2007-01-12

VOL. 5 ISSUE 2

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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 12-18, 2007

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Women’s way

Standing firm

Researcher says females pushing outports forward

Former minister Beth Marshall: ‘I definitely made the right decision’

STEPHANIE PORTER

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

K

imberly Courtney, the mayor of Francois, an outport on Newfoundland’s southwest coast, is also the community postmaster and the owner of an increasingly successful ecotourism company. She’s taken on all the work, she says, because she wants “to see the town succeed.”

It’s people like Courtney who instill great optimism in researcher Carol Harris. Harris says Courtney is just one of the trail-blazing women she’s met in the past four years who may hold the key to leading the province’s rural communities into the future.

“I meet leaders in each community that could move mountains,” says Harris, a part-time resident of Woody Point and professor emeritus at the University of Victoria.

“Where there were success stories, there were women. That’s not the total picture of course, but often where there were starts that went nowhere, they were often led by men who were really entrenched in the old ways and the ‘Oh, we have to get the plant going again.’

The more forward, diversified way of thinking seemed to be with women.”

Starting in 2002, Harris and her team of researchers began a project to assess the use of new communications and information technology in five communities along the southwest coast: Grand Bruit, Burgeo, Ramea, Grey River and Francois.

Broadband Internet and videoconferencing service had been brought to the coast in 2001 in a $2-million project launched by the Burgeo Broadcasting Service.

Harris is more convinced than ever the technology — which can facilitate education, community meetings, business and health care, among other uses — may hold the key to survival for the communities. And more often than not, she says, it’s women who grab onto the ideas and see the potential they offer.

Courtney is certainly one of the women making waves. Already plenty busy, she and her husband decided four years ago to start the tour business. (“My plate overflowed a few years ago and then I added to it … we took a leap of faith and we did the right thing.”)

And when it came time to design a website to launch Pinnacle Tours, she decided to figure out how to do it herself.

“I dove in with both feet,” she says.

“Mostly after work and in the evenings I went in and learned as I went … I’m not afraid of learning new things.

There’s nothing I won’t try.”

The business, she reports, is doing well, with a 50 per cent increase in customers in 2006 over the year before.

Among the heartening success stories, Harris says there are a number of communications hurdles for the region to overcome — even where the new technology exists, often the will and knowledge to use it does not.

Harris says many of the small communities, after years of isolation and competitive fishing, still find it difficult See “Small places,” page 2

T

Kathryn Byrne is prepared for all sorts of weather.

Paul Daly/The Independent

What’s coming?

IVAN MORGAN

T

o put Newfoundland and Labrador’s potential climate change into perspective, Memorial University geography professor Norm Catto says 12,000 years ago the Avalon Peninsula was covered in an ice sheet half a kilometre thick, built up from tens of thousands of years of snow.

Environmental conditions have changed a lot since then, and continue to. Experts contacted by The Independent agree the climate is warming, but can only guess what the implications will be. Drier summers, wetter winters, rising seas and fiercer

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “You can put in a rule saying small fish aren’t allowed to swim into the net but they probably won’t obey that.”

— Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ Union. See page 13

storms are predicted, but no one really knows for sure.

Variations in local climate are legendary. In 1817 — known as “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death” — dust from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific interrupted global weather patterns, causing severe frosts in June and July all over the Northern Hemisphere, killing crops and leading to famine in many places, including Newfoundland.

Catto, who compiled a report on the impact and adaptation of climate change for the federal government, says while it isn’t possible to predict exactly what will happen, general trends can be recognized.

See “Not going,” page 12

Ocean temperature is at an all-time high, the ice cap is melting, bigger storms are coming. Experts agree our climate is warming — but no one knows what the effects on marine and land life will be

STYLE 21

LIFE 17

Breakdance and hip hop your way to fitness

Susan Rendell speaks to architect Robert Mellin about future of St. John’s

ory MHA and former Health and Community Services minister Elizabeth Marshall says she does not regret her decision to resign from the Williams cabinet in September 2004.

“I can tell you this: at the time I thought I had made the right decision, and in retrospect I definitely made the right decision,” Marshall tells The Independent.

Cracks have recently started to appear in Premier Danny Williams’ relationship with his caucus. Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan’s abrupt departure from political life, the premier’s terse comments regarding Speaker Harvey Hodder, allegations of financial impropriety concerning Transportation Minister John Hickey and backbencher Kathy Goudie, and the resignation of Natural Resources Minister Ed Byrne in the wake of a financial scandal are fuelling public speculation on the stability of the Conservative caucus.

With what is viewed by some political pundits as a limited pool of talent in his caucus to choose from, there was some public surprise that Marshall, a former auditor general and deputy minister, was not asked back into cabinet.

Marshall, then minister of Health and Community Services, resigned from cabinet in September 2004 after the premier intervened to settle a strike by the Victorian Order of Nurses in Corner Brook.

When asked how she feels about being left out of cabinet in the wake of Sullivan’s resignation, the MHA for Topsail says it is up to the premier to decide who sits in cabinet.

“Being included in cabinet is the premier’s prerogative,” Marshall said in a telephone interview while on vacation outside the country. “If you are not invited in, you are not invited in.”

When asked why the premier did not include her, she says “I have no idea … ask the premier. I have never gotten back to him.”

Marshall says her first priority is to represent her district, and she is happy serving as a backbencher in the Williams government. She says she does plan to run again and if elected will continue to represent her constituents.

“I have to say the fact that I am running again should say something.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

“Being included in cabinet is the premier’s prerogative. If you are not invited in, you are not invited in.”

In Camera . . . . . . 8-9 Noreen Golfman . . 19 Movie review . . . . . 20 Wine in a box . . . . 22 Woody’s wheels . . 25

Elizabeth Marshall

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

JANUARY 12, 2007

Don’t shoot the messenger A

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lot of people accuse auditor general John Noseworthy of mishandling the investigation of MHA constituency allowances. They charge he is producing information in “dribs and drabs,” which keeps the embarrassing story at the top of the headlines. What he should do, they argue, is finish the overall investigation and produce one major report detailing all of the alleged wrongdoing and misspending at the one time.

Some argue this process would allow government to get on with the business of governing. While the single-report concept would make life a little easier for MHAs, at least for a while, it’s not going to work out like that.

It’s time to put forward a defense for our auditor general. First of all, he is not new to the job. Noseworthy was the deputy-auditor general under Elizabeth Marshall and was around when the faithful decision to exclude MHA spending from any AG review was made. Let’s remember that it was work done by the auditor general in 1998 and ’99 that saw MHAs vote to remove their activities from AG scrutiny.

Even Brian Tobin, premier at the time, described that decision as regrettable.

This is a classic example of people attacking the messenger because they don’t like the message. The auditor general is an officer of the House, not a member of government, and must at all times be above political bias. His job is specific, and the act, which governs his actions, must always be adhered to.

The Auditor General’s Act is direct and unequivocal: “Where during the course of an audit, the auditor general becomes aware of an improper retention or misappropriation of public money or another activity that may constitute an offence under the Criminal Code or another Act, the auditor general shall immediately report … to the LieutenantGovernor in Council.”

Noseworthy is doing exactly what he is supposed to and no one should be questioning his competence or charging him with motives beyond doing his job and doing it well. Had Noseworthy, and by extension Marshall before him, been allowed to complete their investigation in ’99, we could safely assume none of this would have happened. We wanted

RANDY SIMMS

Page 2 talk the auditor general to do the work and now it looks like some aren’t appreciative of the outcomes. Too bad for us all.

When did it become wrong to question government’s actions and policies? Is there a definitive date when that became the political norm in our province?

I call it the if-you-are-not-with-me, you-must-be-against-me syndrome.

(Think George Bush and the war on terror.) It seems Noseworthy, by issuing his required reports, is now labelled as being “against” something. What nonsense.

I know from personal experience that questioning government policy can quickly put you in the other political camp with lots of charges that your questioning reflects a negative bias. To some, questioning a policy decision like the fibreoptic project, for example, automatically labels one as an opposing Liberal. To suggest a policy might be flawed means you are disloyal and if you are disloyal you are automatically in opposition.

That kind of politics is being transposed to the auditor general’s office.

Noseworthy, the messenger, is slowly being branded as a voice of opposition to government. That’s unfair.

I suggest Noseworthy would be doing the same job regardless of which party held government. If the way he is doing his work is troubling and members want him to stop they should go to the House of Assembly and change the act.

I am delighted with the work Noseworthy is doing. We wanted a government that was accountable and transparent. The Williams administration called in the AG to audit constituency allowances to show us just that. It is a praise-worthy move.

At the end of this difficult process, regardless of who gets “named,” the auditor general will have done a service for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Our political life, with some much-needed new rules attached, will be the better for it.

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

‘Small places are being completely left out’ From page 1 to co-operate — reducing the effectiveness of any lobbying efforts for funding or new programs. As well, she’s concerned cuts to literacy programs, women centres and community access sites will impact community learning. The amalgamation of services by the provincial government has reached such a level “the small places are being completely left out.”

Carol Harris Paul Daly There is also an issue of the quality of the infrastructure in place.

Amy Young, a Burgeo native and outreach worker on Harris’ project, says the “fact the Internet wasn’t always working was the biggest downfall. If it was up all the time, maybe people would be more encouraged to use it.”

Young says her one-and-a-half year contract wasn’t long enough to get people fully involved or comfortable with the available services like teleconferencing.

“With more time, perhaps I could have come up with some more ideas,” she says. “The project did go well, but … I don’t think people were too open to change.

“Education-wise, they were open to it, but for health care and stuff, people always felt there were problems with the equipment.”

But she echoes Harris: “The women were more adaptable, they were open to new ideas. I don’t know why it was that way, but it seemed to be.”

Harris says both Young and Courtney are sources of inspiration, just two of a group of women who — as leaders in environmental practice, education and business — could collectively change the face of the southwest coast.

“What I see are some women there, some who are not educated past high school, who have very loud and effective voices,” Harris says. “One of the things they want is adult education and that is not available yet in their communities … that is one thing technology can help with.

“They need only governmental and organizational support, a recognition of existing successes, and a willingness to work with one another.”

She hopes to see those needs meet — and though the funding for Harris’ project has run out, she will continue outreach work, presenting on her findings, keeping her contacts alive, and working towards the future. She looks forward to working again with some of the spirited and fiery women she’s encountered.

“It’s a matter of knowing what you want and taking the initiative to go do it,” says Courtney about the future of her tiny town. “No one’s going to hand it to you.

“We push and we get things done. If we can’t get it from government — I hate red tape and I hate having to wait — then we usually take on things ourselves.

“The men, like I tell you, the men do a lot of fishing, that takes most of their time and so the women took hold and we’ve got a lot of the leadership roles in the community.

Somebody had to do it. Everybody here has got that attitude: Why not? I’ll do it!”

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

SCRUNCHINS A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia

house and planted thousands of flowering plants, shrubs, and trees that were not native to Newfoundland. “The grounds were laid out with walkways and terraces and decorated with statuary, urns, and gas lamps.”

In his will, Bond left the Grange to Newfoundlanders but the government of the day turned down the gift, saying the upkeep was too expensive. The estate was eventually handed over to government in 1949. The province demolished the building the next year and the land returned to its natural state. What a waste …

C

onsidering it’s all anyone’s talking about this week, the political scandal is where Scrunchins begins. To Tory MHA Terry French first, who began the week calling local media outlets to give us a heads up on how he had been contacted by auditor general John Noseworthy.

French thought the AG was preparing to name him in relation to the double billings of almost $2,000 in claims.

The MHA argued the double billings were the result of accounting errors.

Noseworthy presumably agreed with French, deciding, in the end, against filing a report on the MHA. French was mentioned in this column back in July for his travel costs. French, MHA for Conception Bay South, may only live a hop, skip and jump from St. John’s, but in the fiscal year April 2004 to March 2005 he claimed $6,289 in travel expenses back and forth to his district while the House was open. Under the rules, a politician must live more than 40 km from the capital city for travel benefits when the legislature is in session.

Of the MHAs who live within a twohour commute of St. John’s, the top three in terms of claims are: No. 1 Ross Wiseman, Tory Trinity North — $22,834.02 in travel, $7,151 in per diems; Charlene Johnson, Tory TrinityBay de Verde — $16,019.80 in travel, $5,570 in per diems; and Loyola Sullivan, Tory Ferryland — $8,629.85 in travel, $5,850 in per diems. Humber Valley MHA Kathy Goudie, who was slammed by the AG this week for her spending, double billed for her personal car insurance (two payments of $489.60). Wonder how many other MHAs have the same sweet deal …

A IS FOR ALFRED The Independent ran a popular feature last week on Whitbourne-born actor Shannon Tweed. But guess which Newfoundland premier also hails from that community. Give up? Why none other than the province’s third premier, A. Brian Peckford (A. is for Alfred), who came into the Whitbourne light on Aug. 27, 1942.

A former Newfoundland prime minister (19001909), Sir Robert Bond, had a country estate in Whitbourne called the Grange.

Whitbourne, by the way, was Newfoundland’s first inland town, according to the Centre for Newfoundland Studies. The Grange was said to be a wondrous spot Bond styled after an English country estate.

The Centre for Newfoundland Studies says Bond had an “Edwardian-style”

The late prime minister Robert Bond

Tory MHA Terry French

Former Premier Brian Peckford

RobertParsons

WAGE WAR Of course, we’re much better off financially these days. The province recently increased the minimum wage to $7 an hour but ever wonder where Newfoundland and Labrador’s minimum wage ranks in terms of the rest of the country? Wonder no more: British Columbia, $8; Alberta, $7; Manitoba, $8; Saskatchewan, $7.95; Ontario, $8; Quebec, $7.75; New Brunswick, $6.70; Nova Scotia, $7.15; and Prince Edward Island, $7.50.

SEE YOU IN COURT St. John’s lawyer Bob Simmonds has followed through on a threat of a lawsuit against The Independent and filed a statement of claim this week in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Simmonds defended Robert Parsons, the man convicted Nov. 2 of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in the death of Matthew Churchill, 15, in March 2005.

Simmonds took exception to a guest column by Deborah Burton of Mount Pearl. The column, headlined ‘When a dead child is valued less than a moose,’ was critical of Simmonds. The judge gave Parsons six months in jail, a sentence that caused an uproar, partly because Simmonds told the court he was working on an appeal.

The court documents allege the guest column contained “false, improper and malicious allegations, insinuations, imputation and/or innuendo which defame Simmonds’ reputation both in his professional capacity and in the community at large.”

Further, the documents state that Simmonds’ good name and esteem have been damaged, both professionally and personally. Simmonds is after the publication of an “unqualified apology and retraction.” He’s also asked the court for general damages, as well as special damages to make up for the loss of income, court costs and interest.

The guest column appeared in the Nov. 10 edition. Four days later, on

Nov. 14, Simmonds said Parsons had consulted with his family and decided not to appeal the six-month sentence.

See you in court …

ROW YOUR BOAT British maritime explorer Dom Mee and a team of fellow adventurers are currently on standby in the Canary Islands, readying for their attempt to break the Atlantic rowing record. The

team’s aim is to make the crossing to Barbados in less than 35 days aboard a 26-foot row boat. Mee, 35, is known in these parts for his dramatic rescue on the Grand Banks in the summer of 2005 while attempting to become the first person to cross an ocean on a kite vessel. Think he’ll submit a travel claim? ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

Classroom chill

Temperature control creating cool learning environment

By Mandy Cook The Independent

A

computer system that controls the heat in the province’s schools is creating some cold fingers and toes — and concern about mould growth — among teachers and students.

Teachers say the temperatures in classrooms are too cold because the heat is dropped after regular school hours and on weekends. The temperatures are controlled from a remote location, and concern has been expressed that the buildings don’t warm up in time for the start of classes.

Over the past five years, the province’s school boards installed an energy management system, or a computerized heating system, that controls the heat for the entire school year.

Pat Royle, head of maintenance for the Eastern School Board, says teachers are free to adjust individual thermostats in their classrooms. He says the decreased temperatures are meant to

By the numbers Number of schools in Newfoundland and Labrador closed due to mould: 3 Number of students displaced at Humber Elementary: 369 Number of students displaced at Presentation Junior High: 384 Number of students displaced at Paradise Elementary: 620 Number of school districts: 5 Number of schools in Eastern school district: 121 2006 budget for maintenance and capital works: $37.5 million 2005 budget for maintenance and capital works: $25.0 million Amount allocated for air-quality related projects: $16 million Amount allocated for roof repairs 2002/2003: $2 million Amount allocated for roof repairs 2005/2006: $11 million Source: Department of Education and Eastern School Board

make the buildings more efficient.

“When the teacher and the children arrive and sit down at 9 a.m. for class, the temperature in that room should be at 20 or 21 degrees,” he says. “We installed these control systems to save energy, but it’s not meant to in any way

to cause a problem with heating.”

After school and on weekends, Royle says, the temperature is turned down.

He says sensors placed around the building recognize when temperatures rise and fall and kick in if the building temperature drops below 15 C. Royle

says there may be pockets throughout the building where there is no sensor which would result in some areas dropping below the standard setback temperature.

Thakor Patel, a microbiologist at Memorial University, says fluctuating temperatures can sometimes cause the growth of mould. He says the optimal temperature for mould to flourish is between 25 C and 28 C, but it will grow anywhere from 5 C to 35 C. He says mould will grow if the temperature changes result in condensation — a condition necessary for mould to germinate.

“It all depends on how low the temperature goes. If they’re too high (in the building) and then too low, depending on the outside conditions, it’s going to influence the indoor temperature as well. If there was high humidity in the building … and you turn it down, you’re going to get condensation,” says Patel.

Ken Ruest, a researcher of housing technology with Canada Mortgage and

Housing Corporation, says he has “issues” with pre-set thermostats. He says they can be good or bad. He says mould growth depends on the condition of the building itself and how well insulated it is.

Ruest compares the creation of condensation to the moisture that forms on a glass of ice water outside on a warm summer day.

“Playing around with a thermostat setback can create the same type of conditions in a building basically, that if it lowers the air temperature and the surfaces get cold enough you’ll get the condensation occurring just because the temperatures were lowered.”

Royle says condensation freezes at this time of year and doesn’t expect it to be a problem. As for the heating concerns, he says any time a building requires heat in the evening or on weekends, teachers can put in a request to their regional operations manager to bump up the heat. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

JANUARY 12, 2007

‘Which straw broke the camel’s back?’

Loyola Sullivan won’t rule out relationship with premier as reason for resignation “I don’t want to walk away on the eve of an election, and now’s the time for me.”

Loyola Sullivan

Loyola Sullivan

Paul Daly/The Independent

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

L

oyola Sullivan says he thought about quitting his job as Finance minister for a year — but won’t say if his relationship with the premier was a factor in his eventual decision to leave.

Sullivan says he is not contemplating running for federal politics at the moment, as he doesn’t think there will be a federal election any

time soon.

While he says he gave himself Christmas to decide on his immediate political future, he kept his options open — he didn’t make any work commitments after the holiday.

“I wanted to make sure that if I made my decision to step down, I didn’t want people in the lurch with tickets booked and meetings scheduled and things of that nature,” Sullivan tells The Independent.

He says it wasn’t a decision he

came to quickly or lightly.

‘A LOT OF THOUGHT’ “I had been giving a lot of thought to it in the short term, and a fair amount of thought to it in the medium term, and even over the last year it has crossed my mind,” he says.

“I changed so often since last winter that one month I am going to run again, then the next month I am not.

Then down to one week I am going to then the next week I am not, and

it almost came down to from day to day.

“I was mixed on it and I decided well … that’s it.”

He says there were a number of reasons why he left politics. When asked repeatedly if his relationship with the premier was one of them, he remains vague.

“Someone might say, which straw broke the camel’s back?” Sullivan says. “But to me it was a matter of … the time has come for me. (I)

don’t want another five years. I don’t want to walk away on the eve of an election, and now’s the time for me.”

Timing was a big factor — he says he either had to leave at Christmas or stay for the budget preparation.

“You can’t have a change leading closer to a budget.”

Sullivan says he also left when he did to allow his predecessor “ample time” to prepare a new budget. He notes that in his first year as Finance minister they did not even start the process until late January.

Sullivan recounts the evening he called the premier to inform him of his decision.

He says Thursday evening (Dec. 28), he first called family members.

He had intended to call the premier around seven, but a guest came to his house and didn’t leave until nine.

“I went right to the phone and spoke to his wife and he was out of town,” says Sullivan. “I got his number. I called him at 9:15 p.m. and spoke to him until about 9:45 pm.”

Sullivan served as House leader, Finance minister, head of Treasury Board, and head of the public service secretariat (the busiest of his responsibilities, he says). When asked if he thinks he has left big shoes to fill, he is typically modest.

“I knew that whoever went in there, they were going to be busy — no doubt about that. There was a fair amount of work in the positions, but, you know, there was people filled them before me and there are people who will fill them after me.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

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JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

Eastern Health misses court deadline

F

acing a possible class-action suit over mistakes made in breast cancer testing, Eastern Health failed to meet a Dec. 15 courtordered deadline for filing affidavits.

The suit is in regards to hundreds of breast cancer samples, dating back as far as 1997, that were sent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for retesting. The results of the test — which examines hormone receptors in breast cancer cells for estrogen and progesterone — help physicians determine the course of the treatment the patient should undergo.

As a result of the retesting, 117 patients required treatment changes.

“They were supposed to file by Dec. 15 but they didn’t,” says St. John’s lawyer Ches Crosbie, who represents those taking part it the class action.

“Instead, they asked for a meeting with the case management judge on Jan. 22 and I understand they will ask for a new deadline at that point … so that’s five weeks later, and that’s just to get a new deadline.

“We can’t proceed toward the argument for certification until that’s done.”

Crosbie says it’s “not usual to ignore” courtimposed deadlines.

