revenues projected, government were to let tax relief slip further down its priority list.

Many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would agree that the time is long overdue for greater fairness in personal income taxes in this province.

Our advice to the Finance minister: rise early, work hard, and hope that supply and demand forces work in our favour.

Ray Dillon is president of the St. John’s Board of Trade

Fur breeders From page 13 During the last five years the price of fur has never reached such a high level before.”

Wiseman says he’s concerned about signs the seed money — funds that have gotten the industry to where it is — may be drying up.

The federal government’s agricultural policy framework agreement, which was instrumental in 2003-2004 is, he says, “on empty.”

He says a stall in government funding right now could put industry growth in jeopardy. The province needs to invest in infrastructure to accommodate feed, the largest cost in fur farming at 75-80 per cent of operational expenses.

“We have to have feed and we have to have the infrastructure to accommodate it,” he says. “It will not happen with private industry alone. Small operations do not have that kind of money to invest.”

He says his organization is conducting a study to investigate how much inventory and how much capacity — freezing, handling, and other aspects of feed production — is needed.

Then they plan to show government what it is going to take to build that “because we know we have nowhere near the capacity.”

Wiseman says industry growth hinges on this — and government funding is showing signs of weakening at the time when the fur industry is ready for growth.

“When you consider the money that (grant money) was levering, we have a big loss here and reason for concern.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15

YOUR VOICE Is Danny preparing to leave?

Dear editor, Has anyone noticed that over the past couple of weeks Danny has been making a point to tell us that he has put serious thought into not running this time around, but he is going to run any way to save our poor souls?

He even spent a considerable amount of time harping on the subject at a recent PC fundraising dinner.

Danny blames this recent pondering of his political future on personal attacks from the opposition. I would be the first to speak out on personal attacks on any political stripe, however, I do not see personal attacks against Williams or any Tory MHA. What I have noticed is that a lot of hard-hitting questions from the opposition, bad government decisions, lack of initiative, and disregard for the rural parts of our province are taking a major toll.

Don’t be surprised if Danny is dropping these little hints of his political dissatisfaction to set the seeds for when he announces his departure from office, so it will not be such a bombshell from out of the blue. If Danny

wins the next election I would not at all be shocked if he bows out within six months to a year.

Everyone was behind him on the Atlantic Accord, and that burst of hope is gone to the teachers’ pension fund. Was he naïve on Burin, not-onmy-watch Stephenville, Marystown, FPI and Bill Barry, out-migration, and the fibre-optic deal? Was he naïve on the raw material plan for crab that cost fisherman and plant workers thousands and thousands of dollars? He darn well knows that the oil companies called his bluff. Was he politically naïve when he walked away from the table leaving potential billions for our province?

Danny has painted himself into a corner. He has done the tear-downthe-flag thing. He can’t come down over the stairs at the airport shouting, “we got it, we got it!” He has got nothing left only to pave a scattered pothole, vacuum out some mold from a school here and there, make a socalled announcement on Voisey’s Bay Nickel making a $5-million commitment to the Placentia area, or pretend

government is passionate about the outports while the train of U-hauls make deeper trenches in our so-called roadways. I seriously think he is paving the way for his exit with his subtle hints of saying he is being personally attacked. I believe he is getting ready to do what he does best and that is run his private business and not the province.

Roger Linehan, Mount Pearl

‘Newfoundland, Labrador and St. John’s’ Dear editor, The government has apparently taken the “and” out of Newfoundland and Labrador in its campaign to rebrand the province. I feel, however, that they should not stop there. They should change the name of the province to Newfoundland, Labrador and St. John’s. This “dis-connect” would not only reflect more accurately the social and political realities but also make reference to the province’s Achilles heel.

Joe Butt, Toronto

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Gadding ’bout at our expense, Padding past with every cent; constituencies allowed to cry, could always cash them, if you try.

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INDEPENDENTLIFE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006 — PAGE 17

The Thais that bind ...

St. John’s native Karen LeMessurier talks about the one-and-a-half years she volunteered in post-tsunami Thailand SUSAN RENDELL Screed and coke If your mind is happy, then you are happy anywhere you go.

— Phra Ajarn Chah, Thai monk

I

n the West, Christmas is the day when loss — of love and lovers, relatives and friends — seems more acute than at any other time of the year. But in the East, and in some homes in the West, Boxing Day has trumped Christmas Day for the past two years as a day of grieving.

This Boxing Day marks the second anniversary of the 2004 tsunami that pummelled Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The gargantuan tidal wave resulted from an earthquake in the Indian Ocean registering between 9.1 and 9.3 on the Richter scale.

Almost a 10 — but not the kind women dreamed of being after Bo Derek plaited her hair, unplaited her clothes and went to the beach in the 1979 movie with a numeral for a name.

Karen LeMessurier was five years old in ’79, too young to watch blonde, blue-eyed Derek make classical movie aficionados out of heavy metal dudes the world over when 10’s less than inspiring roll in the hay made cinematic history thanks to Ravel’s Boléro.

But the blonde, blue-eyed St. John’s woman was on the beaches of Thailand shortly after Asia’s 9+, during which 300,000 people died or disappeared.

For the past year and a half, LeMessurier has been helping the Thai people rebuild their homes and their lives in the aftermath of what former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called an “unprecedented global catastrophe.”

In the photographs of Thailand she’s brought with her, LeMessurier looks like a composite of the descriptions of foreign women posted on a Thai Internet site shortly after the disaster: “golden long hair … silver earrings … necklace … bracelet on right wrist … blue shorts.”

But the women on that site were dead tourists waiting to be identified. LeMessurier is sitting on the other side of my dining room table, very much alive and somewhat willing (“I’m shy”) to talk about her recent work for the Tsunami Volunteer Center, a Thai-based non-governmental organization.

LeMessurier is 32, although she looks younger — and sometimes older, depending on the questions I ask. “What was your most poignant experience in Thailand?” elicits a sigh. There were so many, she tells me. The one she chooses illustrates her great respect for the spirit of the Thai people.

LeMessurier was working inland, helping the residents of several villages dig out after a mudslide — “rivers of mud and trees and rocks … three days, three nights, it rained, and the hills let go” — when an elderly Thai woman stopped to speak with her.

LeMessurier had just returned to the country and her Thai was a bit rusty, but the woman wanted to talk. (“I’m an ear, I’m a good listener,” LeMessurier says, broadening her Townie accent and laughing.)

What the woman, who had lost her entire family to the sea except for a grandson, wanted to express was “how delighted she was that her young grandson had been really crooked that day, and that he didn’t want to go to the beach … he threw a fit, he wasn’t going, and that was it.” So his grandmother had to stay home with him, LeMessurier says — her husky voice with its

Karen LeMessurier at work in Thailand.

ragged cadences the perfect vehicle for this tale — and the old woman and the young boy survived.

“Lost my entire family, but I’m some lucky, lucky to have him and he’s lucky to have me,” she says, paraphrasing the Thai woman who smiled while tears rolled down her cheeks.

“They don’t grieve the same way we do. In Thai culture, extreme emotions are not demonstrated.

Everything is jai yen yen, ‘cool your heart.’ But it’s a very open culture.

People talk about stuff. Even the children.

“Thais laugh in the face of adversity.” Literally, it seems, which took LeMessurier a bit of getting used to. “We’d be talking about nature … and the kids would be like ‘Tsunami, ha ha ha! — everybody die!’” (Sounds like a bunch of potential Andy Joneses to me.)

LeMessurier, who has a degree in cultural anthropology, first went to Thailand on holiday.

She liked it so much she went back to teach in a

private school in Ayutthaya, a city the size of St. John’s. Once the capital of Thailand, it attracted her because of its age and its temples. “If you want to make the big bucks, you go to Japan or Korea,” she says. “I was there to see what Thailand was all about.”

And what was it about? LeMessurier spins me a big grin across the table. “I love it; it’s my second See “Almost a 10,” page 19

LIVYERS

‘An unstoppable force’ Legendary Irish singer doesn’t let anything slow him down — not age, lung cancer, or cultural ‘suppression’

By Maura Hanrahan For the Independent

A

t 74, Tommy Makem’s idea of retiring is going to bed each night — only to rise the next day to sing, write songs and record.

Makem has stage-four lung cancer now, but even that has not slowed him down.

He plays the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre Dec. 8 with Evans &

Doherty as he starts his Eastern Canadian tour.

“I seem to be fine,” he tells The Independent from his home in Dover, New Hampshire. “I’ve not been sick and I’ve had no pain. I’m open to all kinds of treatments, alternative and medical — God helps those who help themselves, after all.”

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem became the world’s most famous Irishmen when they appeared

on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1961. That same year, the Newport Folk Festival chose Makem and Joan Baez as the two most promising newcomers on the American folk scene.

Makem played with the Clancys — Paddy, Tom, and Liam — until 1969 when he embarked on a solo career.

During the ’60s folk renaissance, he shared the stage with Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. He later reunited with Liam Clancy for 13 years. Since then

the man known as “the Bard of Armagh” (after his home county) has sold millions of records and received many accolades, including an Irish postage stamp depicting him and the Clancys, issued last month.

Makem first came to Newfoundland with the Clancy Brothers in the early 1960s. With thousands of die-hard fans here, the island has always been prominent on his touring schedule.

Makem figures he’s been here 30

times.

These days, one of Makem’s preoccupations is the state of traditional music in Ireland. “Through neglect and slight suppression, the Irish have done to themselves what the English government couldn’t do in hundreds of years,” he says. “They deny and neglect Irish music and culture. If you mention it, they say ‘We’re European.’

See “Famous Irishmen,” page 20

DECEMBER 8, 2006

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

GALLERYPROFILE

A

fter decades of photographing the places and scenes nearest and dearest to his heart, this fall Aiden Mahoney finally decided to start marketing his images to the public.

The move has taken him out of the somewhat isolated world of a solo hobbyist and into a community he’s finding surprisingly welcoming.

“There’s an art association here in Stephenville, and I always wondered if it would be something for me, because there’s no photographers in it,” he says. “But since I’ve set up at some of Photographer the arts and craft centres, I’ve met some of the artists, and I got an invitation to join.

“I think I might do that.”

Mahoney, a native of Harbour Breton, has had a lifelong fascination with photography. He started using his father’s Brownie camera as a boy. “I used to love taking pictures with that,” he says. “They weren’t very good, but I enjoyed doing it.”

He never really stopped, through his move to Stephenville and 25 years as an employee of the lottery corporation.

“I had a full-time job, so I didn’t get into the commercial part of it,” Mahoney says. “There were already people here doing weddings and stuff like that — I was just doing it for pleasure.”

But since his retirement three years ago, Mahoney has had time to take more photos, start selling his work to magazines, enter competitions, and move his second career forward. He’s also been able to do more backcountry hiking and exploring — his other favourite pastime.

Mahoney’s love of Newfoundland and the outdoors is obvious in his work. On display in his on-line gallery, amidst the photographs of outport houses and boats on picturesque beaches, are many shots taken away from civilization — on hikes, kayak trips, snowshoe expeditions.

A photograph of a lone kayaker on a quiet stream is called My kind of day, a picture of a hiker sitting on a rise overlooking barrens is titled A sense of place. There are a number of shots focusing on the detail and colour of rural Newfoundland, from old cooking pots to fishermen’s gloves to abandoned trucks to freshly-painted doorways — in all, it’s a celebration of lives lived by the sea.

When Mahoney sets out, camera in hand, he says he’s “looking for the uniqueness of Newfoundland,” as a means to both elevate and preserve the province of today.

