VOL. 5 ISSUE 3
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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 19-25, 2007
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Yes, no, maybe MP Doyle unsure of future; Matthews running again IVAN MORGAN
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t. John’s East veteran Conservative MP Norm Doyle is contemplating his political future. “I really haven’t made up my mind completely,” Doyle tells The Independent. “What I have been saying to people when they say are you running again is: yes, no … maybe.” Doyle has been in politics for 24 years — 14 as a Member of the House of Assembly, and 10 (and counting) as a Member of Parliament. He’s been elected four times at each level. Doyle served in Brian Peckford’s cabinet as minister of Municipal Affairs, Transportation, and Labour. After a successful career in provincial politics, Doyle was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP, and served as party whip, deputy whip, and caucus chair. He served as caucus chair of the Conservative party when it was formed. Re-elected as a Conservative, he is currently chair of the federal standing committee on citizenship and immigration. “When you get eight successful back-to-back elections — when you get that many under your belt,” says Doyle, “you think about your future and whether or not you should go again.” Doyle says he hasn’t spoken with retired provincial MHA and minister CSee “Matthews,” page 2
‘It’s been crazy’ Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s copes with double murder charges
Sophie and Nick Tweed-Simmons with parents Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons.
Matt Peyton/AETN
Coming home?
Shannon Tweed may bring her hit series back to where it all began — Whitbourne
STEPHANIE PORTER
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helly Stokes has been holed up in her St. Philip’s home for days now. She says she’s tired, an emotional wreck, and frustrated that her phone has been ringing day and night since Joseph Oliver was arrested Jan. 12. Stokes works as a psychic who specializes in locating missing people. Recent reports that she offered the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary a tip that helped lead them to the bodies of Dale Worthman and Kimberly Lockyer has added yet another twist to an already extraordinary case — and brought Stokes a level of celebrity she says she didn’t want. “I’m not taking any credit for locating the bodies,” she says. “The police did that.” Nonetheless, Stokes realizes her relatively quiet life is now a matter of intense local scrutiny. Worthman and Lockyer were first reported missing from their home on See “This case,” page 5
By Ivan Morgan The Independent
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hannon Tweed, former Whitbourne resident, Playmate, actress, and star of her own hit reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels may be bringing her show home. Adam Reed, executive producer of the series, says they are giving serious consideration to coming to Newfoundland. “We love the idea of going there, we’re very interested. We love the idea of going to Shannon’s hometown,” Reed tells The Independent. “Shannon is excited about it. I can’t promise or confirm that we are going there, but it is definitely an idea that is up on the board that we really, really hope to be able to do this season.” Gene Simmons Family Jewels is a reality series that chronicles the adventures of Tweed, her partner, rock star Gene Simmons of KISS, and their two teenaged children. The twist is that while marketed as another dysfunctional Hollywood clan, they are in fact rela-
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The shelf life of a politician is not the greatest.” – John Crosbie on the province’s need for a political makeover. See pages 8-9.
tively normal. “They are the Beaver Cleavers. It is Leave it to Beaver for the new generation,” says Reed. “They are an incredibly close family. Gene and Shannon are incredible parents and those kids are not only intelligent, but respectful, funny, and well-mannered.” “It’s really a testament to her and Gene as parents. I mean, you look at shows like The Osbournes or The Gottis. When we first launched, everybody expected this to be a big train wreck, screwed up family. The great thing has been they are the complete opposites,” he says. “And I believe Gene would give the majority of the credit to Shannon. He always said she raised those kids. Reed, who directed the pilot, says A&E Network commissioned 13 episodes their first year and 20 for this season — A&E’s biggest season order ever. He says nine shows have already been shot, and they clan and crew are heading to the U.K. this month to shoot several more. “The show is launching in the U.K.
“We’re excited at the potential to be able to see where she came from, and what Gene would be like going back to the place she is from.” Executive Producer Adam Reed on the 22nd of January,” says Reed. “So they are going to press to launch the show, and then we’ll shoot two episodes while we’re there, and then we’ll have the back seven left. From February to May we will be shooting the last seven episodes.” That is when they will decide whether to come to Newfoundland. Reed says the idea of Gene Simmons in Newfoundland has serious reality TV
STYLE 21
LIFE 18
The death and funky re-birth of the necktie
Ceramicist Jay Kimball in the Gallery
Patrick O’Flaherty Dance Party . . . . . Book review . . . . . Food column. . . . . Woody’s wheels . .
potential, with Tweed as the main celebrity and him, for once, on the sidelines. “Yes, it’s great. I mean it fits right into the show. He’d be miserable, and she would love making him miserable, as you well know,” laughs Reed. “We love the idea … Like I said, I can’t promise anything, but it is one of the top ideas we are considering for the back six or seven of the shows.” Reed says Tweed is truly the centre of the series. “Shannon’s incredible. I have worked with her for the past two-and-a-half years. I kinda feel like part of the family, actually. Strangely enough, I am like the adopted son. “She is fantastic. She is an amazing mother, an amazing partner for Gene and she rules with an iron fist. She is a great strong woman. “We’re excited at the potential to be able to see where she came from, and what Gene would be like going back to the place she is from.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
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2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JANUARY 19, 2007
‘Unkindest cut of all’
Randy Simms says MHAs should not have to open their books
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ast week the mayor of St. John’s put forward an interesting proposition involving our MHAs and their constituency allowances. Andy Wells said members should open their personal books to public scrutiny and let voters decide if they did anything wrong with the money their were given. The way Andy sees it, if people release the details of their constituency allowances they will be declaring that they have nothing to hide. Those who refuse to put them out there for public scrutiny obviously should be suspect when voting time rolls around in October. The mayor is wrong here, but only because his suggestion will hurt a lot of innocent people. Let me explain … While the original auditor general’s investigation last year indicated some MHAs had overspent funds from their constituency allowances, Speaker Harvey Hodder advised members not to release details surrounding their allowances because they could end up as part of a future police investigation. The speaker’s recommendation caused lots of people to question just how constituency allowances were being spent. There is a saying in politics that perception is reality and that simple truth is causing problems for our sitting members. Like it or not, the perception out there is that members used the money inappropriately. It’s also believed that donating money to local groups and then getting reimbursed from a constituency allowance is deceitful and the donations are nothing more then vote buying. A number of members have admitted to using funds from their constituency allowance to make donations. Even the leader of the official Opposition, Gerry Reid, has done it and he says it should be allowed to continue. His rational is straightforward enough: most districts get little money in the run of a year and by having a few dollars to pass around members are able to help those in need. Any group that has been the beneficiary of such MHA largesse no doubt thinks it’s a good use of funds as well. But does it pass the smell test? An MHA showing up at the home of a local minor soccer player with a cheque and asking if other members of the team could use funds is somewhat suspect, especially if those cheques are being claimed against a constituency allowance. How about donations to seniors groups, hockey teams, church groups, and other
RANDY SIMMS
Page 2 talk local clubs with all of the donations claimed against the constituency allowance? Are these people using public money to buy influence and by extension purchase votes? The answer would seem to be yes. Are they breaking the rules? The answer would seem to be no. How about meal money? Are we going to go over the records with a fine-tooth comb and start comparing one member against another? If the MHA for district A claimed only 12 meals over the year but a member for district B claimed 20 are we going to judge them on that? It’s why I have a problem with asking members to open the books and let us have a look. Like it or not, they played by the rules and used them to their best advantage. It’s hard to blame them for that. Don’t get me wrong. The current rules have to change. Judge Derek Greene is going to take care of that for us. I hope he recommends doing away with constituency allowances altogether. Members should be able to claim their legitimate expenses and have them reimbursed on a regular basis. The kind of expenses that should be covered should include office costs, business travel and per diems. I have a feeling the number of dollars used would drop significantly. Members will no doubt live within the new rules and life will go on. The donation/claim back program will end, and it can’t come quick enough. But I have a problem condemning people who played by the rules even when the rules stink. So it would probably be in everyone’s best interest that the books on this matter remain out of public view. Judging members and holding them to a standard that did not exist is simply unfair. Let the auditor general complete his review of the constituency allowances and report those suspected of wrongdoing. Those who did nothing wrong should not be held accountable for doing what was allowed and if the books are thrown open a lot of our MHAs will be held in disrepute for doing only that which was approved. It would be the unkindest cut of all. Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s Open Line radio program.
Matthews ‘seeking re-election From page 1 of Finance Loyola Sullivan about the possibility of running in Doyle’s riding. “Not a word,” says Doyle. “And I really don’t know if Loyola is interested in going into federal politics. We haven’t talked about it, but he would certainly be a great addition to it all if he did.” Doyle says he doesn’t feel any pressure to make up his mind — he doesn’t think there will be a federal election any time soon. Meantime, he says he is talking his options over with his wife. Next to family, Doyle says his staff is his prime consideration. He says he would let them know first, so they could begin looking for new jobs. “A lot of people have been asking me about it and I have heard the open-line shows say Norm Doyle won’t be running again, but they never really got it from me, you know,” laughs Doyle. Doyle currently donates his provincial pension to charity. When contacted about his political future, federal Conservative Bill Matthews was straight to the point. “I am saying that as of now I am seeking re-election. Simple as that.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
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JANUARY 19, 2007
SCRUNCHINS A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia
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he pride of Burlington, Shaun Majumder (although, on second thought, Rex Goudie can also claim the title … quite the boast for an outport of less than 400 people), is all over the news this week, the first Newfoundlander to set off a nuclear bomb … on North American TV. The star of Just for Laughs, Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, and This Hour has 22 Minutes showed his dramatic side this week with a terrorist role on 24, the action show starring Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorism expert Jack Bauer. In an explosive start to the season, Majumder blew up Valencia, an L.A. suburb, killing any chance of a cameo down the road. From 22 Minutes to 24, the jump is a much bigger leap than the math makes it sound, as the Toronto Star wrote this week. As it happened, Majumder interviewed Sutherland in 2004 about his grandfather Tommy Douglas for the Greatest Canadian specials. “We were doing a bit,” Majumder told the Star earlier this month, “where I pull Kiefer aside and say, ‘You know, I’m on a show called 22, and you’re on a show called 24 ... we should get together and do a show called 23 1/2.’ And then he just shoots me a look, shakes his head and walks away … this is my revenge.” TH’ DARKER SHE GITS Majumder, who left Burlington at the age of 14 to live with his father in Mississauga, was quoted recently about being out on the water. “I was out in a boat with a childhood friend, and he was talking about the light he had on the boat,” Shaun says. “He made a joke about it later on when it got dark, and this is an example of how Newfoundlanders view things. He said ‘Man, that light is sure good — th’ darker she gits, th’ better she is’ … that’s the way Newfoundlanders use language, and it’s just brilliant.” WAGE ENVY You read it right here last week about how this province’s new minimum wage ($7 an hour) stacks up against the rest of
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3
the provinces (we’re tied with Alberta for second last, behind New Brunswick at $6.70 an hour). The Toronto Star reported this week that the highest minimum wage in North America is Washington State’s $9.33 Cdn. In Israel, the minimum wage is $20.65 Cdn. Maybe we should start out-migrating to the far, far east … LIQUOR AND WHORES The East Coast Music Awards are scheduled to be broadcast live by CBC Television on Feb. 18 from the Halifax Metro Centre. Ron Hynes is slated to perform, which, to be honest, is about the only Newfoundland angle I have to this particular Scrunchin. I was looking for a reason to talk about The Trailer Park Boys — actors John Paul Tremblay as “Julian,” Robb Wells as “Ricky” and Mike Smith as “Bubbles” return to host the show for the second consecutive year. Said Bubbles: “Last year, I wanted to host the ECMA’s because I thought it might help me get a recording contract. And guess what? After I sang Liquor and Whores to the prime minister I got to record it in a big, fancy studio … and put it out on a real CD, not some #@%$#@&% thing JROC did on his computer.” Bubbles and Julian showed up last year at Marble Mountain’s Snow Jam (known far and wide for the Party at the Peak, March 24 this year). It’s true, Julian had a rum and coke glass surgically attached to his hand … SQUID BURGERS John Dunsworth, who plays trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on The Trailer Park Boys, has a connection to Newfoundland in so far as he played the role of Guy Quoyle in the motion picture The Shipping News, based on the Pulitizer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx. And everybody knows The Shipping News was an accurate representation of Newfoundland life. No onions on my squid burger please … SWEET TALKER The Toronto Star had some nice things to say this week about Newfoundland poet Mary Dalton, who recently released her fourth book of poems, Red Ledger.
Beautiful downtown Harcourt, Trinity Bay, was captured bright and early one morning this week by long-time resident Ed Vincent. Just down the road is a slate mine at Bourgoyne’s Cove, which is also the site of a secret downed American War aircraft. But that’s a story for another day …
Shaun Majumder appeared on 24 this week.
Paul Daly/The Independent
deep waters of isolated Conception Bay where marine biologist Addison Clarke has come to search for Architeuthis, the elusive giant squid, intent on solving its mysteries. On dry land, Clarke’s wife, Marina, chases a mystery of her own when she rescues a naked stranger who emerges from the ocean. As the natural world is thrown off balance, what sur-
faces is a mystical tale of the sea and its secrets. Currents of pop culture, contemporary science, and ancient folklore run through this chilling edge-of-your seat thriller.” The play is slated to run Jan. 31 to Feb. 18 and hopes to draw a crowd of 10,000. Have no fear, The Independent is on its way … ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
Government and press were eager to When Governor Francis Pickmore landed in St. John’s in September scotch suspicions that the fires had 1817, fear of rebellion was already in been started deliberately. The grand the air. An economic pall had fallen jury declared that they were “unaniover the colony (as Newfoundland mously of (the) opinion that the fire was then). The Napoleonic wars, originated solely through accident,” which had been a boon to many, had and that “unfavorable impression on ended two years earlier. The seal fish- the subject, may be removed from the ery of 1817 had public mind.” failed. Hunger and But within distrust were tangiweeks another ble in the streets. proclamation Government and Ethnic prejudice from Governor press were eager to would make matters Pickmore offered worse. An influx of a £300 reward “to scotch suspicions about 11,000 Irish any person or perpeople to sons who shall that the fires had been Newfoundland in discover and started deliberately. 1814-1815 had its bring to conviceffect on perception any offender tions of the 1817-18 or offenders havwinter. One description from the ing maliciously set fire to, or been Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and accessory to the malicious setting fire Labrador of an unrelated 1818 St. to any house or houses in this town.” John’s fire starkly highlighted a comIt seemed that no one, including the mon prejudice of the time: “The rich governor himself, believed the fires … were almost frantic with despair; were accidents. And Pickmore certainwhilst the poor (particularly the ly didn’t feel personally safe. He had Paddies) were delighted beyond meas- complained to London that the resiure at the prospect of plunder that pre- dence in Fort Townsend was “in no sented itself.” way suited to winter habitation in this
climate … the snow having in the course of a very short snowstorm, accompanied with a gale of wind, penetrated into the bedrooms.” Yet he refused to take up residence within the city, as he was instructed. The lawless elements of St. John’s and the constant risk of fire were obviously more of a threat to Pickmore than anything the weather could do to him. When the governor died on Feb. 24, 1818, 350 men had to hack through the 2,856 yards of solid ice in the harbour to create a channel for the vessel, the HMS Fly, to transport the governor’s remains home to England. So that his body might be preserved for later burial on the long and uncertain voyage, it was afforded the dubious dignity of being preserved in a puncheon of rum. Though well-intentioned, the lurid brutality of the image seems horribly appropriate for a winter in which life must indeed have seemed to the citizens of St. John’s — to quote the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbs — to be “nasty, brutish, and short.”
The Star article, which ran under the headline Trust a Newf to show how, said the book has a “feisty, political edge that might not sit well with elected officials: Lies for the Tourists and her tart appraisal of Confederation as a bad bargain for Newfoundlanders, for starters … she’s no sweet-talker, that’s for sure. “She even finds a terse, colloquial jazz in a taxi dispatcher’s patter,” reads the review. “The ‘music and muscle of word,’ as Dalton puts it, make this vibrant collection sing.” SPIDER SENSE The Independent got an e-mail request this week for a copy of our front page — any front page. Louise Phetteplace of the City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh said they’re doing the play The Muckle Man that is based in Newfoundland and the lead character appears on the front page of the newspaper. Phettteplace said she wants to be authentic with the newspaper. The Muckle Man was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who’s described by Variety as representing a new breed of young playwright. In addition to his work for the stage, Aguirre-Sacasa writes the monthly adventures of The Sensational Spider-Man for Marvel Comics. My spider sense started tingling as soon as I saw the e-mail … SEA AND ITS SECRETS The following is a description of the play: “The Muckle Man is set around the
Winter of the Rals By Paul Butler For The Independent “Several hundred men in the prime of life, without money, or the means of being employed … are at the hour of midnight wandering amidst the smoking ruins to seek warmth from the ashes and food from the refuse of halfconsumed fish . . . within these two days, two men have been found perished of cold.” — Grand jury, Newfoundland, 1817.
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o reported the grand jury in the wake of two disastrous fires that raged through the heart of downtown St. John’s on Nov. 7 and 21, 1817. The combined calamity of the two blazes — known jointly as The Great Fire of 1817 — was the destruction of 400 buildings, $4 million in property damage, and 3,000 people or one-third of the city’s population rendered homeless. In Newfoundland history, the catastrophe is often overshadowed by the 1892 Great Fire — and unfairly so. While the number of homes destroyed was not so great, the proportion of the city laid to waste was similar. More
importantly, the disaster left St. John’s in the most precarious situation it would ever face. Newfoundland was entering into the dark period known as the “Winter of the Rals” or Winter of the Rowdies. While the above quote from the grand jury may seem to reveal some compassion for those who suffered, it also demonstrates a fear for what those hundreds of men in the “prime of life” might do. Cable and steamship — tools which would be vital in the later disaster — had yet to be invented. When the cowering, hungry and homeless of 1817 St. John’s thought of relief from distant lands, their hopes were made all the more desperate by the agonizing slowness of letter and sail. A request had been sent to Halifax for emergency provisions after the Nov. 7 fire but that did not take into account the second disastrous fire 14 days later. When winter closed in — and it was to be one of the coldest winters on record — it became obvious the relief requested was insufficient. Weeks and months followed in which there was looting among the ruins, and a hunger so desperate that people stole food that was burned beyond recognition.