Meantime, Crosbie’s firm has been reviewing randomly selected charts of some of the women taking part in the action. “Four out of five we’ve looked at had reversals from negative to positive, and the one that wasn’t reversed wasn’t retested,” he says. The sample from Myrtle Lewis was not retested because the physicians in Toronto determined she had never had invasive ductal cancer, her original diagnosis. Indeed, as Lewis found out last summer, her double mastectomy may not have been necessary.

Currently, at least 45 women have signed on to be part of the class.

Daniel Boone, the lawyer representing Eastern Health, did not return The Independent’s phone calls by press deadline.

— Stephanie Porter

Paul Daly/The Independent

Keeping up with the Prairies Williams administration must ‘get creative’ to compete for new graduates: Thistle

By Mandy Cook The Independent

I

f you’re a recent Memorial graduate, the province of Manitoba wants to give you an income tax credit of up to 60 per cent of eligible tuition fees. There’s a catch, though — you must move to the Prairie province and become a tax-paying citizen.

If you have a medical degree that cost $41,329, your savings would be $24,797. If you have an arts degree that cost you $13,000, your savings would be $7,800. Anyone who graduates from a post-secondary institution recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency after Jan. 1, 2007 is eligible.

Jessica Magalios, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students, says tax credits are not the answer to students’ debt woes, but says Manitoba’s offer might sound good to some freshly minted graduates.

“Anything that can help a student deal with their debt and get on with their life, that’s what everybody wants,” she says. “The salaries in Newfoundland are quite low and when you have students graduating with among the highest fees in the country, than that’s going to be a bigger pull to the mainland than what we already have.”

Magalios says there are a number of problems with tax credits. She says they come in on the “back end” of a student’s program and do nothing to help those who have trouble paying fees in the first place. Magalios also says tax credits are only beneficial for those who earn a high salary.

“The reality is that most students don’t actually make the highest salary as soon as they graduate, in fact many of them don’t make enough to pay income tax at all,” she says. “You simply can’t make the salary you need to service it.”

NDP leader Lorraine Michael agrees that Manitoba’s offer could have a negative impact on the next generation of the province’s work force.

She also says tax credits create more financial problems than solve them.

“Tax credits, you’re talking about people having to accumulate debt first, then getting a lump sum at tax rebate time and I don’t think economically that’s a good way to go,” she says. “I think it would be better to do what we’re doing here in Newfoundland which is lowering tuition fees … and then complementing that with needs-based grants. Then students don’t accumulate a debt that then has to be taken care of and paid off in monthly payments because the costs are being cut up front.”

Opposition Education critic Anna Thistle says the Williams administration must “get creative” like Manitoba if it wants to retain Newfoundland and Labrador’s young skilled workers.

“I think by Manitoba offering this package now, our government has to look seriously at it,” she says. “We have a population at our university of 17,000 students and if Manitoba is going to offer that package out there that might make our students think twice about attending Memorial University. They might consider that, ‘If I’m going to find my job out west, why not go to university out there?’”

Magalios points out that tuition is only “part of the puzzle” because students still have to pay for housing, text books and other necessities. She says the loan system currently in place is flawed.

“You need a system that doesn’t punish the poorest such as the loan system does because the poorer you are the more loans you have to take out and the more you have to pay back in interest.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

‘Can’t forget home’ Premier awaits ‘unequivocal’ support from Manning and Hearn over equalization

By Ryan Cleary The Independent

P

remier Danny Williams may have a “cordial” relationship with Conservative MPs Loyola Hearn and Fabian Manning on fisheries issues, but strains are showing over equalization.

“I don’t know what transformation happens to some people when they go to Ottawa but people can’t forget home,” Williams tells The Independent. “They can’t forget their goal is to try and make this province basically what it should be.”

In a mid-December letter to the province’s seven MPs, the premier asked for their support in making the federal Conservative party live up to a pre-election commitment to remove nonrenewable resources from the equalization formula, and ensuring no province will be adversely effected by changes to the formula.

Three of the province’s four Liberal MPs have responded; Labrador MP Todd Russell has yet to write back. MPs Scott Simms, Bill Matthews and Gerry Byrne were firm in their support of the premier.

As an example, Simms wrote: “You may be assured that you have my full support on holding Prime Minister Stephen Harper accountable, and that he delivers on his pre-election promise.”

Manning wasn’t so definite. “As you understand this important issue is a major priority for all of us and I look forward to working with you and the provincial government on finding a solution that is positive for the people of the province.”

“I asked for clear and unequivocal support,” Williams says. “I didn’t want any soft letters coming back.

“Fabian Manning basically took a Liberal seat and converted it to Conservative, but I can tell you right now a big part of that was the commitment that his leader gave to me … as to what they were going to do (about equalization).”

Williams has the support of Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert in the fight to get nonrenewable natural resource revenues out of the equalization funding formula. In the Jan. 1 edition of Maclean’s magazine, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Williams and Calvert would have trouble persuading their fellow premiers, let alone Ottawa, that equalization should be enriched in the particular way they want.

Says Williams, “The particular way we want it is the particular way that they promised and

Premier Danny Williams

they commitment in writing. And that’s the basis on which, certainly, someone like Fabian Manning was elected.”

As for Loyola Hearn, the province’s representative in the federal cabinet, Williams says he serves on a fisheries committee with the MP and the two “haven’t had a cross word.”

The premier says it’s critical that the province and its MPs — particularly ones of the same political stripe — work together in tackling major files like equalization and the development of Labrador’s lower Churchill.

“With 500,000-plus people in the province, we should all be pulling on the same oar to deal with issues when it comes to dealing with Ottawa and the rest of the country because we are a small voice,” Williams says.

“If federal MPs are on side with me, then I work with them. If they’re off side with the province and the people or the province then obviously I’m going to take them on.”

Hearn, federal Fisheries minister, told the CBC in late December he hadn’t decided if he will even respond to the premier’s request for support.

“I report to the prime minister. I’m not subservient to anybody except the people of Newfoundland. So I’ll certainly do whatever needs to be done but I’ll do things my way.” ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

JANUARY 12, 2007

Crybabies I

wouldn’t classify Kathy Goudie as a good crier. It’s too hard to tell whether she’s suffering from physical or mental distress. She was on the TV news the other night and sounded like she was dying of a toothache. More moan than moat, but she talked her way through it, God love her. I couldn’t help but wonder whether her constituency allowance would cover a trip to the dentist. It covered her personal car insurance — twice, as we learned this week. She also double-billed for 20 restaurant receipts, stopping by all the popular spots in Town, with a few bucks set aside for a donation here and there, and a ball cap or two, or so the bills showed (see pages 8-9).

Goudie says she’s had her share of woes — three assistants who up and quit on her (it’s hard to get good help these days), and medical ailments. Life is hard, no wonder the poor thing bawled in front of the cameras. How can she be expected to manage her almost $50,000-a-year allowance on her own? Maybe Danny could use her in cabinet as a negotiating weapon against the feds — “Oh please Mr. Prime Minister, have pity on us down here in Newfieland (sniff sniff, moan moan), we’re hard done by (moan

RYAN CLEARY

Fighting Newfoundlander moan, sniff).”

That said, Kathy isn’t too bad off — she can always find a nursing job in Iqaluit (where the pay is $40,000 a year more than here) like she did last fall, in the off chance that politics doesn’t work out. If I were a voter in Humber Valley, my advice to her would be to stand up and take it like a woman.

Accept responsibility for your actions — don’t moan about it.

Kathy may be a prime example of why Newfoundland and Labrador politics is dominated by so many old white men.

John Hickey’s eyes also appeared a little watery on TV last week when he tried to explain himself, although his cheeks weren’t exactly streaked with sorrow. Most of his double billings were for office supplies (he paid $215.63 for a monthly laptop rental, which seems a tad high considering Wednesday’s flier had computer leases for as low as $26 a month). My ques-

tion is this: how could anyone not notice that they were paid twice for a $662 return ticket to St. John’s from Goose Bay or a $500 donation? If Hickey can’t handle his own expenses, how can he handle a $190 million-ayear Transportation budget?

Poor Danny. If he doesn’t have enough on his plate, he has to deal with the distraction of a spending scandal that’s causing caucus and cabinet ministers to drop like flies. Roger Grimes was right — the premier should have waited until the police and Justice investigations wrap up before reinstating Hickey to his cabinet post.

But then Danny isn’t perfect … he told me that himself this week when we made up. (Good talking to you again, Mr. Premier.) On the one hand, he has to maintain the stability of the province in the eyes of Canada and the world so we don’t degenerate into Third-World status.

The national media has already called him a tin-pot dictator and bully to Big Oil … who could blame him for wanting to get past the scandals that bog us down? What must the rest of the country think of us at all?

On the other hand, he has to let the scandal play out in its own time. Danny

also has to step back and reevaluate his leadership style, considering he’s in the midst of a mini caucus revolt.

His former cabinet star, Beth Marshall, told The Independent this week she doesn’t regret resigning.

Ouch. Loyola Sullivan won’t rule out his relationship with the premier as a reason why he quit. Ouch. Speaker Harvey Hodder is in Danny’s bad books for not telling him about Hickey’s trouble with the auditor general sooner than he did. Smack, smack.

Then there’s the disappointment that was Ed Byrne … and Hickey and Goudie. Who’s next? (Let’s not forget MPs Loyola Hearn and Fabian Manning, who aren’t exactly in Danny’s corner.)

There isn’t much depth in the local Conservative talent pool. Who could blame Danny for considering Jerome Kennedy for a cabinet post even though the voters of Quidi Vidi-Signal Hill rejected him? Danny held a news conference earlier this week to announce he was putting Hickey back in cabinet.

The premier’s final statement when he stood to leave was telling: “It’s lonely here at the top.”

Danny has to do something about that — he can’t do it alone. If ever

there was a time for new blood in our political system it is now. The only way to get out of our losing streak is to shake up the roster. Sweep the House clean and start again. Incidentally, when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, we had 36 MHAs and a population of around half a million. Our population today is about the same, with 48 MHAs. There are too many faces at the trough.

And the old guard can still do damage. John Crosbie wrote a column for Atlantic Business recently that tore into the premier for his leadership style.

“Our politicians must negotiate, not deliver ultimatums, so we end up with harmonious relations and decisions all parties can live with without looking humiliated,” wrote Crosbie of a style that didn’t exactly work for him. “We must persuade, not bully or force others to surrender or be humiliated if we are to accomplish what’s best for NL … no one will surrender unconditionally to us.”

And you’re right, Mr. Crosbie. To date, we, as a people, are the only ones who have raised a white flag and surrendered. And that’s real reason to weep. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE It’s not all about Danny Dear editor, As a Newfoundlander living in Halifax, I enjoy reading Ryan Cleary’s columns in the online version of The Independent. But over the past six months or so, they have read more like personal letters to Danny Williams than newspaper columns.

On the one hand, he has quite rightly criticized the premier in the past for letting his ego get in the way of good government, which includes maintaining a functional relationship with the local press.

On the other hand, by fixating so much on Williams himself, Cleary’s columns have actually contributed to the popular notion that it’s all about Danny.

By placing such enormous weight on Williams the leader — “our best hope,” as Cleary puts it — his Jan. 5 column only feeds the unfortunate misconception that one person can run an entire provincial government.

Jerry Bannister, Halifax

‘Forgive them not Father’ Dear editor, A new method of procuring a getout-of-jail-free card is to rob the treasury, pay up after being caught, and blame it on a clerical error. Nice and cozy if you believe it. I don’t.

Question: Why doesn’t a single invoice suffice for a service rendered?

Once the original is claimed for reimbursement there’s no way it can be claimed again. No “mea maxima culpa” from this crowd?

Forgive them not Father, they knew exactly what they were doing.

Bob Kieley, Conception Bay South

‘Air of fear on the hill’ Dear editor, Auditor General John Noseworthy is, to my mind, this province’s person of the year. His calm disposition and steady hand when under fire from both past and present political leaders puts him head and shoulders above all others. He is defusing a time bomb that has already done massive damage to our political system. Noseworthy is following the law as written by his masters who now shiver and wish he would disappear into the bowels of Confederation Building.

Lorraine Michael, cut from the same cool, clean cloth, ranks second.

Her skill in grasping and articulating with patience and grace, and her victory over an army of self-serving ants, wins her silver.

There is an air of fear on the hill.

The premier is wondering if he can govern with dark clouds hovering, with cabinet ministers and backbenchers double-billing taxpayers. It is difficult to govern in these circumstances. Also, the premier has a very thin bench. Without Tom Marshall and Tom Rideout, who carry a half dozen portfolios between them, there is little talent on the bench, based on

Auditor General John Noseworthy

the premier’s action in overburdening the two Toms.

Williams has hinted he might resign. Rideout would love that; Tom was once premier for a month, and he has proven he can handle every ministry. He has big shoulders — load him down. If he becomes too stressed, he can stand in a pickup and work it off. If the public thinks his actions a little eccentric, poor Tom can be forgiven.

Jim Combden, Badger’s Quay

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

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

Independence should have been on the table Dear editor, The Independent’s recent youth panel was a great forum for exploring ideas about our province.

That said, I found it to be a panel comprised solely of left-wing ideology. As a professed Conservative, I take issue with two of the policy proposals advocated by the panel — immigration and education.

While I respect the additions and positive contributions of immigration, we cannot rely solely on this as a means to combat out-migration and achieve population growth. The provincial government should initiate policies aimed at attaining a 2.1 birth rate, commonly known to demographers as the replacement rate. With such a small population in a huge geographical region, uncontrolled immigration could swamp the host culture.

That said, I am not xenophobic, merely a concerned citizen who has recognized the threat our demographic trend poses to our culture. That brings us to education. I cannot agree more that our grade schools need improvement, but the idea of free post-second-

ary education for all raises the important question of cost control. There would have to be a series of benchmarks student must achieve to qualify for free education. We should not allow people to freeload off the system, failing courses due to negligence and dropping courses in order to follow the road of least resistance at exorbitant cost to the taxpayer. We currently enjoy the lowest tuition in Canada with a student loan system in place, albeit somewhat flawed, that allows those determined students to attend post-secondary institutions.

Furthermore, the resistance to discuss independence from Canada acts as an ideological blinker to a full understanding of our options. What is the cost benefit? Full control over the offshore, aviation control, and free foreign policy? Have you discussed this in full? What would we lose?

Equalization, free trade, and a passport? You would be foolish not to discuss it in full.

Lick it up Dear editor, I read with great interest Ivan Morgan’s story on Shannon Tweed in the Jan. 5 edition of The Independent (Whitbourne’s jewel). I have always been a huge Gene Simmons/KISS fan, and I have always been inspired by Gene’s work ethic, and his ability to shift from the “image” of the demon to the businessman.

I sent him an e-mail before Christmas. He posted my e-mail on his website and sent a response. I am writing a book about my life, and overcoming obstacles to achieve success. The title of the book will be Gene’s advice to me, Go get ’em. If they decide to come here, I’d love to be involved in some way.

Rod Jackson, Bay Bulls

James A. Vaughan, 24 St. John’s

‘Time to stop asking questions’ Dear editor, I felt it necessary to respond to The Independent’s youth panel (Moving forward, Jan. 5 issue, final of a twopart series).

First, I want to congratulate The Independent panel for getting involved with the issues now facing Newfoundland and Labrador. At the same time, I must stress that I was somewhat disheartened by the lack of true representation for all Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Again, it was indeed troublesome for me to comprehend why the panel asked so many questions instead of answering the questions themselves. Take this comment: “Fresh ideas, innovation, and creativity should be both respected and funded.” I believe this comment came about as a result of the idea of bringing in immigrants. Based on the intelligence and bio info of each panel member, I wonder why these students are not coming up with their own creative scheme, and/or solutions that government can respect and fund. Why are they suggesting Newfoundland and

Labrador go outside for workers when they can create the jobs themselves?

I would like to relate a story to be directed to The Independent youth panel of an outport fisherman who was creative in developing a scheme that, in turn, allowed him to have two jobs to support his family.

A fisherman from Job’s Cove, Conception Bay fished from a small 20-foot boat from May to October. In late fall he would haul his boat ashore and remove the engine before he turned over the boat and settled her for winter.

During the winter months he would take the marine engine in the woods where he would set up a sawmill operation, cutting and sawing logs for building purposes, barrel making and the like.

The story is quite short, but to the point. It’s a story like this that should tell our educated young it’s time to stop asking questions and get on with the creative process that will change attitudes.

Ray Johnson, Acting chair, Community Linkages Concept Committee

Shannon Tweed

‘Superb account’ Dear editor, As an 81-year-old former weekly newspaper publisher/editor, I was impressed with Ivan Morgan’s superb account of Shannon Tweed’s experiences and accomplishments (Whitbourne’s jewel, Jan 5 edition of The Independent).

Ms. Tweed and Mr. Morgan exemplify considerable panache.

Bruce Parsons, St. John’s

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

Need a new school? Read on …

L

isa Crane of Paradise wrote The Independent last week to state her intention to fight for a new school for her children. While I have never written a column responding to a letter to the editor before, I have a little experience in this area, and I thought I would offer some advice to her and any other parents out there who think their community deserves a decent facility for their children.

I live in St. Philip’s. Many years ago, when I still had children attending elementary school, the people in our community decided our school — practically brand new — needed an extension to accommodate our growing community.

The school board agreed the school was overcrowded. Their solution was to draw an arbitrary line through the middle of our community and announce that any child living on one side of the line would continue to go to the local school, while children on the other side would be bused back to a school in St. John’s 11 kilometres away.

That, it seemed at the time, was that.

Needless to say, there was a lot of out-

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason rage. But it was unfocused anger. People were pissed off, but what was anyone going to do?

Our problem was overcrowding. The problem in Paradise is mould. The solution in both cases is money. Splitting up a neighbourhood school was not a problem for the old board — it would save money. Making parents drive all over the northeast Avalon is not a problem for the latest administration, as that doesn’t cost them either.

It costs you, and this is about your school in your community. Your community pays taxes. It deserves an appropriate facility. But to get it you have to act quickly, decisively and as one.

When you deal with the school administration — a general term I use to describe the rigid, top-down system in place — it can be frustrating dealing

with the many levels of authority: teacher, principal, school board, school board head, or minister of Education.

Also frustrating is the division of authority. I used to find the culture of authority and obedience infuriating — teachers afraid to speak out, principals muzzled by their superiors, parents afraid to speak up.

There was one comment Ms. Crane made that really got my goat. Ms. Crane noted that the school council was not “allowed” to speak out publicly unless approved by the administration. Now if this is true, then what is the point of a school council? Do they exist merely to add legitimacy — deserved or otherwise — to the actions of the principal, school board and government? I would suggest that the school council should or even must speak on behalf of the community.

The problem is getting money for a new school. The solution is pure, undiluted basic politics. Asking respectfully is not usually the best approach. We tried that. The way we got our extension (and my role in our fight was minor) was to organize. It is actually quite sim-

Politicians can ignore a lot, but they cannot ignore numbers — several hundred people willing to take time out of their busy lives to come to a meeting on a cold evening speaks volumes. ple in theory — but in practice it is tough.

Some hard-working parents and staff organized a public meeting with school board officials at the school. Then they made sure everyone went. I still remember the thin nervous smiles on the school board official’s faces as the gym filled to overcapacity. It was warm in that gym that night, warmer I dare say for the officials.

Person after person stood at the microphone and had their say. In my opinion, it wasn’t what we said as much as it was the hundreds of us who said it.

And we were all saying the same thing.

Politicians can ignore a lot, but they cannot ignore numbers — several hundred people willing to take time out of their busy lives to come to a meeting on a cold evening speaks volumes.

My advice to Ms. Crane and her colleagues is simple. Letter writing and petitions and all those methods are fine, but results come from fundamental communication. Get 500 angry people together in one room with some school board officials and I’m guessing you will see results.

My memory may be failing me, but I don’t think our MHA showed that evening. You can bet he heard about it.

The message was clear. The line was erased. Not one child was ever bused out of our community. We got our extension.

And it wasn’t an election year. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE ‘We are a people’ Dear editor, In response to some recent considerations as to the idea of nationhood, I would suggest that even if we disengage for a moment from that particular debate, one thing is clear — we are a people. Some may argue semantics, but we know who we are: distinct goes without saying, in language, culture, cuisine and more, we here are “a people.”

Several weeks ago I heard in a radio report the following statistics: 42 Canadians have died in Afghanistan (that number has since gone up), and that four of the dead were Newfoundlanders.

“Wow,” I thought, about a tenth of Canadian deaths are from this province, which carries such small political clout, but has always paid its dues in blood and hardship.

Ten per cent lost lives from a province with about only 1.5 per cent of the Canadian population. We’ve certainly pulled more than our own weight.

FUNDAMENTAL FLAW There is a Canadian Constitution, and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There seems to me a fundamental flaw in the notion of rights disassociated from responsibility, because the two are inextricably linked. We have a responsibility to abide by the laws of the country, and when we shirk or even ignore our responsibility, we abnegate or forfeit our rights.

No one should get to sweep aside or dismiss the responsibility associated with those rights. Newfoundland and Labrador has always upheld that

responsibility in spades. Then we have to put up with a seemingly recurring, demeaning judgment by the likes of a Margaret Wente because we don’t suitably match her standards for “progress” a la economic-industrial complex.

I think we should all be a little more respectful of how the daily freedoms we enjoy so much were hard won, and as Newfoundlanders, let us not forget that we’ve upheld our responsibility, we’ve fought for and paid a dear price for many of the rights that are taken for granted by many today.

And please, no one tell me that by discussing or questioning Canada’s role in Afghanistan we do not fully support our soldiers, or that those who have died have died in vain.

The opposite is true — if we do not continue to consider the validity of our role, to question our collective conscience and to maintain vigilance, then we do no better than send troops to the field and turn our backs on them.