“I try to capture this outport life,” he says. “It’s disappearing, isn’t it? Up here it is. Lots of people have gone to the mainland and won’t be back for 20 or 25 years.”

Mahoney laughs and mentions one of his favourite shots, of a clothesline, hung with a line of handmade wool socks.

“My wife and I do a lot of travelling in the summertime,” Mahoney says. “We were up on the Northern Peninsula and, one Sunday morning, we went into Daniel’s Harbour, parked the car, and started walking around the community.

“And I spotted (the socks) right away, in an old lady’s garden … she’s a well-known knitter in the area, and she’s been knitting for Nonia now, 50 years. Stuff like that, you wouldn’t see in other places.”

Mahoney has a shot in the current issue of Our Canada magazine, and has an extensive on-line gallery at http://betterphoto.com?aiden — Stephanie Porter

AIDEN MAHONEY

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19

The arm bone’s connected to the ...

SNOW DAY

A

Award-winning author Joan Clark celebrates the release of Snow, her latest book for children, on Dec. 9 at Granny Bates Children’s Books, 2 Bates Hill, St. John’s. Clark will read from the book and sign copies from 2-4 p.m.

Refreshments and Christmas cheer will be served.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Almost a 10 From page 17

hope

big grin across the table. “I love it; it’s my second home.”

During her initial stay in Thailand, from 2000 to 2002, she lived with a Thai family, becoming fluent in the language. “I was totally incorporated into the family,” she says. “I had to do everything the family would.”

That included attendance at family prayers, a Buddhist version of the nightly rosary session familiar to most local Roman Catholics.

(LeMessurier wears a string bracelet on her left wrist, tied by Thai monks, which she never removes.)

LeMessurier was back in St. John’s, learning Japanese in preparation for a visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, when news of the tsunami broke.

She went to Thailand in the spring of 2005, after saving enough money to get there and support herself. Luckily, it’s a cheap country to live in, she says. “My rent was $150 a month — food less than that — cheap cheap cheap. It’s a good place: I highly recommend it.”

Her last residence was in the middle of a rubber plantation — beautiful, “lots of foliage, lots of critters” (including “a big hairy spider” she shared a bathroom with).

“It was really sad, it was really hard when I first got there,” LeMessurier says, “but it was so beautiful and wonderful and amazing when I left.

Beautiful things come out of tragedy. It’s awful that the tragedy has to happen first. But it really renews your faith in humanity. To see what people can rise above.”

LeMessurier lived and worked in Khao Lak, the hardest hit area of Thailand.

“There were 8,000 to 10,000 people lost on that coast,” she says. “When I got there most of the body clean-up had been done. Village reconstruction had started.” But it was still hard going.

“You’d spend the whole day cleaning a beach … and everybody would have a really good feeling, and then they’d find another body or there’d be another funeral or they’d identify someone.

Plus we were still having tsunami warnings, having to pile into trucks and boot it up the hills, and pick up as many people as we could along the way.”

Because of her ability to speak the language, LeMessurier was immediately co-opted as a teacher. “Bare bones” English education for the children, she says. About a third of her students were directly affected by the catastrophe.

Besides teaching, LeMessurier helped build houses and boats. She describes Thaikea to me, a furniture-making enterprise whose name and logo are based on those of the Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea. It began, she says, with the wood left over from makeshift coffins. “Now they’ve got

furniture makers helping them, donating their time … training the Thais so that they can continue it.”

LeMessurier isn’t impressed by the way some Western journalists handled the situation in Thailand. There were a lot of media around, she says, “looking for the sad.” Once, reporters entered her classroom when she was in the middle of a lesson.

“They were pretty … what’s the word?

Ignorant. ‘So did anybody in your family die in the tsunami?’ Stuff like that — to little kids!”

Last Boxing Day, LeMessurier was on the beach at Khao Lak for the one-year memorial of the tsunami. “The celebration was really amazing and beautiful and cathartic … thousands of people with candles and thousands of paper lanterns.”

She catches my look: a celebration? “That’s the Thai in me,” she explains.

When I ask about her plans for the future, she says, “I’m going to stay home for a while, because I’m tired … and broke (laughs). There should be a slogan: Volunteering Doesn’t Pay — But It Does.”

After some down time, LeMessurier is planning to do Thai massage, which she learned at the temple in Bangkok where it originated. “It’s based on 10 (energy) lines in the body — I’ve always been intrigued by it.”

Before she leaves, LeMessurier gives me a key ring with a piece of bright woven fabric attached, made by tsunami survivors. It’s the custom in Thailand, she says, to bring a gift when you visit.

But I know she brought it because she’s what the Thai’s call jai dii — a person with a good heart.

If you’re interested in volunteering in Thailand, visit www.tsumanivolunteer.net.

For every question there is an answer.

We’re here.

Hope through education, support and solutions.

1.800. 321.1433

www.arthritis.ca

bout a month ago, St John’s writer Paul Bowdring (Night Visions) wrote a very NOREEN public letter to Tourism, Culture, and Recreation Minister Tom Hedderson in which he GOLFMAN announced why he was stepping down as co-vice Standing Room Only chair of the Newfoundland Labrador Arts Council (NLAC). Bowdring’s claim that the council was suffering from political interference or indifference reached the Globe and Mail, and engineering. for about a week anyone who cared about these Ideally, arm’s length bodies like the NLAC things was wondering what it all meant. serve to avoid undue concentration of power by Since then, the issue has pretty much gone any one department or ministry, offering a kind underground, with only the odd blogger musing of check and balance system of decision-making. about why this is so. A few have been asking why That all said, a constant reminder of that armthe arts community hasn’t rallied around to-body attachment is the presence of the governBowdring and denounced both the government ment official on such boards as the NLAC and and the NLAC, but it is safe to say that there has the Newfoundland Labrador Film Development been more controversy around Britney Spears’ Corporation. That official, almost always the inability to find her underwear assistant deputy minister, has than about this resignation. no voting power, has no This isn’t so surprising. When authority on the board beyond The surprising fact the chair of the arts council, the that of the office she or he widely respected writer and holds, to influence discussion is that things are filmmaker John Doyle, issues a and policy. The government statement saying he was “disapdoes, however, actually working quite representative pointed and somewhat puzzled” have the voice to guide and

by Bowdring’s complaints of well, with government offer advice, and in the best interference or indifference, scenarios, can suggest stratefinding the charges “unfoundclearly having heard gies for persuading government how the public good ed,” then you have to stop and think. from the boards that might best be served.

Arm’s length does not, It’s really hard to imagine someone like John Doyle, both they need more money therefore, mean hands free.

I sit on the board of the a champion and a proven honest to operate and fulfill Newfoundland Labrador Film broker of arts issues, speaking Development Corporation and anything but honest surprise. their mandate ... have good reason to respect And when you know that the current arts council boasts such the delicacy of the arm’s uncompromising personalities length structure. It’s easy to as actor/writer Mary Walsh and writer Carmelita see how the whole balance of power could break McGrath, then you have to stop and think even down if the government official were insensitive harder. If the likes of Doyle, Walsh, and McGrath to or, even worse, dismissive of, board concerns; aren’t defending the substance of Bowdring’s let- if the official failed to carry the board’s message forward to his or her superiors, or, even more ter, then who would?

Central to Bowdring’s complaint is that the pernicious, worked to subvert the board’s vision.

NLAC is supposed to be an arm’s length organiBut if this were the case, more than a Paul zation — that is, allowed to act autonomously, Bowdring would be quitting the boards all the independent of government influence — but gov- time. And in a province where keeping a secret is ernment actually interferes or engineers too much more difficult than giving up smoking, everyone of its direction, “eroding” the council’s ability to would not only know about the failure of governdo its work. ment but the minister in charge would be blogged This opens up the thorny question of what and open-lined into oblivion. arm’s length really means. How long is the arm, There is no evidence that this is even remotely and how firmly is it connected to the body the case. While it is true, as Bowdring says, that politic? government has been pathologically slow to fill The NLAC, like other so-called arm’s length vacancies on a number of arm’s length boards, bodies of government, exists to give counsel to and that the whole arm’s length structure is a government about how public funds ought to be potentially fraught, fragile, and even explosive disbursed. Such boards traditionally occupy one, to date it’s not broken and there’s no obvithose necessary in-between spaces where the ous need to fix it. voices of the community and those of governThe surprising fact is that things are actually ment can or should openly co-mingle. Such working quite well, with government clearly boards are, in fact, actually directly accountable having heard from the boards that they need to government on whom they depend for their more money to operate and fulfill their mandate; budgets, and so thereby accountable to the com- with the arts community having heard more good munity to whom they disperse grants and news in the last year than in all of the last decade; awards. while the relationship with government, as John It’s Democracy 101. It’s not perfect, but, as Doyle has said, has been remarkably open and Churchill famously said, it’s the best thing healthy. This is an unusual situation for arts we’ve got. Arm’s length means a distance from activists to be in, but don’t knock it if … the body, but it is still an attachment to that body.

I don’t know what finally drove such a fine In countries like Russia, arm’s length might thinker and arts activist as Paul Bowdring to quit mean something very different from what it the NLAC in such an angry, public way, but I means in the UK or Canada. Indeed, in Russia wish he had stayed out on the length of the limb the arm might even get infected with radiation from the inside, where working his muscle could poison if it gestured too much in the wrong be most effective. direction.

In the West, arm’s length speaks to an impor- Noreen Golfman is a professor of literature and tant public policy principle, a necessary detach- women’s studies at Memorial. Her column ment from the possibility of social and political returns Dec. 21.

DECEMBER 8, 2006

20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

POET’S CORNER The Boat

By Mary Dalton It was quite the rigamarole — first the report of the broken boat found high and dry in a bed of petunias, then the tale of how it had sailed down out of the heavens on a cold rainy Tuesday — out of the great galvanized bucket of the heaving sky — each of us knew what to make of it.

The mayor proposed a stern letter be written; the councillor shuffled her ordinances.

The police dogs searched it for drugs.

The priest prayed for the drowned crew.

The biologist listed the worms and the sea-lice.

The woodcarver filled out some forms for the planks.

The camera man assembled his sepia filters.

The psychologist warned of a wave of hysteria.

The evangelist read signs of the pending apocalypse.

The love-sick boy notched her name in the hull.

The real-estate agent cooked up a deal.

The historian ransacked his files for parallels.

The artist dreamt of a cottage conversion; the politician sized up the tourist potential.

The carpenter said it was a big job to fix her; the hardware men boxed up all sizes of nails.

The poet tossed off an exquisite ode;

the adman was sure he could mount a campaign.

Axe in hand, the fire chief rose to the occasion.

The pigeons were glad of a new perch.

It was quite the ballyhoo. Then, while they were arguing among themselves the boat lifted itself out of their element, into the blue — its battered planks clattering, its twisted keel and inward grin — and moved crazily on.

The Boat appears in Mary Dalton’s latest book, Red Ledger, now available at Bennington Gate, Afterwords, and the Downhomer. Reprinted with the author’s permission.

Embracing their art

Tim Conway says Dixie Chicks movie insightful and lively; The Nativity Story doesn’t fare as well

Tommy Makem

Famous Irishmen

TIM CONWAY Film Score

From page 17 Shut Up and Sing Starring The Dixie Chicks 1/2 (out of four) 93 min.

M

ore than a week before the U.S.-led invasion on Iraq, following one of the largest anti-war rallies ever organized in London, England, the Dixie Chicks kicked off their Top of the World tour to a sold out show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire theatre.