Paul Butler is the St. John’s-based author of the novel NaGeira and the upcoming St. John’s: City of Fire.
4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JANUARY 19, 2007
Priceless collection
‘Significant improvements’ made to province’s art procurement program: AG By Mandy Cook The Independent
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he province’s auditor general says the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation has made progress in securing and tracking the province’s art collection since he audited the department in March 2000. The program is meant to assist the professional development and economic livelihood of Newfoundland and Labrador artists and to enhance the appearance of the province’s buildings by purchasing and displaying the work of local artists. Upon completing a review of the program, John Noseworthy outlined several problems. At the time, department officials could not account for 102 pieces of artwork. “We followed up with the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation in 2002 and requested an update of the progress on the recommendations that were made and it is of my understanding that of the 102 pieces that couldn’t be accounted for at the time, all but 10 have now been accounted for,” he says. Noseworthy also identified 16 pieces of lost artwork, at a value of $5,365. A spokesperson for the Tourism department couldn’t give an update on the remaining missing items. “What’s more complicated is the update on the artwork that is missing because there are sensitivities to giving you that information because you’re talking about missing items,” he says. As of 2004, the art procurement program falls under the responsibility of The Rooms. Noseworthy says the department addressed his concerns regarding the absence of a tracking process for art moved from its original assigned location. The department developed a database and a system of compact discs. “Apparently they have a database, they take a digital photograph of the artwork, and they have that available so they know where the artwork is assigned,” he says.
Provincial art procurement program budget 2006: $125,000 Provincial art procurement program budget 2005: $75,000 Number pieces of artwork in provincial government collection: 2,465 “They have a picture of it and the departments are provided with a copy of that too, so we have a CD with everything we’re supposed to have on that CD so it’s accounted for in that way.” The spokesperson for the department says anyone who moves a piece of art must also fill out a detailed form. “If artwork is borrowed there’s a loan agreement form signed with the person’s name, telephone number, date, department, location and where the art work is gone. There’s a much more elaborate tracking system for that,” he says. Artwork can go missing when an employee wishes to update their office space by rotating the art. Noseworthy says the computerized system is just part of the safety process. “If someone doesn’t go around and do a physical counting of this on some sort of periodic basis, things can go missing and it’s harder to detect the longer it goes so it’s an important control mechanism,” says Noseworthy. Will Gill, a visual artist, sculptor and a beneficiary of the arts procurement program, says the program is invaluable to artists like him and others in the province. “It’s a really good program and it’s very helpful to a lot of artists,” he says. “The government gets good art out of it, and now rather than just government offices it’s available to be shown at The Rooms as well.” Noseworthy says he will be reviewing the program again in the next two to three years. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
Lorraine Michael
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘Wait and see’
Opposition leaders await reports, say Williams mishandled House finance file By Ivan Morgan The Independent
O
pposition leaders Gerry Reid and Lorraine Michael say the auditor general and the chief justice should be allowed to finish their investigations before any decision is made on a public inquiry into the House of Assembly’s finances. But both criticize the premier’s handling of the scandal. Reid says a call for a public inquiry now would not be productive. “I think that to come out today and say we need a public inquiry would be saying to the auditor general and the chief justice that they’re not worthy,” Reid tells The Independent. “I don’t think that would be appropriate.” He says if the public were not satisfied after the reports are made public, then he would call for an inquiry. Reid has issues with how the premier has handled the file. “I think he messed up a little bit there, there’s no doubt about it,” says Reid. “He is out giving his position on it before the investigation was even started. “You could say that he in trying to influence an investigation, or the outcome of an investigation by making comments, and I am surprised, for a man who says he knows so much about
the law, to do that.” NDP leader Lorraine Michael also awaits the outcome of the various investigations into House of Assembly finances. “Come back to me in two weeks time, after the chief justice puts in his report,” says Michael. She says she has confidence the report will address many of the questions people have, and his recommendations, when put in place, will “take care of everything we are talking about.” Michael also questions the premier’s methods. “I guess I do find that a lot of the actions of the premier on this have been inappropriate, there’s no doubt in my mind about that,” she says. Michael says the premier doesn’t seem to fully understand the political process — there’s a role for the premier, the auditor general and others, and it’s important the premier not mix up his responsibilities with those of others. “I think he has done that, and I am not sure why he doesn’t see that, and maybe he does,” says Michael. “I am not expecting him to come out publicly and say ‘Well, I messed up.’ But I think he has acted inappropriately.” She says the premier, as a lawyer and a businessman, may just be impatient with a new and complex process. But there is a process, she says, and it takes
time. “That’s the nature of working: the more people who are working together on something, the more time a process takes,” says Michael. The premier’s office issued a written statement reiterating the premier’s position that a public inquiry at this time would be inappropriate. “Our government’s actions have already helped identify the problems, and our prompt action is helping to clean those problems up,” the statement said. “What could be more thorough than reviews by the auditor general, the chief justice and the RNC?” Michael says she has remained patient and optimistic, awaiting the results of the work of the auditor general and the chief justice. “I really am looking forward to it, and I hope I am as positive after it comes out as I am waiting for it.” MHAs Ed Byrne, Randy Collins, Wally Andersen and Percy Barrett, as well as former MHA James Walsh, have been implicated in constituency allowance overspending totalling more than $1.5 million. In addition, two more MHAs have recently been implicated for “double billing” on their expense claims totalling over $7,500. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
The John Kenneth Galbraith Lecture in Public Policy Dr. Margaret MacMillan Provost of Trinity College, professor of history at University of Toronto and warden-designate of St. Anthony’s College, Oxford and best-selling author of Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World and Nixon in China: The Week that Changed the World
The Shadow of the Past: How History Shapes the Present Monday, January 29, 8 p.m. Inco Innovation Centre Lecture Theatre 2001 St. John’s Campus, Memorial University Free admission and free parking in Lot 18 (between the QE II Library and the Prince Philip Parkway) Reception with Dr. MacMillan to follow; all welcome
www.mun.ca/harriscentre/
Breathe through a straw for 60 seconds. That’s what breathing is like with cystic fibrosis. No wonder so many people with CF stop breathing in their early 30s.
Please help us.
1-800-378-CCFF • www.cysticfibrosis.ca
Fabian Manning
Strengthening our hand Federal Conservative MP Fabian Manning has asked the premier to push for a commitment from Liberal leader Stephane Dion regarding equalization similar to one offered by Stephen Harper prior to the last federal election. “A letter of the same commitment from the Liberal leader would strengthen our hand in Ottawa,” said Manning in a press release.
Tom Rideout
More work, less pay
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om Rideout, deputy premier, minister of Fisheries, minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, minister of Justice and Attorney General (Acting) does not get any additional pay for his additional responsibilities. A spokesperson for the Finance Department says Rideout has no extra personal compensation for his additional roles, although he can access funds such as travel budgets from each department when on official business. — Ivan Morgan
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5
‘This case haunted me’ From page 1 Dogberry Hill Road in Portugal CoveSt. Philip’s in the summer of 1993. There was little movement in the case — publicly, at least — until last summer, when the RNC announced they had commenced a search of a wooded area off Thorburn Road, between St. Philip’s and St. John’s. Human remains were found, and by the end of August, had been positively identified as the missing couple. Cause of death: murder, by gunshot. Oliver, 37, also of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, appeared in court Jan. 13 on two charges of second-degree murder. RNC confirm Oliver may not be the only suspect in the case, and their investigation is ongoing. There is a list of about a dozen people Oliver is not to have contact with while he’s in prison or should he be released on bail. Stokes is on that list. So is Shannon Murrin, a town resident once charged — and found not guilty and released — in the murder of eight-year-old Mindy Tran in British Columbia. It all adds up to an intriguing case in a picturesque seaside town — but hardly one that’s shaken the community to the core. Many residents seem blasé about the case, or at least removed from it. There is gossip and speculation, naturally, but even that doesn’t seem as consuming as one might expect, faced with an unsolved double-homicide in Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course, that doesn’t hold true for those close to the case. Stokes, originally from New York, says she became involved in 1994, when a family member of one of the missing people came to her, asking for help. “This case haunted me,” she says, curled up on her couch, frowning. “Because when I held the item (belonging to one of the victims, given to her by a family member), back in 1994 … when I do something like that, I see through the person’s eyes. I also feel what they felt, that pain, the fear, and so on. “That stuck with me. I had nightmares. After a few years, they eased off a bit, but every summer they came back again. I became obsessed and determined that I was going to locate them if there was any way possible.” She says it took her years to find the right spot due to the lack of discernible landmarks — it wasn’t until 2006 she felt she had located the right trail. She says she passed her ideas along to the police. Stokes, who lives just down the road from both Oliver and Worthman and Lockyer’s former residence, says she has stayed out of touch with the rest of community since the news of the arrest broke. “I don’t know what people think. I’ll have to put up with the phone going crazy, nutcases calling me, people that think I’m out to lunch,” she says. “Other people calling, hoping that maybe I could help them. “And then there’s the local criminal community that’s labeled me as a rat. And that’s not too good for a woman living alone with a teenaged daughter. I’m not afraid, but it’s something I have to consider.” ••• Perched on the coast of Conception Bay, St. Philip’s-Portugal Cove — two sprawling and scenic former fishing communities amalgamated in 1992 — has a population of about 6,000, and growing. Increasingly, it’s a bedroom community for St. John’s, less than 15 kilometres away. New high-end subdivisions, filled with large family homes, many in the $500,000-range, are increasingly popular — though not necessarily with long-time residents. There’s an elementary school, a volunteer fire department, a library, a number of corner stores, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and a number of other local businesses catering to locals and tourists. And, in spite of all the commuting, there is still a proud local population, for whom St. Philip’s or Portugal Cove — and they are still separate in many minds — is home. Jane Tucker is a local businesswoman and a long-time resident of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s. Although her community has been under considerable scrutiny lately, she doesn’t
believe the murder case will have any lasting or negative effects. “Anybody just has to come out this way and have a look around and they’ll see we are a wonderful community,” she says. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe years ago, this area had a connotation about it (as a rough area), but not anymore. “We’ve got kind of an exclusive aura the last couple of years, getting more exclusive as the days go by,” she laughs. “And maybe this’ll cool it down a little bit.” That said, she makes a point of separating herself and her townspeople from the criminal goings-on. “It’s too bad, because all these people are from St. John’s. They all are born way out on Thorburn Road, in St. John’s limits, that’s where they come from, Shannon Murrin and (Joseph) Oliver … “I guess they’ve lived here for a while, but none of them are what you would call ‘from St. Philip’s.’ Even the ones that were murdered, they weren’t. There’s no Tuckers or Squires involved, which is hardcore St. Philip’s, so I don’t think that people really feel that it’s anything to do with them so much.” Which might be one of the reasons she says the small town isn’t consumed with gossip or overwhelmed by the possibility of having a murderer in its midst. “I couldn’t even find out who it was (that had been arrested) before it was announced on the air,” says Tucker. “Which was unusual, because usually everybody knows these kind of things. But nobody knew. So I don’t think there are very many people in on it to talk on it.” Others straight-out refuse to talk about it, including Mayor Norm Collins, who declined comment on either the case or its potential effects on his town. At least two councilors responded similarly. A shopkeeper in one of the convenience stores was quick with a “no comment” as well, saying only “we don’t talk about it … we understand it.” A couple of customers also shrug. “I’m really not interested,” says one man, a resident of St. Philip’s for about a decade. “I don’t care, what’s to talk about? It happened that long ago.” He acknowledges there are some dark elements in St. Philip’s, as in any town, but figures it doesn’t impact his life or well-being. A woman nearby — who was a teenager when Worthman and Lockyer went missing — says she barely remembers the news 13 years ago. The most recent developments, including Oliver’s arrest, don’t register with much more intensity. “It’s all kind of old news,” she says. There are others, of course, who have plenty of opinions about both the crime itself and the ongoing investigation. The list of people Oliver is not to contact is known, and more than one resident has been speculating about how all the pieces fit together. “The general belief around the community is that the wrong man is arrested,” says one lifetime St. Philip’s resident. “Not saying this fella is innocent … there’s lots of complications but other than that, I don’t want to say anything … I don’t want them in here shooting at me.” ••• Stokes will not speak about the case of Worthman and Lockyer any further — saying any information she did have would only be passed along to the police. She does say — contrary to what she says some believe — she has not been privy to any confession of murder. “I don’t know why this is being tried in the media. How is anyone going to get a fair trial with all this?” Stokes does private tarot card readings at her home, but says most of her criminal or missing people clients are in the States or elsewhere in the world. The case of Worthman and Lockyer was the exception. Given the events of the past week, Stokes says that won’t likely happen again. “This has been such a stress on me,” she says. “The one thing this has done is let me know never to work on a case that’s close to home again. “It’s been crazy.”
Model Kathryn Byrne prepares for any type of weather.
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We have to endure it’ Climate change poses challenge for province’s economic future: more floods and fewer icebergs?
Final of a two-part series By Ivan Morgan The Independent
M
emorial University professor Norm Catto frames the problem for Newfoundland and Labrador when it comes to facing a future of climate change. He says there is a debate about how much of climate change is natural, and how much is caused by humans. “If we are living on the ground it doesn’t matter as much, because we still have to endure it.” Catto, a member of a federal government steering committee dealing with climate change issues as they affect Atlantic Canada, says even if people in the province take measures to stop climate change, it will have little effect. Compared to the population of the United States or China — China is now the third largest market for automobiles in the world — he says Newfoundland and Labrador is tiny. “The measures that people in the province take are not in themselves going to be sufficient to cause any reversion of the system,” Catto tells The Independent. “So we have to live with it.” But the province’s economy is still moving to face the challenge of climate change. Environment minister Clyde Jackman says government is taking measures to deal with the impact of climate change on the province. He offers the town of Placentia, part of which is built on land close to sea level, as an example of government’s action on climate change. The government completed some high-risk flood zone mapping which identified Placentia as a high-risk area. Jackman says centuries ago the French saw Placentia as having plenty of beach, which was the perfect place for drying fish — it was just bordering on sea level. “With climate change coming on, we anticipate storm surges are going to be more frequent, with rising sea levels,” says Jackman. “Therefore in that particular area we are meeting with the town (soon) to plan as we go forward.” Jackman says the province is also initiating programs like anti-idling zones in front of the schools and other government facilities. “The onus is on us as a government to point out what the risks are, and plan accordingly.” Bonnie Andrews, executive director of the province’s environmental industry association, sees opportunity in climate change. “There’s money to be made in climate change because in encountering the effects of climate change we are forced
• Number of people killed world-wide in 2005 by natural disasters: 97,000 Global cost of these disasters to insurance industry: $83 billion – more than ever before • Insured losses for 1991 hailstorm in Calgary: $430 million • Insured losses for flooding in Winnipeg in 1993: $225 million • Insured losses for flooding in the Saugenay: $240 million • Insured losses for 1998 ice storm in Quebec: $1.7 billion • Insured losses for 2003 Hurricane Juan: $136 million — Insurance Bureau of Canada, Lloyds of London — we have absolutely no choice — but to come up with new technologies.” While people see climate change as a bad thing, Andrews says it can be good for local companies who develop new technologies to combat it, which can be sold globally, and be an economic boost for the province. “You gotta look for the silver lining.” Stan Cook, chair of sustainable tourism for Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, says the tourism industry in rural areas of the province is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. While Newfoundland and Labrador has many attractions to draw people, such as culture, landscape and whales, he says for the last seven or eight years icebergs have been a large part of the province’s marketing mix. He says they “were kind of stuck” without any icebergs last year and just a few the year before. “We have a couple of rural areas of the province, especially around Twillingate, that have built a big industry around the icebergs, around them coming in the spring of the year,” says Cook. “I think it would mean a bit of a scare for us if we lost our icebergs, since they have become a major marketing icon for us over the last couple of years.” He acknowledges it is only the one year, and by no means a trend, but “if all of a sudden they disappear it is going to hurt.” Fisheries scientist George Rose says the impact of climate change on the fishing industry is hard to measure. He says climate change is serious, but has to be looked at in terms of all the other problems that the industry faces, such as poor management, over-utilization and habitat destruction. “It’s going to make (predictions) more difficult now, because we have this changing field,” he says. “No doubt it’s changing, but we have very little predictability to know what it is changing
to. “It makes the science a lot more difficult.” Van Lantz, an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick with expertise in the cost of implementing climate change policies, says there are two issues related to the cost of climate change. “There are costs associated with trying to reduce our emissions,” says Lantz. “But there are also costs associated with the climate actually changing, and us having to deal with that.” He says the cost of climate change can actually be divided into the costs of doing nothing versus the cost of adapting. “If we do nothing, there is going to be a cost in the long term,” says Lantz. “However, if we spend some money now to adapt, to build dikes for example, and expend some money now, that may defray some of the costs that occur in the future.” Don Forgeron, vice-president for the Atlantic provinces of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says the insurance industry, a natural bellwether of the economy, takes the issue of climate change seriously. He says his association has developed a national policy position — a natural disaster reduction plan — and convinced the federal government to implement one of their own. “The only problem with it is they haven’t put any money towards it,” says Forgeron. He says the plan was based on the notion that far more can be done in advance. “We are a great nation of responders (to natural disasters). We have a worldwide reputation in terms of our ability to respond,” he says. “Not doing so good when it comes to preparation.” He says there has been a significant increase in natural disasters as a result of changing weather patterns from 1980 to 2000. He notes a hailstorm in Calgary in 1991 cost $430 million in insured losses. The ice storm of 1998 that struck Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick cost $1.7 billion in insured losses. “So the impact on our industry is pretty clear and pretty direct,” says Forgeron. While the debate rages over the best mechanism for mitigating climate change — be it ratifying the United Nations Kyoto Accord or adopting a more home-grown approach as was recently recommended by the Harper government, Lloyds of London, one of the largest insurance groups in the world issued its own report on climate change. The title of the report, which warns that more climate-related natural disasters can be expected in the future, would also serve as good advice for the province. It is entitled Adapt or Bust. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JANUARY 19, 2007