It is our individual and collective responsibility to continually consider the right and the good, and the limits of what we can give. We do so in good conscience, even while we give our blood in the name of fighting for the rights of other people. For no change of heart, no withdrawal, no change in policy or circumstance can ever diminish the enormous contribution our soldiers have made in their undertakings of duty in our collective name.

Gayle Tapper, St. John’s

‘The best of heaven and earth’ Dear editor, This Christmas I received as a gift a CD called on this island by Cheryl Hickman from Burin. This young woman, who I had not heard of before, seems to have the best of heaven and earth — the voice of an angel and a highly trained and finely tuned one as well. Hickman is one more reminder of the incredible talent of the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Joe Butt, Toronto

Two-faced fraud Sauce, forsooth, is goosey-loose, that some, may claim, should get the noose; double standard flies the mast, as some will go and others, last.

Marching to a different drum, some thumbed their nose at every sum, and total of their gormless greed, that bred a culture of misdeed.

Half-standard mourns the working poor, who have no perks, behind the door; for those who left our purse much worse, deserve accounting’s curse, or more.

Misspending is a timeless art, that’s on display, in every part, and unwrapped parcel of this place, Denying it, is thus, two faced.

Bob LeMessurier, Goulds

A vessel takes on much too much water Jan. 5 while tied to the wharf at Purcell’s Harbour, Twillingate.

David Boyd/For The Independent

Saving the little boats of Newfoundland

T

he picture that accompanies this story speaks not of the circumstances of the particular vessel, but of the future of outport Newfoundland’s small-boat fishery.

Historically — and I see no reason to expect any change — two kinds of people have had the most input in fishery decisions.

The first group includes those who have lobbied for change to suit their individual circumstances. The second includes those who knew no more about fishery policy than the average Newfoundlander knows about wheat farming in Saskatchewan.

Individuals in the first category generally include fishermen and processors; politicians make up the second group. It doesn’t take much brainpower or insight to recognize the potential for disaster. The victims of the coupling of these two groups are rural communities and small-boat fishermen, in particular.

It is generally accepted that no one in their right mind would expect a St. John’s pee wee hockey team to play the Montreal Canadiens … they’re obviously not in the same league.

Yet, in the fixed-gear caplin, mackerel and herring fisheries, for example, the fisherman with a 22-foot speedboat or a 28-foot trap skiff is expected to compete against a 60-foot longliner.

The guys in the big boats have no sympathy for small-boat fishermen, for 500 years the backbone of outport Newfoundland, saying only that smallboat fishermen should have kept pace with the times and technology.

It appears to me that the federal and provincial governments, as well as some union officials, have bought into the belief that the small-boat fisherman is a relic of past glory days and only sentimental fools would seriously think otherwise.

DAVID BOYD

Guest column To many, better equals bigger, in the form of longliners that can sail greater distances and catch greater volumes.

In fishing villages around this province, however, small, medium and larger vessels have each had their place in the broad scheme of things. From where I sit, I want this to continue.

Measures must be taken today to ensure and solidify the future of smallboat fishermen tomorrow.

First, we must define the small-boat fishery. The term may conjure up different images to different people, but in my mind small-boat fishermen are individuals who makes their living from their homeport, fishing primarily within 20 miles from shore.

SUGGESTIONS FROM THE OUTPORT As an outport Newfoundlander who has fished or been around fishing for six decades, I have a number of suggestions to copper-fasten the small-boat fisherman’s place in the fishery.

No. 1: A recognition by government and industry of the necessity to protect the place of the small-boat fisherman.

No. 2: A recognition that the quality of the product of small-boat fishermen is generally superior, simply because of where they fish and the smaller quantities caught at any one time.

No. 3: A recognition that small-boat fisherman cannot and should not have to compete against superior vessels and technology. This can be done by granting individuals quotas (IQs) that would guarantee small-vessel owners that no matter how many larger vessels are in

the fleet, they will have their own individual quota to catch.

No. 4: A recognition by government and industry of the necessity of changing the industry focus to quality from quantity. As it stands, we are depleting our resources for a mere pittance of the gains that could be realized with an emphasis on quality and secondary processing.

No. 5: A recognition by the provincial government that small-boat fishermen must have buyers for their products.

Today’s emphasis on large vessels and fewer larger processors means that unless you are able to bring in a tractortrailer load of product at a time, no processor wants to hear from you.

No. 6: The current system must end whereby most processors refuse to buy from a fisherman unless that particular fisherman has sold his snow crab to the processor.

Last fall, for example, many smallboat fishermen were unable to sell a single squid, simply because their snowcrab buyer was not taking squid, and other buyers were only buying from their “own” fishermen. This back-door raw material sharing scheme initiated by the processors creates much stress and hard feelings among fishermen in small communities.

No retailer could refuse to sell to a person simply because that person usually patronized a competing business.

Any retailer found to be attempting such discrimination would be hauled into court, yet fish processors are at it every day with no fear of government consequences.

A failure by government and the fishermen’s union to recognize the urgency of this matter will have severe consequences for hundreds of small-boat fishermen, their families and communities.

David Boyd lives in Twillingate.

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

JANUARY 12, 2007

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9

IN CAMERA

At whose expense?

Auditor general John Noseworthy

Premier Danny Williams.

The auditor general is in the media spotlight once again. Here are the MHA expense claims in question for double-billing:

O

n Jan. 4, Premier Danny Williams called a press conference to announce he had asked Transportation Minister John Hickey to step down while an investigation was carried out into allegations he had double-billed constituency allowance claims.

Williams called another press conference on Monday, Jan 8, to announce Hickey had been reinstated, following the premier’s own investigation over the weekend.

The premier said he felt Hickey was the victim of poor accounting practices by House of Assembly staff.

That same afternoon, auditor general John Noseworthy called a press conference to release his report identifying double billings by Hickey (2004-2006, totalling $3,770) and Tory MHA Kathy Goudie (38 instances between 2004 and October 2006, totalling $3,818).

The auditor general’s findings on both MHAs are printed on these

Humber Valley MHA Kathy Goudie

pages in their entirety.

Both Goudie and Hickey insist they have done nothing wrong, and are the victims of clerical errors.

Noseworthy is required by law to report anything he finds during an audit that, in his opinion, could involve improper retention or misappropriation of public money.

Noseworthy would not say if he felt the double billings were deliberate, but did refer his findings to the Justice Department for further investigation.

The report has been forwarded to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, but the police have not yet made a decision whether they will conduct a formal investigation.

Former Liberal premier Roger Grimes entered the fray this week, saying Williams should have waited until the police investigation wrapped up before reinstating Hickey to his cabinet post. Williams has accused Grimes of playing politics. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

Williams speaks to reporters this week.

Transportation Minister John Hickey.

JANUARY 12, 2007

10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

today to remind our younger folk of how things used to be. Almost all our old buildings and replicas of older days have been torn down and destroyed. Many of us can probably remember when there used to be an old cannon in the Courthouse yard, now it’s gone — where? Carted off somewhere and dumped. Why? Make way for new modern things.

What about our heritage? Isn’t there someone somewhere who cares enough to restore these old buildings and old landmarks and leave them as they were to remind us of how things used to be?

— The Foghorn, Harbour Breton, Jan. 31, 1975

AROUND THE BAY About 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Feb. 2nd, an earthquake tremor was felt in parts of Central Newfoundland. The only damage reported included cracks in concrete basement walls, collapsed wells, dishes being shaken from shelves and broken.

— Springdale News, Feb. 13, 1969 AROUND THE WORLD An Inquest was held in this Town on Saturday last, before John Stark Esquire Coroner and a Jury of which Mr. Garratt Wall was elected foreman, on view of the body of Joseph Gonsaler, a Spanish boy belonging to the Brig Ensegnez of Valentia Captain Diego Pary. It appeared in evidence that the deceased died suddenly on board the Brig, Doctor Allan, being of opinion that the deceased died of disease of the heart and the following verdict was returned: Died by the visitation of God. — The Conception-Bay Man, Jan. 21, 1857 YEARS PAST This has been a conflicting year in the fishing industry of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is true that the Labrador fishery was practically a complete failure and some fishermen are faced with hardships because of it. But we must see to it that they are given every encouragement to carry on another year. Some of our fishermen had a very good year. They enjoyed excellent catches. They face the New Year with strength and confidence. It is not easy to get a firm foundation to the fishery and to main-

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Sir – Could you please tell me if our Town Council has any laws to stop shops in Bay Roberts from being open for business on the Blessed Sunday? Goodness knows our town is bad enough now without giving our children a poor example of the Commandment which states that “Six days shalt thou labour, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord, on which thou shalt do no labour.”

As I am not too religious myself these may not be the exact words but the meaning is the same. Yours Truly, “Ten Commandments” — The Speaker, Bay Roberts, Jan. 24, 1953

Springdale News, 1969

tain it, for so many factors over which we have no control affect it. – Aiden Maloney, Minister of Fisheries — Newfoundland Government Bulletin, January, 1970

EDITORIAL STAND Few people here today know or remember Harbour Breton of yesteryear when it was a sheltering seaport visited by ships from all over. Few landmarks remain

QUOTE OF THE WEEK The Halifax Journal states that the Bishop of Newfoundland, feeling the want of assistance in his onerous duties, has offered to give up his whole salary of a Thousand pounds a year to provide for the support of another Bishop – such true Christian nobility is rare indeed!

— The Weekly Express, St. John’s, Jan. 6, 1858

IN BRIEF Speaker speaks to premier’s remarks

Report out soon Auditor general John Noseworthy’s annual report will be available to the public before month’s end, says Nina Goudie, director of information services for the auditor general’s office. Goudie, who has been in her position since October 2006, now handles media relations for the auditor general, who in the past was known to answer his own phone.

Sullivan’s severance Speaker Harvey Hodder says former Finance minister Loyola Sullivan’s severance package will be similar to that of Ed Byrne, who resigned in November as a result of the political spending scandal.

Hodder says members are entitled to one month’s base pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 12 months. “ (Sullivan) will get a full 12 months pay of his salary as an MHA,” says Hodder. The basic yearly salary of an MHA is roughly $81,000.

Harvey Hodder

Paul Daly/The Independent

At a Jan. 8 press conference, Premier Danny Williams commented on Speaker Harvey Hodder’s failure to inform him sooner of concerns regarding double billing by Transportation Minister John Hickey. Hodder reportedly didn’t want to “ruin” the premier’s Christmas.

Hodder tells The Independent the comments were only made as an “introductory comment.”

He says he told the premier he had some information prior to Christmas, but the process at that stage had not been completed. Hodder says he apologized for not having informed him sooner.

“The comment was made as a sort of a side comment. He made an issue of it afterwards,” says Hodder.

“It certainly wasn’t meant to be anything other than a comment of greeting.”

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11

LIFE STORY

More than the governor’s wife Lady Eileen Walwyn used her status to organize and promote a number of charities

By Keith Collier For The Independent

L

ady Eileen Walwyn arrived in Newfoundland in 1936 with her husband, Humphrey Walwyn, the newly appointed governor of Newfoundland. Walwyn replaced David Anderson, who had served as governor from 1933-36.

The governor was the highest-ranking political figure in Newfoundland at the time, and the official representative of the British monarch. While he acted as head of state, chairing cabinet meetings and calling on and dissolving parliaments, the governor’s wife had a role to play too. The governor’s wife was expected to accompany her husband on official occasions, such as visits to orphanages and inspections of the police force, and to welcome foreign dignitaries.

Lady Walwyn had another focus, this one more local in scope: as the governor’s wife, she was the head of Newfoundland society. The year’s most prestigious and exclusive events would be attended or hosted by her. But Lady Walwyn’s social responsibilities went beyond throwing garden parties.

In the 1930s, the social activities of many upper and upper-middle class Newfoundland women centred around charitable clubs and societies. Lady Walwyn took over the role of her predecessor, Lady Anderson, as a social activist and charity organizer.

The Depression of the 1930s created many problems, including a high unemployment rate, falling fish prices, rising poverty and widespread discontent. Combined with a lack of trust in government, the unrest lead to several demonstrations and disturbances, culminating in the April 1932 riot.

Those in positions of power and privilege believed that something had to be done, and in the 1930s several initiatives were started to try to ease the economic burden. Many of these initiatives were driven by Lady Walwyn.

Lady Walwyn took on the job of patroness to several worthy causes, lending her support to the SPCA, Dorcas Society and the Girl Guides. It was important for these groups to have the support of such popular figures.

Lady Walwyn had the time and energy to devote to the causes, and the profile and political pull necessary to garner attention. She put a glamorous face on the organization, but more importantly, when she spoke, radio and newspapers listened.

Lady Walwyn served as president of NONIA, the Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association.

Evolving in 1924 from the Outport Nursing Association to deal with the problem of poor health services in outport Newfoundland and Labrador, NONIA was successful in bringing midwives and nurses to rural communities throughout the 1920s and 30s.

NONIA functioned in a way that would become a model for charitable organizations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Rather than depend entirely on government subsidies, women knit clothing to pay for the services of the nurses who worked in the outports. With the organizational help of volunteer committees, this created a self-sufficient, if rudimentary, health-care organization. This is similar to the way the International Grenfell Association functioned.

In 1934, the commission government took over the administration of all health care in Newfoundland and Labrador, including the NONIA nurses. Under Lady Walwyn’s management, NONIA shifted from a health-care organization to an industrial one, operating successfully and profitably for decades and paying hundreds of craftspeople.

The NONIA store still operates on Water Street.

Perhaps the most important organization managed by Lady Walwyn was the Jubilee Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador. The guild was designed to improve the quality of life in the outports by teaching handicraft skills to rural women in an effort to make them more self-sufficient.

Throughout the 1930s and ’40s, the Guild’s field workers travelled throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, teaching weaving and cooking, and promoting social and educational activities.

The efforts of women such as Lady Walwyn were crucial to the development of these organizations. Although their effectiveness in reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency is debatable, there can be little doubt about their intentions.

The generosity and genuine concern shown by Lady Walwyn was invaluable in helping Newfoundlanders and Labradorians survive a tough period of Newfoundland history. Together with women’s social and study groups, charitable organizations gave women the opportunity to fight for equality while working to improve the world around them.

Lady Eileen Walwyn spent almost a decade working with charitable groups in Newfoundland and Labrador, seeing them through the dirty ’30s and the Second World War. She was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1947 for her work, and died in London in 1973.

Humphrey and Eileen Walwyn

Centre for Newfoundland Studies

JANUARY 12, 2007

12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Not going to ‘turn into Miami’ From page 1 Though there is a range of opinion, Catto says the general consensus is the temperature will increase between two and three degrees Celsius over the next 100 years.

“So it’s not like we are going to turn into Miami,” Catto tells The Independent.

What residents in this province can expect over the next half-century depends on which part of the province they live in.

Coastal regions will be different from interiors, Catto says, because the coastline has different wind systems.

He says the existing trend of drier summers and wetter winters, especially on the west coast, should continue.

Jacinthe Lacroix, senior science advisor for climate change for Environment Canada, agrees with Catto. She says the northern hemisphere has been warming for several decades, and this will continue.

Over the next few decades the province, especially Labrador, will see a generally warmer and drier climate.

“As for storms, the Maritimes — and I include Newfoundland in this — will be getting less storms, but stronger ones,” says Lacroix. “That is one of the things that you see in many models.”

Lacroix says another effect of this warming trend will be rising sea levels.

She says the sea has risen 30 centimetres in the past 100 years and the indications are it could rise another 90 cm by the end of the century.

“This trend is due to melting ice caps and warming of the oceans — when the water gets warmer, it expands,” says Lacroix. “With stronger storm surges and no ice, you have a big potential for coastal erosion.”

Fisheries scientist George Rose says the warming of the ocean will have a profound impact on ocean and fisheries research and management, which depends on a certain amount of predictability — climate change has removed that predictability.

He says that is going to make the kind of human management — how we harvest things and how we try to conserve things — even more difficult than it has been in the past.

Rose says scientists should be making a better attempt to understand what is likely to happen because of warming, and then should decide how we should respond to get an outcome that is good for us.

“If things are going to change, we should be able, at least, to get guidelines that we can go by.”

Rose says Nordic nations like Norway and Iceland are really trying to stay on top

of this issue, but Canada — in terms of the fisheries at least — is showing little effort.

He says there may be some species that are going to benefit in our waters from climate change.

“But on the other hand, there may be some that are not and are really going to take it on the chin.”

Scientist Bill Montevecchi, who specializes in low Arctic ecosystems and is known for his research on birds, says Newfoundland is going to be an interesting place over the next few decades.

“If there was ever an opportunity to engage in climate change studies, Newfoundland and Labrador is it.” The province sits on the edge of the lowest arctic penetration in the North Atlantic, at the end of the Labrador Current, well situated to study “biological events” caused by climate change.

As the warming continues, there will be more variation in climate and conditions, and the impact on marine biology is not clear. Montevecchi says a record setting cold-water “event” in 1991 profoundly affected marine life. By 1996 the warm water was back but not the marine life.

That has taken 10 to 15 years to return.

“Physical events can throw biology out of whack for a long time. The event comes back but not the biology,” says Montevecchi.

He says these changes can be troublesome. Warm all the time or cold all the time is OK, but variability is tough on animals.

Eugene Colbourne, a physical oceanographer with the federal Department of Fisheries, says ocean temperatures, measured for the last 50 years, are close to an all time high. He says the Labrador Current is warming, and less sea ice is forming. An indication of the change, he says, is the number of icebergs.

He says the Americans have been monitoring icebergs for over a century, measuring the number that pass the 48-degree latitude mark on the Grand Banks. In 2004 they counted 262, in 2005 there was 11, and last year no icebergs were counted.

“Clearly our climate is warming,” says Colbourne A rise of three degrees over 100 years might not seem like a big deal, but as Catto points out, during the height of glaciation the temperature was an average of five or six degrees lower than it is now.

“So we’re not that far away — either way — from causing a significant change in the system.”

Next week: The effects of climate change on business iv.an.morgan@theindependent.ca

VOICE FROM AWAY

‘Be active’

Harbour Grace native Jim Northcott city councillor in Woodstock, Ont.

By Geoff Dale For The Independent

I

t’s been more than four decades since the political bug bit Jim Northcott, and the desire to serve the public has never left the Harbour Grace native.

“My political interest really started to grow when I was 18 years old and working with the young Liberals,” says Northcott, now a city councillor in the southwestern Ontario community of Woodstock.

“In my early years I was always involved in the community in some way … I couldn’t understand why people would always complain about an issue but not do anything about it.

That’s the key — if you’re concerned or have a strong opinion about something, then be active.”

He also credits the late Newfoundland premier Joey Smallwood as being an early motivator.

“He (Smallwood) believed that everyone had the power within themselves to enact change,” Northcott says. “He demonstrated that individual strength and that’s the way I’ve approached life, by being active and going after things I believe in.”

Being proactive has been a way of life for Northcott from the beginning and an attribute that has served him well — from his formative days in Newfoundland, through his accountancy studies at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute and the University of Toronto, and in his business and political interests.

Born in Harbour Grace into a family of nine (four brothers and four sisters), Northcott left the province 40 years ago in search of employment.

Following his formal training, he ended up in Toronto with International Trucks, first in truck sales and later as the sales manager for southwestern Ontario.

The latter position resulted in the move to Woodstock — the largest urban community in Oxford County.

Thirteen years ago, after a successful run with his own truck dealership, Northcott ventured into real estate. It’s

Jim Northcott

a job he maintains to this day.

Always a visible and active member of the community, Northcott has maintained a strong interest in the church, Knights of Columbus, and a variety of community-minded organizations including the local Rotary Club, the Woodstock Art Gallery Board, nonprofit housing, the Woodstock Public Library Board and Operation Sharing (an award-winning organization working on behalf of the impoverished).

While he could handily fill 24 hours a day with these pursuits, Northcott says there has always been a niggling political bug biting at his heels, urging him to stretch his already bulging schedule even further.

Northcott decided to give municipal politics a try in 2000. While he fell just short of electoral victory, his initial bid for the mayor’s seat was well supported. He followed that run up with a campaign for a councillor’s seat in September 2006.

“I came in fifth,” says Northcott, now 60. “That was just one position shy, but when longtime councillor Jack Dunn passed away last fall, I was selected the city’s sixth councillor by virtue of my finish.”

In the November 2006 election he finished fourth in a large field of candidates, capturing more than 4,000 votes and, at the end of the day, finding himself as part of the city’s six-

“I couldn’t understand why people would always complain about an issue but not do anything about it.

That’s the key — if you’re concerned or have a strong opinion about something, then be active.” member (plus mayor) council.

“This is a growing community, but when you’re a part of a council you can’t just be a one-issue councillor,” he says. “You have to work hard at securing knowledge and understanding of all issues affecting the public.

But there is one area I am particularly interested in and that’s the environment.

“We have to look at a wide range of local issues from pesticides we use both in home gardens and in our parks to housing energy costs and the vehicles in our city and surrounding district.”

Stressing the issue is not simply a venue for federal and provincial representatives, Northcott says he will strive to be a tireless worker spearheading local projects and continuously raising awareness of environmental matters both to his council colleagues and the general public.

Apparently hard work and a diversity of talents are clearly attributes shared throughout the Northcott household.

His wife Pat, originally from Carbonear, is an elementary school teacher. Their 34-year-old daughter Carol Ann is a senior economist with the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, while 30-year-old son Steven teaches mathematics and writes travel articles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 12-18, 2007 — PAGE 13

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

P

rovincial fish processors received permission to ship almost 18,500 tonnes of lightly processed fish out of province between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year, The Independent has learned.

Almost 4,992 tonnes of fish were actually shipped.

In general, fish is not permitted to be shipped out of the province until it has been processed to some extent.

But there are exceptions.

Processing exemptions issued by the provincial government require fish receive only minimal processing before leaving the province.