At one point, between songs, lead singer Natalie Maines threw out a few words to keep things cruising along, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” The crowd went wild, the show went on, and when all was said and done, it was a great night for all concerned.

A day or so later, in reporting on the concert, The Guardian quoted Maines’ remark, which was in turn picked up by the American media. The country was already an emotionally overcharged environment of political frenzy, and unfortunately for the Dixie Chicks, their largest fan base resided in that portion of the U.S. where the president enjoyed his strongest support. With the invasion of Iraq being the hot news item, even the entertainment media now had a hot headline story.

Shut Up & Sing follows the Dixie Chicks from that fateful moment in 2003, through the ugly repercussions, to the recording and release of their newest album. Directed by awardwinning filmmakers Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, the film offers candid access to three remarkable women at a critical juncture in their lives.

Most of the press and marketing surrounding this picture hovers around the principle of free speech, which occasionally lands the film into an argumentative quagmire amongst those who maintain the Dixie Chicks are free to say what they want, and their disenchanted fans are free to react. Likewise, that the film follows the release of the latest CD is used to argue that Shut Up & Sing is nothing more than a promotion for the album.

Fans showing support for the Dixie Chicks in Shut Up and Sing.

When the Top of the World tour began, a film crew was already following the group for a related DVD. Using some of this, along with media items, and footage they shot themselves, Kopple and Peck present a motion picture that is far more complex than “simply” anything.

Having been given what appears to be unrestricted access to the group, especially during meetings, the filmmakers take us into sessions where manager Simon Renshaw discusses how they’ll deal with the media and handle interviews. Likewise, there are no attempts to hide individual responses to bad news or the reactions to bad news, as the situation progresses.

The result is a seemingly honest delineation of the facts, and an even more valuable insight into The Dixie Chicks as individuals, as a group and as musicians. Here we find three intelligent, talented women who stick together no matter what, and by doing so, can endure almost anything.

Moreover, by embracing their art form, they have a more effective means of

dealing with the experience when they stop talking, and sing about it.

The Nativity Story Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Ciaran Hinds (out of four) 101 min.

The story of Mary and Joseph, their trek to Bethlehem, and the birth of Jesus Christ is probably the most popular choice for dramatic performances among Christian school children. A couple of years after Mr. Gibson’s Good Friday movie went over so well, it is no surprise to find a big screen version of the Nativity story, featuring authentic looking sets and real animals.

Aside from a bit of dramatic licence applied to the three wise men, The Nativity Story plays out much the same as one would have imagined it while reading the New Testament account.

It’s a little more detailed than elementary school productions, and certainly more elaborate visually, but no more insightful, and no more entertaining.

Despite the casting of Oscar-nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider), Mary is given little to do beyond the obvious important task, and with the exception of a moment or two of grief, Joseph leads the donkey.

The sets, locations, costumes, and other aspects that contribute to the visual sense of the film are meticulously designed, arranged, and photographed, but the picture’s near static pace leaves us with the impression that if anyone moved too quickly, some of what we see might topple over.

Familiarity with the story is not on one’s side here. If, however, you’re in need of suitable entertainment for youngsters who need to be reminded that this is more than a shopping season, you’re in luck. While there is nothing exceptional about the film, The Nativity Story does tell it like it is, which is exactly what some of us are looking for.

Tim Conway operates Capital Video in Rawlins Cross, St. John’s. His column returns Dec. 21.

They’ll tell you it’s all past and gone — the political songs — but it’s not all past and gone. You can’t forget about it.”

According to Makem, the Celtic Tiger may be working, but it isn’t working for everyone, and moneymaking has become a god in itself.

What’s lost, he feels, is the cultural essence of his country.

In contrast, he says, “in Newfoundland they have it right because they know where their treasures are.”

Irish-born local musician Fergus O’Byrne, who starred with Makem on a syndicated TV show out of Hamilton in the 1970s, understands his concerns.

“Our approach in Newfoundland is more holistic, the songs and tunes go together,” O’Byrne says. “The way it developed here, in houses and kitchens, it was all-encompassing. In that setting, there was no idea of separating the music from the storytellers and the dancers. When people gather here, it all happens.”

Tommy Makem got his start in his mother’s kitchen in Keady, county Armagh, Ireland.

Sarah Makem was a linen mill worker who knew over 500 songs.

Under Sarah’s influence, her youngest son learned to play the pipes, the whistle, the banjo, the drums, the piccolo, and the guitar.

Makem finds his artistic inspiration in what he calls ‘the spirituality of Ireland.’

“My mother sang incessantly, from the moment she got up in the morning until she went to bed at night, but she wasn’t consciously passing on the traditional songs,” Makem says.

“She wouldn’t know a folksong if she tripped over it. Everyone in the linen mills sang. Whenever someone brought a song into the mill, it was a gift. I think they were singing in selfdefence because of the noise of the machines. They’d sing back to the noise to keep from going deaf.”

Makem’s own influence on the music world has been extensive.

O’Byrne says the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were the first musicians to realize the potential appeal of traditional music and they were highly successful in commercializing it. Bob Dylan adapted and sang songs he learned from Makem and the Clancys.

Here in Newfoundland, many musicians had a similar sense of awe for Makem.

“The music he was singing was the same type so many of us were singing,” O’Byrne says. “The types of songs he wrote were like ours — about the sea, and farming and fishing and so on. He’s had an influence wherever Celtic music is played.”

Makem finds his artistic inspiration in what he calls ‘the spirituality of Ireland.’ Three or four times a year he goes to ancient Irish sites, such as Newgrange, home of Oenghus, the Irish god of love.

“When you have the grace of an ancient melody with powerful lyrics, you have an unstoppable force,” Makem says. “And Irish culture is so powerful and so strong it cannot be destroyed.”

Something like Makem himself — despite illness and age.

“Ever upwards and onwards,” he says, his voice strong and clear over the phone line. “That’s my motto. And that’s the plan.”

Maura Hanrahan’s new book is Domino: The Eskimo Coast Disaster. www.maurahanrahan.com

INDEPENDENTSTYLE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006 — PAGE 21

By Mandy Cook The Independent

T

he telltale signs of Christmas are upon us.

Eager early birds strung up a few strands of outdoor tree lights or set plug-in candelabras on their window ledges in the last days of November.

But now that Santa’s arrival is barely two weeks away, wreaths, Yule logs, silver tinsel, Christmas place mats, chocolate-filled advent calendars and miniaturized Dickens villages have proliferated wildly in homes to signal the start of the festive season.

While some of us will take great delight in the yearly ritual of unearthing Christmas treasures buried in the attic, here’s a sampling of what’s available in stores if you need a little extra somethingsomething to spruce up your house this year.

At the packed-to-the-rafters Tickle Trunk, 318 Water St., St. John’s, an expansive collection of homegrown creations is available to adorn the crafty tree. You can say “Merry Christmas from our neck of the woods” with a simple, hand painted wooden moose decoration, or let Nan know how special she is with a glittery angel just for her. Both are by craftspeople in St. John’s and Conception Bay North.

Meander up the street to Crafted Treasures, 332 Water St., and let Perry Soper show you their Christmas tree. You’ll find little wooden row houses in several different colours to hang a decidedly downtown flavour, and adorable bulbs tied with tartan ribbon and filled with snow. Both lines are by Joanne Brewer. The store also carries gorgeous hand carved wooden ornaments by John Hearn of St. John’s. You can choose from the classic rattleshaped ornaments or the hummingbird-sized wooden birdhouses.

If you’re looking for something to brighten the walls, Crafted Treasures also has stunning handmade wall plaques by Ella Simms of Grand Bank. There are several wall hangings appropriate for Christmas.

Choose from the jolly, pink-cheeked Santa, the stern, tall Father Christmas, or the quiet Nativity scene.

The plaques are pieced together like a puzzle, with each element of the figures carved from gleaming wood and fitted together to create the final picture.

The detail is fabulous — from Santa’s hand grasping his staff to the notches cut out of the wood to texturize his beard.

And if you’re the decorating type who likes to make a Christmas statement to the neighbours, larger-than-life inflatable lawn decorations are the new style. Ed Chipman at Chester Dawe, 1297 Topsail Rd., says the giant Santas and snowmen are the (literal) big-ticket item this year. Plug the blow-up ornaments into your outdoor power socket and watch your Christmas figure materialize before your eyes.

Chipman says eight-foot-tall reindeer carousels and Santa Claus riding a polar bear are a hit.

Whatever your tastes, signal the arrival of the season with twinkling lights, mistletoe, candy canes, garland … or, trump everybody and tie a ginormous hot balloon of a snowman with whirring, blowing snow onto your roof (train a couple of spotlights on it for good measure). Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, there’ll be zero chance of Santa missing your house. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

Moose tree ornament, Tickle Trunk, $7.25

Wooden Santa and reindeer, Crafted Treasures, $100

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

Available Now

DECEMBER 8, 2006

22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

Vive la France!

T

he Fairmont Newfoundland and its kitchen team are ready for the French invasion. It is time again for the Taste of France, now in its 11th year. The meal features authentic high French cuisine as only the Fairmont staff can bring to the city of St. John’s.

Master Chef Dominique Quay returns to St. John’s to lead executive chef Roary MacPherson’s seasoned staff at the Fairmont Newfoundland.

I was invited to the preview luncheon late last week, and like all Fairmont events, it was very well run.

We sat down and had our seats and were presented with an amuse-bouche — literally, an amusement for the mouth. In most dining situations, it’s supposed to be a taste, a one-bite temptation. Sometimes an amuse-bouche is something that is not like the rest of the menu, it is a jewel of the dining experience — a spontaneous chef’s creation intended to whet the appetite for the

NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path courses to come.

In this case, the amuse was a largish piece of braised cod on sweet onions.

The 2.5 oz piece of fish was perfectly white and cooked with the eye of a true poissonier. Not a single flake of the fish was overdone and the moisture of the fish was luxe and dreamy. My only comment is that it was as large as any of the other courses, which could be problematic if it is a part of a large tasting menu. However, the fish would have suffered in quality of preparation had it been smaller — therefore I also see the chef’s dilemma.

The next course we were served was a duck foie gras duo: in Beaumes-de-

Venise jelly and in Merlot wine. This very luxurious duo was matched with a fig and nut quenelle. The classical pairing of foie and figs is apparent in this preparation, a subtle balance of the sweet and heavenly fatty.

I wrote about James Bond a couple of weeks ago. He is a connoisseur of foods, and caviar with all the accompaniments is his favourite decadent food.

He once said “it is never a problem having enough caviar. The problem is getting enough toast.” I understand. Our foie gras terrines were served with a solitary piece of toast. I will have to say that I had to dip into the table’s breadbasket to adequately finish the beautiful foie gras. So, please, could we have some more toast?

We were served a tiny duo of fresh fruit sorbets to cleanse the palate before we were introduced to the next courses.

Next came the citrus-crusted wild salmon with zucchini squash and

orange caramel. Again, this was a wellexecuted course, with very good flavour balance. The caramel sauce was light and unobtrusive, which helped highlight the wonderful richness of the salmon.

Next came the quasi veal nuggets, parmentier turnover with truffle flakes.

Lots of subtle flavours here. The veal “nuggets” were a different presentation.

Carmelization on the outside of the meat was not consistent and rather spotty, however the veal was consistent in its dryness — the only real cooking mistake of the afternoon.

Veal is white and very tender and susceptible to dryness if not tended to until the exact moment before service. I did like the flavours and the veal-enriched sauce was silken and divine.

The final course was a dessert plate with a hot Grand Marnier and lime soufflé and a deconstructed millefeuille with a Bourbon vanilla pod

caramel.