Look, up in the sky … B
ig Oil has discovered our Danny’s kryptonite, or maybe they knew his secret weakness all along. All oil companies have to do to hurt our fearless leader is cut back on the amount of oil they draw from the Grand Banks. Less oil means less money to the province’s treasury ($200 million last year when the Terra Nova platform went into the shop for maintenance). Danny may be a Newfoundlander of steel, but his people are flesh and blood. We are his weakness, his Achilles heel. Not that Big Oil would ever cut back on production on purpose to make us suffer, to have their way with us. I would never think that. Danny may have walked away from Hebron negotiations and turned down the Hibernia South application, but the oil companies would never dream of retaliating. Never in a billion dollars — my apologies, I meant billion years. Danny isn’t superman anyway, not according to the national media, who see him more as Canada’s Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president and self-proclaimed revolutionary. Personally, I can’t see Danny in a camouflage suit and beret, Cuban cigar dangling from his mouth, preaching to
RYAN CLEARY
Fighting Newfoundlander the masses from the top step of Confederation Building. That style of leadership/wardrobe went out with Leo Puddister. News broke this week that Venezuela will take at least 60 per cent stakes in four lucrative oil projects the government plans to nationalize. Oil minister Rafael Ramirez told the Associated Press that the contract overhaul will be included in an “enabling law” that gives the Chávez administration powers to legislate by decree. Chávez has said the private companies with stakes in the Venezuela oil play — including Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. (companies involved in our offshore) — will be given the option to stay on as minority partners. Venezuela first announced it would take majority stakes in the oil projects in mid-2006, but failed to negotiate an agreement with its partners before the end of the year. Last week, Chávez announced the government’s
plans to nationalize the projects, and that foreign firms could accept the terms or leave. Imagine Danny laying down the law — ’bout time we had the ball in our court. Someone is making billions in profits … and it ain’t us. Keep in mind, of course, that Newfoundland and Labrador can’t nationalize our oil projects — considering we don’t own the oil. The crude belongs to the Government of Canada, don’t forget — not us. We’d have to be an independent Newfoundland and Labrador to nationalize anything. There’s that evil word — separation. Better not go there … too scary. What the hell, it’s time we started thinking outside the box. Consider this column an exercise in freeing the mind. In an interesting side note, in a September 2005 poll almost half of Canadians wanted to see their petroleum resources and gas companies nationalized as fuel prices hit record levels. In the Leger Marketing poll, 49 per cent of respondents wanted petroleum resources nationalized while 43 per cent said they would like to see the same fate for gas companies. Quebecers were the strongest supporters of resource nationalization at 67 per
cent, followed by residents of the Atlantic provinces at 53 per cent, Ontarians at 45 per cent and British Columbians at 42 per cent. The word nationalization conjures up images of power-hungry despots, where government ownership of the industry has meant corrupt and politicized management, technological stagnation and the squandering of the riches oil brings. Not necessarily. Norway, the world’s third largest oil exporter, behind only Saudi Arabia and Russia, is proof of intelligent government management. Norway makes between $2 billion and $3 billion a month on its petroleum fund. Danny is under intense heat these days. Most of what we’ve asked for relating to offshore oil has been turned down: Ottawa’s 8.5 per cent stake in the Hibernia project; an equity share in future offshore projects, starting with Hebron; and use-it-or-lose-it legislation setting a time limit on the development of offshore resources. It’s still not clear whether Stephen Harper will follow through on his pre-election promise to keep non-renewable resources out of the equalization formula. Failure to live up to that promise, Danny has warned,
will result in a “big goose egg” for the federal Conservatives in this province come the next federal election. The question remains: why isn’t the province making more from the oil resources off its shores? It’s clear what Hugo Chávez would do. Our own Hugo boss, Danny Chávez, has heard the comparisons, but he doesn’t seem particularly bothered. In a year-end interview with freelance writer Don Power, Danny said he’s not overly familiar with the Venezuelan leader. Said Danny: “All I know is he is trying to get a greater return for his resources to pour it back into social programs for his people … when they try to tag you with someone like Chávez, they’re trying to compare you to someone in South America who they consider to be unreasonable.” Danny would rather be compared to the head of Norway, or the U.K. leaders who introduced fallow-field legislation in 2002. “From my perspective, it’s not so much stubbornness as it is being hardnosed in our negotiations to get what’s fair for the people of the province.” Sounds reasonable. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
YOUR VOICE Confessions that would make Jimmy Swaggart cry Dear editor, I see the screwed-up fairy has visited us again and bull has become the coin of the realm. To those of us of whatever political hue concerned about our body politic, revelations of out-of-control MHA spending are revolting. It’s not enough to have thousands of dollars to roam the district and $80,000-plus with other benefits thrown in. Some of these 10-watt bulbs in their newfound 100-amp circuits have dipped even further into the trough to maintain superficial images in their districts. After listening to or reading some of their responses in the media I wonder if it’s only their budgets that are unbalanced. A few of the confessions would bring tears to the eyes of Jimmy Swaggart. Confessions, I quickly add, offered only after those MHAs were fingered by the attorney general for double-dipping or questionable bank deposits. Did anybody notice there was not a mea culpa from any of them as they either resigned or dashed to Confederation Building waving their cheque books? Oh no, hold the violins. Each came on like gangbusters blaming everything and everyone for getting caught with their pants at halfmast. My own tears stuck in their little ducts, refusing to be jerked. I just don’t buy it. My chagrin changed to outright rage when it was revealed as much as half a member’s allowance is doled out in donations. Have they nothing better to do with the money sucked from our frozen pensions? In my dis-
trict of CBS the MHA’s menu has to change from Grey Poupon to French’s Mustard. MHA Terry French is “all for giving out donations.” Call it generosity, and there are benefactors, but to me it’s buying us with our own money. If that’s not evil enough, some claimed donations twice. I almost threw up watching Terry on TV sitting there with a $1,900 double-dipper grin on his face explaining it was somebody else’s problem to watch his receipts. Because it happened over a four- or five-year period he feels it deserves absolution. Tell it to the soldiers fighting in Iraq. If my sodium level wasn’t already violated, John Hickey’s performance talking his way out of $3,800 was even more pathetic. Perhaps if they spent more time bringing forth worthwhile legislation instead of keeping track of receipts for the last meal we’d be better served. Hopefully, when this mission implausible is over and done, the Clubhouse on the Hill will be restocked, the dirty diapers and crying towels gone, and Premier Williams can replace these inherited wannabees with people who know the sun rises in the east. He can’t do it alone, only the voters can decide if their candidates are worth the money. That will be the premier’s toughest job when the best he can post outside Confederation Building is “Welcome to shit creek, sorry we’re out of paddles.” Bob Kieley, Conception Bay South
‘Great potential episode’ Dear editor, We were very excited about the idea of bringing Family Jewels to Newfoundland a few days ago when Shannon (Tweed) brought it up, and, of course, now after Ivan’s Morgan’s great e-mail, we are even more excited. Absolutely sounds like a great potential episode here. We are just working out our backend episodes and this will more than likely be one of them. However, I don’t yet have dates. I do know that it
would be sometime in March, April, or May. We are off to London for a shoot for almost this entire month, so when we get back, Ivan Morgan will be one of my first calls and we can start to discuss trying to make this a reality. Really appreciate your insight, as well as your enthusiasm for the show. Adam Reed, Executive producer Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Los Angeles
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Political best-before dates Dear editor, I believe the recent spending scandal in the legislature is the best thing to happen to us in decades. Don’t get me wrong, every penny should be returned with interest and legal action taken where needed, but there’s a silver lining here that may lead to a bright new day for Newfoundland and Labrador. Recently we’ve seen a spate of resignations (including two MHAs not directly connected) and while the auditor general has identified overspending by five members and double billing by others, he has yet to release his final report. I believe that report will be the most valuable for its content and the most damning in the court of public opinion. The report will show tax dollars spent on everything from wine, to art, to lavish trips with perhaps a gross or two of ivory back scratchers thrown in for good measure. The free-for-all won’t be limited to just a handful of souls either, it
will be much more wide spread than the handful of names we hear today. While the final report will cross party lines, it will show a sense of entitlement not unlike that seen with the federal Liberal party in recent years. Widespread embarrassment, resignations, decisions not to run again and (for those who hope to tough it out) defeats at the polls will follow. As an added bonus, some long-time party members will be dissuaded from trying to fill the shoes of those deposed before them. As bad as it sounds this is actually a good thing. This sort of mass exodus leaves the door wide open for new blood and fresh new ideas to permeate the hallowed halls of Confederation Building. I remember reading a study that said a person’s skills improve for the first seven years in any job. After that they level off for the next seven and then suffer a continual decline until retirement. If you relate that to a politician’s lifecy-
cle, anyone who’s served two terms has become as good as they’ll ever be and after four terms is basically a liability. Consider the average politician, with a few exceptions, has worked inside his or her party for years and slowly risen through the ranks. They’ve done this by building support and alliances that allow them to seek nomination and run for office. This means that by the time they’re elected they’ve been involved in party politics for a decade or two and are already well past their best-before date. The world is changing faster than ever before. New technologies and new ideas are coming at us almost daily. Our province will never find a way to take advantage of these new opportunities if we continue to support career politicians for decades on end and elect individuals who’ve been pushing the same tired agenda since the 1970s or ’80s. Myles Higgins, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s
‘We desperately need victims’ right legislation’ Dear editor, Unlike Ivan Morgan (Where is the justice, Jan. 5 edition), I feel capital punishment is right and justly deserved for serial sociopaths such as Saddam Hussein and Clifford Olson. They are multiple murderers who enjoyed killing. Society was their private playground. Their crimes were brutal, cold-blooded murders against the most vulnerable. Giving Olson a life sentence commits the ultimate betrayal and injustice upon his surviving victims. Oppose the death penalty and agree to give this piece of filth permanent free room and board while the families of his victims struggle with their nightmares. Stephen Harper, tell me you’re joking. Then there’s the travesty of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. They are a blight on the landscape. Criminal law must command “profound respect or reverential fear.” It must remind us of the moral order by which alone we can live as human beings. Today, only capital punishment will satisfy for these serial offenders. If Canada
asks its citizens to risk their lives in war and honours her best as heroes, then she may also execute the worst of her criminals. Retribution has a bad smell among intellectuals. But retribution drove Simon Wiesenthal to hunt such sociopaths. The majority support capital punishment for Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. We punish criminals mostly to pay them back and we should execute the worst of them out of moral necessity. Even Ted Bundy understood this: he committed his last crime in a death-penalty state. Some have said killing begets killing. This argument, wrongly, treats all the factors in the equation as equally reprehensible: Bundy and his executioner. Abolitionists worry an innocent could be executed; death penalty advocates worry a parole board could release these monsters. Their continuing offensive presence in our midst creates a stench suffocating our justice system. Return the death penalty. What kind of country
aborts or kills unborn children and preserves monsters? I agree with Mr. Morgan on Thatcher. Life should mean life. By taking someone’s life, he chose to surrender all of his freedoms. Canada, sadly, is more interested in preserving the rights of criminals than in ensuring their victims get justice. We desperately need victims’ right legislation. Lawyers, courts, and judges act aloof from the “unwashed.” Once a person is dead, they and their loved ones are dead in the eyes of the law. Note the Samantha Walsh and Matthew Churchill cases. The justice system is still failing these people. Further, judges are accountable to no one and they never feel the consequences of their rulings. If judges knew they could be penalized for ridiculous rulings, they would make fewer of them. Better yet, let them stand for election. David M. Duff, St. John’s
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7
So much to listen to, so little time B
efore my love for the politics of this place, or its history, or before any of my other passions, comes my love for rock music. I don’t mean classic, or hard, or new wave or alternative or goth or thrash or indie or any of the other names people have given it — I mean the all of it — all the stuff that has been playing on the radio for the last 60 years. It is my folk music. I was a suburban kid, raised in St. John’s. I know and respect Newfoundland traditional culture, but it isn’t my culture. My culture is American TV and rock and roll — especially rock and roll. It is the one constant of my existence. My culture (and you may shudder if you like) came through my transistor radio, which I secretly listened to under my covers in bed as a boy. In the early 1970s “Super Dick” Reeves (no, I’m not kidding) counted the Top Ten at Ten every night on VOCM. It may have
YOUR VOICE
IVAN MORGAN
Rant & Reason been past my bedtime, but there was no chance of sleep until it was done. This was not like school or family — this was serious. I can still remember the first time I heard Mony Mony by Tommy Janes and the Shondells. Or the first time I heard the Edgar Winter Group’s Frankenstein. I have had a love affair with Alice Cooper coming up on 40 years. I remember my father, horrified by the lyrics to I Love the Dead, asking me accusingly did I think I would be happy having my future children listen to this. You could see the disgust in his eyes — the same disgust I saw in my 12-yearold daughter’s eyes when, decades later,
I sang lustily along with Alice on the stereo in the minivan. “No farewells, no goodbyes — I never even knew your now rotting face!” Clearly the child thought I had lost my mind. I guess it skips a generation. I am not trying to rag on anyone else’s taste. “Classic” rock is great, but to me the new stuff is greater. That’s the real thrill to rock — it is always new, always reinventing itself. When Roger Daltry howled “rock is dead” in The Who’s Long Live Rock, he was right — for his own brand at least, and it was time. But there is always a bunch of young people ready to challenge your senses, shag you up, and rock your world. Don’t think so? Go listen to The Decembrists. I remember the first time I heard punk music, back in the 1970s at the height of the scourge known as disco. Clean, clear, sharp, lean and mean. Wow. Then came new wave, then
grunge, and then Kurt Cobain’s short life. And so it goes. The power of this music never ceases to amaze me. I stood on my seat at Mile One and sang along with Pearl Jam and a capacity crowd for two hours. We all knew all the words. Lead singer Eddie Vedder, incredulous, asked the crowd “Is everyone in this town a Pearl Jam fan?” It seemed that way that night. New new new — I want new. I am not blind to the fact that so much playing on the radio at any given time is dreck. That was always true. I don’t care, because among all that noise are the musical nuggets I treasure. Years ago writer and Newfoundlander Gwynne Dyer wrote of his own love for rock music. He called it emotional wallpaper, a phrase I remembered. He wrote of songs that immediately evoke for him a memory or past emotion. When I hear Procul Harem’s Whiter
Shade of Pale I am in Wong’s restaurant, on Penneywell Road. It is 1972; I’m eating a “50 gravy Coke” and working up the nerve to talk to the most beautiful girl on Earth, sitting in the next booth (I didn’t). There are songs that evoke memories so intense I snap them off if they come on the radio. Not now, not today. This may sound trite, but Bob Dylan, Anthony Keidis and his friends, Dave Matthews and a few others have saved me more times than I care to think about. I need this music to work. I need this music to get through my day. I cannot live without this music. I need this music to live. As I write this, I am listening to Broken Social Scene’s Anthem for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl. You should give it a spin. It’s fabulous. There’s so much to listen to and so little time. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
DANNY TIME
God-given political rights Dear editor, Travel expense payments in government and most large companies are paid only on original receipts, why then would a member claim expenses (a second time) without the original receipt? The competence of the member has to be questioned. As for using the accounting department as the scapegoat, the member is solely responsible for his/her claim. Members submitted the false claim and because the accounting department failed to detect the error does not take the member off the hook. The member who submitted and signed the claim as a true cost of their expenses is responsible for the error and the false claim. These expense forms, I assume, are approved by an authority of the House prior to being submitted to the accounting department for payment. How would an employee of the House determine if the invoice was legitimate? The residents of the province, I would hope, are not so gullible. And then to see Premier Danny Williams stand by their side during this latest fiasco and imply that there was no wrongdoing by the members is disturbing. Mr. Williams insists the government employee responsible for reviewing the claim and making the payment is responsible for the error. In an interview on CBC Television, Mr. Williams indicated that he saw fit to step in to save the members — from whom? Does this leave the impression that it is OK for the member to double bill if the error is not detected at the processing stage? A police investigation will solve nothing. How can one be convicted on grounds of double billing intent … this is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. The residents will have to be the judge and vote accordingly, in the next general election. If residents of the province cannot trust Members of the House of Assembly to simply submit claims and stay within budgets, how can the residents trust these members to govern the province? Allowing members to spend their allowance at their discretion is a mistake — these funds should be used only for justifiable expenses (i.e. travel, etc.) It is unfair to allow a member to give donations to groups at their discretion. One member indicated last fall that if there was money left in his allowance at the end of the year he would donate this remaining allowances to his church. It seemed that the members were given the Godgiven right to spend the entire allowance on a whim. Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl
Premier Danny Williams says his government will continue to fight for Newfoundland and Labrador so the province can “thrive, grow and prosper” from its natural resources. Williams addressed Rotary Thursday, Jan. 18 with a strong message against the previous governments' attitude of “modesty and conciliation,” which he says has cost this province dearly. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘Clamouring for the tabletops in Grose Morne’ Dear editor, I have a suggestion for you. I watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth a few weeks ago and he showed how the melting of Artic ice around Greenland could affect the areas such as Manhattan and the Florida Keys in as little as 50 years from now. (I’m guessing 50. I can’t remember for sure, but is was soon enough.) What was shocking to most people
was that Ground Zero would be under water by then. I was taken aback by the notion of what would happen to us here, if areas such as these would change so dramatically. Has anybody really thought about us here in Newfoundland in regards to this? I googled “Newfoundland Global Warming” but didn’t come up with anything substantial. There must be some theory as to what would happen
to us since we are a lot closer to Greenland than New York or the Florida Keys. Are we high enough above sea level to avoid any major changes to our coastline? Is it possible that the map of Newfoundland and Labrador might change? I read your paper every week. If you already covered this off in a previous issue, I must have missed it. If not, it would make for a really good read. As
long as all of us are not clamouring for the tabletops in Gros Morne. Delores Burton, St John’s Editor’s note: the above letter was received by The Independent prior to the start of our two-part series on how global warming is impacting Newfoundland and Labrador. The second part is published on page 5.