In 2006, exemptions included 1,884 tonnes of redfish under 300 grams (hand-sized fish weighing a little over half a pound), 61 tonnes of yellowtail flounder under 380 grams, and 10 tonnes of wild cod (“small fish that was impractical to fillet”).

Exemptions were given for a number of other groundfish species and for scallops still in the shell (although none were shipped).

Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout says exemptions are granted to allow processors to access niche markets, fetch a better price, or ensure the full utilization of bycatch — including undersized fish.

Critics such as fisheries scientist George Rose and fisheries activist Gus Etchegary say catching such small fish damages already threatened fish stocks.

Rideout says exemptions are issued by species, and the reasons can be as varied as the product.

‘Guppy sized’ Experts disagree on shipping fish outside the province for processing PROCESSING EXEMPTIONS 2006 Species

Amount Approved

Turbot Yellowtail Redfish Monkfish Greysole Cod , Hake & Pollock Cod (Farmed)

(Tonnes) 1,250 600 8,986 1,250 356 950 20

Amount Produced (Tonnes) (1) 832 61 1,884 648 355 312 20

Cod (Wild) Lumpfish Scallop Herring

20 69 300 4,654

10 0 0 870

18,455

4,992

Rationale

Mostly head-on-gutted instead of head-off-gutted - market identified for heads.

Whole frozen less than 380 grams - not economical to process into fillet form Area 3O fish less than 300 grams - too small to process into fillet form Gut tube attached instead of gut removed - Korean market requirement.

Whole instead of filleted - longstanding ethnic market; recurring annual requirement Split and pickled instead of split and salted; similar labour; new market opportunity.

Head-on-gutted instead of filleted or split and salted - to maximize farm gate revenue.

Steaked rather than filleted; small fish that was impractical to fillet Shipped before fully cured - inventory management issue Whole in shell rather than shucked - market opportunity Whole, salted in large containers for bloater market; late season sales opportunity for havesters.

1. Reported Production To November 30, 2006 Total Landings in NL, January to November, 2006 = 311,500 tonnes

Greysole, for example, is caught and shipped whole specifically for an ethnic Chinese market.

“If you go into a Chinese restaurant in Toronto you can point out the fish that you want and it will be taken

out and it will be served whole on your plate, gut and all in it — as that market requires,” he says.

Last year the province exempted 355 tonnes of greysole for that market.

— Provincial government

Rideout says all the redfish under 300 grams — a bycatch of the redfish fishery — cannot be economically processed in the province. “(For) the real small stuff — the guppy-sized stuff — there’s

Woodman’s in New Harbour (who) can and do process small redfish,” Rideout says. “They process whatever they can get their hands on. If they can handle it, then it is not allowed to go out of the province unprocessed.”

Rideout also notes that whole fish can be shipped with minimal processing to maximize market value.

Farmed cod head-on-gutted, shipped fresh, gets the best price in American markets.

In response to concerns about the catching of small fish, Rideout says the federal Department of Fisheries sets the limits for bycatch, and when they are exceeded, the fishery is closed.

Rose says there should not be any fishery for fish that size.

“No. Absolutely not. There has got to be a better way to run a fishery than that,” says Rose. “I mean particularly in the situation we are in right now. We should be doing everything we can to not be catching these fish.

I mean this is just a total waste.”

Etchegary agrees. “If they are exporting undersized fish, this is contrary to every single conservation measure on the book.”

He says this practice is undercutting any possibility of recovery of a resource that has been under moratorium for 15 years. He is especially critical of the 10 tonnes of wild cod too small to fillet that was exported.

“It has not had a chance to reproduce. It’s criminal — that’s what it is,” says Etchegary. “How bad can it get here?”

Earle McCurdy, president of the See “Small fish” page 14

The year our labour market crumbled To reverse the population trend, writes Ray Dillon, we need smart public policy and meaningful tax relief

P

unctuated by two high-profile job fairs in the capital city, 2006 closed with the realization that formidable forces are eroding Newfoundland and Labrador’s labour market, demonstrating the difficulty we have in finding the balance in labour supply and demand.

Out-migration — caused in large part by the ample supply of higher-wage jobs in western Canada and the relative lack of those opportunities here — is not necessarily an entirely new challenge for us, but it seems to be amplified these days by broader demographic pressures.

RAY DILLON

Board of Trade Here’s what is particularly startling: we’ve reached the inauspicious point in this province where natural population change is now negative.

In other words, the number of deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador is now exceeding the number of births on an annual basis. It’s always been the other way around, but that troubling crossover

has now occurred. Moreover, population projections suggest the gap created by increasing annual death rates (because our population is getting older) and decreasing birth rates will widen over time.

While it has been said that, in the hands of most people, statistics are like lampposts to drunks — used more for support than illumination — the numbers are undeniable and paint a sobering picture.

According to provincial demographic reports, the number of births in Newfoundland and Labrador dropped to

roughly 4,500 in 2004 and is projected to keep declining to less than 3,400 by the year 2020. In contrast, in 1971 there were 12,600 births in the province.

The trend is very real and will have a profound effect on the province’s population and labour market in the not-toodistant future.

And that’s not even factoring in the added impact of ongoing net out-migration from Newfoundland and Labrador.

In fact, according to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, there was an outflow of roughly 5,000 people (4,300 in net terms) from Newfoundland

and Labrador to Alberta alone during the 12-month period ending in July 2006.

That equals approximately one per cent of the province’s entire population.

Unfortunately, we can’t count on anything to change in any measurable way for at least several years — perhaps a generation or more. Newfoundland and Labrador’s population continues to age and shrink. We’re the oldest province in Canada. In general terms, the number of young and middle-aged Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are Continued on page 14

14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

JANUARY 12, 2007

YOUR VOICE Hell no, Mount Pearl won’t go Dear editor, Andy Wells has once again brought his demand for amalgamation to the forefront.

As a long-time resident of Mount Pearl, it is extremely important to me to express why the subject should be disposed of once and for all.

First of all, services. It is painfully obvious where the St. John’s/Mount Pearl border is after a major snowstorm. Mount Pearl’s snowclearing services are second to none, while the efforts made by St. John’s are less than stellar. Of course, Mayor Wells will tell you that much of this is because the downtown core of St. John’s is so difficult to clear, having to cart the snow away. While that may be so, amalgamation won’t make the problem go away. I also submit that’s a small price to pay for St. John’s to have such a lovely, historic, scenic downtown area that draws tourists from

all over the world. It seems that all Wells wants is a broader tax base so that he may spread the costs to residents of Mount Pearl.

Beyond snowclearing, Mount Pearl enjoys other services that outrank St. John’s — garbage collection, recycling, our Frosty Festival, and most important to me, our amazing recreational programs. If anybody has even so much as driven through Mount Pearl, they will have noted the number of playgrounds, sport fields, arenas and walking trails.

And we pay less in taxes for the simple reason that the city is efficiently managed.

Our city council meetings are respectful and business-oriented rather than personality-based, mud-slinging melees. We have a civic pride in Mount Pearl as is evident from the neighbourhood challenge during the Frosty Festivals. We’re proud to say

where we’re from — at least I am.

As for this business of “subsidizing” Mount Pearl, I’m not sure where Mayor Wells is coming from. Do we not operate as separate entities? Doesn’t Mount Pearl pay for the services we share such as usage of the landfill and the water supply? We have our own fire station. We may not have a hospital, but aren’t hospitals run by the province? Or is the mayor simply referring to the brown baggers wearing out his roads? That, to me, is a simple by-product of being the capital city. Yes, many people in Mount Pearl work in St. John’s but the opposite is also true. And the Mount Pearl residents who work in St. John’s pay dearly for parking. We purchase lunches, gas, and sundry items every day we’re there.

Much of our shopping is done in St. John’s, supporting their business community. So the benefits go both ways.

As for the issue that has brought this whole idea back into the media — the piece of land that Mount Pearl has requested from the province. As it stands, St. John’s has hemmed Mount Pearl in so tight we have nowhere to expand. This is probably the last piece of viable land left. As far as I know, and stand to be corrected, the land is owned by the province and possibly the federal government. I believe Mayor Wells said St. John’s wouldn’t give it up without a fight. How can you give something up if you never had it? Wells said the land, once developed, would generate millions in tax revenue. But just because St. John’s is the capital city and the biggest kid on the block, why does it necessarily follow that everything within miles around belongs to them?

Wells wants the amalgamation of Mount Pearl, Paradise and St. John’s. Will it stop

there? Will he then complain that CBS is separate? How about the towns and villages to the east of St. John’s? I know people who commute to St. John’s from as far away as Norman’s Cove. Will he start pushing for amalgamation of the entire Avalon Peninsula?

I do hope the provincial government will make a decision once and for all. Williams has said he would not force towns and cities to amalgamate. Let’s hold him to his word. And if it’s a question of whether the residents of Paradise and Mount Pearl want to amalgamate, then let’s waste some money, have a vote and get the actual numbers. There’s not a single doubt in my mind what the result will be. We want our own identity, our own services, our own civic pride, our own city.

Deborah Burton, Mount Pearl

human tragedy of historic proportions.

But it is a significant part of the answer, along with population control and a sincere political will to do something about it. Let’s hope it’s not left to call centres to do the work, and that it doesn’t take 50 years to change what is nothing short of a moral disaster.

We must collectively find a way forward that includes growing our own protein — marine-based and otherwise.

Let’s not turn this into a single-species debate along the way. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that this is all

about the politics of salmon. Aquaculture is a great deal more than growing salmon. I hear no one speak for the mussels, the catfish, the shrimp, and the numerous other species that can be cultured. In time this industry will go to the prosperity of the producers and, coincidentally, the stomachs of the starving.

But watch out for the salmon purists; they are a devoted and born-again group, and I sense that is at the bottom of the current aquaculture debate.

Robert Rowe, St. John’s

‘Watch out for the salmon purists’ Dear editor, A recent letter to the editor, Aquaculture is madness (Jan. 5 edition), suggested David Suzuki’s website for the definitive word on aquaculture. Is this the same Suzuki who withdrew his financial support from a post-graduate program because he didn’t like the nature of the research? Suzuki is a television star and has been for years. It’s not that Suzuki has not made a valued contribution to the environmental debate; he certainly has. But we’ll make our own decisions on the subject and reference a good

deal more than David Suzuki in the process.

The aquaculture naysayers present numerous problems, many of which seem quite legitimate. But if we gave up at the first sign of a problem or technological challenge, cockroaches would rule the world, and still might outlast us all.

As a child I remember quite well that a large part of my diet was hunted and gathered. Sixty years later virtually none of it is and I don’t feel any less for it.

Now read this carefully all you naysay-

ers: We are becoming progressively less hunters and gathers. Fifty years from now it won’t exist at all.

Voices on both sides of the aquaculture issue can haggle until the cows come home — cultured cow by the way, not wild one. You know the one ... the one with an udder the size of a large beach ball and teats that tickle the grass. But consider this: a child dies of starvation and disease every two or three seconds somewhere in the world.

Food productivity is not the only answer to this moral dilemma, this

Small fish From page 13 Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ Union, says that the total amount exported under exemption is a small percentage of the 311,500 tonnes of product landed in the same period.

He says in the case of catches like redfish under 300 grams, it is impossible not to catch some small fish with the large.

“You can put in a rule saying small fish aren’t allowed to swim into the net but they probably won’t obey that,” he says.

McCurdy says the only way to have zero catch of the small stuff is to have zero catch of everything, and he says that makes no economic sense. He says it is important to try and minimize undersized catches, and utilize that bycatch economically.

The biggest concern McCurdy

Rideout also notes that whole fish can be shipped with minimal processing to maximize market value. Farmed cod head-on-gutted, shipped fresh, gets the best price in American markets. has with the exemption process is a lack of transparency. He says a coordinated market approach and transparent decision-making process would allow people to know what the underlying factors

for any decision are.

“How many tonnes of yellowtail or redfish or whatever were landed and processed? Does this amount to 50 per cent, or five per cent or 0.5 per cent of the amount?” he asks.

“Depending to the answer to that question you either have a problem, a significant problem, a minor problem, or no problem at all.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

No winning combo right now From page 13

MCP Re-registration reminder

mcp

NEWFOUNDLA

ADOR ND AND LABR Medical Care Plan

JANE DOE 0 000 000 000 00 /03/2011 Card Expires: 31 Birth Date 11/11/1966

Gender F

Valid From 01/04/2006

in decline, while older age groups are expected to make up a growing proportion of the population as time goes by.

Barring an unprecedented turnaround in our rate of procreation, natural population change in Newfoundland and Labrador will apparently stay below the break-even mark for at least the foreseeable future.

That begs the question: how might we tweak the net migration equation to result in positive numbers?

Changing migration trends can’t be that simple. But the reality is that any population growth we might hope to achieve in the future likely depends on whether we can somehow begin reversing (or at least minimizing) the outflow of people from this province, so that net in-migration counterbalances our natural population deficit.

“Smart” public policy plays an important role in addressing this challenge.

Government policies must be responsive to the effects of demographic change, and we have to take into account our economic development strategies and the future labour demands of key industries.

Various steps are being taken: labour market development initiatives, a skills task force, a yet-to-be-released immigration strategy, and so on.

But we can do a lot more to address labour market gaps; to identify potential improvements to the province’s education and training systems, including post-secondary trades programs; and to provide more reasons for people to stay in or move to Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have to look at the big picture factors that determine where people choose to live, work and raise their families.

How do we stack up against other provinces and jurisdictions when it comes to these factors?

The employers who want to attract and retain workers might offer incentives to gain an advantage. But we also have to be realistic in terms of how high wages can go. We can’t expect to get to Alberta levels.

When it comes to cost of living measures, Newfoundland and Labrador is attractive on many counts. But I would argue our tax regime acts as a major disincentive to living here. If taxes are a main factor determining where people choose to locate, shouldn’t we ensure

our personal income tax levels, and other forms of taxation in which Newfoundland and Labrador is less than competitive, are enhanced?

The provincial government recently announced changes to permit pensioners to split eligible pension income among senior couples so that they can save on income taxes. I’m not knocking that — but government needs to go a lot further in providing broad-based reductions if effective, meaningful tax relief is the objective.

How many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will want to come home and how many new immigrants will choose this province based on our current tax regime?

The way things are trending, Newfoundland and Labrador will increasingly become known for its small, older population, chronic labour shortages, high per capita service delivery costs (namely healthcare), and high taxes on individuals.

This is hardly the winning combination for economic competitiveness and productivity in the 21st century.

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

The Department of Health and Community Services is conducting a re-registration of the Medical Care Program (MCP) and is asking all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador to register for a new MCP card.

The response to this initiative has been tremendous. Over 430,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have re-registered for their new MCP card and over 290,000 cards have been issued to date. Those who have completed their forms will receive their new cards in the coming months. If you have not done so already, it is important that you complete a re-registration form and return it to the MCP office as soon as possible. Cards issued prior to May 2006 will not be valid after April 1, 2007.

You’re busy, your phone shouldn’t be.

Forms are available from MCP offices in St. John’s and Grand Falls-Windsor at the addresses listed below. Forms are also available in physician’s offices and on the Government website at www.gov.nl.ca/mcp. Forms can also be obtained by contacting MCP at either of the numbers listed below.

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www.gov.nl.ca/mcp

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

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15

Toronto’s growth to beat Calgary in 2008: Report Immigration patterns favour Ontario city Tara Perkins Torstar wire service

G

Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs holds the new iPhone in San Francisco, California January 9.

REUTERS/Kimberly White

Apple upsets Canadian users No TV or movies on iTunes store here means new gadget’s value is limited

By Surya Bhattacharya Torstar wire service

O

nly days after one of the biggest announcements in consumer electronics history, Apple lovers in Canada are already venting their frustration at the lack of video content on iTunes.

At the MacWorld conference in San Francisco Tuesday, Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Inc. announced the launch of the iPhone and Apple TV — a set-top box — that enables wireless transfer of downloaded content from iTunes, including music videos, TV shows and movies to a TV set.

Available in February, pre-orders for Apple TV in U.S. and Canada started Jan. 9. But the Canadian iTunes store does not offer downloads

of TV shows and movies, which limits Apple TV functions in Canada.

“It makes me unhappy. I am a big Mac fan. I buy almost everything Mac, but this makes me feel like a have-not,” said Paul Jarvis, who runs a Web design agency in Vancouver. “I thought it was awesome and then I realized we were not included.”

While the iPhone will be available in the U.S. by June, in Europe by the end of the year and Asia by 2008, no release dates have been announced for Canada. Nadir Mohamed, president and chief marketing officer for Rogers Communications, said the company’s GSM capability puts it in a “very good position” to become an iPhone vendor here.

In the United States, iTunes offers about 250 movie titles, and yesterday Apple announced a deal with

Paramount Pictures that will add another 100 titles.

“The whole problem is that Apple is new to the content businesses,” said Markus Giesler, assistant professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

“Otherwise it will remain a shelf warmer if integration with iTunes store is not there.”

Although 45 per cent of households in Canada download music, 25 per cent watch videos online, and 18 per cent claim to download videos, the market is just not big enough to attract the attention given to the U.S., reports Yankee Group, a research firm.

But Mac lovers such as Jarvis feel jilted by Apple. “I think they get to getting things to work in Canada when they can. It’s not a huge priority.”

reater Toronto’s economic growth should surpass Calgary’s in 2008, largely thanks to immigrants, says the Conference Board of Canada.

“In terms of economic growth, I think you guys will beat them by 2008,” says Mario Lefebvre, director of the Conference Board’s metropolitan outlook service.

The main factor for that conclusion is population.

Population growth in the Toronto census metropolitan area has been averaging a strong two per cent per year, mostly because of international migration, he said. “When you have two per cent population growth to start, you are never going to be in trouble for too too long.”

International migration to Calgary has remained modest, he says, and the huge rise in home prices is expected to dampen the number of Canadians who move there.

“Calgary’s attraction power is declining.”

In recent years, the strong Canadian dollar has hurt Toronto’s manufacturing, tourism and transportation industries, the board said in its Winter 2007 Outlook.

Toronto’s economy grew by an average of 2.9 per cent per year between 2003 and 2005, well short of its potential. Last year, growth dipped to “a disappointing” 2.3 per cent.

About 36,000 manufacturing jobs were cut in Toronto in 2006, as output contracted by about 1.2 per cent.

“Transportation, storage and communications output increased by a modest two per cent in 2006,” the report states. “At the same time, output in the commercial services sector, which includes tourist-oriented

industries such as accommodation and food, eked out 1.4 per cent growth.”

Toronto’s economy is expected to grow by 2.9 per cent this year, as things get a bit better.

Manufacturing should get a boost, thanks partly to Ford’s Oakville assembly complex, which has begun making the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, and Bombardier’s production of the Q-Series turboprops at its Downsview plant.

While manufacturing output is forecast to increase, the sector is not expected to stop shedding jobs until 2008. “The transportation and tourism industries are expected to enjoy somewhat better days in 2007, thanks to increases in the number of domestic and overseas travellers, which will help offset continued declines in the number of U.S. tourists,” the report adds.

The modest economic pickup in 2007 should mean more jobs for Torontonians. Job growth is expected to accelerate slightly from 1.3 per cent last year to 1.6 per cent this year.

“Fortunately, better economic growth results are in the cards over the medium term,” the report adds.

Employment and housing starts remain relatively strong in Toronto, and that bodes well for consumer spending, Lefebvre says. “If people are buying homes it’s usually not because they’re depressed. That’s when they buy boxes of chocolates.”

The housing sector is gliding toward a soft landing following the boom from the late 1990s to 2003.

New home building is expected to remain fairly steady, at about 39,000 starts, after dropping to 38,100 last year.

The Conference Board expects Toronto’s economic growth to grow by about four per cent on average between 2008 and 2011.

16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

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INDEPENDENTLIFE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 12-18, 2007 — PAGE 17

Liz Pickard

Paul Daly/The Independent

All roads lead to the stage For writer, musician, activist and mentor Liz Pickard, the independent music scene has become a career

By Anshuman Iddamsetty For The Independent

L

iz Pickard has only one goal for the New Year: To “make art, right now.”

For the prolific St. John’s indie-rocker, multimedia artist, show organizer, and occasional drummer, it’s an easy resolution that won’t require either a gym membership or a nicotine patch to fulfil.

Well-spoken yet disarmingly selfdeprecating, it’s hard to believe that the

pixie-like and cryptically scattershot Pickard is one of the hardest working women in the St. John’s independent music scene.

“I’ve been at it for so long … the (indie scene) has become a 20-year career,” says the 39-year old Pickard, not sure whether to laugh — or sigh in relief.

When not performing solo or with her band The Black Bags or hitting the drums with Give’r, Pickard is always, compulsively, at work.

“It’s been a thrill for me ... I just wanted to be part of that punk thing, back in the mid-’80s.”

Her latest efforts are focused on the Independent Artist Co-operative’s upcoming third annual Rock Can Roll Independent Music and Video Festival.

“It’s designed to be a successful and inclusive forum for artists to play and talk together, discussing their common interests … and just help people collaborate with each other,” says Pickard, who as a member, also moonlights as

the co-operative’s spokesperson. “It’s also (there) to simply highlight our art scene.”

Steeped in infamy, the co-operative’s first festival in 2005 brought punk rock icon Ian MacKaye — legendary activist and singer of such influential punk bands as Minor Threat and Fugazi — to Newfoundland. Young punks high-fived each other furiously.

Running Jan. 26-28, this year’s festival See “The closest,” page 19

Mellin’s camp St. John’s, the once and future city Suburbia represents a set of tragic choices that we made collectively.

— James Kunstler

O

n Dec. 31, I sat beside Dr. Robert Mellin on the top floor of a friend’s residence on Bond Street while the old year was being given the last rites. Designed by Mellin, an American-born St. John’s architect, the house we were in earned him one of his six Southcott awards, presented by the Newfoundland Historic Trust for excellence in heritage preservation. (Besides being a well-awarded architect, Mellin is also an accomplished writer: his book on Tilting, Fogo Island, received the 2004

SUSAN RENDELL Screed and coke Winterset Award.)