The desserts were exceptional. The soufflés were served quickly, as they are supposed to be in order to preserve their airiness and their height. Inside it was a cloudlike mass and heavenly aromatic with the scent of lime. The mille-feuille was a very rich affair with the bourbon pastry cream taking centre stage and the cracker-sized pastry sheets adding the correct amount of crispness that only pastry gives.

The entire menu is filled with wonderful tasting and richly crafted French foods.

Taste of France runs Dec. 1-10 at the Fairmont Newfoundland. For those of you seeking an exceptional experience of authentic French food, Taste of France will be more than expected.

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

DETAILS

Photos by Paul Daly/The Independent

Sweets for your skin Y

ou might think you’re looking in the window of a gourmet bakery, with brilliantly coloured and decorated cakes of all shapes and sizes on display.

But Tval is the shop to visit if you’re looking to indulge other senses: handmade, all-natural soaps, balms, creams, bath treats and body butters are luxuries for the skin and soul.

Their product line also includes skincare cleansers, toners, serums and moisturizers, and a full range of make-up.

All are made right on the store premises, 134 Water St. (enter from Prescott Street), in downtown St. John’s.

Tval was started in 2003 by Anna Hellqvist and her husband, Jason Bailey. Their product line is constantly evolving and their clientele growing steadily.

Currently, Hellqvist says, wholesale business is starting to pick up, and almost half their business is mail order, mostly from Sweden.

The store is currently highlighting their Christmas collection 2006 — body butter, aroma mist, bath soak

and soap in Sugared Cranberry and Gingerbread scents. (The gingerbread is a perennial favourite, says Hellqvist — customers begin asking for it in July).

Pictured are two of Tval's signature soaps, in partridgeberries and cinnamon (top) and the beloved gingerbread (bottom). Nearby scents included blueberry biscotti, pumpkin lavender and summer thyme lemon.

All soaps are $4 per 100 grams and can be sliced any way you like.

TASTE Cake makes for party perfection

By Susan Sampson Torstar wire service

S

earching for the perfect coconut cake has been one of my culinary adventures of 2006. I tested several and found this just in time for party season.

It tastes and looks lovely. So indulge before those New Year’s resolutions kick in.

THREE COCONUT CAKE Adapted from a Bonnie Gordon recipe in the Toronto Taste 2005 cookbook. I used ultra-thick, premium coconut milk.

CAKE • 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut • 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder • 1/2 tsp salt • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar • 2 large eggs • 1 egg white • 1 1/4 cups coconut milk • 1 tsp vanilla extract

BUTTERCREAM • 3 egg whites • 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar • 1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature • 3 tbsp coconut rum • 1 tsp vanilla extract For cake, butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

Place coconut on baking sheet. Toast in preheated 400 F oven until golden, two to three minutes.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In bowl of electric stand mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed five minutes, until light and creamy. Add eggs and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in third of flour mixture. Blend in half of coconut milk. Blend in half of flour mixture.

Blend in remaining coconut milk.

Blend in remaining flour mixture.

Scrape pan. Add vanilla and half the coconut. Beat just until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in preheated 350 F oven 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool on rack 15 minutes. Remove from pans.

Cool completely on rack.

For buttercream, fill medium pan with a couple of inches of water and bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium.

Put egg whites and sugar in heatproof bowl of electric stand mixer. Set bowl over simmering water, making sure bowl doesn’t touch water. Whisk constantly 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves, whites are hot and mixture looks satiny.

Transfer bowl to electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat 10 minutes, first on low speed, then gradually increasing to high speed, or until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture has cooled.

In medium bowl, whisk butter until fluffy. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in butter until smooth. Blend in rum and vanilla. Blend in half the remaining coconut.

Place 1 cake layer on plate, rounded side down. Spread with buttercream.

Place second cake layer on top. Spread remaining buttercream over top and sides of both layers. (You may have some left over.) Sprinkle remaining coconut over top.

Makes 12 servings.

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23

An open Christmas letter

Dear (insert your name here), The holidays are just around the corner and I’m writing to wish you and your family (if you don’t have a family, just stop at “you”) the best for the season and the New Year to come. I hope 2006 was good to you and yours. (If you faced any tragedy I know about, please insert condolences here. If you had a monumental success or a new addition to your family, please add your own version of what I might say at this point to let you know I care.)

We had a great year here in Harbour Mille. Dad and I are still partners in the shop, though he punches in more time that I do. When I work I’m lucky if I remember how to cut the cheese, but dad is an expert. His health has improved, overall. He feels sick when he wants time off, and I usually concede and give him a few hours to nap or see a doctor.

Mom and Dad got a new dog. A Shi Tzu.This dog has created quite a stir. They spent more on P.J. than they did on my wedding and education combined, and the beast isn’t even purebred. A drawn-out battle resulted in them getting half their money back, which is a good thing because I guarantee the cost of braces for this mutt will cost me my inheritance. He has queer looking teeth, but they do work — he has eaten two pairs of my sneakers and bitten my arse on more than one occasion.

Mom is doing great. She loves to travel and has been around a bit this year. Mom, Kim, Reneta, Kelly and I took off for a week in Nashville in June. No kids, no spouses, just honky tonks, touring, wine and laughter. I got hit by a car while there, but at least Kim and I did get away from those muggers. I wasn’t hurt — physically, anyway.

A

movie poster with a food theme enhances the kitchen décor. You can buy anything from the kitschy Attack of the Killer Tomatoes to the charming and romantic Chocolat. I was taken with this piggy from Delicatessen — although I have never seen the film, a French dark comedy that apparently involves cannibalism.

Order online at movieposter.com. The company boasts of having “the world’s largest collection of original and vintage movie posters.” (Originals are pricier than reprints.) It also carries reproductions of fine art and old ads. Example: the foodies on your list may enjoy Magritte’s The Son of Man (the fellow with the bowler hat and a green apple covering his face).

— Torstar wire service

PAM PARDY GHENT

Seven-day talk This year’s plan is for “the girls” to visit Bob Barker and “come on down,” though the jury is still out on if we can “come on up” with the cash.

Mom spent some time with Roo and visited her kids. Kelly was down for a week and we met her new man. We tried to have something bad to say about him, but the only thing we could come up with is that he is frugal with money. Kelly’s exhusband was generous and would buy us sisters rounds. We shall miss her ex, but Tim, welcome to the family. You seem like a great guy and Kelly has never been happier.

Kim and family are great. Tracy still does all the shopping. If you see him at Wal-Mart or Dominion, say hello. Reneta’s husband, Mr. Elixir, is doing well. We aren’t sure what concoction he is taking at the moment, but he is even you-know-what while doing dishes, so keep “up” the good work Don. Mike has started a new job, has a girlfriend we all like, and has lost weight, though I’m sure you’ll still recognize him.

From what I hear, the Ghent side of our clan is fine. My in-laws are still the out-laws, but I can’t elaborate because my darling husband will string me up with the Christmas lights. (Love you guys, save me some turkey.)

Speaking of my beloved, Blair and I had an interesting year. Yes, we were separated, and I don’t just mean because he was working in Alberta. We thought we were a done deal after 16 years of marriage, but we found something worth saving (and not just money for lawyers) and are actually like a couple of newlyweds. Must be something in the water and I’m liking it. He has changed, I have changed, and we like the new us.

Wish us a happily ever after.

Brody is doing great. He earned his purple belt in karate. He has dabbled in piano and guitar lessons and loves to sing. He is doing well in school, adores life in outport Newfoundland, and is thrilled his dad is home from Alberta for Christmas.

I’m well, thanks for asking. I’m busy with the store, writing and school. I’m the provincial council representative and one of the regional reps on the rural secretariat and do my part for the community whenever I can.

I taught the confirmation class and proudly saw my group of seven take their first communion. I started doing promotional work for Dynamic Air Shelters, a Calgary-based company, and am thrilled to be involved with the corporate world again. I did some travelling around the island, I met some amazing new friends (insert your name here if it applies), and I have enjoyed absolutely every day since returning home.

I hope this letter finds things well with you in (insert place name here) and please know I am honoured to consider you a friend (or relative, or co-worker, or whatever you happen to be) this Christmas season.

All the best, Pam, Blair, Brody and Jack (the dog) P.S. If you are mailing a card to someone I know (or might know) who happens to live outside Newfoundland, please cut this out once you are finished reading and mail it to them, with love, from me. It will save me the hassle, and the stamp.

God bless, and Merry Christmas.

hope

I

t’s Christmas card time. I got that funny feeling in my stomach when I received the first one Nov. 19. What are they, sick? Trying to make me feel bad?

I know there is still time, and I should be prepared, but these past few years I just haven’t gotten around to sending many out. Am I busy?

Sure, but no more than most I know, and they all manage to get their cards out.

When I lived in Ontario my job included many “critical” teleconferences. If the call was long and boring, I would break the Christmas card box out of my drawer and work my way down the list.

I always sent my cards out early, everyone got a personal greeting, and I was never rushed.

My life has changed since returning to Newfoundland. Whenever I am on the phone now I am either writing notes, folding laundry, or cooking supper. (Thank God for cordless phones.)

Two years ago I began a nasty practice. I sent cards out only as I received them. One in, one out. The bad thing is that there are others out there who do the same, and because I didn’t send one, I didn’t get one back. There are also those (you know who you are) who mail their greetings just in time, so you get them the last mail day before the holidays. They received our card back in January.

I tried to convince my mother to add “and the Ghents,” to the end of her card salutations, but she scowled and gave me the look.

So, this year I will be creative. If you live in the province, and you know me, keep reading because this is your Christmas card. If you don’t know me, you can still keep reading and be thankful I’m not on your card list. If this doesn’t shame you into finishing your own cards and getting them mailed, nothing will.

Gift-givers get the picture

For every question there is an answer.

We’re here.

Hope through education, support and solutions.

1.800.321.1433

www.arthritis.ca

Hallelujah!

A comfortable seat for Handel’s Messiah.

This year, in honour of the 20th Anniversary of the Philharmonic Choir, we are offering you this Limited Edition Concert Cushion for only $10!

So join conductor Marc David, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Choir, and our soloists—in comfort—for this glorious music with Penni Clarke soprano, David Pomeroy tenor, David Malis baritone, and Wendy Hatala Foley mezzo-soprano.

Reserve Your Cushion Today! Call the NSO Office at 722-4441, Gower St. Church at 753-7286, or the Festival 500 Office at 738-6013.

Tickets: $26/22; $21/18; $14/12 Available at: NSO Office 722-4441; O’Brien’s Music, 278 Water St. 753-8135; Bennington Gate, Churchill Sq. 576-6600; Belbin’s Grocery, Quidi Vidi Rd. 576-7640; Jungle Jims, Torbay Rd. 722-0261 and Topsail Rd. 745-6060; Provincial Music, Campbell Ave. 579-2641; The Guv’nor, Elizabeth Ave. 726-0092.

Not available at the door.

Friday & Saturday, December 15 & 16, 2006 Basilica of St. John the Baptist—8pm

Peter Gardner General & Artistic Director Principal Conductor Marc David

DECEMBER 8, 2006

24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

EVENTS DECEMBER 8 • Spirit of Newfoundland presents Humbug by Barry Galloway and Peter Halley, a musical comedy based on the classic Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. Reserve tickets for dinner and show 579-3023.

• Bob MacDonald matinee at The Republic, Duckworth Street, St. John’s, 6-10 p.m.

• Christmas with Tommy Makem and Evans and Doherty, St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.