JANUARY 19, 2007
8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9
IN CAMERA
Does Newfoundland and Labrador politics need a makeover? YOUR MHAS
AVERAGE AGE: 51 TEACHERS: 15
WALLY ANDERSEN TORNGAT MOUNTAINS, LIBERAL Age: – Occupation: Operations and purchasing manager for provincial government Education: High school diploma PERCY BARRETT BELLEVUE, LIBERAL Age: 58 Occupation: adult education, continuing education Education: bachelor of arts (education), masters in education administration JOAN BURKE ST. GEORGE’S-STEPHENVILLE EAST, PC
Age: 41 Occupation: Parole officer, executive of the Union of Solicitor General Employees Education: masters of social work, bachelor of social work ROLAND BUTLER PORT DE GRAVE, LIBERAL Age: 61 Occupation: various positions within the Port de Grave District Liberal Association Education: high school diploma, business administration program JACK BYRNE CAPE ST. FRANCIS, PC Age: 55 Occupation: surveyor Education: College of Trades and Technology – architectural drafting and surveying technology; administration certificate from Memorial University FELIX COLLINS PLACENTIA AND ST. MARY’S, PC Age: – Occupation: lawyer; teacher; principal; Mayor of Placentia Education: bachelor of arts; bachelor of education; masters of education; bachelor of laws RANDY COLLINS LABRADOR WEST, NDP Age: 54 Occupation: millwright, staff representative to the USWA local union Education: high school diploma DAVE DENINE MOUNT PEARL, PC Age: 57 Occupation: junior and senior high school teacher Education: bachelor of arts (education) KATHY DUNDERDALE VIRGINIA WATERS, PC Age: 54 Occupation: community development, fisheries, communications and social work Education: Post-secondary ROGER FITZGERALD BONAVISTA SOUTH, PC Age: 58 Occupation: Electrician Education: College education
LAWYERS: 6 PHARMACIST: 1 FUNERAL DIRECTOR: 1
CLAYTON FORSEY EXPLOITS, PC Age: 53 Occupation: draftsman; sales and accounting with Morgan Press; Brookfield Dairy supervisor Education: studied architectural drafting
TOM RIDEOUT LEWISPORTE, PC Age: 58 Occupaton: teacher, lawyer Education: baccalaureate of laws
OLIVER LANGDON
BOB RIDGLEY ST. JOHN’S NORTH, PC Age: 62 Occupation: teacher; principal; businessman Education: bachelor of arts and education; graduate diploma in education administration
FORTUNE BAY-CAPE LA HUNE, LIBERAL
Age: 62 Occupation: teacher Education: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Education
TERRY FRENCH CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, PC Age: 37 Occupation: businessman Education: high school diploma and post-secondary
ELIZABETH MARSHALL TOPSAIL, PC Age: 54 Occupation: accountant Education: bachelor of science (math)
KATHIE GOUDIE HUMBER VALLEY, PC Age: 42 Occupation: Nurse Education: Memorial University, Western Memorial Regional Hospital School of Nursing
TOM MARSHALL HUMBER EAST, PC Age: – Occupation: lawyer Education: bachelor of commerce; bachelor of laws
HARRY HARDING BONAVISTA NORTH, PC Age: 60 Occupation: teacher, town clerk/manager, manager Beothic Fish Processors Ltd. Education: post-secondary TOM HEDDERSON HARBOUR MAIN-WHITBOURNE, PC Age: 52 Occupation: school principal Education: bachelor of arts and education; masters of education JOHN HICKEY LAKE MELVILLE, PC Age: 51 Occupation: high voltage linesman; mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay Education: College of the North Atlantic HARVEY HODDER WATERFORD VALLEY, PC Age: 63 Occupation: teacher; administrator Avalon Consolidated School Board, mayor of Mount Pearl Education: bachelor of arts; bachelor of education; graduate diploma in education administration RAY HUNTER WINDSOR-SPRINGDALE, PC Age: 52 Occupation: businessman Education: electrical journeyman’s Trades College of St. John’s
Paul Daly/The Independent
Talent pool By Mandy Cook The Independent
V
acant provincial districts; political reputations tinged with doubt; a Liberal caucus full of incumbents. Premier Danny Williams left to sort out the tumult on Confederation Hill. Does Newfoundland and Labrador politics need a fresh start? The average age of the provincial MHAs is 51. The Liberal party consists solely of incumbent members. Fifteen MHAs are former teachers and school principals, six are lawyers, and the remaining members make up a variety of vocations which include a pharmacist, draftsmen, business owners and a funeral
director. Former premier Roger Grimes says recruiting new, young talent is a must for a healthy government to grow and offer an original point of view. “It’s always critically important for all the parties to continue to rejuvenate themselves by having new people, new faces, new ideas to offer and hopefully to have some of them be successful so you can have a new dimension added to your debates inside your own caucus,” he tells The Independent. John Crosbie, former federal cabinet minister and political heavyweight, says attracting young people to a life in politics is important, but adds it’s a struggle to do so. He says the younger generation of
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will only gravitate towards politics if the system is “attractive enough.” However, Crosbie doesn’t think the government’s current difficulties stemming from the MHA spending scandal will deter potential candidates. “There’s plenty of people who want to run in Loyola Sullivan’s old district (eight candidates ran),” he says. “The same happened in the Goulds, so nobody’s being discouraged, there’s all kinds of people coming forward who want to run, so I don’t think this is going to cause a major problem in finding candidates for the next election.” Crosbie also says he isn’t worried about the average age of the present group of
CLYDE JACKMAN BURIN-PLACENTIA WEST, PC Age: 52 Occupation: school principal Education: bachelor of arts and education; masters of education CHARLENE JOHNSON TRINITY-BAY DE VERDE, PC Age: 31 Occupation: electrical and water consultant; businesswoman Education: bachelor of science; masters of applied science in environmental engineering YVONNE JONES
JUDY FOOTE GRAND BANK, LIBERAL Age: 54 Occupation: television journalist, public relations Education: bachelor of arts; bachelor of education; honours diploma in radio and television broadcast arts
EDDIE JOYCE BAY OF ISLANDS, LIBERAL Age: 48 Occupation: – Education: –
CARTWRIGHT L’ANSE AU CLAIR, LIBERAL
Age: 38 Occupation: mayor of Mary’s Harbour; journalist; resource employment counselor; businesswoman Education: graduate of West Viking College community college
Premier Danny Williams
Paul Daly/The Independent
MHAs creeping over the half-century mark. The system needs some “old veterans,” he says, because of their extensive experience in government. Members with experience are a valuable resource to their party — but the longer a member runs, Crosbie admits, their chances of getting voted out goes up. “At some point the likelihood of being defeated increases, the public will want new blood, and you will have people blaming you for things they wanted to have done but haven’t been done,” he says. “The shelf life of a politician is not the greatest.” Grimes agrees. Although he says some veteran politicians can be viewed as carrying political “baggage,” he says there must be a healthy mix of the young and old, the green and the wise. “The balance is important, but too much one way or the other is a problem,” he says. “If you can get that mix, that’s the ideal world. It would be a good blend of people (with) … new ideas, new concepts that come from a different perspective, thinking outside the box and that gets tempered by examination … from other veteran members that have been around and may or may not have seen that idea come and go and be tried before.” Grimes says he was disappointed during the last election, when his party became the Opposition with no new members. He says the remaining Liberal party members did a “credible” job — but would have had more success with some new talent. “I think it was unfortunate for us, I think it could have been better and with some slightly different focus if we had even one new member who was fresh and didn’t have experience.” Grimes is holding out for some young blood to enter into the political fray. He says age and experience are not a necessary requirement to get elected. “My biggest hope is that it changes, because we need new faces and younger people shouldn’t think you have to wait until you’re 40 or 50 years old with a lifetime of experience behind you. Good ideas are not bound by age limits.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
LORRAINE MICHAEL SIGNAL HILL-QUIDI VIDI, NDP Age: 61 Occupation: teacher; executive director of Women in Resource Development Education: masters of divinity; bachelor of education KEVIN O’BRIEN GANDER, PC Age: 50 Occupation: pharmacist; president of Aero Marine Products Ltd. Education: high school diploma; school of pharmacy PAUL ORAM TERRA NOVA, PC Age: 40 Occupation: funeral director; businessman Education: high school diploma
TOM OSBOURNE ST. JOHN’S SOUTH, PC Age: 42 Occupation: small business enterprise; Penney Group of Companies; Statistics Canada Education: post-secondary SHEILA OSBOURNE ST. JOHN’S WEST, PC Age: – Occupation: secretary and office manager Education: –
JOHN OTTENHEIMER ST. JOHN’S EAST, PC Age: 53 Occupation: high school teacher and principal; lawyer Education: bachelor of arts and education; masters of education; bachelor of laws KELVIN PARSONS BURGEO AND LA POILE, LIBERAL Age: 51 Occupation: lawyer Education: baccalaureate of laws
GERRY REID TWILLINGATE-FOGO, LIBERAL Age: 52 Occupation: teacher Education: bachelor of arts and education; masters degree in philosophy
PAUL SHELLEY BAIE VERTE, PC Age: 47 Occupation: teacher; construction worker Education: bachelor of physical education and education SHAWN SKINNER ST. JOHN’S CENTRAL, PC Age: 45 Occupation: teacher/principal private college Education: post-secondary; diploma in applied arts at Cabot College; certificate in adult education GEORGE SWEENEY CARBONEAR-HARBOUR GRACE, LIBERAL
Age: 56 Occupation: community college electrical instructor Education: diploma in vocational education
TREVOR TAYLOR THE STRAITS AND WHITE BAY NORTH, PC
Age: 39 Occupation: fisherman; staff member of FFAW; Marine Institute instructor Education: high school diploma; post-secondary ANNA THISTLE GRAND FALLS-BUCHANS, LIBERAL Age: – Occupation: banker Education: –
DIANNE WHALEN CONCEPTION BAY EAST-BELL ISLAND, PC
college
Age: – Occupation: mayor of Paradise; employee of the College of the North Atlantic Education: post-secondary
DANNY WILLIAMS HUMBER WEST, PC Age: 56 Occupation: lawyer, businessman Education: arts in law (Rhodes Scholar), bachelor of political science and economics, bachelor of law ROSS WISEMAN TRINITY NORTH, PC Age: 53 Occupation: health administrator; financial services Education: Certificate of health care administration
WALLACE YOUNG, JR. ST. BARBE, PC Age: 46 Occupation: businessman Education: post-secondary
FERRYLAND Vacant KILBRIDE Vacant PORT AU PORT Vacant
JANUARY 19, 2007
10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
AROUND THE BAY An accident attended with fatal consequences occurred at Island Cove on yesterday week. A young man named Combs, whilst on his way to the ‘woods’ for timber was suddenly seized with ‘fits’ (to which it appears, he was subject), and before his friends who accompanied could grasp him he had disappeared over a steep decline leading down to the sea shore. Search was made for the body, which resulted in its being found with the head split open. The deceased was about 22 years of age. — The Morning Chronicle, Jan. 8, 1880 AROUND THE WORLD The City of Halifax steamer, arrived here from Queenstown on Sunday morning, with mails. Papers by her contain nothing of special interest. — St. John’s Daily News, Jan. 19, 1869
YEARS PAST Whilst escorting the remains of their Brother, John Vinicombe, to the grave on Sunday last, the Masonic Body were met by, and opened their ranks for the passage of, another funeral procession, and in both instances the deceased were persons who had arrived at ages long past the period allotted to the existence of man — the one, a man, being 92 years old; the other, a woman, having reached the age of 96. — The Public Ledger, January, 1885 EDITORIAL STAND Dosco’s hatchet men are busy these days preparing lists of workers who will be unfortunate enough to get caught in their big efficiency squeeze. Are the far-flung shareholders of Dosco as well aware of these facts as they are of men and families being cast aside in order to give them an additional few paltry cents on their investment??? Free Governments and Free Corporations would do well to take warning from the quote: “The seeds of the downfall of Capitalism are sown within itself.” — Wabana Star, Jan. 10, 1962 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor – As the saying goes, “There are people in this world for everything,” some believe this, others
don’t. Some people especially around the Trepassey area don’t even stop to think before saying things they either don’t know or doing things which in the end they must regret. We, a couple belonging to Trepassey, would like to pass a comment on a few certain females (cap fit cap wear) in Trepassey. If those people would stay home a while and do some housework instead of causing trouble for others they would be much further ahead in the end. Thank you, Concerned — Trepassey Tribune, January, 1976 QUOTE OF THE WEEK Local beauticians – GIRLS! – are cutting MEN’S HAIR after 6 o’clock in the evenings and some barbers are pretty damn angry about it. Barber Gerry Brennan says, “WE’RE not allowed, under the LAW, to cut hair during the nights except Friday nights, I’ve got nothing against the girls, but why should we stand by and let them take our places at night?” Mr. Brennan said that false moustaches and beards are sold to young men and not-so-young men who like to “dress up in a different way” at night and do the town. “It’s great for going to dances and parties,” he said. — Town Crier, January, 1974
Suburban Mirror, 1978
A year later, PM’s promises not worth much OTTAWA By James Travers Torstar wire service
F
or most of us, ethics begins with doing what’s right and telling the truth. For Stephen Harper, they often end in a conundrum. Even before wisely dropping the “Promise made, promise kept” mantra foolishly borrowed from Paul Martin, the prime minister misplaced his moral compass in a question. Stripped of particulars, Harper routinely, if indirectly, asks voters: Is it acceptable to break a promise to do what’s needed? In the Conservative universe of situational ethics, every breach of trust comes with an explanation. Luring Liberal David Emerson to switch parties and putting Michael Fortier in the unaccountable Senate as well as in charge of historically corrupt public works was justified by the need to add big city cabinet representation. Converting Wajid Khan into a Conservative is positioned as selflessly
putting country ahead of partisan interest, even if his report on the Middle East is too sensitive to share with that country. Those decisions are bookends on an ever-lengthening shelf. An Accountability Act that in opposition promised dozens of specific measures shrunk precipitously in power. A trumpeted victory of merit over patronage was made hollow by more than 100 appointments. Once an anathema, governing from the centre at the expense of an empowered Parliament is now the operational method of a singularly controlling administration. If those examples are too arcane for citizens to storm the metaphorical barricades, two others are not. One is the Halloween income trust reversal and the other is the still unfolding flip-flop on excluding non-renewable natural resources from the equation that keep taxes and services in rough national equilibrium. Like accountability, merit and the
democratic deficit, income trusts and equalization are all in the large print of the Conservative campaign manifesto. But unlike the first three, the last two are measured with money. Along with being intensely personal, that makes them politically toxic. Quarterly statements chart losses and counting the cost of including resources in the equalization formula is, for premiers, elementary math. There are reasons for every course change. Too much accountability strangles efficient program delivery, some appointments can’t wait for construction of a meritocracy and somewhere between being a party and becoming the government Harper’s inner circle recognized that power is best held tightly. If anything, the rationales for the income-trust backtrack and for this week’s equalization trial balloon are even stronger. Letting corporations off the tax hook is better for stakeholders than for the country and for the party in power,
even one that at least theoretically believes that government becomes more beautiful as it shrinks. Removing oil from the formula for, say, Saskatchewan, makes about as much sense as excluding vehicle manufacturing from the calculation of Ontario’s prosperity. So what’s the problem? Understanding souls say there isn’t one. A neophyte prime minister is simply being shaped by the discipline of power. New realities, new information and new priorities render null and void good-faith projections made in the campaign hurly-burly. That might be a fair assessment even without the issue of caveat emptor. After all, only the most naïve voters and taxpayers expect truth in advertising from politicians, parties or governments who flourish in the environment of spin, fibs and small print. Except this “new” government won the last election by rejecting old ways. It was going to be different and set out to prove it with a five-piece agenda
designed to let Conservatives crisscross the country in the next campaign saying, We did what we said we would. That worked for fomer Ontario Premier Mike Harris and his neo-conservative revolution. But it’s now beggar bowl empty for the prime minister. A year into this government’s life, Harper can’t credibly claim take-it-tothe-bank honesty as a Conservative virtue. Instead of “promise kept,” it would be more candid to laugh off the record as “Just kidding.” Perversely, it’s in the national interest to take this prime minister with a lump of salt.What the last 12 months show is that Harper is an ideologue willing to make almost any short-term compromise to reach long-term objectives. That’s good to know. Come the next campaign, voters can safely dismiss what Conservatives say to concentrate instead on what the prime minister wants to do. The difference between the two is the distance separating truth from consequences.
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JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11
Advertise here But as Patrick O’Flaherty writes, make sure the ad doesn’t frighten the horses
A
dvertisements these days can be startling. The notorious one on TV in which a policewoman engages in what supposedly is sexual intercourse on the front seat of a Kia with a bemused but satisfied driver has been found offensive by authorities in Quebec. And no wonder — the trouble isn’t just that the ad is an insult to policewomen, in fact to all women, but parents must be worried too. What will their children see next? A trend towards physically and sexually explicit scenes in advertising, mostly showing women’s bodies in various states of undress, is already established and will doubtless get worse. Various vulgar ones in the local media spring to mind. Some preying on fears of looking fat or ugly seem particularly gross. The movies too are full of exuberant lecherousness, although many of the kissing scenes are more like demonstrations of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation than romance. What the effects of all this will be on rising generations is too melancholy to contemplate. A column last year in The Muse, Memorial’s student newspaper, gave detailed instructions as to the best way to perform … I’d better not use the word in a family newspaper such as this. In a recent edition of The Scope, a paper appealing mostly to the young downtown set, readers were asked to iden-
PATRICK O’FLAHERTY A Skeptic’s Diary tify the best make-out spot in St. John’s. They voted for Signal Hill; Bowring Park was runner-up. These are places where parents take small children for walks. I appeal to would-be fornicators on the hill and in the park to bear in mind what Mrs. Patrick Campbell said when asked her opinion of sexual freedom: “I don’t care what people do, as long as they don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.” ••• Another provoking set of ads is a series on the province’s schools by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association. They give the distinct impression that the entire K12 education system in Newfoundland is a washout. Having suffered through assorted expensive upheavals and renovations in education in recent decades, people might be forgiven if they were a bit surprised by this doomsday talk. It was also unsettling to see the teachers’ professional association exploiting elementary schoolchildren in the ads. Responding to
some of the angry feedback, Kevin Foley, president of the teachers’ association, denied the ads were just a “game” and pointed to a number of taxing problems — real ones, without a doubt — facing teachers in the classroom. “Our commitment of resources to the K-12 education system must be significantly increased if we are to meet the needs of our students,” he said. I conclude from his remarks that the ads were designed for shock value. Was this the best way to get the attention of policy makers in Confederation Building, now at work preparing the coming year’s provincial budget? Perhaps it was. In last year’s budget, i.e. fiscal year 2005-06, the allocation on current and capital account for the entire education system was $989 million, an increase of more than $100 million over the previous year. The current account spending on education was projected at $915 million, 18.7 per cent of total government expenditure, second only to health (31 per cent). How much greater can the “commitment of resources” be in a small province with a school population that has been declining since the 1970s? ••• Then there is the PC’s intriguing ad
YOUR VOICE Neanderthals linked to MHAs Dear editor, Great news — scientists have discovered we are not related to the Neanderthals, based on a skull found near the South African town of Hofmeyer. The skull, which has been dated at about 36,000 years, is consistent with the skulls of our ancestors from over 70,000 years ago and as recent as 15,000 years ago and matches those of our European specimens. Scientists are now claiming that the finding — called the “out of Africa” theory — disproves “the multiregional theory” which argued that Neanderthals and our ancestors interbred. It further assumes all Neanderthals died off. What a relief it is to realize that we are not related to those hulking apelike creatures, the Neanderthals. But I am not perfectly convinced of the theory that all Neanderthals died out. I firmly believe racial remnants are still to be found embedded in modern society.