As fireworks strobed across the harbour at the third-floor window like monster psychedelic jellyfish, Mellin expressed his deep satisfaction with the contours of the city below us with the air of a man describing a wellloved dog lying at his feet. If it had been possible, I think he would have reached down and run an affectionate hand over rooftops lit by the rockets’ red — and orange, blue and pink —

glare.

Mellin, an associate professor of architecture at McGill University, is speaking to me from Montreal a couple of days after baptizing the new year in the house he recreated along traditional lines after the original was destroyed by fire. (Besides making a wonderful new home for my friend, Mellin adopted a survivor of the conflagration — a lone goldfish found swimming in an aquarium in the badly damaged adjoining house a week after the blaze.)

Originally from Pittsburgh, Mellin says he has been “fascinated” by See “A place of,” page 18

Dr. Robert Mellin

Paul Daly/The Independent

JANUARY 12, 2007

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

GALLERYPROFILE

‘A place of congenial congestion’ From page 17 Canada since boyhood: one set of grandparents homesteaded in Alberta at the turn of the last century. Invited to the province to play bass with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in 1973, he’s considered St. John’s home ever since. “I enjoyed the visit so much … I loved the city.”

A city he refers to more than once during our conversation as “a place of congenial congestion,” his voice gently carving it into a term of endearment. Mellin is a prominent chevalier of the provincial capital, lover and defender of its “memorable character.”

Repackaging Newfoundland culture CRAIG FRANCIS POWER

Conceptual artist

C

raig Francis Power’s name keeps popping up. The 32-yearold St. John’s native may have a few years of experience and a degree from Nova Scotia School of Art and Design under his belt, but it was with the advent of his critical blog that he became known outside the inner circles of local conceptual artists.

In a small town where offering an honest opinion about a fellow artist’s work might be tricky to navigate — or even weaken the chances of securing that next grant — Power’s website provides a forum to freely speak one’s mind.

“There are disagreements all the time and I think that’s good and healthy for any community to have debate,” he says. “There’s only been a few people angry with me. They understand it’s nothing personal, it’s just one guy’s opinion.

“That’s pretty good because I was expecting to be ostracized and stoned,” he laughs.

Whereas Power will post his comments and opinions publicly, the web log allows others to do so anonymously, without fear of reprisal from artists who may be their friends or future employers. It is a novel idea, especially considering the expressed need amongst the arts community for more public critical voices.

Power says an open dialogue is crucial for the health of any community,

and that artists should be at the forefront. He says it is the artist’s role to comment on what’s going on around and be critical of themselves and other artists and the culture they exist in. He says debate is especially important in the province right now because of how Newfoundland and Labrador’s culture is being packaged to potential customers.

“Many times I find here that there are a lot of artists that make prints and paintings that feed into the type of culture that the government is interested in propagating,” he says. “And that’s fine, but I think there needs to be a debate around what culture means here … and how that culture represents the people here and what’s happening here and now. It’s not just a quaint simple thing that can be sold to tourists.”

A conceptual artist, Power is currently working on an installation piece to be presented at The Rooms. Presently in the maquette phase, or miniature scale model, it consists of simple, corrugated cardboard cut-outs of spruce trees and a cabin. Backlit to create an atmospheric silhouette, the sharp lines create a quiet scene of a tranquil wood.

The final product will see the pieces constructed in large scale, with eightfoot trees towering over the little house. Viewers will be able to walk through the space and peer into the window and see Power, on film, taking a walk through the real woods.

Interestingly, his jumping off point was the cardboard.

“It’s seemingly worthless, it can be incredibly strong depending on how

it’s put together as a box but also appears to be flimsy and weak,” he says. “I’m interested in that idea of something that’s sold about Newfoundland that it’s very pristine and wild and coming up with a metaphor of how this product — wilderness — has become increasingly packaged and commercialized.”

When asked why conceptual art is difficult for some to understand, Power responds by saying even he is frustrated by the majority of conceptual artists and disregards the bulk of it. He says conceptual art should be a tool for communication and that a lot of it “doesn’t really communicate to anyone except those up in the ivory tower,” or art purists.

Power likes to involve viewers in the whole experience, whether through an installation, the use of video, or through the characters he constructs.

He says his miniature forest scene is meant to provoke thought about how neither aspect — the cardboard nor the video — is an accurate representation of reality or the province’s cultural reality, just as Power differentiates between what he calls the “official and unofficial” culture of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Culture also has something new to say and different than what the government has to say on the television commercials.”

Craig Francis Power’s blog is found at http://artinnl.blogspot.com/ mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

UNDERSTANDING YOUR OH&S LEGISLATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES PREVENTION WORKSHOP SERIES - LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION

This practical workshop will provide senior managers with an overview of legislative requirements relating to the management of their occupational health and safety program. Participants will gain knowledge of: federal and provincial legislation; þ Bill C-45: Implications on Management of Companies; þ the general duties of employers and workers; þ underlying principles of OH&S legislation: internal responsibility þ system and due diligence; the elements of an OH&S program; þ a strategic, effective OH&S policy; þ the importance of employer participation in an OH&S program; þ demonstrating commitment and leadership; þ cost-benefit analysis for health and safety; and þ practical exercises involving due diligence, recent court decisions þ involving safety violations, and an effective OH&S policy.

Location l St. John’s, Holiday Inn Tuesday, January 16 Wednesday, January 17

Workshop time 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

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PRIME

rental emporium, Capitol Video. “Tim and Joe (Conway, the owners) know every single movie. One night I asked for ‘the movie that has the Labrador dog in it.’ Joe immediately went and got it off the shelf. ‘You always do that,’ I said. And a big round of applause broke out from the rest of the clientele.” Mellin also likes the fact that his dog is welcome at the video store, where the brothers Conway give out canine treats along with handpicked movies and home-grown banter.

The Georgetown Bakery is another community centre, a place for people to gather and converse as well as buy fresh, healthy food, he says — although some people objected to the operation initially. Why? “Morals can be corrupted by buying a loaf of bread,” is his tongue-in-both-cheeks answer.

Mellin says some people don’t like his version of the future. People who prefer lots of space around their homes and like to drive RVs. But the new trend is away from urban sprawl — a configuration predicated on massive fuel consumption — and towards mixed-use, semi-self-contained communities, which employ residents and produce at least some of their own goods. “Public transit — legs! Pleasant variety — delight in the way we do things.”

HOTEL PROPOSAL In 2006, his drawing of a proposed new hotel for the Battery, based on plans he acquired from city hall, was widely circulated. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand obscure marks on a piece of drafting paper. The public outcry at what appeared to be a cross between the Creature from the Green Lagoon and a giant sardine tin sitting on top of the Narrows caused the project to disappear — at least for now.

I ask Mellin what changes he thinks 2007 will bring to the shape of his hometown. Not just the coming year: how does he foresee the future of St. John’s — a city, he tells me, that was seriously considered for designation as a United Nations Educational, ‘RENT A SHEEP’ Scientific and Cultural Organization Hot topics right now, he tells me, are (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in the urban vegetable gardens and urban early 1970s? animal husbandry. Some American “Things will still get worse for quite cities, such as Seattle, are using goats a while,” he says. Worse to Mellin and sheep to keep areas next to highmeans more unfortunate planning ways tidy — low tech, low pollution, decisions, which continue to corrupt low cost. “Rent a sheep!” says Mellin, the St. John’s UNESCO once consid- laughing. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to have your grass ered worthy of honmowed by a sheep?” ouring and protect(Yes, it would. I’d ing.

“We are not looking have to run it by the That St. John’s, cats first, though.) says Mellin, was into the future far The rejuvenation prized for its archienough in terms of the downtown tectural simplicity pleases Mellin enorand integrity, “the of planning. We mously. “All the town as an ampithenew businesses, atre, with only need to take better Auntie Crae’s, the important public coffee shops … the buildings on its skycare of what we LSPU Hall, the line, such as the Eastern Edge Basilica, and the have, value the Gallery — gritty and wilderness area ingredients. For now subversive — where around it.” art is made rather So why all the carand for the future.” than displayed. I see nage — the woundyoung people going ed skyline, the Dr. Robert Mellin back, and I see that destruction of wild as really encouragplaces, the lily-gilding. ing of luxury renos “About 10 or 15 years ago it was (which Mellin calls “death by affluence — sanitize and erase the charac- absolutely devastated, old business ter”)? Do we have substandard city closing, losing their trade to the malls planners, graduates of some six-month … several mayors of this city would Lego course? Mellin is quick to cor- have liked to see nothing better than wholesale demolition.” rect me.

St. John’s, it seems, has something “People like Ken O’Brien (the city’s manager of planning and information) in common with poet Don Marquis’ are very, very aware of recent trends in creation Mehitabel the cat: “There’s a urban development, very knowledge- dance in the old dame yet.”

A couple of hours after I spoke with able about the issues,” he says. “But Andy Wells and other councillors Mellin, I found an online article on St. couldn’t wait to have our own token John’s from the Sept. 2, 1990 edition high rises, to be like every other city.” of The New York Times, part of which What we used to have, Mellin con- was a lament for the damage done to tinues, was “unique, invaluable and the city’s unique character. dramatic. The local character and the “A huge section … torn down to history seems to be disappearing, not make way for a concrete City Hall of only for the architectural but also for monumental ugliness … several new the cultural landscape.” and criminally uninteresting office Mellin is chair of the Heritage buildings … (blocking) the view of the Foundation of Newfoundland and harbor from several perspectives. The Labrador. “Some might say, ‘All they Paramount Theater, a beautiful art are is antiquarians,’” he says. But dur- moderne movie palace … wrecked to ing our conversation, he presents a make way for a dramatically dull govsolid case against his architectural phi- ernment structure.”

The article was written by Lawrence losophy being a product of nostalgia.

The way of the past, Mellin says, O’Toole, great-great-great nephew of will also, to some extent, be the way of Captain William Jackman, who swam the future. The world is facing a glob- out to the wreck of the Sea Clipper 26 al energy crisis, and, in the long run, times in an autumn gale on the coast of the industrial/suburban model won’t Labrador in 1867 to rescue passengers be viable. “We are not looking into the and crew. Just as it was thought all were future far enough in terms of planning. saved, someone told Jackman there was We need to take better care of what we a woman still on board. “With God’s have, value the ingredients. For now help, we will save her,” Jackman said.

And he went back into the sea for the and for the future.”

The future, according to Mellin, will 27th time, eventually coming ashore look something like old St. John’s — with the woman on his back. or even one of Mellin’s favourite conWith the help of people like Robert temporary St. John’s neighbourhoods, Mellin, we might still be able to save Georgetown, where he lives with his our Lady of the Harbour from a sea of wife and two daughters. the short-sighted, the greedy, the careOnce the centre of the carriage trade, less. From here, I can only hope that Mellin says it has retained the mixed- next New Year’s Eve I’ll be enjoying use character — residential, commer- the fireworks from my friend’s cial and light industrial — typical of upstairs window without having to old cities, and likely the cities of the peer around someone’s architecturally future. Private residences cheek-to- realized erection. jowl with auto body shops, a brewery, artists’ studios, the Georgetown Susan Rendell is a freelance writer Bakery, a pub — and a user-friendly and editor living in downtown St. video store.

John’s. Her collection of short stories, “You know it’s not Blockbuster In the Chambers of the Sea, was pubwhen you go in there,” says Mellin, lished by Killick Press in 2003. referring to downtown’s favourite film srendell@nf.sympatico.ca

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19

NOREEN GOLFMAN

I guess, when General Rick “MUN graduate” Hillier invites you to come along and share the joy ride you have to join up faster than you can say “Bob Hope is dead.”

Standing Room Only

B

etween mouthfuls of fruitcake and blissful stretches of catchup sleep, you couldn’t ignore the war (oh, sorry, is that peaceful restoration work?) in Afghanistan during the holiday season if you tried.

On the one hand, you were given licence to let go and savour slow food, idle afternoons, and the constant pleasure of friends and family — in other words, fully appreciate the privileges of life in the West; on the other hand, you were constantly reminded of Our Boys out on patrol, eating reconstituted turkey in the Afghan desert — in other words, invited to feel guilty for not chowing down sand and fighting the war on terror.

Every time you opened a newspaper or listened to the news, especially on the CBC, you were compelled to reach for the box of tissues. If it wasn’t a story about some poor sod’s legs being blown off then it was an extended interview with some dead soldier’s parents. Indulging in another bite of dark chocolate was meant to be more painful this year. Here, have a plate of guilt with your second helping, my dear, and pass the self-reproach.

Amidst all the cranked up sentimentality and the daily barrage of stories from the likes of reporter Christie “one of the boys” Blatchford or Peter “not exactly on the front lines” Mansbridge, The Globe and Mail’s television columnist, John Doyle, dared to question the nature of the coverage. Doyle openly wondered, as is his right and responsibility, what in the world the public broadcaster was doing, let alone his own privately owned newspaper, devoting so much mawkish attention to the Canadian troops?

It’s one thing to pay full respect to the men (and some women) who have chosen a life in uniform and are therefore more or less voluntarily enduring punishing conditions, risking their lives many thousands of miles away from the comforts of home.

It is another to report on their presence in that unfamiliar place without so much as a hint that they don’t belong there, that the campaign to restore order and keep the Taliban from returning to power might be doomed, that blood is obviously begetting blood and that Canadians, and especially the Newfoundlanders who comprise such a disproportionate percentage of the overseas troops (compare with the number of African-Americans fighting

Brigadier General Tim Grant, Commander, Joint Task Force Afghanistan, serves comedian Rick Mercer Christmas dinner at Strong Point West.

General Rick Hillier is in the background.

Capt. Edward Stewart photo

Blowing in the wind … in the doomed project of Viet Nam), are destined to return in body bags.

Shouldn’t we — the media, our public intellectual, citizens in general — at least be questioning, not merely glorifying or going sloppy over this fact?

Any time anyone questions the coverage, as Doyle did and as this column is venturing to do, you can practically hear the rage mounting in the neck veins of the military huggers.

Peter Mansbridge threw a public

hissy fit, obviously protesting too much. And Doyle told his readers that he’d been receiving some pretty nasty hate mail after his columns in December, not surprising, really, when you consider how defensive people are about the troops. I expect I’ll get some ugly stuff, too. It is a trite irony that you are chastised for daring to question the purpose of the military mission when that very mission is allegedly about restoring democracy and free-

POET’S CORNER Act of Contrition The window is her first station of the cross, each morning she pauses to measure the life contained within its frame.

in the basket of their ribs when they meet their mother she tells them only this:

there are two birds on a wire that hums

you will know exactly where to go, when to love the things you should love, when to abandon flight.

tiny as pepper potent with truth, perfect biology everything tender held

By Kristine Power, St. John’s

‘The closest thing to actual magic’ From page 17 promises to explore the issues of funding that dog most artistic communities.

“It’s been insane, but we have a really dedicated group at its helm,” she says of the preparations for the event.

In 2006, Pickard led the co-operative in a high-profile debate with St. John’s City Hall over the building on Syme’s Bridge Road, which had been turned over to the co-operative as an artists space a few years ago. Last year, council — claiming the organization had not lived up to its end of the bargain — took back control of the property.

“It was all about real estate, nothing else, and all their ‘support’ meant nothing,” she says. The co-operative continues, though, without a headquarters, “we’re pretty spread out now. There’s some studio space we share on Water Street for office work ... Otherwise we just jam in various places.”

Pickard’s most rewarding work, however, remains Rock School for Girls; a series of workshops Pickard cofounded with colleagues Cherie Pyne and Rhiannon Thomas that aim to empower aspiring girls to be the next Siouxie Sioux or Beth Ditto.

Mentoring young musicians was an easy fit for Pickard.

“It’s really wicked … I can’t describe how it feels to see all-girl bands appear on the scene,” she says. “Young women adopting the ‘Riot Grrl’ ethic …

Though it’s an old movement, the principles still remain at work and are brand new to the young people growing up — those ideals were very big in the formation of the school.

“I can’t describe how it feels to see all-girl bands appear on the scene. Young women adopting the ‘Riot Grrl’ ethic … ” Liz Pickard “What I love is the sense of entitlement, and I mean that in a good way.

When young women arrive on the scene now they assume there’s a place for them … Back then, I was far more timid.

“One of the biggest components was to just define things … ‘this quarterinch cable goes into that input jack,’ it’s very basic but I wanted to disseminate that.”

Outside of her near-rabid contributions to the independent music scene, Pickard manages to work on other personal projects. Her first piece of fiction will be published this month in a Vancouver-based feminist journal called Room of One’s Own. “Don’t ask me how I found the time,” she says with a laugh.

Her artistic exploits don’t limit themselves to the analog world either. She’s tried her hand at the Internet’s virtual reality continent of SecondLife — a three-dimensional world built and

owned by its “residents,” which currently number more than two million.

“I’ve joined a performance art collective that exists only online on Linden Lab’s incredibly popular SecondLife (SL)… People’s eyes usually glaze over this when I mention it,” she says.

“We just did a performance piece in a gallery space inside SL called Ars Virtua, it was really well-attended from people all over the world.”

The digital dabbling has allowed Pickard to take her multimedia installation pieces to an audience of more than one million people.

Faced with such a diverse portfolio of work, Pickard found the hurdle wasn’t the brimming creativity, but the search for a title to shoehorn it all under.

“It’s very weird. There’s something to be said when a person asks, ‘Well what do you do?’ I write and I play in bands and I work in video … I say it all comes back to the live performance ...

That one theatrical aspect of life; I consider the energy of being on-stage, performing, the closest thing to actual magic.”

Without missing a beat, she affirms herself as a performance artist. This is how she manages to spatula herself out of bed everyday.

Whether it’s putting on a new show downtown, logging hours at the artists’ co-operative, or helping mold the next generation of female powerchord-shredding, Pickard can’t remain idle.

“In the end … all roads lead to the stage,” she says.

dom of speech.

Which leads me to kick at another sacred cow — that is, Rick Mercer and that whole lot of star Newfoundlanders who went over to entertain Our Boys (and Girls) over Christmas, reportedly flown to unmarked destinations and, presumably, forced to share some dehydrated food and wear really ugly clothing for a few days.

What in the world is going on?

Where are the protest songs of yester-

year? I guess, when General Rick “MUN graduate” Hillier invites you to come along and share the joy ride you have to join up faster than you can say “Bob Hope is dead.” Reading Mercer’s widely circulated piece on the joys of serving gravy to the grateful Canadian boys was almost as painful as watching Peter MacKay flirt with Condoleezza “Condee” Rice.

Just when did the worm turn? When was it suddenly acceptable for your garden variety progressive, satire-loving celebrity to hug the troops, praise military actions, and pass the ammunition without so much as a hint of dissent or any questioning of the value of the mission, not to mention its obviously U.S.-linked agenda? Can you imagine popular talk show host Jon Stewart flying overseas for a few feel-good shows in Iraq?

What looking-glass world have Rick and his talented cronies walked into?

Inevitably, in the U.S. the right-wing White House mongers who first encouraged the post 9/11 invasion of Iraq are now retreating faster than a camel in heat. It’s taken an awfully long time and thousands of body bags, but public opinion is finally forcing an undignified about face. The buzzwords for 2007 are “exit strategy.”

But not here, not if you listen to Stephen Harper, not if you are getting all warm and fuzzy about how meaningful it is to stand in line waiting for a double double at the Tim Hortons shop in Kandahar, not if Christie Blatchford’s columns make you cry, and you want to make Rick Mercer and his buddies honourary soldiers.

It is really hard to see how the road to open debate, let alone peace, can be paved with military offensives and the song and laugh shows of Newfoundland talent, and there is something deeply disturbing about the unquestioning belief that it can.

Noreen Golfman is a professor of women’s studies and literature at Memorial. Her column returns Jan. 19.

JANUARY 12, 2007

20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

YOUR VOICE Arts council should receive bigger piece of cultural pie

Disillusioned bureaucrat Theo (Clive Owen) protects the planet's last hope, pregnant Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey).

Future worth revisiting Children of Men intelligent, visually stunning, haunting and refreshing TIM CONWAY Film Score Children of Men 109 min Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor 1/2 (out of four)

O

n November 16, 2027, the news reports that the youngest person on the planet, known to the world as Baby Diego, has died.

Theo Faron is barely out the door of the café where he has just seen the televised account of the event when the building is blown to pieces. With the sound of the explosion still ringing in his ears, and the ubiquitous replaying of the Baby Diego story on computers and radios, he takes the rest of the day off work.

The following day, Theo doesn’t get as far as the office when he’s grabbed, thrown into a van, and taken to meet with a senior member of a reactionary group known as “The Fishes,” requesting his assistance in procuring travel papers for a particular individual. While his rebellious days are known to be far behind him, his debts seem to loom large in the present, so he is tempted with a wad of cash, although he does not accept the deal right away.

Whether it’s boredom, the opportunity to resurrect an old romance, or simply the path of least resistance, Theo manages to acquire the documents, but they stipulate that he must travel with the other person.

Whatever his motive, Theo’s expectations for the next couple of days are in stark contrast to the journey that awaits him.

Children of Men is loosely adapted

from the science fiction novel by acclaimed mystery writer P.D. James.

A number of writers seem to have had a go at the screenplay, with the final version co-written by director Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), who reportedly has not read the novel.

While some of the characters, plot, and concepts probably differ from the source, it’s unlikely that James could take issue with the visual presentation of the story, unless it were to regret not having written it that way.

As a point of reference, Baby Diego is a little more than 18 years old. For some unknown reason, humans have been unable to reproduce for almost two decades, and worldwide despair has fuelled chaos.