DECEMBER 9 • Meet Joan Clark and celebrate Snow, her latest book for children, 2-4 p.m, Granny Bates Children’s Books, 2 Bates Hill, St. John’s.

• An Old Fashioned Christmas at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.

• Christine Koch open studio and art sale, 177 Water St., St. John’s, 11 a.m.-

5:30 p.m. Continues Dec. 10.

• Heavenly Creatures Santa Paws celebration. Refreshements, prizes, Christmas cake for dogs, and pet portraits with the jolly man himself, 1-4 p.m., Royal Canadian Legion, Blackmarsh Road, St. John’s.

• Kids Christmas camp for ages 5-8. All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth — this camp is all about candy, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., MUN campus, 737-7979 or see www.mun.ca/lifelonglearning.

DECEMBER 10 • Annual Memorial alumni children Christmas viewing of the Polar Express, Avalon Mall, Studio 12, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 737-4354 for tickets.

• Newfound/Swedish Jazz: local pianist James Hurley collaborates with Swedish jazz pianist Johan Alex. Guests Patrick Boyle and Katie Hopkins, 8:3010 p.m., D. F. Cook Recital Hall, Memorial University’s school of music.

DECEMBER 11 • Session night at Bitters pub (Feild Hall, MUN Campus) with Fergus Brown-O’Byrne and special guests, 7:30-10 p.m.

DECEMBER 13 • Weekly afternoon concert by David Drinkell, Cathedral Organist, 1:15-1:45 p.m., Anglican Cathedral, St. John’s.

• Ron Hynes at folk night at the Ship Pub, St. John’s, 9 p.m.

• Wessex Society lecture by author and archivist Bert Riggs, on Virtual Inuit and Moraviansm 8-10 p.m., Hampton Hall, Marine Institute.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS • The Independent Artists Cooperative presents the Third Annual Rock Can Roll Independent Music and Video Festival Jan. 26-28, 2007 in St. John’s.

The cooperative is calling for submissions of short films and videos from bands, and work from filmmakers and new media artists with rock-related subject matter, themes or soundtrack. Entry fee is $10, deadline is Jan. 15. Send submissions, preferably in DVD or mini DV format (VHS is also acceptable) to: Rock Can Roll Records, P.O. Box 2383, Station C, St. John’s, NL, A1C 6E7. Contact 754-6662 or indieartscoop@gmail.com.

DECEMBER 14 • Rabbittown

the

IN THE GALLERIES • The League of Artists of Western

Newfoundland (LAWN) presents The HeART of Giving Christmas exhibition at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre gallery, until Dec. 16.

• Comfort and Joy at the Devon House Craft Centre, Duckworth Street, St. John’s.

• Annual Christmas show at the Leyton Gallery of Fine Art, Baird’s Cove, St. John’s, 722-7177.

• Thaddeus Holownia: The Terra Nova Suite, The Rooms, until Jan. 7.

• Melt, an interactive video installation

by Toronto-based Michael Alstad, at Eastern Edge Gallery, Harbour Drive, St. John’s • The Basilica Museum Christmas exhibit Away In A Manger, until Dec. 19 • Kaleidoscope, annual group Christmas exhibition opens at Red Ochre Gallery, 96 Duckworth St. St. John’s.

your thing, you may have to use some old-fashioned sleuthing skills to find the object of desire.

“My wife Victoria is very perceptive,” explains Kuwabara. “She knows what I like by watching me when we’re out. She bought me this beautiful Moleskine that I use to sketch in. It’s quality and it’s useful.”

Whatever shopping strategy you adopt, avoid trying too hard.

“You should try to avoid buying obscure things of which you have no understanding or appreciation but which appear impressive. This can really backfire,” advises Lush. “I would also not buy someone a book in a very specialized subject because they would either have it or it would be the wrong thing.”

She should know. Lush, who as a composer with a master’s degree in Chinese from Oxford and is no slouch in the brains department herself, has tried in vain to buy her math professor father books. “He has read thousands of books on every subject, subscribes to every journal and rushes to the bookstore the minute anything appears that he wants to read. I tend to buy him non-intellectual

presents like wine or picture frames now because I can’t keep up with him.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. “Could it be that people don’t think those they consider ‘smart’ will enjoy a Cuisinart or a fuzzy toque?” questions Jennifer Lambert, an editor at McClelland and Stewart. For a girlie-girl like Lambert, her people can’t go wrong with soap, olive oil or jewellery. “I like funky necklaces and bracelets; I love stationery and journals. I love scarves — wool or cotton — and I wear them pretty much year round,” she says.

“Intellectuals will always appreciate very good reference books to dip into; try something slightly unusual like an encyclopaedia of classical literature, a French Larousse encyclopaedia,” says Lush.

“Buying a very nice antique (or lovely new) edition of a classic book is a good idea because even if they already have it, they can enjoy the nicer edition from an aesthetic point of view.”

“The best gifts are those that involve doing something together as opposed to giving an actual item,” Winter says. “I have given the gift of tickets to a play or a group dinner at a restaurant. These gifts

go over well, as they extend the holiday celebrations.”

If you’re not sure about your gift selection, aim for a mix of what you perceive to be the “smart” item and something more practical.

“One of the very best Christmas presents ever was an unexpected one from my husband,” gushes Winter. “One Christmas he put together a ‘year in review’ album for me with pictures of all of our adventures from that year.”

“Probably the most romantic was in our first year together; he bought me a cello,” says Lush. “The most exciting gift was when, after we had been studying Egyptology together, he bought me a genuine Egyptian antique ushabti statue that was 2,500 years old.”

As with anyone else you are buying for, give the intellectual on your list what he or she really wants: something that shows you are listening to them and really know them.

“The misconception with buying for smart people is that you need to pander to their minds in a literal way,” says Dafoe.

“Tickle them with design or possibility instead.”

DECEMBER 12 • The Centre Chorale, Gander Academy’s Choir 56 and the Jazz Trio, Gander Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.

Improv

at

Rabbittown Theatre, St. John’s, featuring Aiden Flynn and Tim Ronan, 7:30 p.m., 739-8220.

Presents of mind Ever been stumped by the brainy type on your Christmas list? Read on.

By Kim Izzo Torstar wire service

W

hether it’s your angst-ridden teen in the gifted program, that bookish girl or science-geek guy of your dreams, or your professorial parent, sometimes the intellectuals we know and love make us feel, well, intimidated when trying to find the perfect gift.

After all, they’re intelligent, well read, educated and perhaps most scary of all, opinionated.

“There is nothing intimidating about buying something for an intellectual person,” says Kate Lush, who is married to a company director with a PhD in pure mathematics and who is the daughter of a math professor. “By their nature, they have a natural curiosity and so will find many more things interesting than boring, uneducated people.”

However, she jokes, hardcore intellectuals are less likely to have an exciting wardrobe, “so you can always opt for the cashmere scarf, which may after all be a novelty to them.”

That may be true for some smartypants, but there is also a new breed of intellectual, the clever soul who is as well versed in design as he or she is in literature or science.

“I’m a terrible person to buy for, very picky,” admits Tim Dafoe, an IT security analyst. “I’m usually informed to a fault about what’s available and in which vari-

ations. I’m also an aesthete, so not only do I prefer quality, it preferably would also be pretty and au courant. I hate shopping for people like myself.”

Bruce Kuwabara, an architect with KPMB, whose most recent projects have included the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and the National Ballet School, also refers to himself as an aesthete and says his profession is part of what makes him a tough man to shop for.

“I’m a designer and so people think ‘what do I buy for a designer?’ The reality is, I don’t think I’m that difficult,” except, he admits, when it comes to fashion.

“Clothing would be really hard for people because I have a very specific sense of what I like. And few have attempted except for the socks and underwear crowd.”

A simple solution to gift-giving woes may be a little dull for some but is a definite winner on the stress reduction meter.

For family members, lists seem less boring, especially when you’ve known your sibling his entire life and you still get perplexed come holiday season.

That’s why Kuwabara “registers” at his favourite architect and design books store, Ballenford Books. He also tells his family that he likes 85 per cent of the wares at Toronto stores Hollace Cluny and Teatro Verde.

If going by someone’s top 10 list isn’t

DECEMBER 8-14, 2006

What’s new in the automotive industry

FEATURED VEHICLE

LONG LIVE SILVERADO! The new 2007 Silverado continues to reign as the most dependable, long-lasting truck on the road. With an available 345-hp Vortec Max 6.0L V8 engine and a muscular front-end design with an aggressive powerdome hood, the new Silverado lives up to its tough-as-nails, hard-earned reputation. With interior features that include dual-zone climate control, heated front bucket seats, roomy passenger seating, available in-dash 6-disc CD changer, Bose® speaker system, On-Star® and XM Satellite Radio, this truck has a luxury feel while not relinquishing any of its power. The 2007 Chevy Silverado is available at Hickman Motors, 85 Kenmount Rd in St. John’s, as well as in their other locations in Carbonear, Gander, Burin and Clarenville. Pictures taken at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s by Paul Daly.

My indoor motorcycle A

t one point in my life I shared a to be brought in but taunting as well. The house with three other like- scene is imposing — you’re having a minded individuals. Naturally, it cup of tea, reading the paper and there’s was a fun house, the stuff of a Suzuki in the kitchen. urban legend. We did our limit I had a motorcycle in the and got it out of our systems kitchen too; I knew exactly so we could accept responsiwhat it felt like. Similar lives, bility later in life. but different. Mendelson It was a big, rambling, Mark. open-concept house with wide Motorcycles look much bigdoorways suitable for bicycle ger indoors, and I know you racing, and we fashioned a set want me to say they’re louder of spectator stands out of a too. They are, but I bet you MARK double-decker couch. I believe didn’t know they also feel 10 WOOD the proper term for our indoor times faster. hardwood oval bicycle raceHaving very little responsiWOODY’S track is a velodrome. bility and lots of time, I WHEELS restored my old rocket. The Then I bought a beautiful, old, Italian motorcycle and process involved dismantling, parked it in the house. It added a certain sanding and painting the works while the ambiance — a rolling spike against con- engine occupied a prominent place in my vention and conformity. bedroom. It was a particularly beautiful Around the same time (in Ontario), engine and I had the rare pleasure of multimedia artist Mendelson Joe offered contemplating its existence for a couple a glimpse of his life in a painting, Suzuki of years. (Hey, time flies when you’re in the Kitchen, that captured the incon- having fun.) gruent beauty of an indoor motorcycle.

Then I reassembled the motorcycle, Mittens were laid on the exhaust pipe much to the delight of the competitors, and clothes rested on the seat. Tomatoes hangers-on and ne’er-do-wells associatripened on the gas tank, with bare trees ed with the velodrome.

There’s truth to the rumour that St. under a full moon framed in the window.

A GSXR 750 sits in the kitchen, grateful John’s once boasted numerous colourful

Suzuki in the Kitchen by Mendelson Joe, reprinted with permission.

racers on the underground velodrome circuit. Even now, there’s still a lot of unorganized, unauthorized sport to be had.

You’re probably picturing gentlemen with droopy mustaches, posing next to droopy-handled bikes. It was a lot like that. Late at night in the middle of a snowstorm, fireplace roaring, doubledecker couch full of bleacher-creatures and a couple of guys tearing around on the house on bicycles. Betwixt races,

rolling a motorcycle to the kitchen on a beer run. We certainly got around in style.

I’ve moved a couple of times since the fun house and one thing remained the same — my old motorcycle lived indoors. I have other motorcycles but they’re wild, outdoor machines.