Let me explain. The description of the Neanderthal language sounded suspiciously like the noise coming out of the House of Assembly regarding the explanations by the growing list of possible felons and petty thieves. As for their possessions, it was observed that Neanderthals used raw materials close to their cave to make their tools and ornaments. It is suspected that they possessed some jewellrey such as finger rings but they were well secreted and very few have come to light. It is further theorized that their weapons were not the projectile type, though they did occasionally sling feces at each other to repulse those who opposed them. The auditor general being one such recipient of their body wastes. They preferred to fight up close using short thrusting spears smeared with poisonous verbal barbs. It is conjectured that they drew their strength from numbers and preferred to lie in wait for their enemies and
prey, often ambushing them when they least expected it. Forty-eight to 50 was the size of the pool from which at least two optimal size groups were formed. Each group then gave itself distinctive colours and other characteristics, and proceeded to taunt each other but at safe physical distances from each other. The group leaders, at times, can be quite voracious and venomous as they stand toe to toe but after the battle subsides everyone then moseys up the Parkway to the Holiday Inn for a beer before supper. Scientists also believe those Neanderthals knew how to make and control fire. Thus far, as an objective observer and impartial voter I have only seen some evidence they can start fires, but whether or not the modern day Neanderthal can control fire is not yet evident. Aubrey Smith, Grand Falls-Windsor
Having suffered through assorted expensive upheavals and renovations in education in recent decades, people might be forgiven if they were a bit surprised by this doomsday talk. calling for candidates to stand for the party in the forthcoming election. It features a photograph of the premier, and the words in it seem to be his. I can’t recall anything like this being sent out from previous parties in office, or for that matter from any party, and I wonder what the effect will be. Let’s hope we see some new blood injected into politics as a consequence. “If you have integrity, vision, fresh ideas, enjoy challenges and think you have something to offer,” says the ad, “we want to hear from you.” Note the position of “integrity” on the list of desired qualities. There’s something sad as well as pointed about the word, given the latest
shenanigans among our MHAs of all parties. I suppose, and hope, the ad means that the new men and women who “come out” as a result of reading the ad will not simply be named as the PC candidate in a district but will have to stand for nomination in the usual manner. No one should expect to be given a free ride in politics. Standing for nomination, as I know from experience, is a tough business, but it gives the neophyte a needed baptism of fire and connects him or her, in an unforgettable manner, to the people whose needs are to be served. ••• Finally, an ad from the St. John’s International Airport Authority announces an increase in parking fees from Feb. 1. You now have to pay $1.25 per half-hour “or part thereof.” I understand that in the past if you parked for 15 minutes or less there was no charge. That will no longer apply. Other hikes are also to be brought in. The airport authority should be placed under the Public Utilities Commission and forced to justify rate increases before that body. Patrick O’Flaherty is a writer in St. John’s.
JANUARY 19, 2007
12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
VOICE FROM AWAY
The Dance Party take Chicago St. John’s sketch comedy troupe, The Dance Party of Newfoundland, take their show Stateside and have more than a few adventures along the way
Dave Sullivan, Jonny Harris, Steve Cochrane and Phil Churchill are the Dance Party of Newfoundland. Brad Hodder photo
By Brad Hodder For The Independent
H
ave you heard the one about props, cops and The Dance Party of Newfoundland? Phil Churchill, Steve Cochrane, Jonny Harris and Dave Sullivan are rehearsing in a hotel room. Working out the funny and settling on a set list for their two nights at the sixth annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. It’s the hotel manager. “There are some gentlemen here to see you.” Before the boys know it, six of Chicago’s finest enter the room. “The maid reported seeing some guns up here.” Guns? “Toy guns,” the boys explain. Props needed for Guy in Chair, a sketch that throws the foursome in the middle of a Guy Ritchie film. Cochrane reaches for the prop guns to clear the whole thing up which prompts a firm “No! Step away!” from one of the officers. “Where you boys from?” “Newfoundland.” “Where?” “Canada.” “What are you doing here?” “Sketch festival.” Turns out, there was a bank robbery just below the hotel minutes beforehand and the Dance Party were, momentarily, prime suspects. It gets cleared up, worked out, and the cops are smiling when they leave. This certainly ain’t St. John’s. This is
Chica(r)go. The 45-minute sketch list is written Al Capone. The Sears Tower. The out in purple marker on a paper plate, Bears. The Blackhawks. The Bulls. crossed out and re-written until they hit Steppenwolf Theatre. The Cubs. The the stage. The material is a mix of old White Sox. Louis Armstrong. David and new, showcasing the guys’ ability Mamet. Oprah. The Blues Brothers. to transition quickly from one set of Ferris Buehler. ER. Family Matters. characters to another. They’re in synch The Fugitive. Perfect Strangers. The with each other and their audience. Second City. The Windy City. The Aside from some minor tweaks (i.e. Dance Party of Newfoundland. Joey Smallwood’s reference in one of Chicago’s been their best known dubbed the birthplace sketches, the boy band of sketch comedy. Sons of Our Fathers, There are more than is footnoted with “People lined up to 500 theatre compa“He’s kind of like our nies operating in the Nixon”) they don’t see whatever they city, many of them change a thing. sketch troupes. The material is could. We had two 90 There’s an enthusiasstrong and it transper cent full houses lates, if a little differtic audience for it all to boot. This year’s ently, just as effectivefestival attracted more and nobody knows us ly. As Cochrane points than 3,500 in its first out later on, “It’s the down here.” weekend alone. stuff with the NewThis is the largest foundland flavour that Jonny Harris sketch festival in people talk to me North America. It about after the show.” takes place at the Actually, this is the insipidly named Theatre Building first time that they’re known as the Chicago, which houses three separate “Canadians.” Time Out Chicago ran a theatres seating about 150 and a bar photo of the guys skipping down the St. that serves over-priced drinks and weak John’s waterfront under the headline beer. “Hey, hey we’re the Mounties!” In fact, There’s 99 sketch troupes at the festi- a lot of folks thought that the “N” in val this year, 96 from the States — DPN was simply a gimmick, not their “800 funny people in 10 days,” accord- home sweet home. ing to the press. A network of sketch All of them talk about MasterSketch, troupes that now includes The Dance a workshop session, as a highlight of Party. They’re in their element and they the festival. Led by three renowned hold their own. comedians, including Harold Ramis,
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the session gives the DPN a chance to get some expert feedback on their material. “We were very nervous doing a sketch in the workshop setting,” says Harris. “After the thing, Ramis came over to us, shook our hands and said ‘funny stuff.’” Egon (remember Ghostbusters?) thought they were funny. Now, that’s pretty cool. “It gave weight to the legitimacy of sketch as a form of theatre,” says Churchill. “It was incredibly valuable for the group. We have very few authorities for proper dramaturgy.” Cochrane adds, “We need the feedback. As writers we need it.” They rave about the city and the troupes they met. “I find it hard to imagine a festival that’s run any better than this one,” says Churchill. Harris jumps in. “Just being there before the show and seeing the lobby of this huge building blocked with hundreds of people coming to see troupes that they had never heard of before. People lined up to see whatever they could. We had two 90 per cent full houses and nobody knows us down here.” “It really makes you want to go home and create more work,” says Sullivan. “Makes you think outside the box.” The DPN got to showcase themselves alongside some of the best Jan. 12 and 13. They did themselves and us proud. For now they’ve all gone home, where the beer tastes like beer and people know they’re actors — not bank robbers.
Green party turns focus to poverty Susan Delacourt Torstar wire service
N
ow that all the major political parties seem to be latched on to the environment, the Green Party of Canada is turning its sights on the green stuff — or lack of it — in Canadians’ wallets. The Greens, holding a poverty conference this weekend, are considering a call for a guaranteed annual income in Canada — an idea that was pushed more than 20 years ago by the MacDonald royal commission on the economy, which also paved the way for Canada-U.S. free trade. The guaranteed-income idea has been rattling around discussions of social-safety-net reform for many decades, but with the Greens and even some long-time Conservatives taking a new look at it, the concept could enjoy a resurgence in this highly political year. In its simplest terms, it means a system in which all Canadians are entitled to a certain “floor” income. Some see it as an all-purpose, lumpsum replacement for all the other forms of subsidized social assistance — from child care to employment insurance. Halton MP Garth Turner, ousted from the Conservatives, has recently posted a call for a guaranteed annual income on his website. “It’s time,” Turner wrote. Turner says this is an idea that blurs party boundaries, with leftwing advocates arguing for it on fairness and compassion grounds, while right-wing politicians such as Turner see it in terms of efficiency and individual rights. Senator Hugh Segal, who has called himself a “lonely Conservative proponent” of the guaranteed annual income for nearly three decades, tried to revive the debate recently. “Surely the time has finally come to seriously consider a guaranteed income, financed by the money now in innumerable other programs. It is time to simply recognize that to be a Canadian should mean to be free of the fear that inadequate food, shelter, clothing, recreation and basic necessities of life cannot but impart,” Segal wrote after a National Welfare Council report said that people were worse off now on state assistance than they were 20 years ago. Now it’s the Green’s turn. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is personally in favour of a guaranteed annual income. But it is not part of the Greens’ platform — at least, not yet. “A guaranteed annual income would eliminate poverty,” May said, somewhat sweepingly, in a reply to an all-candidates’ survey in last year’s by-election in London, Ont. University of Waterloo professor Richard Needham, in a paper he’s prepared for presentation at the gathering, talks about a “universal basic income” or UBI. As he envisions it, every citizen would be given a base income, which would not be taxed. The other political parties have approached guaranteed annual income more gingerly. Though Conservatives were in power when the idea was recommended in the 1985 royal commission report by Donald MacDonald, they took no steps to implement it. When Liberals came to power in 1993, they carried out a social-policy review and issued a discussion paper that called guaranteed annual income impractical. It was floated again when then-prime minister Jean Chrétien declared his own war on poverty after the 2000 election, but nothing came of it. The New Democrats, meanwhile, favour a guaranteed annual income in principle.
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 19-25, 2007 — PAGE 13
Bill Barry, owner of one of the companies bidding on FPI assets.
Paul Daly/The Independent
FPI quota breakdown How much fish does province’s largest processor have? By Ivan Morgan The Independent
C
urrently at least two fish processing companies, the Barry Group and Ocean Choice, are bidding for the Newfoundland assets of Fisheries Products International, which includes fish quotas. The provincial government, which controls the company under the FPI Act, has said it would possibly approve the sale, but only under the condition that fish quotas currently held by the company revert to the province. Listed here are the federal government quotas, including quotas for species that have been under a moratorium since 1992, held by FPI, as well as the plants where the fish is processed. Russ Carrigan, spokesperson for FPI, says quotas are valuable assets, and would have to be included in the price of any purchase of Newfoundland assets. “There would appear to be no basis whatsoever now to make the surprising claim that quotas do not have monetary value,” says Carrigan. “They obviously do and they have in numerous other transactions.” In 2004 the provincial government purchased quotas from High Liner Foods for the Arnolds Cove fish plant for $3.5 million. In a written statement to The Independent, federal Fisheries minister Loyola Hearn says: “Until I receive a formal request to transfer quota, I will not comment about what may or may not be done. Any speculating that I do as federal minister has the potential to affect any discussions that are currently underway. “Once all the cards are on the table, we will see what role we will play.” FPI groundfish enterprise allocations for 2006 (all species combined) was a little better than 20,000 metric tonnes. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
Note: (PP) - primary processing (SP) - secondary processing
Clothes to fit your wallet C
lothing, in its various forms and options, has become an everpresent barometer of many aspects of our life and personality. Those who “dress well” are said to be trendsetters. Persons with modest style are felt to be conservative. People who are exclusively brand loyal are viewed as well off. And, dare I say so, those who show a little skin are, well … you know. Consider also other beliefs, many of which are long standing. We’ve all heard: “clothes make the man,” “dressed like the cock of the walk” and “cut the cloth to suit the fabric.” Clearly, we pay a great deal of attention to what’s worn and how all these things fit together. We’re also clothing curious. Who wore what at the Golden Globes, Grammys or Oscars?
AL ANTLE
Your Finances Keeping pace with fashion and trying to look our best is a significant financial challenge, and part of today’s consumer society. Because styles change so regularly, an ensemble, which is ideal and quite in vogue this spring, will have been relegated to the give-away bin by next year. This is the best reason to always approach the purchase of clothing with guarded enthusiasm and an ever-present eye to practicality. Here are some important points to ponder: • Try and keep your total clothing
expenditure to eight per cent of your net income. Simply put, for every $100 you bring into your house, $8 can be spent on clothing. • Clothing is a household expenditure, so the recommended eight per cent is expected to cover the needs of everyone in your household. • The recommended amount represents your total clothing budget including dry-cleaning, the purchase of cleaning supplies specifically used for clothing — washing powder, fabric softener, tailoring services, and the actual purchase of the duds themselves. • If at all, postpone seasonal purchases until the season has actually started. Buy spring things after April 1, summer things after July 1, fall after Oct. 1 and winter right around or just after Christmas. You’ll usually find that by
doing so, you’ll manage to get the first sale of the season while the variety and availability is still fairly good. • Buying for next season or next year is not always a good idea, so be careful. This is particularly true for children, they grow at a phenomenal rate. Or for teenagers — they’re so fashion conscious that they’ll only wear exactly what’s in right now. • Read labels. Always read labels. Religiously. You’ll save yourself a ton of money by knowing about shrinkage, cleaning instructions and fabric content before you leave the store. This one will save you time in the long term too! Equally important, reading labels allows us to be socially conscious. Where was the garment made, and by whom? • Buy the best quality you can afford. You’ll discover that you in fact actually
get what you pay for. But only you can say where value starts and ends for you, particularly around clothing and how you look. • Classic is usually a safe bet, no matter where fashion leads us. Men have always gotten away with wearing white shirts, even when pastels, earth tones or collarless varieties became the rage. Women’s black pumps are a similar story. • Borrow, lend, mix and match — but only with someone you absolutely trust, who is your size and who returns things the way you lent them. • Develop a “hand me along and pass me along” regime for your children’s clothing. These work best between cousins or very close friends. Classic See “Mixing and matching,” page 14
14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
JANUARY 19, 2007
Clean energy looks lucrative: study Even politicians are finally embracing the environment as top issue, report from Sprott Securities notes By Tyler Hamilton Torstar wire service
R
ising power prices, the need to build more electricity generation and serious concerns for the environment are creating huge investment opportunities in the clean-energy market, according to a report from Sprott Securities Inc. The situation has become so pressing that politicians in Canada and the U.S. are embracing the environment as a top campaign issue as both countries nudge closer to elections. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen these (market) drivers converge as we’re seeing now,” said MacMurray Whale, alternative energy analyst at Sprott and author of the report, Power, Politics and Technology. “Energy security, high energy prices and issues of the environment — they’re all being dealt with at the same time. Politicians are looking around and looking at the potential of technology. They’re saying, ‘How can we fix this? I need a tool to fix this.’At the same time, you have the cost of these technologies coming down.” Whale said the problems aren’t new, and neither are the technologies. What has changed is that the public — and investors — are becoming more aware of them in a way that is beginning to alter the psychology of the market.
This has also led to a significant shifting of the political climate. Whale’s report points out that leading candidates for the 2008 U.S. election are expected to make the environment a key issue. In Canada, the Stephen Harper government is rebranding itself as an environmental custodian that embraces sustainable development. For example, Environment Minister John Baird and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn are expected to announce today new funding for cleanenergy technologies. Other similarly themed announcements are expected over the next couple of weeks, sources say. Other events over the year that, according to Whale, drew attention to alternative energy technologies include: • The United Kingdom’s release of the Nicholas Stern review, which argued that the economy could avoid a devastating blow to global gross domestic product if countries prudently invested a small amount of GDP today to fight climate change. • Awareness of global warming went mainstream in the U.S. after a destructive hurricane season in 2005 and with the release of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and Chris Paine’s Who Killed The Electric Car? • California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger grabbed headlines creating legislation that will establish a car-
This has also led to a significant shifting of the political climate. bon cap and trade system, part of a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California by 25 per cent by 2020. That state also introduced a new clean-fuel standard, on top of programs that support solar energy and energy efficiency. “We believe these themes will not just increase the deployment of wind turbines, run-of-river hydro, solar panels and biomass plants, but that investor interest will also increase,” Whale wrote. “This should drive valuations higher, reflecting the growth prospects for both facility developers and technology suppliers.” Sprott highlights several companies that show the most promise, including power electronics maker Xantrex Technology Inc., solar LED innovator Carmanah Technologies Inc. and flow battery pioneer VRB Power Systems Inc. All are British Columbia-based companies. On the power developer side, Boralex Inc. was singled out for its “very strong position” as Quebec proceeds with plans to develop 2,000 megawatts of wind power in the province.