Nearly everywhere, governments have fallen, violence is prevalent, and mass numbers of people are flocking to the last bastion of civility, England.

Of course, “civilization” takes on a whole new meaning in this new reality, as the country exists as a police state, operating under martial law, with a particularly antagonistic view towards immigrants and refugees.

Anti-depressants are freely dispersed with food rations, and commercially produced suicide kits are available to enable citizens to “go” when they’re ready. This a land and a time where there is no hope for the future, and there is little of the humanity left in human beings.

In creating this world on the big screen, Children of Men plays out like a cross between Fahrenheit 451 and Lord of the Flies. The future doesn’t look much different from what it does today, except more untidy, and there are frequent references to the dissatisfaction of mobs of disillusioned individuals. The details of what has transpired over the previous two decades are never spelled out for us, but we do

have clues in the form of old newspaper headlines and magazine covers.

Hardly anything is simply laid out, for that matter, and the experience for viewers is similar to being plopped in the middle of the era with neither warning nor guide book, and much of what there is to learn, we glean through various forms of reference throughout the film.

A marked contrast from the spoonfed, almost condescending manner of most Hollywood pictures, this “pick it up as you go” presentation requires a level of attention that we haven’t had to use for some time, and it’s quite refreshing.

By the time the action heats up, we’re tuned into every move and sound, almost ducking and wincing at the sound of bullets around us. We’ve been drawn into this futuristic world, become a part of it, and long after the credits fade, there’s a part of us that’s still there, or perhaps a part of it that’s still with us.

Visually detailed, intelligently wrought, and compellingly presented, Children of Men is one of those rare motion pictures that leaves an uneasy feeling, yet viewers cannot fault its quality. We quickly acknowledge the superior craftsmanship demonstrated on many levels, yet it’s difficult to praise a motion picture that has so successfully painted such a bleak picture for two hours. At the same time, it’s uncertain whether we’ve picked up on all of the details of the story.

In a little while, few of our questions remain unresolved, but we shouldn’t fight the urge to revisit the film at a later date, all the same. A second viewing is as worthwhile an endeavour as the first, and somehow, a little more satisfying.

Tim Conway operates Capitol Video in Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His column returns Jan. 26.

Dear editor, the Department of Tourism, Culture There’s been an ongoing debate in and Recreation, down from 2.8 per cent The Independent over writer Paul in 2003-04. Tourism was allocated Bowdring’s resignation from the more than $13 million this fiscal year Newfoundland and Labrador Arts for products and marketing and arts and Council. His recent letculture centres, and ter stated three major the Rooms close to concerns: the provinmillion, whereas Arguably, we have the $10 cial government’s the arts council present funding of the received only $1.1 best (artists) in arts council, its failure million — a fragile to fill vacancies on the Canada, and we don’t amount for the supcouncil in a timely port of professional want to lose more of artists in our manner, and its insistence on vetting the province. them. Their average council’s annual report Arguably, we have in advance of its subthe best in Canada, annual income, mission to the House and we don’t want to of Assembly, despite according to Statistics lose more of them. the council’s legislated Their average annual arm’s-length role from income, according to Canada, is $16,925. government.

Statistics Canada, is It was the term $16,925. Clearly, it’s “arm’s-length” that columnist Noreen time that they, through the arts council, Golfman pounced on as the hook of a receive a more equitable piece of the caustic attack on Bowdring. Bypassing pie. the funding and vacancies issues he’d I sat on the arts council from 1998 to raised, she chose to deliver a lecture on 2004. Often two to four vacancies wait“Democracy 101” in the reproving tone ed to be filled by cabinet, frequently for a headmistress might use in a letter more than a year, despite repeated home to parents of a bright child who requests and submission of names. This has, inexplicably, gotten out of line. If unintentional neglect sends a message only, the headmistress tells us, Paul to volunteers that the needs of the counBowdring would be as appreciative and cil are low. respectful as that other very bright Bowdring and Doyle also sat on the child, John Doyle (chair of the arts arts council during my tenure. They council, quoted as saying “we have an both did very fine work and were excellent relationship with the provin- deeply committed to the arts communicial government”). ty. Also, from everything I’ve seen, the I’d like to comment on the other two present administrative hierarchy of the issues Bowdring raised. On March 28, government’s culture sector is an 2006, Premier Danny Williams com- exceptionally good one. I believe mendably pledged his government Doyle when he says he has an excellent would commit an additional $17 mil- relationship with it, but I also take on lion over the next three years in support board Bowdring’s reservations and of the cultural/creative sector and its think it’s healthy he raised them. The practitioners. This news was joyfully arts council is not a servant of governreceived. However, as Bowdring indi- ment. Its first obligation is to the arts cates, things haven’t worked out quite community it represents. Even an so joyfully — or fairly — for the arts excellent relationship can sometimes council. Its 2006-07 budget is only become too cosy. about 2.7 per cent of the total budget of Anne Hart, St. John’s

Lynn Johnston receives a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.

Reuters

Lynn Johnston puts retirement on hold

By Bruce DeMara Toronto Star

F

or Better or For Worse is set to morph into something old and something new.

Rather than retire her acclaimed comic strip in September as planned, North Bay-area cartoonist Lynn Johnston has agreed to continue the strip that runs in more than 2,000 newspapers across North America, putting it in the elite company of venerable favourites like Blondie and Garfield.

Johnston acknowledged it’s a work in progress figuring out how to keep the strip fresh – it’s among the few that run in real time – while blending new material with “classic” frames dating back to its 1979 inception. “(Readers) are going to discover how I’m doing this as I discover it because it’s a totally new concept,” Johnston said.

The characters will in essence be frozen in time; for example, Ellie Patterson’s father, Jim, who has been suffering the depredations of age, will remain forever old.

But Johnston promises new material that would include revisiting storylines from the past and expanding on them.

“There will be a back and forth in time process in which we’ll freeze all the characters. Nobody will get older,” she said.

Johnston had been prepared to close the book on the Patterson family because of age and personal health issues.

“I turn 60 this year, so I’m thinking, you know, there are other things I would really like to do. I would like to travel, I’d like to get better at speaking Spanish, I’d like to paint and visit friends who are now disappearing out of my life. People are dying at our age,” she said.

But it’s also clear that loyal readers aren’t ready to let go.

Internet chat rooms and discussion groups continue to buzz with opinions about the strip, particularly about the romantic future of Elizabeth Patterson, who has three suitors: former high school boyfriend Anthony, new love interest Paul, a policeman, and darkhorse Warren, a helicopter pilot.

“I think it’s great that a comic strip can have that reach and that effectiveness,” said Tom Spurgeon, executive editor of The Comics Reporter.

“That really speaks to the kind of affection people have for the strip and the skill with which (Johnston) has developed her setting and characters over the years,” he said.

Johnston is coy on whether she’ll resolve the question of Elizabeth’s love life, saying only: “That may be. They (the characters) often don’t confide in me. I have to wait and find out.”

The comic strip has faced controversy in the past. In 1993, Lawrence, Michael’s childhood friend, announced that he was gay, leading to a boycott by many conservative newspapers. And the death of Farley, the family dog, following his heroic rescue of April 2005, provoked an anguished reaction.

Spurgeon said female readers are particularly critical of Johnston’s oldfashioned, anti-feminist values. She readily agreed that she’s “a product of growing up in the 1950s.”

“What can you be? You are what you are ... and you do what you know. I’m turning into my mother,” Johnston said with a laugh.

She’s also content, if readers don’t respond to the strip’s new format, to call it a day.

“I’ll continue doing my best work and if my best work isn’t good enough, well, I’ll take my bow and do more baking.”

INDEPENDENTSTYLE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 12-18, 2007 — PAGE 21

By Mandy Cook The Independent

I

f you can’t bear to burn another 30-minute increment of your life on the treadmill — but still retain some of your New Year’s fitness resolution drive — perhaps a little workout shake-up is in order.

You don’t have to master the nohands head spin before signing up for a breakdancing or hip hop class, but you do have to come prepared to break a sweat.

Local dance instructors say not only are the dance trends that arose in 1980s New York — identified with boom boxes, headbands and The Robot — tons of fun, they can also help shed those post-Christmas pounds.

Tony Ingram, breakdancing instructor at Jill Dreaddy DanceCo in St. John’s, says the four categories of breakdancing — top rock, down rock, freezes and power moves — can be learned by anyone. He says the focus is on breakdancing, not break gymnastics, and on an individual’s creative interpretation of the music.

After that, power moves, or the highly technical spins and stands, are the “icing on the cake, or the cherry on top.”

The future kinesiology student and Port aux Basques native says teaching breakdancing, or b-boying, makes up his entire fitness regimen.

“It’s all I do,” he says. “I just don’t have the energy to do anything else.”

Ingram says the dancing part of b-boying is all cardio, and once a dancer builds up the skills for more dynamic power moves like handstands, they also build up their muscular strength. Ingram says it’s an all-over workout.

“Just learning to dance, period, increases your flexibility and balance which is a form of strength, it covers all the bases of fitness — heart, muscular, flexibility and just coordinated movement which is an aspect of fitness,” he says.

Jill Dreaddy says striking a pose, or a “freeze,” is one of the many shared elements between breakdancing and hip hop, but maintains the two dance styles each have their own flavour. Like breakdancing, hip hop originated from the street — particularly from rap musicians honing their rapid rhymes and moves to match. She says hip hop is increasingly popular due to the music and lifestyle associated with the dance style.

“It’s come full circle,” she says. “The commercials, the music, the reality dance show competitions. It draws in a much wider audience, before it was more about that street core thing, but now I think it’s a little more generic to people.”

Come to her hip hop class prepared for an See “They came,” 22

From the streets of the Bronx to local dance studios, urban dance trends get your body moving and your heart pumping

BREAK B-boy and breakdancing instructor Tony Ingram busts a move.

IT DOWN

Paul Daly/The Independent

JANUARY 12, 2007

22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

Frozen filler or food?

Our food columnist taste tests some frozen entrées — and is almost always disappointed NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path

T

he holidays are over and I’m not in the mood for any cooking. OK, I confess, I wasn’t in the kitchen all the time over the holidays. I didn’t cook my Christmas turkey, and I didn’t have parties every night demanding my culinary skills. But it is difficult at the best of times to come up with good meal ideas, isn’t it?

One of my wife’s pet peeves is the question we all pose: “What’s for supper tonight?” Accompanied by the usual, “Well, I don’t know,” response.

So, for the past week I’ve been looking at the frozen entrée for inspiration and for a trip around the world as well.

Frozen entrées have come a long way since the first ones came onto the market and Clarence Birdseye made it a practical reality in 1930.

A quick piece of trivia: did you know Birdseye has a connection to Newfoundland and Labrador? Apparently Birdseye first thought of the idea of frozen preservation of food while working in Labrador in 1912 and 1916 as a fur trader to help pay for his university education. Who knew?

It’s come a long way. In keeping with the office workers who normally purchase frozen entrees for that quick meal in the middle of the afternoon, I used the microwave method for all of these and used only things available in a basic kitchen.

I tried different varieties and different producers and here are my impressions.

PRESIDENT’S CHOICE CHICKEN QUESADILLAS ($2.99) Needs a large piece of paper towel to wrap it up and cook it. Paper napkins do.

Still cold in the middle after the instructions are finished. In for one more minute. Out is comes and there is no flavour. My wife reports that the cheese is real and the chicken is OK, but the tortilla shell is hard at the ends. Net result: no flavour.

So we cheat and add a dollop of sour cream to help it along. Still we rate it poorly. As my wife put it, “Tastes like filler.” Enough said.

STOUFFER’S STEAK TERIYAKI NOODLE BOWL ($2.99) After six minutes of cooking in the microwave you get limp and soggy noodles in a tasteless mess. The packaging reads: “Tossed with ginger-garlic noodles, green beans and carrots.” The sauce smells like ginger but there is no taste of ginger. Garlic is unperceivable and the rest is terrible. This was horrible, and certainly not worth the money.

P.C. PIEMONTE RISOTTO WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS ($2.99) I only have one word to say about this: glue.

P.C. BUTTER CHICKEN CURRY WITH RICE ($2.99) So this is what frozen entrees are supposed to be — this is really good. I

mean very good. The rice and the sauce are separate and you mix them after it is all cooked. What happens is that the rice gently steams and the sauce defrosts and thickens. So when they come together, it all works well. The chicken remains tender and the sauce thick and not runny from the defrosting. They got this right. This is certainly one I would consider putting in my freezer for that quick meal before running out the door.

Our final entrée was one we have seen the ads for on television: KNORR FROZEN DINNERS. We tried the grilled chicken alfredo.

While I know this was supposed to

be a microwave experiment, this “instant dinner” cost $8.99. So I cooked it in the recommended 12-inch non-stick skillet.

The sauce, noodles and chicken are all frozen and by reheating it, it all comes together in a good mélange. It said it should be ready in 10 minutes cooked over medium heat. So I put the timer on and let it be.

It was perfect. OK, the noodles were a bit overdone, but the sauce was perfectly thickened and the food was hot. It makes two normal servings. This was a bit expensive, but convenient food for a Thursday night supper.

OVERALL In all, I was disappointed in the quality of the products. Unfortunately, what I found was food that took a good amount of time to cook and had as much artificial taste as heading to the nearest clown franchise for a burger.

I can do better. I’ll make the same foods and cost out each meal.

The challenge is on — can I do better than Birdseye? I’ll let you see the results next week.

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

DRINK

Wine in a box

A

mong “serious” wine drinkers, the debate is endless and global: Is a wine that doesn’t have a real cork really a wine? I will go one step further — is a wine coming out of a tetra pack a wine or just adult grape juice?

As someone who tries a wide variety of wines over the course of the year, I would say that there is a bit of a difference between the tetra pack wine and the bottle — it is visual appeal.

I am of the generation whose parents threw parties in the ’70s and ’80s. I saw the poor quality of wines on offer. Let’s just say that Black Tower and Blue Nun were pretty popular. At the same time, California was coming on stream as one of the newer producers of wines. They sold their wines in boxes — quart and gallon boxes, complete with spigot for easy pouring.

Times have certainly changed.

While poking around the liquor store I came across some interesting boxes of wines.

They were found on the shelves marked “wine show,” so I thought I’d have a good look.

Thirsty Lizard Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc (NLC $15.82) was one of the choices. Thirsty Lizard is a secondary brand from the Australian producer Long Flat. The wine has a good fruit nose and lots of crisp acid.

Gooseberry, floral notes as well as grapefruit and light citrus are noticeable. The clear wine with a slight tint of spring grass green is as pretty in the glass as it tastes on the palate.

My wife certainly likes it a lot — I think it’s

a good evening sipper or to serve with, say, some spicy shrimp. Not a bad choice and not a bad price as well.

Three Thieves Bandit Cabernet Sauvignon (NLC $15.15) is another tetra pack wine and it is amazingly quite good. Not only is it good value, but it is a good wine to have on hand for the occasional evening glass.

It is a deep red wine with a nose of blackberries and oak and it has good structure. It has all the classic characteristics of a Californian cabernet, it just happens to come in a box. It’s not a wine you would put on the table to impress your guests, but it is still a good wine.

I think that this is a product that is a good example of what can be achieved with some modern technology — and it is sure to turn some heads.

On the other hand, I do have some concerns with the tetra box format, though they are minor. I had this box opened for a couple of days and it sat in the refrigerator — not the ideal place, but it was an experiment.

Glass and cork bottles are great because for the most part they are not porous and they do not allow other outside flavours to impregnate and interfere with a stored wine. I do have a problem with the tetra box — I found that there was some subtle transfer of smell from the fridge to the wine and it wasn’t good.

So I have a solution: Finish your juice box in one go. Like I will in the future. nicholas.gardner@gmail.com

‘They came asking for it’ From page 21

Wanted: Full and part-time housekeepers

intense workout, Dreaddy says. Even before the dance combinations get broken down, ab work and push-ups are in order. She says people leave flushed, sweaty and the windows in her studio are “wide open.”

The HGR Mews Community Centre, Mundy Pond Road, also offers hip hop classes to its customers, in addition to tap, ballroom, traditional Newfoundland dancing, line dancing and belly dancing. Jan Lily, adult service coordinator, says

their urban dance clientele is more mature — “definitely not the 15-24 age group” — but are showing an increased interest in the stylized street dance of hip hop.

The centre held a trial run before Christmas, Lily says, and the dancers had a fun and challenging workout. Then they clamoured for more.

“They came asking for it,” she says. “The women loved it!” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

Chain male

A

Adrien Brody

few years ago, when Tom Ford and a few other suave types began to leave shirt buttons undone, displaying manly décolletage was back.

But flaunting a hirsute chest was not enough. Before long, they were decorating this expanse of flesh with necklaces and pendants. (Some like Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody even went so far as to sport a single strand of grey pearls.) But unlike the disco

years in the ’70s when gold medallions were the favoured talisman, today’s young bucks are taking their accessory cues from Captain Jack Sparrow.

Sure, there is the ubiquitous cross, but a bounty of pirate paraphernalia such as swords, crests, sharks teeth and skulls are among the swashbuckling pendants that dangle between defined pectorals.

— Torstar wire service

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23

The benefit of hindsight S

igh, another rainstorm. Since you can’t toboggan on raw ground, the slides our kids received from Santa are still in their boxes. Where’s the fun in that?

There is something sliding out this way — mud, and lots of it. Barshway Pond had what could have been a killer slide this past weekend. There was enough rock and muck to bury any car left parked along the popular wooded path, or to sweep anyone driving by into the frigid pond.

The highway men were out to clear the way almost (but not quite) before word made it around that there was a wash out “up around.” The mess was dumped over the guardrail and we will now have to climb a mud-hill to get at the pond we once walked around to fish from and swim in. I did notice they left an opening at the diving rock so the kids can still swim if, after all that mud and rock works its way into the pond, it’s still fit.

I am pretty sure if this was anything other than a rural road leading to two teeny outport communities, they would have found a better spot to dump the waste.

In spite of the rain, temperatures did

PAM PARDY GHENT

Seven-day talk dip long enough to make Frog Pond seem fine for skating just before New Years. I had my doubts, but there had been quads running across the length of her, and she looked fine. We had no mishaps, but the next evening we heard the news that three kids had gone through Lawrence Pond in C.B.S. and one boy couldn’t be found. Kenneth Howe’s body was pulled from the pond on New Year’s Day. While my heart broke for this boy and his family, I couldn’t help but think how many times we have taken the same chances and walked away, a little wet and cold, but fine. When we were kids, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to fall through the ice into the frigid water. That’s how you knew if the ice was ready.

Once, my younger (read: annoying) brother fell through — one leg in the water, one sprawled out on the ice — and we left him till we were done play-

ing. We didn’t leave him that long, just long enough to get in trouble and for it to be worth it. Now, when I realize what could have happened, I become almost numb with fear.

The only good thing that ever comes out of any tragedy is that it makes others think (and re-think) their actions. No one has been on our pond since. It really wasn’t ready, and a game of hockey or a shortcut on a quad definitely isn’t worth freezing, or dying, for.

On a brighter note, our family received some great news over the holidays — or great news for some. Sister No. 4 will be having baby No. 4. While a new baby is always cause for celebration, this one is particularly exciting.

My sister had her tubes tied six years ago. Apparently, while tying your tubes is one of the most effective birth control methods, pregnancy can still occur in two per cent of women.

Sisters No. 1 and No. 3 also had their tubes tied and are reacting to the news differently. Three is now actively trying to beat the odds herself, while one won’t go to bed in anything less than full body armor.

I didn’t make any New Years’ resolutions this year because, basically, I have

TASTE

Prize-winning dense bread full of fibre

By Susan Sampson Torstar wire service Start your new year off with healthy thoughts and actions. This soft, dense bread is a fibre extravaganza. The recipe was top prizewinner in a Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods Baking Contest.

HEARTY HERB BREAD Adapted from a recipe by Lise Thom of Portland, Ore., on a Bob’s Red Mill flour package. I used organic flours.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

5 1/2 cups unbleached white bread flour 1 cup wheat germ 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/4 cup wheat bran 1/4 cup skim milk powder 1/4 cup granulated sugar 5 tsp active dry yeast 1 1/2 tbsp parsley flakes 1 1/2 tsp each: dried oregano, dry thyme, dry marjoram, pepper 1 tsp sea salt 1/4 tsp each: dried leaf sage, celery seeds 2 1/4 cups warm water 1/4 cup canola oil 1 large egg 2 tbsp dehydrated minced onion 1 cup whole-wheat flour

To large bowl of stand mixer, add two cups bread flour, wheat germ, oats, bran, milk powder, sugar, yeast, parsley, oregano, thyme, marjoram, pepper, salt, sage and celery seeds. Beat with paddle attachment on medium until well blended, one to two minutes. Add water and oil. Beat at medium two minutes. Add one cup bread flour and egg. Beat on high one minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Briefly blend in onion on medium.

In medium bowl, stir together two cups bread flour and whole-wheat flour. Stir into dough using wooden spoon. Use remaining 1/2-cup flour to dust work surface as needed. Turn dough on to lightly floured surface. Combine with hands. Knead until smooth, 10 to 15 minutes.

Place in lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with clean kitchen towel, let stand 20 minutes.

Punch down dough. Divide in half. Shape into two loaves. Place in two lightly greased 9-by-5inch loaf pans. Cover with clean kitchen towel, let rise in warm place until doubled, one to oneand-a-half hours. Bake in preheated 400F oven until browned, about 20 minutes.

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so few bad habits I need to hold onto the ones I have. I did make a no smoking one for my husband, but if resolutions are hard to stick to for yourself, they are impossible to keep for someone else. I don’t even think he tried, judging from the way he blew smoke in my direction during his first puff of 2007.

Hubby then made a resolution for me — though, like him and his baccy, I’m not sure I can keep it. My problem? I have a tendency to argue with strangers in public places with very little provocation and, the sad thing is, I seem to enjoy it.