My wife’s OK with it. When we first met she picked through a pile of clothes in my bedroom and found my motorcy-

cle under it. “What the hell is that?” she shrieked. “That, my dear,” I replied, “is a 1967 Ducati 250. My indoor motorcycle.”

Thatset the tone: we started a family, a hard way to make friends, growing them yourself. And they grew up, in our own fun house.

One event in particular stands out … a hot afternoon with the doors wide open to allow a meagre breeze. My wife was in the kitchen talking on the phone while my son and I ran the front wheel of our mini bike into the back porch. It was only meant as a tease, nothing more. She cajoled her friend on the phone, “The boys are in the porch with the minibike,” before turning her back and going to the fridge.

I made one of those split decisions to enjoy the rest of my life and hit the throttle. We cut through the kitchen, just like the good old days, gunned it past her, down the back straight and parked it in the living room.

The machine went out again that afternoon … we already have an indoor motorcycle.

Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St.Philip’s worked tirelessly to promote indoor bicycle racing in the province.

26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT

DECEMBER 8, 2006

Gifts for the motorsport fanatics among us

L

ast Saturday night, after I watched somewhere along the way I lost that the Leafs lose (again), I did what I book. But about two years ago, I was in often do late in the evening when Autophile (a store that’s one of my there’s nothing on television: I went over haunts) and there it was (a reissue) and I to the shelves in our family room, closed pulled out my Visa and bought a copy on my eyes, reached up to the the spot. motorsport section and pulled Although it was coincidence down a book. that I happened to start reading I own a lot of books — a it again last Saturday night, it veritable library of all things was also a symbolic choice auto racing. because the end of that particOne of my favourites is ular era — 1967 — marked the What’s It Like Out There? by beginning of Formula One racLyle Kenyon Engle. It’s about ing in Canada and next year Mario Andretti’s early career will be the 40th anniversary of NORRIS and culminates when he won the first Grand Prix of Canada MCDONALD the Indianapolis 500 in 1969. (at Mosport on Aug. 27 of that I’ve had it down lots of times.

Centennial year).

Then there’s Formula One I was reminded of this Through The Lens (Four anniversary when I started Decades of Motor Sport phoning around to do research Photography) by Nigel Snowdon with a for this year’s motorsport Christmas gift forward by Jackie Stewart. Some of the column, which you are now reading. pictures are spectacular (several of (This is my now-annual column in which Jochen Rindt are breathtaking) while oth- I get to talk about some of my favourite ers are poignant. motorsport books, DVDs and other One is of a so-young Francois Cevert, memorabilia that I suggest you purchase asleep with his head in Helen Stewart’s for your loved ones. I also get to plug the lap, as they flew the Atlantic for the sea- shops and stores where you can go to buy son-ending North American races in the stuff. All, incidentally, are into mail 1973. As many of us remember, and order and if you call or e-mail them, they everybody knows, it was not long after all promise to fill your orders licketythis picture was taken that he was killed split.) during practice for the U.S. Grand Prix at Anyway, I was chatting with Jim Watkins Glen.

Roseborough, proprietor of Transport In any event, the book that wound up Books at DRB Motors Inc., 416-744in my hands last Saturday night was The 7675 or toll-free 800-665-2665, Cruel Sport: Grand Prix Racing 1959- info@transportbooks.com, and before 1967, a reissue of a classic published in you could say “Jack Brabham” (who the late 1960s by Robert Daley. won that first Canadian GP), he was Now, I once had an original copy of telling me about the celebration being this work and devoured it time and again. planned for Mosport next summer when It was the first definitive photo book the Vintage Auto Racing Association of accompanied by essays of what was then Canada holds it annual festival there. an emerging auto racing spectacle and Lots of F1 cars from that era and, you could read it again and again and hopefully, many of the participants of simply inhale the sights and smells and that first Grand Prix will be in attenromance and noise that just leaped off dance. It sounds like a swell time. every page.

But talking about Brabham, I’ve moved many times in my life and Roseborough suggests a great gift this

TRACK TALK

Christmas would be The Jack Brabham Story, a “lavishly illustrated” book he has for sale at $49.95.

Said Roseborough: “Sir Jack’s incredible career spanned 1953-1970 and he remains the only driver to win an F1 World Championship in a car bearing his name.”

Roseborough also pointed out that Bruce McLaren was in that first race in 1967 “and was a crowd favourite every

time he visited Mosport. I would also recommend McLaren Memories, by his long-time friend, Eion Young.”

Oh, Roseborough also has copies of The Cruel Sport on hand ($64.95). And he also said this: “The coming year’s big best seller in motorsports books is bound to be Rapid Response: My Inside Story as a Motor Racing Life-Saver, by Dr. Stephen Olvey (for many years medical director of the

CART series). The forword is by Alex Zanardi.

“This book details Dr. Olvey’s medical career in motor racing with insights into some famous crashes as well as the evolution of motorsport safety.”

Now, I mentioned Autophile, www.autophile.ca a few paragraphs back. I was good friends with the late owner, Richard Stafferton, because we had a lot in common: we were about the same age, loved motorsport, and we both became fathers relatively late in life. So we talked a lot about babies as well as Brabham.

Time flies. His kid, Henry, and my boy, Duncan, are both about 10 now. His wife Trish still has the business and I still buy stuff there. I was in the shop earlier this year and picked up a treasure: Grand Prix! Rare Images of the First 100 Years,

by Quentin Spurring and I highly recommend it.

From the beginnings of road racing in Europe up until the mid-1960s, the images are in black-and-white. From 1967 to the present, they are in glorious colour.

“Our prize offering this year, however, is a limited edition book that was recommended to us and we tracked down,” Stafferton said this week. “It’s called Emotion Ferrari, Europe 1947-1972 and retails for $269.95. It’s a beautiful book — captivating and surprising: it was a glorious era for Ferrrari … and this book captures it perfectly.”

Stafferton suggests a good DVD to purchase would be 50 Years of Formula 1 On-Board. I have a copy and I agree that this DVD is a gem.

Our last stop this year was Auto Grotto Automobilia, Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill St., Building 32, Suite 102, 416304-0005, www.AutoGrotto.com You want eclectic, go to this place.

How about a 1965 Corvette Owner’s Guide? You can purchase an original here for $40 or a reproduction for $20.

One’s real but one’s not and it’s tough telling the difference.

How about a 1956 Grand Prix of Monaco poster? That will set you back $250, but will look outstanding in your recreation room.

Opened a little more than a year ago by Len Curtis (with help from his son, Michael), the store offers everything from muscle car key chains to automobile cufflinks to men’s toiletries.

For instance (and I love this sort of thing), you can purchase “Heavy Duty”brand men’s body scrub for $16.75 and it comes in a container that looks like a litre of motor oil. Shaving cream ($15), bar soap ($6.50) and lip balm ($5.50) is all “Heavy Duty.”

You can have a red Ferrari deerskin leather jacket for $250, which also is not a bad deal.

Auto Grotto is the authorized dealer of the comic art of Guillermo Forchine.

You’ve seen his sculptures — cars ranging from ’57 Chevies to American dirttrack racers where the lines are all straight, but they’re not, and the characters in the cars all have big noses and bad teeth.

It’s funny stuff.

Merry Christmas.

Ford recalls Oakville workers

F

ord has recalled most of the workers it laid off last week at its Oakville assembly plant to boost production of the company’s new cross-over utility vehicles.

The company said Dec. 5 a majority of the 215 laid-off workers are back on the job to assemble and meet demand for the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX models. The two vehicles are key products in the turnaround plan for the money-losing auto giant.

Ford laid off the workers and temporarily shelved production of the slow-selling Freestar minivan on the same production line last week.

Insiders say the bigger Freestar minivan caused bottlenecks and slowed down output of the smaller cross-over utility vehicles.

Ford has delayed delivery of the two new models to dealers from November to “sometime this month” to work out problems with line processes and suppliers.

“The launch is progressing and still on track for December deliveries,” said John Arnone, a spokesperson for Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. The delay has left several thousand vehicles sitting at the Ford plant waiting for final inspection before being delivered to dealers across the continent.

Ford shook up senior management at the Oakville complex recently by reassigning plant manager Frank Gourneau to its Dearborn, Mich., headquarters and removing two other senior production officials.

Ford has marketed the Edge and the MKX heavily despite having no models in showrooms. The company is currently running an “awareness” advertisement in newspapers with the headline, “The Ford Edge. Made in Canada.

Available Everywhere.”

— Torstar wire service

DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27

Canadian auto market may be on upswing SALES CLIMB 2.7 PER CENT IN FOURTH STRAIGHT RISE

By Tony van Alphen Torstar wire service

to 5,583.

Sales at Hyundai, which is jacking up incentives along with some anada’s auto market is of its rivals during the holiday seashowing some sign of son, shot up 28.3 per cent to 5,807 momentum for the first time last month. Mazda’s deliveries also in four years. improved 2.2 per cent to 5,232.

Auto sales, a good indicator of the But industry leader General economy’s overall health, climbed Motors of Canada Ltd. reported a for the fourth consecutive month in big decline. Sales tumbled 13.5 per November from the corresponding cent to 31,269 in November. Truck period in 2005, manufacturers said deliveries fell 9.4 per cent to yesterday.

17,015, while car volumes plunged The last time sales and leases of 18 per cent to 14,254. new cars and trucks improved for GM noted that one reason for the four straight months was in 2002, decline was the company’s decision when the industry set a sales record. to rely less on daily rentals for busiSince then, monthness. ly sales have been up Business at and down, with little booming Toyota “Car sales are the indication of any Canada Inc. also consistent growth. off by 2.2 driving force behind cooled In November, per cent to however, business 13,694 after 10 the momentum that climbed by 2.7 per consecutive cent, or more than we’re experiencing.” months of record 3,000 vehicles, to volumes.

123,465 across the Despite the Bill Osborne, country. That pushed blip, the compasales of cars, pickup ny by the middle CEO Ford Canada. trucks, minivans and of last month still sport-utility vehicles had surpassed its to 1.48 million for the first 11 previous annual sales record, set months of the year. That represent- last year. ed a gain of 1.6 per cent, or 23,000 Among smaller players, Subaru’s vehicles, from the same 2005 peri- sales slid 5.7 per cent to 1,471; od.

Volvo’s, 47 per cent to 537; Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Mitsubishi’s, 17 per cent to 777; Nissan and Hyundai fuelled most of Mercedes-Benz’s, 6 per cent to the gain. General Motors and 1,252.

Toyota slipped.

But Volkswagen’s volumes Business at Ford Motor Co. of climbed 14.2 per cent to 3,023; Canada Ltd. jumped 15.5 per cent to Kia’s, 10.1 per cent to 2,357; 17,415. The Focus and Fusion mod- Suzuki’s, 54 per cent to 1,013. els helped drive up car volumes by Business at BMW remained flat at 86 per cent to 5,688. Truck deliver- 1,911. ies, however, slipped 2.4 per cent to In the United States, Toyota 11,727. topped Ford, traditionally the No. 2 “Car sales are the driving force automaker, in monthly sales for the behind the momentum that we’re second time. experiencing,” says Bill Osborne, Toyota’s sales rose 16 per cent president and chief executive offi- while Ford’s sales tumbled almost cer at Ford Canada.

10 per cent south of the border.

DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc. also Ford also disclosed that it is cutreported that sales climbed last ting more production. That includes month, by 8.4 per cent to 17,200. a reduction in output of the slowCar volumes rose 15.9 per cent to selling Freestar minivan in 3,796, while truck deliveries Oakville. increased 6.4 per cent to 13,404.