Oil nears $50/barrel
E
nergy producers in Alberta are scrambling to evaluate the possible impact of US$50 oil on oilpatch development as prices slip below $51 a barrel. “If this $50 oil starts to persist for more than just a few days, I think you’ll start to see people look at their short-term and longer-term plans,” said Greg Stringham, vice-president of markets and fiscal policy at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “The longer it lasts or the lower it goes, the deeper the need for re-eval-
uation in some of those longer-term projects.” The $50 price tag is a huge psychological marker in the industry. Many of the Canada’s oil and gas companies set their 2007 budgets assuming an average price of $50 a barrel for crude oil and US$6 per million British thermal units of natural gas. That price was considered conservative, given the dizzying price hikes of oil in 2006. — Torstar wire service
Mixing and matching From page 13
JOIN THE WHO’S WHO OF BUSINESS January 25th, 2007
Delta St. John's Hotel Registration: 7:45 a.m. Conference Morning: 8:15 a.m. - 12:00 noon Conference Afternoon: 1:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Buffet lunch provided. Tickets: $175.00 + HST (members) $225.00 + HST (non-members) To view the conference agenda visit: www.bot.nf.ca/bds/conference.asp
Silver Partners:
things or special occasion clothing can be passed on to a dozen or so kids in certain circumstances. • Mixing and matching effectively and creatively can extend a wardrobe in numerous ways. A different shirt and tie will usually revitalize an aging suit while a trendy scarf brings equal elegance to an older dress or blouse. So build a reasonable stock of these types of accents for your own use and benefit. • Remember that clothing and its provision for your family also means the regular refurbishment of socks, underwear, hats, mittens and scarves — these things, you can purchase at the end of the season for the most part. Don’t spend your whole eight per cent on big things. • Get to know all the used clothing outlets in the city or in your region. Use these sources from time to time, particularly if you fall upon tough financial times or if you are seeking something specific. The used clothing trade in St. John’s is huge and has a loyal following. You can also be good to several local charities by passing your used items along for resale. • Value your things and encourage your children to do the same. This means you hang clothes up, or fold items away, as the case may be. Doing so extends the life of your clothing and allows you, as the wearer, to always look your best. I have had the clothing debate with thousands of people. Clothes are a necessary evil in the view of most. I must confess that most people are willing to acknowledge this necessity while couching their frustration in the fact that shopping, maintaining and managing clothing requires a huge chunk of time. It also accounts for a significant amount of housework and the acquisition and maintenance of several appliances. Silly me … I thought it had something to do with public nudity being illegal. Al Antle is the executive director of Credit and Debt Solutions.
Phone: 726-2961 • Web: www.bot.nf.ca/bds • Email: rcorrigan@bot.nf.ca
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15
YOUR VOICE How much fish does it take to grow a salmon? Dear editor, I am writing in response to two recent letters published by The Independent. The first, on Dec. 21 by Rick Bouzan of the Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife Federation (Will farmed fish jeopardize wild stocks?), and the second by Lloyd C. Rees on Jan. 5 (Aquaculture proposal ‘madness’). Both letters attribute the demise of wild fish to salmon farming. Their principal objection is the fact that fishmeal is used to produce feed for farmed salmon. While it is true that fishmeal and fish oil are ingredients in feed for farmed salmon, both Mr. Bouzan and Mr. Rees are not correct when they say that it takes 10 kilograms of fish to grow 1 kg of farmed salmon. Here are some facts as recorded in science papers, including a technical report prepared for the World Wildlife Fund Salmon Dialogue: • Salmon diets globally currently consist of less than 50 per cent fishmeal and oil with the balance consisting of other natural products such as vitamins and minerals. • Salmon diets in Canada and the East Coast average 15 per cent fishmeal and 9.5 per cent fish oil, so that the average fish component of the diet is below 25 per cent. • Current biological feed conversion ratios (dry feed to wet salmon produced) range from 1.1 kg feed to 1.35 kg feed. When we factor in moisture content in the live salmon, the actual conversion ratio from wild fish in the diet to live salmon is roughly 0.92 kg wild fish per 1 kg of salmon produced. • Unlike wild fish and crustaceans which make up the wild salmon’s diet, the recipe for feed for farmed salmon is specially formulated so that salmon will digest nearly 100 per cent of the feed so that waste is minimized. • On a world scale, salmon farming used only 8.4 per cent of the available fishmeal in 2005 while pigs and poultry and cattle production used 54 per cent of available fishmeal. • The Canadian share of world fishmeal used for salmon farming is less than 0.5 per cent (about 1.5 per cent of aquatic feeds). This number is well below the annual natural fluctuation in wild fishery catches, and unlikely to have any impact on global fish stocks, even if our production in Canada or Newfoundland was to triple or quadruple. • Fishmeal and oil used in salmon diets originate from sustainable fisheries, according to many independent sources such as the United Nations, WWF, and others. Your readers will be interested to know that Canadian, and in particular East Coast operators such as Cooke Aquaculture and Natures Seafarms buy
feed with some of the lowest fish meal inclusion rates in the world. They are leading the world in terms of using non-fish, alternate sources of oil and protein in the diets, in making use of fishery byproducts in the feed (for example we throw away 125,000 tonnes of fish products from the capture fishery in Newfoundland each year), and in using diets that are efficient for the fish to digest. No matter which way you cut it, it does not take 10 kg of fish to make 1 kg of salmon. The true figures are closer to 1 kg of wild fish to 1 kg of live salmon. Mr. Rees commented that the U.S. and China produce mostly herbivorous finfish species such as carp and catfish, and therefore do not impact wild fish populations in terms of fish meal usage. This is not true. One of the largest and fastest growing users of fish meal in the world is in fact the carp industry in China, which uses nearly as much as the worldwide salmon industry. Most carp are, in fact, omnivorous, and not just herbivorous, and require animal protein in their diet. As well, the Chinese produce significant amounts of marine fish such as turbot that also consume large amounts of fishmeal and oil. The point here is that salmon farming is using a relatively small amount of fishmeal globally, and will continue to look for and develop alternate natural sources of protein and oil for the diets. Mr. Rees accuses Cooke Aquaculture of trickery to local people by stating “The people are so desperate for jobs that they are suckered into believing that the Cooke Aquaculture scheme is a blessing.” Mr. Rees is entitled to his opinion, but I assure you the people involved in the industry are proud to be earning good wages, to have a steady income and year-round employment, and to be able to continue living and growing in our coastal communities Mr. Bouzan commented in his letter that farmed salmon are a threat to wild salmon, because of the potential that escaped salmon might displace natural salmon populations or of the transmission of disease. The fact is that farmed salmon are under the watchful eye of accredited veterinarians at all times. They are healthy animals from the same stock as those that swim in our rivers. Your readers might be interested to know that our province has a mandatory, regulated Code of Containment to prevent and mitigate farmed salmon escapes. It includes mandatory reporting of losses, escapes, and number of fish in the water. This is verified independently by non-industry personnel and is a condition of licence. Cyr Couturier, President Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association
‘Why I did not agree with the board’s decision’ I agree with Minister Dunderdale’s point: “We should not approve first and get information later.”
Editor’s note: the following letter was written Jan. 17 by St. John’s Mayor Andy Wells to Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale and her federal counterpart, Gary Lunn. A copy was forwarded to The Independent. Dear ministers, I am writing in response to a letter which you have received from the CNLOPB of December 11, 2006 wherein the majority of the Board recommends approval of an amendment to the Hibernia Development Plan. I advise you that I do not support the approval of this amendment to the Hibernia Development Plan for at least two reasons. First of all the company in its submission to the Board did not characterize their request as an amendment to the development plan but simply an “update.” This, in my view, is disingenuous. The company’s “update” constitutes a fundamental and quantitative amendment to the Hibernia Development Plan. To characterize it as an “update” trivializes the importance of this resource to the people of this province. I asked the Board to formally confirm with the company that it was, in fact, making an amendment to the approved Hibernia Development Plan as opposed to providing an “update.” This the Board refused to do. Therefore from the company’s perspective there is
no amendment before the Board and I have to question the jurisdiction of the Board in approving an amendment where it has not been applied for by the company. This is not mere semantics. We are talking about some 230 million barrels of oil with an expected value of some $13 billion and with an upside reserve estimate of 1.9 billion barrels of oil. The Board’s refusal to ask the company and the company’s refusal to acknowledge that we are dealing with an amendment is inexplicable. The second point concerns the lack of adequate documentation provided by the company in its submission to the Board. The company should be required to provide a comprehensive response to the concerns expressed by the Province in its letter to the Board in late 2006. For example, the Board has required the company to submit an Amended Benefits Plan 30 days after approval. It is my position that if the company can meet this 30-day deadline then the Amended Benefits Plan is in fact now completed. I asked the Board to require the company to submit this document in advance of a decision. This the Board refused to do. I agree with Minister Dunderdale’s point: “We should not approve first and get information later.” The more information we have in advance of a decision the less likelihood of post approval disputes. In conclusion, given the fact that the company was not proposing to drill until February 2008, there is more than sufficient time for the company to submit a proper amendment with supporting documentation which addresses all of the concerns which have been raised. For these reasons, I did not agree with the Board’s decision and hereby inform you to the effect. Andy Wells, Mayor of St. John’s
16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
JANUARY 19, 2007
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StJ_Independ_11x21_0107.indd 1
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INDEPENDENTLIFE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 19-25, 2007 — PAGE 17
The Book Doctor
Brian Roberts
Paul Daly/The Independent
By Stephanie Porter The Independent
B
rian Roberts, a.k.a. The Book Doctor, has spent the last two decades gathering the many tools and materials he needs to tackle most any book project — whether it be binding a thesis, cleaning up a cookbook, creating a new cover for an old book, or restoring a medical text from 400 years ago. He’s able to cover books in cloth or leather, press letters or designs into them with foil or gold leaf, and hand sew manuscripts together. A full-time Memorial University professor (Roberts teaches music and music education) The Book Doctor comes out on evenings and weekends, though, he admits, “sometimes those evenings get pretty late.” Book binding, repair and restoration wasn’t a field Roberts ever planned to get involved in — but it’s turned into a successful little side business, with his client base coming from all over the world. A tour of the workshop doesn’t take long. Roberts leads the way through the basement of his Mount Pearl home. “Well, there’s this room,” he says, turning around in a space that isn’t much wider than his outstretched arms. “And then there’s that room,” he gestures to the adjoining small workroom. Both areas are neatly organized and spotless. MYRIAD OF TOOLS Shelves lined with metal typefaces of various sizes line the walls, as do carefully placed rows of tools, and spools of multi-coloured foil. There are shelves of paper from all over the world, leather of all colours, and a myriad of tools specific to Roberts’ craft — and virtually unknown outside of it. It all began when he and his wife moved to Germany more than 30 years ago. An opera singer by profession, Roberts and his wife moved to Germany so he could further his studies. “To study, we had to support ourselves,” Roberts says. “So we had jobs lined up to teach music in the city music schools, but they’re all German kids … so we thought it
Brian Roberts of Mount Pearl repairs books from all over the world would be really cool if we could speak some mation of the Canadian book binders’ guild, German.” he was able to source out the necessary mateFirst, they enrolled in basic German lanrials. guage classes — but weren’t learning fast Roberts launched an informal and informaenough. tion-based website on binding, attached to his “We decided we had to take classes in university page. Over the years, it’s evolved something else, but it had to be something the into the very slick and informative German students wouldn’t have studied prior www.bookbinderies.com. to going there,” he continues. “One of the “People found this thing and started writing options was book binding. I did nine semesto me, asking me if I could fix this book or ters, in all … that book,” he says. “I started up this little “I just did it because it was a cool way to international trade off my website and it was learn German, out of pure panic and necessifun. One night a week I could come down ty, and then afterwards, because it was kind of here and putter around.” fun.” And The Book Doctor was born. Roberts became good friends with the Today, Roberts has several projects vying course teacher — also the binder at the state for his attention. He pulls out a thick 1874 library — and would work with him on Cree-French dictionary, in for repair, and a Saturday mornings. book of medical Several years later, philosophers from 1603 Roberts and his wife — from a regular client decided to move back to in Manhattan — to be “Some of it is really Canada, for a position at restored. (Repair is less Memorial University. costly than a restoration, interesting, sometimes He thought he’d left his which requires keeping it’s really nerve-wracking. time as a bookbinder more of the original behind … until, on finitem — as opposed to If you bugger it, you ishing his second docbuilding an entirely new torate, he tried to find cover, for example.) can’t just go out and someone to bind his theOpening the book sis. published more than buy a new book.” “There wasn’t any 400 years ago, Roberts acceptable way of getmarvels at the thick and Brian Roberts ting it bound here,” he pliable paper. “It’s as says. “And we had soft and supple as it was moved into this house, 400 years ago,” he says. and there was room to “Which is interesting, expand, so I started to gather up some stuff.” because if you get a book from 1910, it’s It was more difficult than he thought, given dust.” he only knew the German names for all the Roberts bemoans the quality of today’s tools and supplies he wanted. Eventually, book binding, with its reliance on glue — no though, after several long-distance phone more hand-sewn spines — and paper covers. calls, connecting with a helpful German His biggest client base is in southern binder in New Jersey, and the well-timed forCalifornia, followed by New York. He’s also
tackled projects from Hong Kong, Guam, Scandinavia, and countless other places. He recalls the panicked call he got from halfway across the world: a woman in Hong Kong had cut herself while cooking, bleeding all over an autographed cookbook she’d borrowed from a friend. The woman sent the book to Mount Pearl for emergency clean up. “They don’t know where Newfoundland is,” Roberts says of his clients, “but they know, if they take it to the post office, they will get their book back in the mail.” There are plenty of other binders out there, he says, but a majority of them seem to be employed full-time by museums, libraries, or other institutions — and don’t have the time to fix up a family Bible, photo album or beloved personal heirloom. Even in St. John’s, Roberts says there would be more than enough work at the university alone to keep him busy — but he prefers the variety and flexibility of his clients. Before launching into any project, Roberts says he has to gauge the client’s expectations against his own knowledge and ability. “I had a lady in this morning with a cookbook,” he says. “I guess it would cost $400 or $500 to repair it. It was in a dreadful state, and even if it was repaired, it wouldn’t be very handsome. For a project like that, I’d recommend not doing it, because when you’re done, you’ve got nothing except all this time gone. ‘GREAT MOMENTS’ “When you do a book, and everything works out the way it’s supposed to, even better, it’s wonderful. And even if I don’t think it’s perfect, usually the client is over the moon with the improvement. There are some great moments like that.” Alone in the basement with his tools and music in the background, Roberts says he still enjoys his work, though it can be painstaking and tedious at times. “Some of it is really interesting, sometimes it’s really nerve-wracking. If you bugger it, you can’t just go out and buy a new book. What you’ve got is what you’ve got and it’s supposed to leave better than it came. So you’d better not muck it up.” stephanie.porter@theindependent.ca
The business of haggis Jennifer Whitfield may have the province’s only business devoted to a particular Scottish dish By Anshuman Iddamsetty For The Independent
“T
he Haggis Lady” is proudly printed on all of Jennifer Whitfield’s business cards — a career choice that didn’t sit well with her father. “(He) was shocked that his daughter immigrated to Canada to become The Haggis Lady,” she laughs. “He wasn’t pleased with that.” But to Whitfield, the title could not be more appropriate. After all, what do you call a Newfoundlander who specializes in the fine Scottish dish of boiled sheep’s heart, liver, and kidney,
minced together with steel-cut oats, suet, onions, salt and pepper, all in the stomach of a sheep? You could start with “clever.” The niche market has proved successful for Whitfield, who now cooks the traditional Scottish dish for a cornucopia of clients including individual families, curious food connoisseurs, and even entire associations. “It’s a business I do have available all year long … All it takes is a phone call.” Though in high demand, Whitfield is acutely aware of the problematic spectre of haggis — the knee-jerk response to its unique ingredients.
“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Haggis? Yuck, that’s the gut of the sheep!’ It never, ever, was the ‘guts’ of the sheep,” she defends. “I’ve yet to meet somebody who says it looks terrible … Once it’s all cooked together its really delicious. “When you’ve had the same people coming back to you for 15 years … You know you’re doing something right.” She is triumphant about the enterprise that has relied solely on word-of-mouth appeal. Whitfield’s career started by way of a dinner put off by Scottish whisky-makers Bell’s Whisky. “It (began) about 25 years ago when
the old Hotel Newfoundland was still in place … Bell’s was giving out chef’s awards and they asked the hotel to supply a haggis dinner.” The hotel staff, stuck with an unusual request, contacted St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, where a friend volunteered Whitfield’s services for the event. “I had never made haggis before then,” she exclaims in her Edinburgh brogue. “(My friend) had a recipe I nervously followed … And it was very successful. The Scots from Bell’s, they absolutely adored it.” Soon after, Whitfield helped out the Red Cross with a Scottish blood donor
clinic. Haggis, oatcakes and shortbread were served to donors, further solidifying Whitfield’s new passion. “I made haggis for them for 10 years. And once I started, individuals would phone in and ask me to make haggis for their dinners.” In a roundabout fashion, creating specialty Scottish dishes to order was a natural fit for the Glasgow native. Immigrating first to Ontario, Whitfield moved around the mainland before setting her roots down in Newfoundland in 1976. It was a choice based on unusual cirSee, “It’s the salt water,” page 20
JANUARY 19, 2007
18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
GALLERYPROFILE
JAY KIMBALL Ceramics artist
C
eramics artist Jay Kimball is a self-confessed “art-aholic.” It’s a good thing, too, because the innovative and inventive coordinator of the Craft Council Clay Studio at Devon House in St. John’s literally has his hand in multiple pots. On top of his executive position running the studio, Kimball teaches several clay courses ranging from introductory courses to ceramics for the home, where students can make their own tiles for the kitchen or pull handles for furniture. In addition to his work as an instructor, he designs his own clay creations, produces a dinnerware line and makes commissioned pieces — including bathroom sinks. “Kohler (a designer plumbing product company) is hiring potters to make sinks,” he says. “It’s a big market for people who want to customize their home. I’d like to partner with local places in town here.” It is a refrain Kimball will repeat throughout the conversation: keeping it local. Coming from a Saskatchewan native, it is an endearing quality. Kimball arrived in the province almost four years ago — he accompanied his Memorial-bound girlfriend — and quickly found his niche at the Clay Studio. His latest local commission is for 200 clay teapots, serving trays and boxes of tea to match for the new Stella Burry café at Rawlins Cross. “I’m going to assemble a small team. Dave Hopley designed a silk-screen based on the Stella Burry logo and we’ll put it on the teapots. I’m over the top for keeping it local.” But it is his pure artistic experimentation that has made a name for Kimball in the clay community.
Although ceramics is a unique art form in that it can be flexed and nuanced throughout the entire process — whether by varying the type or amount of raw clay at the beginning or the concentration of metal oxides in the glaze at the end — Kimball says most ceramicists are superstitious about their technique. “If you’ve got to make 1,000 of one thing, you have to be pretty particular about your process.”