I am a lovely woman, honest. I am warm and friendly in 95 per cent of my encounters with the rest of the planet, but there is that five per cent when I just am not fit. While I can usually justify such encounters, the example I’m setting for my son isn’t one I’m always proud of.

My weakness is malls. I feel the need to tell other people off when they do strange (in my opinion) things. I just can’t keep my tongue still when I see any “injustice” done to others. If a customer mistreats an undeserving employee, I unleash my verbal fury. If a parent is less than patient with a child,

they get a piece of my mind.

I also get cranky when I don’t get my way — hindsight in these cases is not always a pleasant thing. I have done so much nasty around St. John’s that my son has pointed out past victims on our (thankfully) none-too-frequent trips into the city. Ouch.

Here is my pledge. I will try and stop.

Take a good look at my picture at the top of this column. If I have ever eaten your head off in public — while you probably deserved it — I am sorry.

Chances are good it was none of my business. If someone starts in on you in 2007 and it’s at a mall in St. John’s, it might be me. Remind me kindly that I have promised to stop such behaviour.

If that doesn’t work, my son might shame me into it. His school is part of the Peaceful Schools anti-bullying program and, as he handed me the paperwork on No Name Calling Week, he said, “Look Mom, you should come to school every day when they have that.”

Yes my son, perhaps I should, but, well, where’s the fun in that?

Pam Pardy Ghent lives in Harbour Mille on the Burin Peninsula. Her column returns Jan. 19.

JANUARY 12, 2007

24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

EVENTS JANUARY 12 • Rising Tide Theatre’s annual Revue starts its provincial tour at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. Continues through Jan. 20 in St. John’s.

• Newfoundland Regional Improv Games high school tournament finals, 7 p.m., Holy Heart of Mary Auditorium.

Prepping chefs

JANUARY 13 • Pedal Power: Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra presents its chamber orchestra Sinfonia with guest soloists organist Leon Chisholm and percussionist Rob Power, 8 p.m., Cook Recital Hall, MUN music school, 722-4441.

• In conjunction with Simple Bliss: The Paintings and Prints of Mary Pratt, The Rooms presents a walking tour of Simple Bliss while Paul Kennedy and Mary Pratt discuss her creative practice and its domestic sources, 2 p.m., The Rooms, 7578000.

• Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, Mile One Centre, 8 p.m.

Culinary school enrolments soar as the Food Network has made the kitchen cool

JANUARY 14 • Avalon Unitarian Fellowship’s weekly service, 10:30 a.m., Anna Templeton Center, 278 Duckworth St. JANUARY 15 • Certification courses in payroll management, purchasing management or sales begin this week through Memorial’s Division of Lifelong Learning, 737-7979 or www.mun.ca/lifelonglearning • The BitterSessions, biweekly session of traditional and folk music hosted by Fergus Brown O’Byrne, Bitters Pub, Feild Hall, MUN, 7:3010 p.m.

JANUARY 16 • Environmental lunch and learn at the Gathering Place, third floor, 172 Military Road, St. John’s. Bring your lunch and learn about becoming a protected areas steward in Newfoundland and Labrador, noon1 p.m., 726-5800.

JANUARY 17 • Ken Raymond and Chris Eisan at Folk Night, the Ship Pub, 9 p.m.

• Newfoundland author reading series with Dr. Peter Hart, author of Mick: The real Michael Collins, 7 p.m., A.C. Hunter Adult Library.

JANUARY 18 • MUN Cinema series presents Driving Lessons, Studio 12, Avalon Mall, 7 p.m. More information about this film and the season’s schedule is at www.mun.ca/cinema.

IN THE GALLERIES • Aviation paintings and portraiture

by Kent Peyton, Eastern Edge Gallery, Jan. 16-Feb. 2.

• Simple Bliss: The Paintings and Prints of Mary Pratt, the Rooms, until Feb 4.

• Melt, an interactive video installation by Toronto-based Michael Alstad, at Eastern Edge Gallery, Harbour Drive, St. John’s.

• Kaleidoscope, annual group exhibition at Red Ochre Gallery, 96 Duckworth St., St. John’s.

By Jen Gerson Torstar wire service

T

he budding chefs crowd the lobby at George Brown College, listening to hip-hop as they wait for orientation to begin. The twenty-somethings wear winter jackets with faux-fur trim, and baseball caps. The girls’ hair runs long and loose, the boys’ an inch past respectable.

Scruffy.

They have not yet purchased the lilywhite lab coats and clamshell chef hats, their uniform for the rest of the semester.

“How many people watch the Food Network?” asks head chef John Higgins.

Almost half raise their hands.

Forget that fluff.

“This is a reality show,” he says. “This is George Brown culinary school and we’re in the business of teaching you cooking.”

The Food Network, kitchen-related reality TV shows and celebrity chefs have made the culinary arts sexy. Chef Gordon Ramsay has made his show Hell’s Kitchen popular by verbally abusing contestants to find out which one has enough mettle to merit his or her own restaurant.

And as chefs like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson have found fame making pretty plates for the TV cameras, enrolment in cooking programs has risen.

George Brown’s chef school enrolment has soared 35 per cent in the past four years.

The boom is also happening in the United States. In 1996, there were 269

career cooking schools and 154 recreational cooking schools, according to Shaw Guide’s The Guide to Cooking Schools. By 2006, those numbers had risen to 446 and 503, respectively.

George Brown expects enrolment will increase by another 50 per cent by 2010, as demand for chefs grows in Canada.

It’s a trend fuelled by baby boomers, who have become more discriminating in their food tastes and demanding better prepared cuisine.

Chef school graduates are being snapped up to work in Northern Ontario, cruise ships and in the chronically undermanpowered Alberta.

The people entering the profession are younger and hipper. The network has enticed women, who can find role models in the likes of Rachael Ray and Everyday Italian’s Giada De Laurentiis. The college boasts a near 50/50 split between the sexes, in an occupation where most of the top-tier chefs are men.

But the network is not an equalizer of men and women. Women on the Food Network tend to focus on home or familial meals while male chefs are the career cookers. Rarely do you see a woman wearing a boxy white coat.

Rita Grine, 19, is about to start the baking and pastry program at George Brown.

Her favourite show is Sugar with Anna Olson, which pays homage to pastries and desserts.

“It actually got me more interested in what I could do,” she says. By featuring “everyman cooks” like Olson, and pairing

simple made-at-home meals with gastronomic extravaganzas, food television has created a demand for good food – and for the people who prepare it. But for every camera-savvy culinary role model, there are millions of cafeteria line cooks.

Drudgery, toil and long hours don’t make for good TV. “You’re all going to want to be Jamie Olivers,” says John Walker, the dean of the hospitality and tourism faculty at George Brown, as he addresses his newest class.

“That will end by the first week. You’ll be cutting yourself and burning your sauces.”

Initially, few respect what a tough job being a cook is. Long hours, minimal wages and high pressure.

“The Hollywood gets knocked out of you quickly,” says David Buchanan, director of the Culinary Arts School of Ontario in Mississauga. The private school is devoted to teaching foodies and wannabe chefs.

In school “you start off with basic knife skills, chopping onions and carrots until your fingers start to bleed.”

Then you graduate to stocks.

“I love eating good food. But that’s expensive so I cook my own stuff,” says Alan Don, 23, as he listens to the school’s welcome message. Don works as a cook at Kelsey’s. “I need the education to get a better job.”

His inspiration: Iron Chef – the badly dubbed Japanese version, featuring weekly one-hour cook offs in the Kitchen Stadium. “I just saw Battle Cranberry,” he says. “I picture that as a

high-end of dining.”

He hopes to one day work at a hotel restaurant, making good pay and good food.

Higgins is happy that his students enter the school excited about cooking, but criticizes the TV shows for sacrificing the most important part of food — taste — for the pretty plate.

“It’s not entertainment,” he chides.

“You’re selling something.”

Impassioned by the glamour TV has cast on the kitchen, most of these students are foodies who have decided to turn their hobby into a career.

“The Food Network has been very good to us,” says Buchanan.

Walker agrees. “The public profile of a chef has made it a more interesting profession to get in to.”

But the shows aren’t realistic. Often, he says, a team of cooks will be responsible for preparing dishes for the cameras, as the host smiles reassuringly to put the plebeian chefs at ease.

“Some call it food porn,” says Walker.

It’s the art of the super-close up. Dressing food with light and camera angles to make it look impossibly appetizing, forcing the viewer to watch hungry and in thrall. “The concern is that it isn’t real food.”

It may not be entirely realistic, but if it inspires more people to take up cooking, Walker says that’s a good thing.

After all, he says, a chef needs two things to succeed.

The first is passion. The second is salt and pepper.

Snack attacks

By Susan Sampson Torstar wire service

W

hy aren’t we surprised?

Snacks have become “snack meals,” according to the 2006 Eating Patterns in Canada report.

Almost a quarter of all meals consumed consist of snack foods, says the report, compiled by the market research giant NPD Group.

Other findings: a snack has become the most important meal of the day for youngsters under age 18; snacks are replacing traditional lunchtime sandwiches; 40 per cent of snacks are consumed in the evening in front of the television; consumers deciding which snacks to buy are swayed by labels declaring “0 trans fat” and “no sugar added” (though these could still be high in fat and calories).

The results are based on three continuous annual surveys, including tracking the eating habits of 1,300 Canadian households and the snacking habits of 3,000 individuals. For the market researchers, what qualifies as a snack food? Many prepared and packaged items, including chips, salsas, popcorn, frozen treats, candies, mini pastries, crackers, frozen pizza pockets or burritos, string cheese, bagels and yogurt.

Fruit and vegetables are counted, too, but we wonder how much attention they’re getting. On the whole, the trend sounds like a recipe for dietary disaster.

JANUARY 12-18, 2007

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What’s new in the automotive industry

Newfoundland’s vehicle food chain

O

wning a vehicle on politely decline. this island is one of Next in the food chain is the most futile adven- the buyer of the three-yeartures you could ever imagine. old vehicle, just off the lease We happen to live in the (yesteryear’s little red harshest, most corcoupe). They get a rosive environlot of value for their ment known to money, don’t have metal, but the to worry about a upside of a horrifew scratches here bly foreshortened and there or kids vehicular life span wrecking the is an economy insides. The twist in stimulated by the seat belt and the sales, parts and broken door lock MARK service. Indeed, are trivial matters WOOD our many vehicle because they’re owners support a going to drive this WOODY’S thing to the ground. small army of WHEELS It should take them dealerships, bankers, mechanabout six years of ics, suppliers and gas stations. hassle-free, warranty-free Let us examine the lives and driving, but the first whiff of personalities of these vehicle trouble starting up on a cold owners, where they fit in the morning, they bail out.

This is a good thing too. local vehicular food chain, and spare no detail or omis- There are still a few owners lined up for this semi-desirsions for modesty.

Naturally at the top would able machine. Possible be the new-vehicle buyer — movers and shakers, handy they like the smell of a new with a wrench, not put off too machine, the hassle-free war- much by the popsicle sticks in ranty and being seen in a new the CD player but shudder at design even if it’s a bit daring. the sight of the twisted seat It’s hard for them to sneak belt. We (I mean they) are next but not last away from work on the food when they’re chain. It’s a verthe only little red coupe on the The device was itable skills competition to parking lot, engineered and operate on this although they level but a brake don’t tend to stress-tested to job only costs as covet the coupe as the very long. withstand years much parts advertised There’s always something red- of normal abuse in the flyer this weekend — $22 der and smaller plus tax. It’s still coming out each but rendered a road-worthy year to tempt useless by a vehicle, runs them and lots of like a top but the us waiting to time-killing kid. dome light own the old one. doesn’t work The company and the knobs car lease is a close second in the food chain are missing off the radio.

— they have a slight advan- They don’t mind replacing tage over the private lease small components like startbecause they don’t usually ing motors or alternators but drive children around. Those if it develops some kind of of us in the business (of kids structural cancer, game over.

This is the blissful “Bicand cars) know for a fact that children are the leading cause lighter” stage of a vehicle’s of interior vehicular corro- life span … it’s totally dispossion. The food, fingerprints able. Believe it or not, it’s still and spilled drinks really are a marketable machine as an minor inconveniences com- organ donor. The sum of parts pared to the mystery of the is greater than the whole and twist in the seat belt. A child the carcass is picked clean, can cause this phenomenon in either privately or professionmere moments and a strong ally. man can waste an afternoon And so ends the life of a trying to get the twist out of a vehicle, like a moth unto a shoulder harness. (I don’t candle flame. A burst of light want to talk about it.) A half- and poof, she’s gone. hour jaunt in the family’s The new 2007 models are leased vehicle may involve out and we’re all going to the flicking of a door lock own them eventually. Right incessantly until it breaks. now, in a couple of years or The device was engineered even 10 years, but we’re all and stress-tested to withstand going to own them. years of normal abuse but rendered useless by a time- Mark Wood of Portugal killing kid. Expect to be quot- Cove-St. Philip’s is afflicted ed $300 to have it fixed and with a twist in a seat belt.

26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT

JANUARY 12, 2007

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27

When you see a lease price in a car ad …

B

ecause I was born during the It has its advantages tax-wise, though Imperial Age, I still calculate there are downsides that anyone conthe temperature in Fahrenheit. I sidering a new car should think about. don’t tell anyone usually, I It would be great if they just double the Celsius temmade the fine print the same perature and add 30. I have size as the bait print. But since discovered that the they’re not going to, so it’s up “double it and add 30” forto the buyer to figure out all mula has a variety of applicathe angles. When the leasing tions. agent gave me a call, we trunIf a man goes to a bachelor dled over to the dealership to party and tells you he had two decide what to do. I had a beers, double it and add 30. long, intricate discussion LORRAINE SOMMERFELD If you’re stupid enough to with her. ask your wife how many “Give me the same thing boyfriends she’s had, double for the same price but new,” I it and add 30. said.

When you see a lease price “OK,” she replied. in a car ad, double it and add I don’t like comparison30. shopping. I do it because it’s a necesThe lease was up on our van. I’ll do sary evil to be well informed. I get future columns on leasing versus buy- mixed up with a process that has more ing, but at this point in my life, I lease. combinations and permutations than

POWER SHIFT

the Grade 11 math class I nearly flunked. As we sat going through all the options available on a new minivan, my eyes glazed over, my pulse raced momentarily, then stopped entirely.

It is so easy to get sucked into ridiculous things. And not by the sales people; by your own stupidity. The options packages on new vehicles are as insane as trying to sort out cable channels.

Why do I have to take the Gross Teen Humour Network in order to get the Discovery Channel? Why do I have to take aluminum wheels to get side airbags?

As we sat with our needle in a haystack tour guide, trimming wants from needs and finally understanding there are four different ways to say “grey,” I realized we were being sucked into a vacuum, not unlike Alice dropping down the rabbit hole.

I’m not overly picky what colour

vehicle I drive. As I mainly drive the van, Brad doesn’t care much either. I mean, he wouldn’t be caught dead driving something pink with “Rainey-do” on the licence plate, but then, neither would I. The primary concerns are gas mileage, safety, and the slidey door. I know that sounds really lame, but that door, which I never initially wanted, over the past four years has become my best friend. With arms loaded with groceries, I can push a little button on my key chain and the door pops open. Let me have it; I lead a small life.

At one point in the negotiations, we were faced with the choice of a DVD player in the van. I hate that. Kids lead enough of their lives in a video coma.

But it started to look like to get the airbags we wanted, we might have to take the DVD. I knew the boys would be heartbroken.

Finally, Brad looked at me and said we were seriously considering a DVD player that cost $1,000. And it was to borrow it for four years. We wouldn’t even own it. He said it would be cheaper to buy a couple of portable ones, if DVD players were that important.

Which they’re not.

With reason restored, we found a van with the side airbags we wanted, and without the DVD player, which we didn’t. I can’t remember what colour we ordered, though I’m sure it’s no doubt a spectacular shade of grey.

As we left the dealership, I joked to Brad that the boys would be peeved that we hadn’t gotten a DVD player in the new van.

He told me they could watch all the DVDs they liked from their hospital beds — after they’d survived a crash because of the side airbags. www.lorraineonline.ca

Car of tomorrow becomes car of today T

he big auto racing stories of 2007 will involve the ufacturer other than America’s Big Three will field cars and new cars in Champ Car and NASCAR, the arrival of there are indications already that a whole lot of people are Toyota in Nextel Cup and the success/failures of six not going to like this one bit. drivers: Juan Montoya, Lewis Hamilton, Although NASCAR’s demographics are Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa changing, its core is still in the American southand Sebastien Bourdais. east and those folks are already making their antiFirst, the new cars. “foreigner” feelings known. Anybody who The Champ Car World Series will open its seadoubts this should read some of the letters to the son in Las Vegas in March and it will be out with editor that are being published in some of the the old Lola chassis and in with the brand new U.S. racing trade papers.

Panoz, powered by Cosworth.

Add the Car of Tomorrow together with the Designed and built from scratch over the last arrival of Toyota and NASCAR is going to have year, the DP01 has been designed to do two its public-relations work cut out for it this year.

NORRIS things: even out the playing field and attract new The one positive for NASCAR will be MCDONALD teams to the series because the car is cheaper to Montoya, who’s going to be a better stock-car purchase or lease and the costs of campaigning it racer than anybody ever imagined. are contained.

Now, the other drivers.

We’ll have to wait and see about the first; it’s Lewis Hamilton, who will be No. 2 at the second item that’s intriguing. Once again, it’s McLaren behind Fernando Alonso, is the first anybody’s guess how many teams and cars will show up to black to race in Formula One. He’s already being compared answer the bell in Vegas. to Tiger Woods, which is more than a bit unfair because Although one new team — Pacific Coast Motorsports — Tiger had a chance to win major golf tournaments right has joined the club, one of the established teams is on the from the get-go and who knows how good the ’07 car is ropes. Only if it signs two drivers who can bring enormous going to be? amounts of cash will it survive.

But McLaren boss Ron Dennis is a savvy guy and And one of the top teams, Forsythe Racing, is sending wouldn’t have elevated Hamilton to the big leagues if he signals that it will only enter one car in the Champ Car didn’t think he was ready. But there will be rough waters — World Series — for Paul Tracy — after announcing it will there always are — and how Hamilton handles himself in reduce its entry in the Formula Atlantic series from four the early going will determine his future success. cars to two (and throwing Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe out Alonso? He’s a two-time World Champion who’s gone to of work in the process). a team that didn’t win a race in 2006. When he agreed to Champ Car will also be a road- and street circuit-only the move from Renault in ’05, McLaren was the winner of series this season. This elimination of ovals effectively kills 10 of the 19 races that year and the future looked bright. any possibility of unification with the Indy Racing League. Then came the nosedive.

Meantime, NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow” will become But this sort of thing has happened to McLaren before. the “Car of Today” when it makes its debut at the race in From zero victories in 1996, the team rebounded to win Bristol, Tenn., also in March. three in ’97. With a world champion leading the team, and In all, NASCAR says the new car — mandatory for all a guy loaded with potential as No. 2, look for McLaren to teams — will be raced 16 times this season, 28 times next bounce right back this year. year and in all 36 races by 2009.

Raikonnen and Massa at Ferrari? It’s going to be a dogThis is not a good move. NASCAR will come to realize fight and a delight to watch all season. this in Bristol, if not before. The fans are going to hate this And now, Bourdais. It is not beyond the realm of possithing. The drivers already hate it. This car looks like a bility that the three-time Champ Car champion could be in school bus with a wing on it. A wing!

Formula One this season. Yes, he has a contract for 2007 NASCAR had this car designed and built for all the right with Newman-Haas but contracts in auto racing sometimes reasons. It will make a pretty safe race series even safer, don’t mean a lot. considering all the ka-boomer pileups that take place at Meantime, Newman-Haas has a problem. It’s got each and every event.

Bourdais, but if it signs Graham Rahal, one of the two But if it browns off the fans to the point that they start hottest young drivers in North America (Marco Andretti staying away from the speedways (this has already started, being the other), what happens to Bruno Junqueira — a for a variety of reasons), and the TV ratings keep declining good and faithful servant if ever there was one? (they were marginally lower for just about every race last So Bourdais going to Europe would still leave Newmanseason), then NASCAR will have to do a serious rethink.

Haas with a dynamite driver lineup. And there would be a Could there be a New Coke/Old Coke scenario in store huge bonus: as well as the resulting good will for letting for NASCAR? Don’t bet against it.

Sebastien chase his dream and continuing to employ The sanctioning body, by the time the series gets to Bruno, Champ Car could benefit because Bourdais would Bristol, is already going to have its hands full because of be its poster boy in F1. the arrival of Toyota.

That, so far as the long-term survival of the U.S. series is For the first time in NASCAR’s 60-year history, a man- concerned, would be worth more than anything.

TRACK TALK

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates delivers his keynote address at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada Jan. 7, 2007.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

Safer cell technology

M

icrosoft has announced its plans to connect the car to a new generation of consumers.

The computer software colossus revealed it will provide Ford with new technology that could help the struggling automaker get out of the ditch.

Bill Gates, chairman of the computer software giant, said his company will introduce technology in several Ford models including the new Focus compact this year to provide safer links with cellphones, personal music players and other devices.

Gates said via satellite from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the two companies have developed a technology called “Sync” that provides hands-free phone dialing and voice-activated email through dashboard connections.

Sync also has a USB 2.0 port for digital media players, including iPod and memory sticks. Those features are voice-activated through the car too so users can access a

cellphone or digital music player – including album, artist and song title – via voice commands.

Ford says the technology will allow a user to automatically transfer names and numbers in a cellphone address book to the vehicle and can convert incoming text messages to audio, read them out loud and allow users to reply from any of 20 predefined responses.

Gates, the world’s richest man, called Sync an example of “the vision of connected experiences” transferred to autos “in a simple, safe way.”