Sales at GM, the world’s biggest Honda Canada’s sales jumped automaker, increased 6.1 per cent in 17.2 per cent to 14,053; Nissan the U.S. Deliveries at Chrysler Canada’s, almost 25 per cent improved 4.7 per cent.

C

Beware the Extreme Lighter THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO WARM THE STREETS BY STRINGING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. AND THANK YOU FOR KNOWING WHEN TO STOP

A

h, the first light dusting of snow has hit the ground, and spirit. They can’t get into or out of their driveways. Traffic doesvehicles of all descriptions, especially those SUVs with n’t just slow down; it stops. And on nights when it’s dark out their miracle brakes, are performing in the first seasonal sooner, the roads can be slippery and everyone is in a hurry to get ice dance competition. home, the last thing you need is the car ahead of you wondering Like some interplanetary conspiracy, the factors line up every how they got that penguin to wave. I have known people rearDecember: darkness arrives at 4:30, everyone is rushing ended by those caught up in the shock and awe of A around frazzled celebrating something or preparing to Very Home Depot Christmas. celebrate something, and dry streets become icy in just For as long as I can remember, I’ve taken kids to a few minutes. The only thing I can think of to make it Niagara Falls this time of year. The Festival of Lights worse would be if everyone put up festive Christmas is very cool, and the cars inch along at a snail’s pace lights to further splinter a driver’s attention.

— because everyone is there for the same reason. My Oh wait. They do. kids have always favoured the Dufferin Islands disI love Christmas lights. Truly, I do. A warm little play, which is further down the parkway. There are greeting on a frosty night, the soft glow of colour on all kinds of animals lit up in the forest, and for some snow covered streets — people that put up Christmas reason it feels more festive than, say, Snow White LORRAINE lights are being nice to people they don’t even know. and the Seven Dwarfs. Actually, what I like is that SOMMERFELD Look, enjoy, marvel, and suck up the holiday spirit it’s not a Christmas theme at all. It’s a winter one.

— as long as you’re the passenger. Drivers — eyes Well, except for the dinosaurs. ahead. I have mastered ignoring anything that happens Here’s an idea: Go for a walk. Walk in your neighin my car from the first time one of the boys yelled bourhood. There are many fabulous December nights “Mom, look at this!” as I drove. He was peering down — ditch the car. It doesn’t matter what or if you celinto his boot. In the back seat. My job is to respond to the condi- ebrate — beauty is beauty. tions on the road, not the emotions inside the car.

When the boys were young, they implored me to put up outThe problem isn’t the casual decorator — it’s the Extreme door Christmas lights. One year we spent hours tying and taping Lighter. With a diploma from the Clark W. Griswold School of lights to every surface I could reach without a ladder (it’s a fearOverkill snugly tucked under their arm, they are the men and of-heights thing). We strung garland; we wove ribbons; we tartwomen who believe more is more. Frustrated musical set design- ed up the house like a $3 Christmas present. ers, they see an electrical opportunity in every niche of their We stood outside for the magical moment — the plug-in. property.

Cheering, but half- frozen, we finally came inside. Jackson, who If you’ve never experienced the traffic congestion created in was about 4 at the time, looked at me sadly. front of these Extreme Christmas houses, then you’ve never “Can we go for a drive?” he asked me. actually seen one. If you live in a rural area — perfect. If you live “No, we’re in now. Why?” I replied. cheek-by-jowl in an urban setting, your fa la la is peering right “’Cuz I can’t see the lights,” he pouted. “It’s no fun for us, and into your neighbour’s bedroom window. we did all the work.”

All over North America, this issue gets played out every year.

On behalf of Jackson and the rest of my family, thank you to I’m a humbug if I don’t support someone’s freedom to light. I everyone who freezes on the ladder and untangles the strings of appreciate Christmas lights — but I confess to finding beauty in lights. Thank you for cheering up a world that feels colder simplicity. I am a fan of understatement. Restraint is classy in regardless of the season. decoration.

And thank you for knowing when to stop.

I have known people held hostage by another’s Christmas www.lorraineonline.ca

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28 • INDEPENDENTFUN

DECEMBER 8, 2006

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Sort of ending?

4 ___ Secum, N.S. 8 Lushes ___, Nfld.

13 Jamaican citrus fruit 17 Originally 18 Molten rock 19 Pueblo material 20 Nine in Normtal 21 Actress Kate 23 Jerk the knee 24 A little lower?

25 Dish not part of entree 26 Word with bar or days 28 Occurring every 60 minutes 30 Martini fruit 32 Most severe hurricane in Canadian history (1954) 33 Biggest lake within Canada: Great ___ 34 Sound 35 Having skin growths 36 N.B. town with world’s longest covered bridge 40 Ewww!

41 Victorian, maybe 42 Markdown events 43 Needlefish 44 Native of Santiago 46 Official bird of N.B.: black-___ chickadee 48 Visage 49 Starbucks offering

51 Drinks slowly 52 Alg. and trig.

53 Join 56 Skirt style 58 Small roles for famous faces 59 Grandfather clock sound 60 Between ports 61 Born yesterday, so to speak 63 Musical conclusion 64 Serving temporarily 66 Husky 70 Ribonucleic acid 71 Bonfire leftovers 72 Maritime wildflower 74 Art, today 75 Like Christmas trees 77 Crime organization 78 French dish 79 Evil’s opposite 80 Breakfast rasher 81 Bridal Veil ___, B.C. 82 Journalist’s regular piece 85 Group of experts at the table 86 Pelvic bones 87 What comes to mind 88 Inactive 90 Volcanic glass 94 Yemeni port 95 Suit fabric 96 Heavy blow 97 Purge 98 Greek mountain 99 The Chateau

Frontenac 100 Belgian river 101 Summer time in Sherbrooke DOWN 1 Country lodging 2 Date 3 Capital of Finland 4 Suppress, as a vowel 5 Canary container 6 Ultraviolet rad.

7 Roof type 8 Brewers’ grain 9 Perfect 10 Prod 11 Early fur trading co.

12 Tied up 13 Straighten out 14 A low one is a slow one 15 Brief period of calm 16 Doubtful 22 Not taped 27 People of Mexico 29 Frisky: feeling one’s ___ 30 Relating to the ear 31 ___ Ness 32 Do ghost work 33 Hay units 35 Ire 36 Occur 37 Official gemstone of N.S. 38 Tortilla with toppings 39 Clothe

41 B.C.-Alta. river 42 Washer cycle 45 Long-necked S. American 47 Chinese, e.g.

48 Widely known 50 Spring holiday 52 Self-appointed expert 53 Capital of Ghana 54 Minimal lingerie 55 Like ocean movements 57 Garlands of plumeria 58 Eyelashes 60 Was sore 62 P.E.I. sculptor of 10-metre Canada Tree (with woods and artifacts from across Canada) 64 Amaze 65 Site of Cape Breton Miners’ Museum: ___ Bay 67 General who refused to withdraw from Rwanda 68 Spoken 69 Obtains 71 Bit of physics 73 Study of alien craft 76 Reptile pet 77 Shelf over a fireplace 78 Discharged a debt 80 Intrude rudely (with “into”)

81 Aviator 82 “See you later!”

83 Casino figures

84 Dregs 85 Saucy 86 Man or Wight

89 New: prefix 91 Stocking (Fr.) 92 Help

93 Summer time in St. John’s Solutions on page 30

WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19) That change in holiday travel plans might be more vexing than you’d expected. But try to take it in stride.

Also, it couldn’t hurt to use that Aries charm to coax out some helpful cooperation.

TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) Your Bovine determination helps you deal with an unforeseen complication. And, as usual, you prove that when it comes to a challenge, you have what it takes to take it on.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Although a romantic theme dominates much of the week, all those warm and fuzzy feelings don’t interfere with the more pragmatic matters that you need to take care of.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

Best not to ignore those doubts about an upcoming decision. Instead, recheck the facts you were given to make sure nothing important was left out. A weekend surprise awaits you.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG.22) No time for a catnap — yet. You might still have to straighten out one or two factors so that you can finally assure yourself of the truth about a troubling workplace situation. Stay with it.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 SEPT.22) News from an old friend could lead to an unexpected (but nonetheless welcome) reunion with someone who had once been very special in your life. Be open to the possibilities.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) It might be time for a family council.

The sooner those problems are

resolved, the sooner you can move ahead with your holiday preparations. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Take some time out to give more attention to a personal relationship that seems to be suffering from a sense of emotional neglect. Provide that much-needed reassurance.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Cheer up. That unusual circumstance that might faze most people can be handled pretty well by the savvy Sagittarian. Look at it as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) Someone you believe has hurt you in the past might now need your help.

Reaching out could be difficult. But the generous Goat will be able to do

the right thing, as always.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) Prioritizing is an important part of your pre-holiday scheduling. Try to give time both to your workday responsibilities and those personal matters you might have neglected.

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) With the vestiges of your anger about that painful incident fading, you can now focus all your energy on the more positive aspects of your life, including that personal situation.

YOU BORN THIS WEEK You have a way of bringing your own strong sense of reassurance to others and encouraging them to hope. (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, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006 — PAGE 29

By Don Power For The Independent

B

rad Dobbin rubs his hand across the brand new glass trophy he holds in his hand. On Dec. 6, the St. John’s Board of Trade presented Dobbin and the St. John’s Fog Devils the 2006 business excellence award for marketing.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Dobbin says wryly, standing on the visitors’ bench at Mile One Centre watching his team practice, a sea of empty seats staring back at him.

One of the problems the Fog Devils have faced so far this season — which will hit its halfway point following next week’s two-game set against Cape Breton — has been empty seats during Fog Devil games. And Dobbin can’t figure out how to fill them.

Their marketing strategy, even he suggests, isn’t working, which makes timing of the award awkward. Those radio ads in which a voice talks about the team “burning it up,” and the difficulty in keeping the ice from melting are so far from reality it’s not funny.

“There’s no marketing like a few W’s,” Dobbin says. “We could certainly fall in that category.”

Throw into the mix the collapse of CanJet, the Fog Devils’ air carrier, forcing all travel plans to be changed at great cost, and the entire club is suffering from a sophomore jinx.

“Sometimes I feel we’ve been a little bit snake bit here with the bad breaks along the way,” Dobbin says.

“A year and a half into it, we’re happy where things are. Obviously we need to improve in some areas, notably attendance.”

This year’s version of the Fog Devils haven’t burned up much so far this fall, except maybe a reputation or two.

Captain Zack Firlotte was stripped of his captaincy the same day alternate captain Wes Welcher lost his A. Nicholas Bachand, who surprised many people with his 28-goal campaign in 2005-06, began the season injured. To date, he has scored just two goals in nine games. (Bachand was also involved in an off-ice incident recently and returned to his Laval home for a couple of weeks to resolve “personal issues,” according to the team. He’s back in St. John’s and practised Wednesday. He may be in the lineup this weekend.

Olivier Guilbault scored 20 goals last year. He has one in 15 games so far.

“Right there,” says head coach and general manager Real Paiement, “if they are where they were last year, that’s 20 goals more. A 20-goal difference is probably 10 or 20 (fewer) goals against, because it changes the game.

‘I think we can improve at every position. We’ve underachieved at all positions.’

Fog Devils head coach Real Paiement

Fog Devils coach Réal Paiement says most of his players have “underachieved.”

Paul Daly/The Independent

Sophomore jinx Fog Devils endured difficult first half to second season “It could be five wins. It’s a tremendous difference.”

But they’re far from the only guilty parties for St. John’s 10-19-1-1 record.