Ford said Generation Y – about 57 million North Americans born between 1981 and 1995 – is the first group of auto buyers that grew up online. That means they want to stay connected to friends and music while on the move. “(It) isn’t a trend,” the company said.

“It’s a part of every day life.”

— Torstar wire service

28 • INDEPENDENTFUN

JANUARY 12, 2007

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Insect repellent developed by Charles Coll of N.S. 7 Start of a threesome 10 It can lead to crime 16 Whole 17 Noted Mohawk chief of 18th - 19th c.

19 Black and orange bird: Baltimore ___ 20 Morissette of pop 21 Swiss mountain 22 Cheap glitter 23 Male child 24 Elude 26 Impressed 28 Rd.’s cousin 29 Devastating hurricane of 1954 (Toronto area) 31 Got into a stew?

32 Radio face 33 Worry 34 He received the first eviction notice 35 Mlle après le mariage 36 Snaky swimmers 37 Mr. Gretzky 38 So long!

40 Bolero composer 42 Dry, to an oenophile 43 Halifax-born actress of 1930’s films 46 Mongolian tent 47 She wrote The Stone Diaries 51 Land units 52 First black woman in House of Commons:

CHUCKLE BROS

___ Augustine (1993) 54 Grin and ___ it 55 Anger 56 Big generation 57 Painter of West Coast forests 58 Small nail 59 Discharged a debt 60 Advanced in years 61 Accomplished 62 Fiddlehead, e.g.

63 Insect stage 64 Symbol of busy activity 66 Bad: prefix 67 Make firm 68 King topper 69 B.C. falls, highest in Canada 71 Scandinavian rug 72 Canadian singer with Sinatra voice 75 Roll up and secure (a flag) 76 Umpteen’s ordinal?

78 Capital of Qatar 82 Seed covering 83 Canary container 84 Toronto art gallery, in short 85 Toaster’s lead-in 86 People also called Igbo 87 Groove cut into a board 88 Come into one’s own 90 Daytime doze 91 Polished cotton 93 “___ it’s time for you to go”

95 Expose to oxygen 97 German code machine (WWII) 98 Metric weight 99 It allows dough to stretch 100 Shrink back 101 Chinese leader, once 102 Volatile flavour compounds DOWN 1 Canadian soprano Brueggergosman 2 Empty the hold 3 Part of a poem 4 Reunion guests 5 Bay window 6 ___ is more 7 Rubbish 8 Road ___ 9 -like 10 Winnipeg’s Fort Garry 11 Like desert 12 Malleable metal 13 Prayer beads 14 Cricket team number 15 Take out 17 Old jalopy 18 Moodie’s sister in the wilderness 25 Part of rotating shaft 27 Used to be 30 Distinctive badge 32 Town nearest Nfld.

Insectarium: ___ Lake 33 Visage 35 Sea (Fr.) 36 Level

37 Small dam 39 Affirmative reply 41 Gelatin from seaweed 42 Spring fish in N.B. 43 Skewered snack 44 School (Fr.) 45 Destroy slowly 47 Cullen of comedy 48 Northern B.C. river with hot springs 49 Get-up-and-go 50 Family car 52 Author Urquhart 53 Bard’s before 54 “It’s freezing!”

57 Chimney ___, Nfld.

58 Youngest person to swim English Channel: Marilyn ___ 59 Procession of floats 61 A roll of the ___ 62 Topple over 63 Be a flop: ___ an egg 65 GG’s residence: Rideau ___ 66 Bagatelle description 67 Prince Charles, for short 69 Farm waterhole 70 Violinist Dubeau 72 French kiss 73 Sophisticated 74 Pertaining to living organisms 75 The hula hoop, once 77 Rocky peak 79 Elaborately adorned 80 Car warmer 81 Trees with

fluttery leaves 83 Ottawa’s Rideau ___ 84 Type of acid

85 Down at the ___ 87 Half: prefix 88 Sicily’s high point

89 Security deposit 92 Grandstander’s problem

94 French name 96 Furrow Solution on page 30

Brian and Ron Boychuk

WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR.19) Your batteries should be fully recharged by now, making you more than eager to get back into the swing of things full time. Try to stay focused so that you don’t dissipate your energies.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Reassure a longtime, trusted confidante that you appreciate his or her words of advice. But at this time, you need to act on what you perceive to be your own sense of selfinterest.

TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) You’re eager to charge straight ahead into your new responsibilities. But you’ll have to paw the ground a little longer, until a surprise complication is worked out.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) You need to let your warm Leonine heart fire up that new relationship if you hope to see it move from the “just friends” level to one that will be as romantic as you could hope for.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Rival factions are pressuring you to take a stand favoring one side or the other. But this isn’t the time to play judge. Bow out as gracefully as possible, without committing yourself to any position.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) There’s still time to repair a misunderstanding with an honest explanation and a heartfelt apology. The sooner you do, the sooner you can get on with other matters.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT.22) Expect a temporary setback as you progress toward your goal. Use this time to re-examine your plans and see where you might need to make some significant changes.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Some missteps are revealed as the cause of current problems in a personal or professional partnership.

Make the necessary adjustments and then move on.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Jupiter’s influence helps you work through a pesky problem, allowing your naturally jovial attitude to reemerge stronger than ever. Enjoy your success.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) Set aside your usual reluctance to

change, and consider reassessing your financial situation so that you can build on its strengths and minimize its weaknesses.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) Some recently acquired information helps open up a dark part of the past. Resolve to put what you’ve learned to good use. Travel plans continue to be favored.

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) Act on your own keen instincts.

Your strong Piscean backbone will support you as someone attempts to pressure you into a decision you’re not ready to make.

YOU BORN THIS WEEK You embody a love for traditional values combined with an appreciation of what’s new and challenging.

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

(c) 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

SOLUTION ON PAGE 30

INDEPENDENTSPORTS

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 12-18, 2007 — PAGE 29

Kevin Fitzpatrick’s quiet style has served him well in almost two decades of senior hockey.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Team player

By Don Power For The Independent

I

n Kevin Fitzpatrick’s very first year of Avalon East hockey, he scored the game-winning goal that captured Torbay the championship.

He was 17 at the time, a hometown hero. Fitzpatrick thought that title would be the start of a fantastic career playing for Torbay as an Avalon East Hockey League power.

Spring forward 18 years, and Fitzpatrick was half right: he’s enjoyed a splendid career in the Avalon East, but Torbay hasn’t been the title contender he envisioned it would be. In fact, since that initial season, when Fitzpatrick split his time between Torbay and the Junior Celtics, Torbay has won just one more championship.

That came in 1999-2000, when the Flatrock Flyers — who had won every other Avalon East championship in the 1990s — disbanded for a season. Many

Torbay’s Kevin Fitzpatrick has quietly put up great numbers in Avalon East Hockey League of the veteran Flyers retired for a year, and Torbay picked up the remaining crumbs, as well as the championship trophy.

While Fitzpatrick thoroughly enjoyed his second title, it didn’t put any salve on the wounds from the previous decade.

“It was brutal, honest to God,” he says of watching Flatrock win every year. “I think they beat us 10 years straight.

“And people all around were calling the Avalon East a good league. I could never understand how you could call it a good league when one team could dominate for years, while other teams could barely survive.

“That was the hardest part about the league, watching one team constantly

win. You couldn’t get ahead.”

It got so bad during those seasons Fitzpatrick actually considered quitting the game altogether.

“I thought about it,” he admitted this week prior to a team practice at Feildian Gardens. “It was very frustrating, and I thought about it. But I knew I could still play hockey and I still wanted to play, so I couldn’t give it up.”

Luckily for the fans who attend Torbay’s games, the man they call Fitz didn’t quit. Today, he stands as one of the greatest players ever to play in the Avalon East Hockey League.

According to the league website, since 1990 — when stats became readily available — Fitzpatrick has recorded 192

goals and 224 assists for 416 points in 276 games. Those totals place him atop the league’s career scoring column, at least from 1990 forward. (The Avalon East began play in 1966, and is in its 41st season.) He has scored 60 more goals than his nearest rival, long-time buddy Joey Maynard. His point total is 62 more than Ed Oates, who sits in second.

And Friday night (Jan. 12), when Torbay hosts Mount Pearl, Fitzpatrick could pass Oates for the assist lead. He currently sits at 224 helpers, while Oates, who is now retired and coaching the Conception Bay North Cee Bees, has 225.

“Kevin Fitz has always been a great hockey player,” Oates said this week.

“Without a doubt, he was always one of their top players. As a team playing against them, he was one of the players we had to key on.”

So why is it that very few people outSee “I’ll go as long,” page 30

Nothing like a good rivalry Too bad there isn’t one here on the men’s curling front

T

here was a great story out of Edmonton recently that shouldn’t really surprise any sports fan, especially a curling fan.

Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun has written a book about Randy Ferbey’s extremely successful team called The Ferbey Four. Since forming at the turn of the century (doesn’t that sound funny?), Ferbey’s team has won four Canadian championships — which puts it in the rarefied atmosphere of the legendary Richardsons from 1959-63 vintage — and three world titles, including a pair back-to-back.

While I have yet to read the book, there was an excerpt on Slam Sports website earlier this week, specifically part of Chapter 14. In that, the Ferbey team discusses its rivalry with — and

DON POWER

Power Point dislike for, simply because hatred is too strong a word, although it is apparently appropriate — Kevin Martin.

Martin is the other very successful Edmonton curling team, with two Briers to his credit, and he and Ferbey have been battling for a number of years. Apparently, it’s a heated competition.

Anyway, the chapter focuses on the argument “Who detested Kevin Martin first?”

It makes for great reading. It also

makes for fun times in the curling world, especially in Edmonton. But it also led me to thinking about the Brad Gushue team.

Gushue and his rink have dominated the local curling scene — especially from a media standpoint — since winning the Canadian and world junior titles in 2001. (In fact, Gushue’s been front and centre in the media since losing the national junior title in 2000.)

Yet in all that time, not a bad word has been spoken about him by an opponent. Nary a peep from opposition about how tough it is to lose to a young snot like Gushue. They were thinking it and saying it privately, mind you, but it wasn’t for public consumption.

It’s common knowledge around the curling club that Gushue is ruthless in

his pursuit of excellence. If you don’t fit into his team’s plans, then watch yourself when you fall, because you’re getting cut.

It’s also common knowledge Gushue was cocky, bordering on arrogance, during his first year or two in men’s play, which turned off a lot of the veteran curlers at that time.

And there have been strong rivalries forged between Gushue and another team, specifically Mark Noseworthy, before the latter retired.

I’m not suggesting that there has been any hatred for the Gushue rink, certainly not to the extent of the Ferbey-Martin feud. But there’s only one reason for that: there’s no team in the city, or province for that matter, who compares to Gushue’s.

And this is even before his Olympic gold.

No other team puts the time, effort and dedication to the game that Gushue’s rink does. He’s already been to three Briers, losing to Mark Noseworthy in his first year out of junior, then reeling off three straight provincial titles before skipping last year’s event because of a small commitment in Torino.

It has to grate on the nerves of all these other curlers that they have no chance in hell of beating Gushue.

It also has to be tearing them up that Gushue went to Alberta to find a second. A second! Surely there had to be someone in this province who could See “Bordering on” page 30

30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

JANUARY 12, 2007

‘Bordering on arrogance’ From page 29 throw second stones!

That shows Gushue’s disdain and lack of respect for local curlers, something that’s been discussed over beer by the locals for sure. “Sorry guys, you don’t measure up to us, so we can’t take you.”

Are any of these Gushue decisions wrong? Hardly, when you consider his record.

But it’s funny that everybody else bites their lip when asked about the best Newfoundland curler.

NTV BUTCHERING FOOTBALL COVERAGE In addition to the curling season getting into full swing, January is also the time of year for the National Football League playoffs.

And as an annual rite of winter, NTV decides to wade into the fray and televise games, after ignoring the sport for the first 17 weeks of the season. To make matters worse, they get to simulcast the games, inserting their own advertisements into time slots and show their coverage on whatever American network is doing the game.

Which would be fine, if there were any advertisements. But when the game goes to a TV timeout, there’s nothing but music videos and NTV promos, with an occasional Bud ad thrown in.

I understand the principle behind simulcasting, but shouldn’t there be a requirement that the local station at least have ads before it takes over other stations?

Every year it’s the same old stuff. donniep@nl.rogers.com

‘I’ll go as long as I can’ From page 29

we were young.”

“He means a lot to Torbay,” says side the confines of Feildian Gardens team general manager Carl Doyle, have heard of him? who’s been around the team for Well, some of that anonymity can be decades. “He’s been the MVP for this traced back to those playoff losses to team for years. He’s a quiet fella. He Flatrock. Big-time players often make doesn’t draw a lot of publicity. People their names in the finals and by win- have a tendency to overlook him, but ning championships. he’s a great player. He’s a good team Fitzpatrick didn’t player for us.” have that luxury.

And it doesn’t “You make your appear Fitzpatrick has name in the playoffs,” any intention of slow“Games, practices, said Oates, who would ing down. Despite know, having played being 35, despite the dressing room, on those Flyer teams grey creeping into his that destroyed the way hair, despite being the camaraderie, the old Avalon East only Torbay native was structured. left on the team, I enjoy it all.”

Fitzpatrick agrees despite still searching that he’s flown under for another champiKevin Fitzpatrick the radar for almost onship, Fitzpatrick two decades. says there’s one thing “I did,” he says, that keeps drawing adding that it doesn’t bother him. “We him back: a pure love of the game. never won the big games, or the cham“Games, practices, dressing room, pionships to get the recognition. I just camaraderie, I enjoy it all,” he says. “I quietly went about my business.” enjoy the bus rides to Harbour Grace on Quiet but effective has been his Saturdays, but that’s all I like about the modus operandi all those years wearing new league.” the black and gold of Torbay. (Even Although the league has left its comwith the team in new blue and white munity-based roots behind, Fitzpatrick colours, Fitzpatrick remains effective.) still enjoys playing, getting to know A natural centre, Fitzpatrick just new teammates, and making the drive wanted to play. If Torbay was short a from Torbay to Feildian Gardens. winger, Fitzpatrick slid over on the for“I still don’t mind coming up,” he ward line. Not enough defencemen? says. “There may be a scattered game Fitz can play back, too. when you wouldn’t mind a night off, “I just wanted to play,” he says. “If but I still throw the gear in the bag, put the coach asked me to move, I’d say, it in the car and come on to Feildian ‘Yes, whatever you want me to do. I’ll Gardens. play D, or centre or wing, just tell me “If I had a dollar for every time I where to go.’ came up out of Torbay.”

“I grew up coming up here on Friday Now, though, Fitzpatrick can see his nights watching Torbay play. This is time coming to an end. where we wanted to play when we were “I told the boys in the dressing room growing up. the other day I’m going to keep playing “The NHL was too far away at the until we see an arena in Torbay. Now time. In this day and age, it’s a bit easi- they might have one on the go. I heard er, I think. It’s at least more realistic. it might be two years. If it can get here But there was nothing for me, so very soon, it’ll be good for me.

Torbay was where I was going. There “I’ll go as long as I can.” was definitely a different feeling back then. Torbay was the spot to play when donniep@nl.rogers.com

NFL PICKS

Divisional playoffs Sammy’s Crystal Football SATURDAY, JAN. 13 INDIANAPOLIS AT BALTIMORE (-4) The Colts used to be Baltimore’s team for nearly 40 years until 1984 when the owner pulled the team out of Baltimore in the middle of the night, and moved it to Indianapolis. Expect a frenzied crowd and a talented Raven squad that has only allowed more than 13 points once in its last seven games.

Indy has lost four in a row on the road and the Ravens have won five straight at home.

TAKE BALTIMORE (-4)

inexperience will prove costly.

TAKE PHILADELPHIA (+5) SUNDAY, JAN. 14 SEATTLE AT CHICAGO (-9) Which Rex Grossman will show up this Sunday? The Bear’s QB has been great at times and more recently, not so great. Seattle will have to greatly improve its play this weekend as this is a rested and hungry Chicago team.

Earlier this year Chicago blew Seattle away 37-6. A repeat?

TAKE CHICAGO (-9)

PHILADELPHIA AT NEW ORLEANS (-5) Having lost by a field goal in week six, Philadelphia marches into New Orleans for the second time this season.

Experience, if nothing else, should help the Eagles keep it close again. The Saints must be patient, or turnovers and

NEW ENGLAND AT SAN DIEGO (-5) New England goes into San Diego with the experience of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. The Chargers have MVP Tomlinson, a rookie quarterback and home-field advantage. This could be a classic. Considering the Patriots have won its last 11 of 12 playoff games, it’s hard to go against them.

TAKE NEW ENGLAND (+5)

Solutions for crossword on page 26

Solutions for sudoku on page 26

Paul Smith photo

Fine job for a Cheechako The day tenderfoot Derek finally got his moose

Y

ou might remember my Nov. 12 piece, titled The simple life, Newfoundland-style. The column was about Rob and I helping Derek, a newcomer to moose hunting, tag a critter.

Our day afield was a smorgasbord of the hard and the easy — hunting on foot over rocky hills, thick woods and unforgiving bog, but taking time to relax on hilltops while boiling up and enjoying the panoramic view.

Although we enjoyed that day to the fullest, Derek didn’t get his moose.

There would be more hunting days, more sweat wiped from our brows, and even more hours spent glassing the countryside with our binoculars.

I’m not generally lazy, but binoculars cover country so quietly and efficiently — no snapping twigs and tired legs.

Anyway, I went out on a limb and promised a Derek’s first moose article.

This is it — but what’s with the title?

Just this morning I learned this really cool and woodsy new word: “Cheechako.” Microsoft has yet to include it in their spell-checker. I’d better drop them a line.

Cheechako originated from Chinook Jargon in Alaska and the Yukon during the gold rush days that began in 1896. Chinook Jargon, once spoken by perhaps more than 100,000, was a blend of Chinook and English used by Indians, traders, trappers and settlers of the Pacific northwest.

Today, the pure Chinook language is dead and Chinook Jargon is spoken by only a few dedicated individuals trying to keep the language alive.

Directly translated, Cheechako means “new come” but loosely means newbie, tenderfoot or greenhorn — a beginner. Even today you might find yourself greeted in the north with a “hello Cheechako.”

Take no offence. It isn’t a mean, insulting or sinister term. Northerners live in a harsh land and deserve an element of pompousness in the presence of newcomers from the south. It will pass; you will get a chance to prove yourself and graduate to a “sourdough.”

So when Derek dropped by my place last August to get his scope mounted and rifle sighted in, I could have asked, “How’s it going

PAUL SMITH

The Rock

Outdoors Cheechako?”

But Derek showed keen interest in everything woodsy and learned quickly. He probably got to sourdough on our first gravel-pit shooting session.

Derek recognized a seriousness about hunting in Rob and me that he wanted to learn from, and we appreciated his enthusiasm.

We all agreed to hook up for some fall moose hunting. If you can’t share experience and knowledge, what’s it worth?

And so it went. Up to my Simple life piece, we spotted plenty of moose but the only shooting range opportunities were cows and calves. The bulls proved elusive. Derek was preoccupied with house hunting for most of November so it wasn’t until December that we got down and dirty serious — Got to get me moose, b’y — and time was getting short.

FAIR WEATHER HUNTER Late fall moose-hunting success is very dependent on weather. Moose despise both wind and rain and prefer the heavy timber during the meteorological onslaughts that occur more frequently as winter approaches. Dense cover moose hunting is quite challenging unless there’s snow to muffle sound. They don’t have those big ears for nothing.

I’ve always preferred to glass for moose in fine weather, spot them out in the open, and execute a wellplanned stealthy stalk. So we concentrated on just about every clear weather opportunity December presented.

The second weekend in December was a rough one, wind and rain right up till midday on Sunday. The afternoon was a little windy but clear, the moose would likely be out and about.

Derek and I walked in to one of our favourite moose glassing perches for the evening hunt.

About 3 p.m. we spied a critter walking slowly along the edge of a small barren about 300 or 400 yards up from the edge of Kelly’s Pond. I

could just make out its black silhouette moving between the evergreens but I couldn’t tell if it was a bull or a cow.

All we could do was wait — no chance of an undetected stalk in those thick woods and besides he (we were hoping for a bull) was still on the move. If the hunting gods were smiling, he might show up on the edge of Kelly’s Pond for an evening drink.

And smile they did. With about half an hour of shooting light left, out popped a fine eight-point bull on the west side of the pond, a 10-minute walk from where we were glassing.

I stayed on the hill to keep an eye on the bull’s whereabouts while Derek headed off full of optimism. Ten minutes passed, and I fully expected to hear the crack of Derek’s grandfather’s .303 any second. I watched in silence for another five minutes before Derek’s bull turned around quickly and headed into the thick woods.

I broke radio silence with “What happened?”

“Damn scope, meet me back at the main path,” was Derek’s reply. Derek returned visibly upset and discouraged. His grandfather’s rifle wore a 50-year-old scope, fine for its day, but technology has improved significantly over the past half century. The old scope was sadly lacking in low-light performance. All Derek could see of his intended target was a fuzzy blur and wisely passed on the shot.

It’s a credit to Derek as a hunter that he didn’t empty the magazine in futile frustration. Many would have. I told him that he did the right thing and would get another chance in better light. Any doubts that I held, I kept to myself.

But the gods smiled again just the next evening. This time, the light was better and Derek shot his first moose at 200 yards, right on target, in the fore-shoulder. Not bad at all, a fine eight-point bull, dressing out at 400 pounds with just one bullet.

Persistence, preparation and determination all paid off in the end. And he did the job with his grandfather’s vintage and prized .303 and scope.

Well done, Cheechako.

Paul Smith lives in Spaniard’s Bay. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com

26 Jones Place

JANUARY 12, 2007

INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 31

INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY , JANUARY 12-18, 2007 — PAGE 32

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