Outside of leading scorer Wes Welcher (12-26-38), Ryan Graham (15-20-35) and rookie Nick Layton (11 goals, the only other player in double digits) — the three players Paiement specifically mentions — everybody else has disappointed.

“I expected better things in net. I expected better things on D, as D-men and as defensive play. I believe we are solid back (there). I think we underachieved there and at forward we underachieved also,” Paiement says during a break in practice.

“To be totally honest,” Dobbin adds, “I think we’ve under-performed a little bit.”

Last season, fans’ expectations were low for the expansion franchise.

Reaching the playoffs was a bonus.

This year, the team has regressed, to the point fans are staying away in droves. The club’s average attendance of 3,703 is buoyed by three games with more than 5,000.

“We still have a real challenge bringing anyone over 25 down to the games,” Dobbin says.

The low turnout hasn’t helped onice matters, either. Paiement notes that last year’s team was exceptional at home (25 wins in 35 games) but that didn’t translate into fans this year.

“It’s a lot more fun to play in front of 5,000, but that’s something we can’t control,” he says. “We can only control coming out and playing a better game so we don’t give them a choice. They’ll have to come out and support us. That’s the way we have to look at things.

“It’s hard for players to rationalize.

We hardly lost at home, but we come out this year and we’re down in numbers from the beginning.

“It’s not like we stunk the barn.”

Perhaps not, but it’s been an ugly year so far.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the secondyear Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club is tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division.

Granted, the Fog Devils have stumbled out of the gate this year, and have recorded just 10 victories entering this week’s stretch of four games in six nights at Mile One Centre (a pair against Halifax this weekend and two more against the Screaming Eagles Tuesday and Wednesday).

The better news is that a solid second half could return them to the playoffs for the second time in their brief existence.

“To me that’s not what’s important,” Paiement acknowledged, although adding it is important from a front office and fan perspective. “I’m here to help this team grow, help the players grow and help human beings grow.”

Some of that growing process could begin later this month, when the Q opens its second trading period.

Paiement expects to be “active” this year, looking for players to help the club, regardless of position or age.

“Is there interest from other teams?”

Paiement asked rhetorically. “Are the players we’re interested in available?

Age is not the thing. I think we can improve at every position. We’ve underachieved at all positions.

“I’m not saying we’re a .700 team but we’re better than we’ve shown.

Nobody can be comfortable and expect that things won’t change.”

the year.

The Canucks website claimed he had rediscovered his scoring touch.

The problem was, Vancouver didn’t rediscover him. King finished out his contract last year and was set to enter camp with another legitimate shot at returning to the NHL. But he didn’t have a contract.

And in the new NHL, with the salary cap, he wasn’t about to get guaranteed NHL money, so he refused to sign.

Instead, he remembered the fun he had playing with the Swedish twins and took the option of heading over to the lucrative European market, signing with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Elite League.

In 25 games in Sweden, King has scored seven goals. Only two players in Vancouver have more than that.

Obviously, you can’t necessarily translate King’s goal-scoring prowess to Vancouver and predict he’d have at least the 12 Marcus Naslund has.

But one certainly has to wonder if King is not suffering a few migraines now, wishing he was on the west coast of Canada instead of northern Europe.

OH DANNY BOY I’m not sure how much shock registered across the country Monday afternoon when Hockey Canada announced the 38 players invited to attend its junior team selection camp this month.

But there were a lot of raised eyebrows, here and in Peterborough, with the exclusion of Petes’ star Daniel Ryder among that 38.

I’m not saying the Bonavista native should have been a lock to wear Canada’s colours at the world junior tournament during Christmas, but surely his 22 goals and 30 assists, which place him fifth in OHL scoring, warranted an invitation to camp.

Ryder is not a one-dimensional player.

Last year’s OHL playoff MVP can take faceoffs, play a defensive role, and kill penalties.

However, in his final junior year of eligibility, young Ryder will now have to be content watching it on TV like the rest of us.

And that’s a shame. donniep@nl.rogers.com

King’s ransom Corner Brook sniper watching from Europe as Canucks struggle to score

W

hen Jason King suffered a concussion in 2005, it began a series of headaches that persisted through two seasons.

But those headaches perhaps pale in comparison to the ones he may be suffering from now, as he watches his former NHL team limp through the 2006-07 season.

Jason King was, and perhaps still is, a goal scorer. His former team, the Vancouver Canucks, could surely use a goal scorer right now. In 2006-07, Vancouver has scored just 59 goals in 28 games, worst in the league.

The team has scored two goals or less 19 times, including Monday night’s 4-0 shutout loss to Edmonton. Only one player on the Canucks has reached double digits in scoring.

Do you think they miss King? Do you think King wishes he had re-considered his options and signed with Vancouver?

As stories go, King’s was a great one.

Undrafted out of the Western Kings in provincial AAA midget hockey, King walked on with the Halifax Mooseheads.

While there, he followed up a 48-goal campaign by leading the entire Canadian

DON POWER

Power Point Hockey League in scoring in his final year with 63 goals in 61 games.

The Corner Brook native was then drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, 212th overall in 2001.

A stint with the Manitoba Moose led to a brief eight-game call-up to the Canucks, but he finished the year with the AHL team for their playoff run.

However, in September of 2003, King made the Canucks out of training camp.

He was the surprise of the league. Late round kid, pure goal scorer. He even joined fellow Newfoundlander Darren Langdon on the Canucks.

More impressive than just making the team was his start.

Playing on a line with the Sedin Twins (remember the Mattress Line — a King and two twins?), King scored 11 goals in the first quarter of the season and was

rewarded with the NHL rookie of the month award for November of 2003.

Sadly, that was the apex of his time in Vancouver. Since then, the sniper managed just one more NHL goal.

Part of the reason for that was the lockout, which wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. The other part was the concussion and post-concussion syndrome King suffered.

It was March 6, 2005 when Rochester Americans defenceman Doug Janik’s shoulder collided with King’s chin in an American Hockey League game, ending King’s season. In retrospect, it not only ended that year, it put a total crimp in his hockey career.

“It would play on anybody’s mind,” King told canucks.com last December, still recovering, nine months after the hit. “You really want to think short term and get back to what you love to do. But sometimes you have to be realistic and look long term because your brain is one of your most important organs.”

One month later, King was back on the ice, albeit with Manitoba and not Vancouver. But he continued to score, popping in 17 in the final 35 games of

30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

DECEMBER 8, 2006

In praise of Sunday hunting A

s most outdoorsy Newfoundlanders are now aware, Sunday hunting was officially allowed this fall for the first time. But there are special restrictions. Sunday hunting is not allowed until the first Sunday in November; this fall it was Nov. 5.

Also, Sunday hunting ends with the closing of the big game season in the area in which you are hunting. This restriction applies even if you are hunting rabbits, not moose, after the closure of moose season.

Where I live, I can hunt rabbits on Sundays from Nov. 5 to Jan. 10, 2007, but from then until the season closes on Feb. 24, I cannot. I’m very pleased the province has allowed Sunday hunting, but I don’t quite follow the logic. Why not let Sunday hunting run until the end of all hunting seasons and simplify the regulations? Why not something succinct like: “Newfoundlanders are permitted to hunt on Sundays after Nov. 1.” Period.

From reading Minister Clyde Jackman’s press release, it appears Sunday hunting regulations were written with only the big game hunter in mind. This is fine, but what about small game and waterfowl hunters?

All my life, I have worked during the week, and hunted on Saturdays.

Needless to say, I have hunted some nasty Saturdays — while Sunday dawned bright and sunny. It’s been frustrating and I am very appreciative our government has amended the regulations and allowed me another day to hunt if I choose to do so.

So don’t get me wrong here, our new regulations are very progressive; I’m merely suggesting a little fine-tuning.

The Sunday hunting debate that pre-

PAUL SMITH

The Rock

Outdoors ceded these regulations has been spirited, and spiced with varying philosophical views. First of all, there are those who condemn Sunday hunting on religious grounds. I say to these people: we live in a secular state where the views of any particular faith have no bearing on the rule of law or governance.

Besides, the Bible says, Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath.

Hunting is not work to me. Considering that the shopping malls and just about everything else is open on Sunday, I personally consider the religious argument absolute nonsense.

Then there’s the hiker-berry picker argument. The gist of it is that people who frequent the woods for non-hunting purposes have a right to do so safely. I say that people who frequent the woods for any purpose should be safe every day of the week. But we don’t live in an ideal world and hunting accidents sometimes occur.

Actually, I’ve done some research, albeit non-rigorous, and I’ve discovered that almost all hunting accidents involve injury or death to either the hunter or one of the hunting party.

I wasn’t able to find reference to a hiker or berry picker or any other nonhunter being shot while out in the woods. It is rare for a non-hunter to be injured by a hunter.

Although the risk of being shot by a hunter is extremely low, some people

Herb Swanson/Reuters

feel uncomfortable in the woods where hunting is allowed. Guns are noisy things and make many people nervous.

That’s a fair argument and I think that the Nov. 1 start date is a fair compromise between hunters and other ramblers of the woods.

Some argue that the animals need a day of rest for conservation reasons. I say that wildlife management is always conservation first, and season dates and quotas should already reflect this. It would be highly unfair to penalize only working people with just two days off a week for recreation if the animals need-

ed a day off. Why not be fair to everybody and use opening and closing dates to manage harvest levels?

Last Sunday, my buddy Rod got his 2006 caribou. I was along to help with meat portering and related duties — my first Sunday hunt. Rod has had a busy fall with both business and family commitments. Modern life isn’t easy. This past weekend was Rod’s only opportunity to harvest his caribou, and Saturday was absolutely nasty with snow, freezing rain, rain, and wind — the works.

Sunday’s forecast called for flurries

and sunny periods. We left home at 4 a.m. Sunday morning amidst very persistent flurries. It turned out to be a long day, with Rod shooting a nice stag 15 km from the road. But there’ll be venison on Rod’s table this winter. I’m sure there have better greater wrongs committed on Sunday and there wasn’t a hiker to be seen anywhere.

Paul Smith is a freelance writer living in Spaniard’s Bay, enjoying all the outdoors Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com

Bill Gillies: local baseball and hockey star

S

t. John’s lawyer William “Bill” Gillies, passed away the morning of Dec. 3. His great accomplishments and contribution to local sports will always be remembered.

An athlete who enjoyed competition and always displayed the utmost in sportsmanship and goodwill, Gillies took part in soccer — but was best known for his achievements on the baseball diamond and hockey rink.

Mainly with St. Bon’s and St. John’s all-star teams, he established himself as a perennial all-star who performed for the good of the team.

From 1955 to 1964 Gillies played senior baseball, always earning a starting spot. Able to play outfield and second base with equal ease, he was always regarded as a dangerous hitter.

His play contributed greatly to five St. John’s senior titles won by St. Bon’s during the 11 seasons he was a member.

He was a valuable member of many St. John’s entries into provincial play.

While his hockey was mainly with St. Bon’s, his talent gained him berths with Memorial University, Boston College and Dalhousie University. He was a member of three junior and three senior St. Bon’s teams that won St. John’s hockey championships.

In soccer, he played for five St. Bon’s teams that won St. John’s high school titles and for the Dalhousie University club that emerged as the 1961, 1962 and 1963 Atlantic Intercollegiate champions.

Gillies was voted 1959 St. John’s Male Athlete of the Year.

He served as president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Federation.

For his great performances in baseball and hockey, Gillies was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame November 2, 1985.

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DECEMBER 8, 2006

INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED • 31

INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8-14, 2006 — PAGE 32

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