Kimball’s penchant for experimentation resulted in his exploration of a cracked clay technique. He says the method was discovered in the ’70s, but he decided to research the process further and came up with his own approach. Instead of letting the cracks form spontaneously, he manipulates the wet clay on the potter’s wheel to “stretch the form out,” while spinning a tall cylinder with his arm inside. He then
holds the rim while the clay balloons out, creating fine, regular stress cracks. The final product — an urn topped with a delicate spire cover — is breathtakingly beautiful. Kimball then airbrushes various metal oxides such as cobalt or locally harvested red ochre onto the sides, coating the vessel in shimmering oranges, greens, reds and yellows. A veneer of glaze is added to create a contrast of low lights and shadows between the cracks. Once fired in the kiln for strength, it can be placed on a mantel or shelf as a decorative centerpiece, just as a painting is hung prominently on a wall. Kimball’s newest idea sounds even more promising. Inspired by the Newfoundland coastline by the view from a boat, Kimball says his next design is evident in the rugged shore. “If you look at the rock, it already has that natural striating cracked pattern. Looking back on the cliffs and seeing that white crusty layer of salt and the layer where the seaweed was … (you can) achieve the same look.” Kimball is thriving in his adopted home of St. John’s. The province is stimulating his obvious abundant talent, but the rich, geological make-up of this great land is facilitating a major part of his artistic output. “Newfoundland is basically a cross section of the earth. The whole island has been turned on its side — basically every level of the earth to the core. It’s got everything: gold, diamonds, oil, nickel, granite. It’s just a matter of finding the locations.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca Jay Kimball’s work can next be seen at the Craft Council Gallery Celebrate Craft: Craft Year 2007, Jan. 28-Mar.9.
The Gallery is a regular feature in The Independent. For information, or to submit proposals, please call (709) 726-4639, or e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca
Majumder gets even As an expert in suitcase nukes on Fox’s 24, comedian Shaun Majumder surprises all — including the invincible Jack Bauer By Rob Salen Torstar wire service
ing person, and there are three producers there, I didn’t know who they were. And as I’m walking out, one of them comes up and asks me, ‘Would s anyone interested in the series knows by you play a terrorist?’ now, in hour three of season six of Fox’s “I’m thinking it’s for this right-wing comedy 24 — which aired for the first time Jan. show. And the last thing I want to do is put on a 15 — a new villain is introduced at that point turban and play ‘Osama Bin Johnson’ on this who likely succeeded where every other ruthless thing, you know? But he says, ‘No, no — I may terrorist, traitor, lunatic and megalomaniac in the have something for you on 24.’“ five previous seasons of 24 has abjectly failed ... Turns out he was talking to Joel Surnow, one of possibly the single greatest, most potent threat in 24’s originating executive producers (and interthe series’ entire heightened history. estingly, an avowed Rush Limbaugh fan — thus Shaun Majumder. Yes, that Shaun Majumder. perhaps explaining the right-wing comedy conJust for Laughs. Hatching, Matching & nection). Dispatching. This Hour Has 22 In a further odd coincidence, Minutes ... the 24 role Majumder originally From 22 Minutes to 24 — a read for went to his friend Kal “With drama, you’ve Penn, the Indian American actor much bigger leap than the math makes it sound. Although with whom he appeared in the just got to show up Majumder himself had jokingly cult comedy feature Harold & suggested something along Kumar Go to White Castle, as and be honest. these lines back in 2004, when well as an unsold NBC sitcom he interviewed Sutherland about called Nearly Nirvana. With comedy, you’ve pilot grandfather Tommy Douglas for Having apparently run out of the Greatest Canadian specials. Scary Brown Guys to cast as tergot to show up, be “We were doing a bit,” the rorists — and let’s face it, the actor/comedian wryly recalls, show has burned through an honest, be on your “where I pull Kiefer aside and awful lot of them — the 24 castbeats, be aware of say, ‘You know, I’m on a show ing department has had to widen called 22, and you’re on a show its net to include ethnic actors the irony of the called 24 ... we should get with more eclectic backgrounds. together and do a show called 23 (In addition to the more moment ... there are comedically 1/2.’ And then he just shoots me inclined Penn and a look, shakes his head and Majumder, this season quite sigso many layers.” walks away. nificantly features the Sudanese “This is my revenge.” English actor Alexander Siddig, Shaun Majumder The point is, how does a transwho despite his stellar feature planted Newfoundlander known work in Syriana and Kingdom of primarily, if not exclusively, for Heaven will be remembered prihis stand-up and sketch comedy find himself in marily as Dr. Julian Bashir from Star Trek: Deep the very dramatic position of challenging the Space Nine.) estimable Jack Bauer on his own turf? But then, it’s always been easier for the comeThe question actually answers itself. dian to play drama than it is the other way Though he continues to work in Canada, around. Majumder has spent the last five years establish“Comedy is so much harder,” agrees ing himself in L.A. — originally as an ensemble Majumder. “With drama, you’ve just got to show sketch player on the short-lived 2002 Fox come- up and be honest. With comedy, you’ve got to dy/variety show, Cedric the Entertainer Presents. show up, be honest, be on your beats, be aware of It was a recent audition for yet another Fox the irony of the moment ... there are so many laycomedy pilot that led to the unexpected 24 wind- ers.” fall. The only problem is when the comic actor“I got called in to audition for a pilot presenta- turned villain still thinks he’s funny. tion — it wasn’t even a full pilot — for a new Fox “Coming from sketch comedy ... you crave that comedy show that was going to be like a right- immediate feedback, the laugh. And a lot of wing version of The Daily Show,” Majumder times, when we’re asked to do drama, we as explains. actors will still want to go for that laugh. “I didn’t want to go. I was like, ‘I don’t want to “I mean, it’s easy to go there — it’s what we’re do this.’ But I went in anyway. conditioned for. It’s something that I’ve had to “So I’m improvising in this room with the cast- train myself not to do.”
A
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19
Don’t quit your day job W
hen you get into a career in the arts, it’s not normally practical concerns that drive you to it. You have a desire to create something. To communicate. To live and work in a field you love. It’s usually not too long before the unpleasant realization kicks in that in order to live and work as an artist you’re probably going to have to live and work as a waiter, carpet cleaner or taxi driver if your big plans for the future include sleeping indoors and eating regularly. I trust no one out there in Independent land will be surprised to learn that although life in the arts is rich and rewarding, the chances of getting rich and rewarded in the crass, empty, have-the-butler-tell-the-chauffeur-tobring-the-Bentley-round-to-thefront-of-the-guesthouse sense is, unfortunately, rarer than getting hit by lightning on your way to cash in your million-dollar Lotto 649 ticket. The day-job dilemma is one every serious artist must eventually face, and it can be a big decision. On the one hand, rent must be paid, kids must be fed and the power must remain on. Then there’s that voice in the back of your head telling you that giving up your craft to go and work for the man eight hours a day means you’ve given up your professional status and become a dabbler. “Real” artists, we are told, are fully committed. They work on their creations to the exclusion of all else,
SEAN PANTING
State of the art
The fact is, the line between full-time professional artists, semi-professionals and amateurs is a blurry one, especially around here.
braving poverty, public scorn and personal tragedy. In short, they (sing along if you know the words) suffer for their art. A lot of these tragic artist stereotypes are a product of the late 19th century, a time when absinth swilling, lead paint huffing, bohemian freak jobs forever screwed it up for the rest of us by branding all artists (all true artists, anyway) as outsiders who need to live in squalour and die in obscurity to do anything important with their lives.
VERY SHORT PLAYS
Ruth Lawrence researches Sweet Pickle, the eight-minute musical she wrote about an outport girl in the big-city grocery store for the very first time. Sweet Pickle, directed by Jody Richardson and performed by Susan Kent, is one of Six Very Short Plays (others are by Andy Jones, Robert Chafe, Lois Brown, Justin Simms and Mark Bath) showing at Rabbittown Theatre Jan. 25 and 26, 8 p.m.
A lot of otherwise reasonable people seem to buy into that idea. I myself have had more than a few cringe-worthy moments watching many of the smartest people I know fall prey to the notion that poverty and misery are somehow necessary parts of the creative process, that in order to make capital “A” Art — Art of Significance — you’ve got to be living in turmoil. I say sucks to that. In my experience, spending all day every day cowering behind your couch and not answering the phone for fear of who might be on the other end of it and how much money they’re going to want more or less wrecks your chances of turning out quality work. How could a life like that possibly be better than slinging a few drinks or pushing a little paper before heading off to the gig? The fact is, the line between fulltime professional artists, semi-professionals and amateurs is a blurry one, especially around here. Many of our most celebrated creators have turned out amazing stuff while working for the man. And sometimes, simply having a little relief from everyday worries can free you up to do your thing without wondering if someone out there is going to like your songs/paintings/coffee table books enough to buy them. So if you’re a full-time artist thinking about packing it in for a job in
some other less colourful line of work, go ahead and update that resume without guilt. It’s not like you’ve failed as an artist just because you haven’t gotten rich doing it yet. Mozart couldn’t. Van Gogh couldn’t either. Maybe if the b’ys had sucked it up and taken a Joe job every once in a while they might have lived an extra 30 years apiece and left behind twice as much genius for us to drool over. Should artists have to make a choice between making art and getting paid? Absolutely not. It’s ridiculous that workers in the cultural sector are faced with that dilemma. But sadly, this is the situation. All we can do is work toward turning it around, keep on putting out quality stuff and keep ourselves alive until we start getting our due. And who knows? Maybe getting outside your artsy-fartsy comfort zone and having yourself a new experience or two could have fringe benefits beyond a better credit rating. It could inform and enrich your work as well. As for the worst-case scenario, you could make a few bucks and fill your evenings and weekends doing what you were put on the planet to do. All in all, still a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Sean Panting is a writer, actor and musician living in St. John’s. http://www.myspace.com/seanpanting
POET’S CORNER
Blank Verse Blank verse, and English lit Seem to make an awkward fit And I find it hard to see How folks can call this “POETRY” Way back — in Grade 2 or 3 — The notion was brought home to me That poems are a way to sing Ideas, tight-coiled as a spring, Ideas metred out in time By mesmerizing verse and rhyme So that with every line you’d feel The discipline of crafted steel. Accordingly, my view is that Like Hopkins, Yeats or E.J. Pratt. Every true poet carries with him A repertoire of rhyme and rhythm. Despising blank verse, for he knows It’s mostly narcissistic prose. By John Lewis St. John’s
JANUARY 19, 2007
20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
‘It’s the salt water’ From page 17 cumstances for the ’70s. “I was married to a Palestinian,” she says. “The only place he could get a job was the Waterford hospital — 365 job applications and the only (employer) that would hire him was here. “It was hard. Everyone was scared to death because of all the hijackings taking place at the time. Oh my God, it used to be terrible to travel,” she says. The marriage, however, eventually came to an end. “He and I separated … He’d gone back to Saudi Arabia and I stayed. I had made my home by then.” Whitfield says the province was too irresistible to leave behind. “It’s the salt water,” she says, smiling. “Newfoundland was the one place where I was accepted for being me. I could do anything I wanted here.” Had she not immigrated, Whitfield says her life would have been completely different. In Scotland, she says she would have been resigned to a retirement where the order of the day involved twin sets and modest skirts. It’s no surprise that her exploits stir envy from colleagues back in Scotland. “I was raised in a time in Glasgow when women grew up, got married and had children and you lived happily ever after — I couldn’t fit in that box.” Though she can’t imagine life trapped in Scottish conventions, Whitfield is nevertheless deeply immersed in her native culture. “I’m passing on my heritage, and it’s keeping the business of how important haggis is to the Scottish community.” The dish strikes a particular chord in the hearts of Scots everywhere, due to its romantic celebration by the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns in his poem Ode to Haggis. On Jan. 20, the Newfoundland chapter of the St. Andrews Society, a worldwide organization promoting Scottish culture, will host their annual Burn’s Dinner. A long-standing member of the society, Whitfield has busied herself with bulk orders of
Jennifer Whitfield
Paul Daly/The Independent
haggis, enough to feed 200 proud Scots on the momentous occasion which observes both Scottish tradition and the cultural impact of Robbie Burns. “He was such an eloquent and gifted poet,” says Whitfield, thumbing through a volume of his work handed down to her by her great-grandfather, “(Burns) wrote some of the most beautiful poetry ever. He’s absolutely amazing.”
Proceeds from the haggis dinner will help fund a scholarship at Memorial University. The money raised will go to a student of folklore who is focused primarily on Scottish culture. The excitement for the upcoming dinner, much like the dish’s unique flavour, is palatable in Jennifer Whitfield’s kitchen. She can’t help but think ahead to the orders of haggis she’ll have to fill in the coming months and
years. “Everybody’s been (saying) ‘I hope you’re teaching your daughter!’” Taste buds across the island can only hope. The Haggis Lady can be contacted via the Newfoundland St. Andrews Society website at http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/the.mowbrays/starte r.html
A rigorous and roaming intellect Collection of Stuart Pierson’s essays reveals intriguing new pathways through Newfoundland books, art and culture MARK CALLANAN On the shelf Hard-Headed and Big-Hearted: Writing Newfoundland By Stuart Pierson (edited by Stan Dragland) Pennywell Books, 2006 437 pages
“H
e was, in the first place, an historian,” Stan Dragland writes in his afterword to Hard-Headed and Big-Hearted: Writing Newfoundland, a posthumous collection of Stuart Pierson’s articles and reviews. “Or perhaps,” Dragland corrects himself in the next sentence, “it would be more accurate to say that he was first a curious man, an avid listener and reader, a penetrating thinker whose interests were always bridging.” All questions of such hierarchy aside, Pierson’s was a rigorous and roaming intellect that would not settle for half-measures or shy away from a fight. Though he may have been an historian of the history of science in his other life, his subjects here range from the Canadian Encyclopedia to the music of Ron Hynes, the novels of Wayne Johnston (a definite fixation of Pierson’s — four Johnston novels are
Stuart Pierson
reviewed here) to Newfoundland art. The voice that praises or excoriates is always the same: instructive without being pedantic, learned without being pretentious, and above all else, passionately engaged in its subject matter. Pierson’s great gift lay in his ability to write with clarity, humour and insight. He had a way, as in the following quotation from his review of the Historical Atlas of Canada, Vol. II, of skewering those who sought to pass off nationalistic diatribe as erudition with a
cynical twist of the blade: “self-congratulatory ooze … seeps from every pore of its front matter … There is something sad about throwing one’s own birthday party, no matter how sumptuous.” He could be brutal on occasion in his dismissals. In the same review quoted above, Pierson writes: “The pie chart is a curious product of twentieth-century popular culture: a combination of high and complex accuracy with infantile appeal.” It is, to Pierson’s mind, a devolution “from Babylonian and Greek
refinement to Egyptian crudity.” But such examples indicate the presence of an uncompromising mind rather than a sadistic nature. Pierson deals harshly with Wayne Johnston’s The Colony of Unrequited Dreams for its blurring of the boundary between fact and fiction; so too with John Steffler’s The Afterlife of George Cartwright. He uses the same quotation (one of many from his varied arsenal) in his treatment of both novels. James Joyce, writing his Aunt Josephine, begs information about a Dublin landmark: “has it ivy on its seafront, are there trees in Leahy’s terrace at the side or near, if so, what, are there steps leading down to the beach?” The example is intended to demonstrate that even the great modernist writer himself was concerned with accurately representing his native city. Another characteristic of Pierson’s writing is its ability to draw on a wealth of disparate references to contextualize his subject or reinforce his argument. He cites everything from Hollywood film to Voltaire, Cole Porter to the Old Testament in his intellectually circuitous route through the various side roads and back alleys of his subject matter. And yet, as Dragland points out, he insisted on a clear demarcation between history and literature. “They must co-operate but cannot merge,” Pierson writes — thus his difficulties
with Johnston’s Colony. It seems to me both arrogant and presumptuous to assume that one could know much about a man by reading what he has written. And yet, there is an intimacy in Pierson’s writing style that eradicates the usual distance between writer and audience. “It strikes me, and it may strike you, that this is a thoroughly bad-tempered review,” he writes in the first essay of the book, thereby risking the ire of the objectively-minded academic by acknowledging both himself and his readers as partners in a shared intellectual venture. It is a sign of his great respect for both subject and audience. “There is a trick in first-person narrative to having the teller of the tale reveal more about the people around him than he knows himself,” Pierson writes in a review of Johnston’s The Story of Bobby O’Malley. There is also, I would venture, a similar trick in having the teller reveal more about himself than he realizes. In Hard-Headed and Big-Hearted, Stuart Pierson not only reveals intriguing new pathways through Newfoundland books, art and culture, but also something of his own sense of enjoyment and wonder at the inner world of the mind. This is a book well-worth arguing over and with. Mark Callanan writes in St. John’s. callanan_ _@hotmail.com
INDEPENDENTSTYLE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 19-25, 2007 — PAGE 21
TIE DIE Baby boomers are shrugging off the shackles of the formal tie, while their kids tie one on for fun
By Mandy Cook The Independent
T
he shirt and tie combo used to be the official male uniform — whether you were selling pencils, selling cars or selling shares. But nowadays ties are a dying breed amongst men who were expected to present themselves with no less than an immaculate Windsor knot. Their kids, on the other hand, are embracing neckties in every design and colour as a fashion statement, instead of a finishing touch. Heather Chafe, of William L. Chafe and Son Ltd., in St. John’s, says middle-aged men are outright refusing to wear ties — so much so she says they are palpably “resentful” of the traditional formal look. “The only group of guys who don’t want to wear a tie are that tricky baby boomer crew who were told you must wear a tie — in order to be a man, to make that business deal, you must wear a tie, so they are distinctively rebelling against that and are not ever going to wear a tie again.” Instead, men opt for a blazer and crewneck sweater for a presentable look for important meetings and functions. Chafe also says the busy, patterned, collared shirt can also carry a formal look without adding the tie. Brandon Ivany, a salesperson at Tip Top at the Avalon Mall, says while he still sees men buying what he calls the “anchorman look” of a navy blazer, white shirt and red tie, it is mostly a one-suit stop. Customers splash out on the one complete suit for important occasions, he says, but it is the younger clientele who are buying ties as a fashion accessory. “You’re seeing a change with
younger people, they’re wearing the ties casually,” he says. “They’ll wear a pair of jeans and throw on a dress shirt and toss on a tie. I’m 24, and I went out the other weekend and wore a vest and a shirt and tie. That seems to be the trend, where the style is going.” While Ivany cites mall-punk bands like Good Charlotte or Avril Lavigne for the tie-themed fashion movement, Chafe has a few theories of her own. She says it’s a generational novelty. “The kids love the ties! They never saw their father in a tie. They want them funky, they want them loud, they want them individualistic. They’re so brave with the colours and the patterns because they want to be seen that they’re wearing a tie. They think they’re the cat’s meow, they never actually saw their father dressed where our fathers or grandfathers always dressed.” Chafe says the young executives who come looking for ties take pride in wearing them — just not every day. The younger men confess difficulty in tying the knot. Chafe says if a tie isn’t worn regularly, tying it properly may continue to present a challenge. But she says her young, professional customers recognize the importance of finishing their “biz cas” look with a proper tie — even if they just keep one on hand in their bottom desk drawer. “If you’re investing your money with somebody, it’s nice to know they don’t look like they slept in their clothes. The tie will bring it together. In case you’re caught with your shirt un-ironed, at least the tie will show some kind of decorum.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
JANUARY 19, 2007
22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE
Food in a box, I smite thee
TASTE
It only took 20 minutes to do, and most of that time was spent watching the news on TV, and not really doing anything. Even if I made only three servings, I’d still be ahead, at only $2.80 per serving. By the way, I used the same PC sauce as the pre-packaged meal. It was virtually identical. Good rice, good sauce and the chicken was cooked perfectly. Not bad for $2.10.
NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path
C
ertain habits are hard to break, especially ones drilled into me during the time I was under the charge of a battalion of instructors who demanded the brigade of us students do Chicken quesadilla everything by the letter — yes chef, no chef, right 1/3 of a chicken breast (78¢) away chef. They battered each and every one of us 2 tortillas (30¢ x 2 = 60¢) with the information we needed to go out and be 100 g cheese ($1.10) leaders in the kitchen. The pre-packaged quesadilla (President’s When I was out in the field, there were certain Choice again) cost me $2.99. I know I can do betskills I used occasionally, but others I used every ter than that. Especially when grated, 100 g of day. One was costing out food. Restaurants are cheese, is a heck of a lot and I could make more based on profit. The more there is, the longer it than two full quesadillas. The whole thing cost me can stay in business. $2.48 — not as cheap Some costs are unconas the curry, but it is trollable, while others still a better deal. are fixed. I could go with That’s where my about 60 g of cheese math skills come in. and still have a good Costing out a menu to feed and bring the cost the cent is vital for the down to $2.04 per success of a business serving. and it can translate to What I got was a your own kitchen. golden-brown queFor last week’s colsadilla ready for sour umn I ate and reviewed food from boxes, and — cream or salsa (that’s extra). It was very hot but let’s be honest — most of them were horrid. This tasty and gooey. I solved the hard edges problem week, I thought I would try to make some of the by laying cheese to the edges and slicing the entrées from last week myself. The goal was to cooked chicken thinly to make for even cooking. make better food for, hopefully, a lot less. No hard edges, and good flavour all around. To start, we take some simple ingredients: It isn’t difficult to see where the better deal is. Chicken. I use corn-fed skinless boneless chick- The lesson here is that everyone is trying to make en breasts. I buy them in a buck off of you in the bulk and the unit cost is food business. about $2.35 for a 6-8 Everyone has to take For students struggling ounce portion. their cut — the manuRice: $8.99 for five facturer, the supplier, with tight budgets, remember kilograms. One cup the delivery guy, the weighs about 165 sales guy, and of this rule: cook once, eat twice. grams, so there are course, the retailer. about 30 servings in the It’s plain to see that bag. these instant dinners Butter chicken sauce is $3.39 and I use the are pretty expensive. whole jar for a meal. For students struggling with tight budgets, Cheese, in bricks of 907 g, is about $10 per unit. remember this rule: cook once, eat twice. Always Flour tortillas are $2.99 and come in 10s. cook enough food to have a meal the next day and Let’s cost out the butter chicken. It makes four your pocketbook will thank you for it. If you have servings. any spare change, buy reusable plastic containers 2 chicken breasts ($2.35 x 2 = $4.70) and take it to school, work or wherever. 1 cup rice ($8.99/30 cups = 30¢ per cup) So find out what’s in your favourite frozen box 1 jar sauce ($3.39) and read the ingredient list, it’s there for nutrition The meal cost $8.39 to make, but it fed me four reasons. Then buy the ingredients and try and times. Each individual serving cost me $2.10 after make it at home. You’ll be surprised at the success all taxes. The instant dinner (President’s Choice you can have. brand) cost $2.99 before any taxes — the real Food in a box — I smite thee. price is $3.40. In other words, I made the same meal, with the same ingredients, for 60 per cent of Nicholas Gardner is a freelance writer and erstthe cost of the pre-prepared meal. while chef living in St. John’s.
Comfort me with PB & J I
na Garten has carved out a niche for herself as the Barefoot Contessa. Her latest book is The Barefoot Contessa At Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again (2006, $45). PEANUT BUTTER & JAM BARS This appeals to the inner child in everyone. 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 2 cups smooth peanut butter 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 1/2 cups jam (e.g. raspberry, strawberry) 2/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped
In large mixing bowl using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow and fluffy, about two minutes. On low speed, add vanilla, eggs and peanut butter. Mix until well combined. In small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture, in batches, to peanut butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Spread two-thirds of dough in greased and floured 9-by-13-inch baking dish; press by hand to even out. Using spatula, spread jam evenly over dough. Drop small bits of remaining peanut butter dough evenly over jam. (Dough will spread as it bakes.) Sprinkle with peanuts. Bake in preheated 350F oven 45 minutes until golden. Cool completely. Cut into 24 pieces by making eight rows lengthwise and three rows widthwise. Makes 24.
Plug pulled on Columbine video game By Jen Gerson Torstar wire service
T
hope
he controversial Super Columbine Massacre Role Playing Game — a video game that gained initial notoriety for putting its players in the head of Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — has been pulled from a wellknown independent gaming festival. Last year, game creator Danny Ledonne was asked to submit the Columbine game to the Slamdance Guerrilla Game Maker Competition, which runs Jan. 18-27 in Park City, Utah. Run in conjunction with the Slamdance Film Festival — which deems itself an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival — the gaming competition promotes independent games that are deemed to have artistic merit. These games are created by indi-
viduals who are not employed by the major gaming studios. Ledonne created Super Columbine Massacre RPG, which can be downloaded online for free, in 2005. After the Columbine shootings of 1999, Ledonne says he was disturbed by the killers’ actions and wanted to create a game that would help others understand why the Columbine killers went on their rampage. A jury with the festival granted the Columbine game a place among this year’s finalists until earlier this month, when organizers pulled the game, citing “moral obligations. “On one hand, a jury selected a game they believed merited programming, a decision that always leads to our organization supporting the creator’s independent vision and freedom of expression,” read a written statement prepared by the festival. “On the other, there are moral
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obligations to consider with this particular game and the interests and welfare of the Slamdance organization and its community.” A major sponsor has pulled out of backing the festival as a result of the game being yanked. The University of Southern California’s Interactive Media Division planned to offer summer fellowships to the winners but withdrew the sponsorship. Assistant professor Tracy Fullerton told the Associated Press last week she viewed it as a fundamental issue of freedom of expression. “They courted very avant-garde, independent gamemakers and if you’re going to do that ... you need to be prepared to stand by a gamemaker,” she said. Despite the game’s content — which includes cartoonish, two-dimensional graphics depicting the Columbine shooting and sardonic commentary on the media’s portrayal of that shooting —
“They courted very avant-garde, independent gamemakers and if you’re going to do that ... you need to be prepared to stand by a gamemaker.” Tracy Fullerton, University of California Ledonne says his game should be afforded the same artistic licence given to movies that tackle tough issues. Movies like World Trade Centre or United 93, for example, are allowed to
tackle tragedy the medium allows it. Slamdance’s decision to pull his game “goes against the whole idea of independent game making and against this festival that markets itself as being an edgy, alternative venue for work to be screened at,” he says. Several other finalists have sided with Ledonne, pulling their games from the festival as a show of support. “It takes a lot of courage for an organization to put that stamp on it and to say that this is something of artistic merit and we’re showcasing it,” Ledonne said in an interview. “To go back on that is a really disturbing precedent for video game design because it says the jurors don’t matter, the original lineup of contestants don’t matter – that one person’s amorphous moral obligation trump the wishes of the developers, the sponsors and the audience.”
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23
Everybody has a story — you just have to listen E
verywhere you go, every person you meet has a story. They may not even think it’s one worth telling, but seen from a new set of eyes, even a single day in their lives can be as compelling as any piece of fiction. I think that’s what started my interest in journalism. Anytime I meet someone I want to walk away knowing something I didn’t before. Journalism allows you to explore other lives and gain knowledge and insight that will expand your own. I never want to stop learning and there’s no better way than to take from what others have learned. What has become one of my favourite opportunities to meet interesting people started out from the simple need for transportation home. Beginning in junior high, I began taking taxis home because there wasn’t a bus that could take me the entire way. Still painfully shy, the idea of driving with a stranger made me uncomfortable. I never like to be rude, so I knew I’d feel guilty if I sat the entire ride in silence, but what could an awkward introverted teen like me have to say? I’ve always had a distaste for small talk — mainly about the weather. That topic has been beaten so far past death only ashes remain. After a while, and many cab rides later, I began to see that these people who shared a brief and quite ordinary moment in time with me were in themselves quite extraordinary. We often walk by people as if they were a part of the background — a forgettable feature easily ignored. In a world where there are so many, the value of the individual and their
LEIA FELTHAM Guest Column uniqueness can be lost in the sea of faces. While sitting in the cab trying to think of an icebreaker other than, “So how about that weather … ” I realized that the person next to me had a story, and it was only a matter of finding it. By opening my mind and letting honest words and thoughts flow, I was able to receive insightful and genuine responses. Even small talk found its place as a rough foundation on which to build great monuments. Over time I’ve come to hear all kinds of stories, and the spectrum of personalities and history behind the people I’ve met is vast. There are those with a passion for music and gadgets; the dashboard and every available compartment of the car overflowing with CDs from every genre and era. There have been English majors citing works from many of the greats — Shakespeare, Milton, Orwell and many more. One cab driver overflowed with passion for Blake, his personal favourite, and spouted lines like it was second nature. Loving English and literature like I do, this especially made me smile. There was one man who told me how he met his wife. She served him in a diner on his first day in St. John’s after coming from his small hometown. Still
in awe of the city, he found something even more breathtaking in her and couldn’t make himself leave. It took him three hours before he worked up the courage to ask her out, and 40 years later, they’re still together. If there ever was a force called fate I think it was at work that day. Stories like this and bits of conversations have even managed to make their way into my yearbook entry. On an especially dreary and very long day the driver said, “You have to enjoy life — it’s shorter than you think.” Simple enough in its meaning and yet exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. You have to let yourself have fun and enjoy life — which I need to remind myself of sometimes. I’ve come to think of these conversations as gifts of unexpected inspiration. I think they’ve taught me not to judge people or situations before I’ve taken the time to see what lies beneath the assumptions we make all too often. People don’t need to change your life forever to influence you. Simply making one day a little brighter can give you all the hope you need to get by for a while longer. Those cab rides have steadily declined lately thanks to a new bus route. Now I have to start searching out other opportunities to explore the minds and lives of people, and maybe journalism is it. Only time will tell and I still have lots of that and many more stories to hear first. Leia Feltham is a first year student at Memorial University. Her column returns Feb. 2.
EVENTS JANUARY 19 • Rising Tide Theatre’s annual Revue continues at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. Continues Jan. 20. • Exhibition of Kinetic Portraits of 12 Canadian Writers by Peter Wilkins, opening at The Rooms, St John’s, Jan. 19, 8 p.m. • Labrador West does Broadway, featuring Lanne Boland and Krista Norman, Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. Continues Jan. 20. • Vampires of Love CD release, Ship Pub, St. John’s, 10:30 p.m.
monthly free-admission performance series featuring emerging artists, 7 p.m., LSPU Hall, 753-4531. • Conversational language classes in American Sign Language, Mandarin, French, German, Italian and Spanish begin this week. Contact MUN’s division of lifelong learning, 737-7979 or www.mun.ca/lifelonglearning.
JANUARY 20 • Flying Colours, aviation paintings and portraiture by Kent Peyton, opening reception, 3-5 p.m. Eastern Edge Gallery, Harbour Drive.
JANUARY 24 • Chris Kirby at Folk Night, the Ship Pub, 9 p.m. • Fitter Happier, a film and video tribute to Radiohead by film and video artists including Michael Blanchard, John Rao, Jonathan Clouter, Glen Bartlett and Mark O’Brien, 7 p.m., Empire Theatre Studio 12, St. John’s, www.themachinecore.com. • Revue ’06 at the Stephenville Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 643-4571.
JANUARY 21 • Avalon Unitarian Fellowship’s weekly service, 10:30 a.m., Anna Templeton Center, 278 Duckworth St. • Young Folk at the Hall, LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 2 p.m., 753-4531. www.nlfolk.com • Opening reception for Shift, a new exhibition of art by Kathy Browning
JANUARY 23 •Terra Nova Toastmasters meeting 7 p.m., room L-214, College of the North Atlantic, Prince Philip Drive (note new location).
Tyler Rohr, Aaron Collis, Ellen Power, Kristina Bernardo, Hayleigh McGrath (band name LOL) get ready for this weekend’s Young Folk at the Hall concert, scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 21 at the LSPU Hall. Rick West photo
and Susan Jamieson. The show runs until Feb. 25 at the RCA gallery, LSPU Hall.
JANUARY 22 • The Backdoor Cabaret, a
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JANUARY 25
• 6 Very Short Plays by Robert Chafe, Andy Jones, Ruth Lawrence, Mark Bath, Lois Brown and Justin Simms. Rabbittown Theatre, 8 pm, 739-8220. Also Jan. 26. • 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. • Song circle/ballad session at The Crow’s Nest, near the War Memorial on Duckworth Street, St. John’s, 8-10 p.m. • Revue ’06 at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 6372581. Until Jan. 28. • Miss Teen Newfoundland and Labrador pageant, St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. 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.
24 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
JANUARY 19, 2007
What’s new in the automotive industry
JANUARY 19-25, 2007
FEATURED VEHICLE AWARD-WINNING DESIGN Introducing the all-new 2007 Lincoln MKZ. With an award-winning design; sleek styling; standard heated seats; THX® II Certified Car Audio System with 14 speakers, including two subwoofers, and MP3 capability; a powerful new 3.5-litre engine and road-mastering Intelligent AllWheel Drive, the 2007 Lincoln MKZ is both a new direction for the Lincoln brand and a fresh take on the luxury sedan. No matter where your aspirations might lead you, Lincoln MKZ’s advanced driving systems can get you there. Lincoln MKZ’s all-new, all-aluminum V-6 engine utilizes a precisely tuned intake system and four valves per cylinder to maximize power and efficiency. The result is a crisply responsive yet exceedingly smooth 263 horsepower from a mere 3.5-litre engine. This substantial output doesn’t come at a high price: Lincoln MKZ delivers an EPA estimated mpg of 19 city/27 hwy. The refined power source is backed by a six-speed automatic transmission that keeps the engine in optimum operating range while providing smooth, nearly seamless shifts. Intelligent All-Wheel Drive combines with an advanced suspension system to deliver superb handling while minimizing traction loss on slippery roads. The 2007 Lincoln MKZ is available at Cabot Ford Lincoln, located at 177 Kenmount Rd., St. John’s, NL. Photos taken at Hometel off Signal Hill Rd. by Paul Daly.
Beetle juiced T
he best selling car in the world was both loved and despised; it was beautiful and ugly. When the Volkswagen Beetle was first introduced in North America it had to compete with much larger cars at a time when fuel economy was not an issue. Speed was never one of its strong points either, but other characteristics emerged to endear it to the population. First of all, it was affordable to buy and cheap to run. It was the first wildly popular four-cylinder engine that barely sipped fuel while everything else on the road had either a six- or eightcylinder engine. Secondly, it was reliable, the best thing next to a successful advertising campaign is word-of-mouth endorsement. People notice a happy car owner — they tend not to complain when the topic of repair comes up. The Beetle was also fun to drive, it didn’t exactly zip around but again, it was a lot lighter than the competition, enough to give it the illusion of nimbleness. One of its strongest suits was the ability to move in the snow. The engine was situated in the rear, right over the wheels to give it the most amount of traction. This was long before front-
wheel drive cars were perfected so you can imag- clutch pedals that all joined together and emerged ine large cars back then, engine in the front, rear- from a series of short pipes, one inside the other. wheel drive with chains on the tires and sandbags In the winter the pedal cluster configuration in the trunk trying to get around in the would freeze up and jam at the most snow. A Beetle in the winter received inopportune time. It happened to me equal amounts of praise and scorn. once and provided me with my most The Beetle was far from perfect, vivid Beetle memory. I was trying to though. It had a few little quirks, such enter a busy four-lane road one frosty as the windshield wash pump. It didn’t morning and stabbed the gas pedal, have one. The windshield-wash reserwhich immediately stuck to the floor. voir was hooked up to the spare tire for Finding myself at the wheel of an accelpressure. Every time you sprayed the erating run-away Beetle I stepped on the windshield the air pressure in the spare clutch and brake pedals simultaneously, tire went down, not by much, but it was which also stuck to the floor, only to MARK WOOD something you had to keep an eye on. find myself skidding down the road with The fuel tank was in the front trunk the engine roaring on a stuck-open throtWOODY’S tle. I turned off the key and worked the of the Beetle where it was protected from the elements, that was a good idea WHEELS pedals until they thawed out. but it still didn’t make up enough The most serious design flaw of the weight in front to steer properly. With old Beetle was the heating system — all the engine weight in the rear, the front wheels two to be precise, the second one even more tended to skate in wet weather or snow and the car ridiculous than the first. There was a metal cowlwouldn’t steer. ing over part of the exhaust system in an attempt Another design flaw was the gas, brake and to scavenge heat and channel it to the front of the
vehicle along the sides of the floor. This was an extremely inefficient, foolhardy notion. Luckily, the ductwork in the floor would rust out, rendering the contraption useless and safe. The other heating system? Believe it or not there was a gasoline micro-furnace the size of a football mounted next to, and hooked up to, the gas tank. It may have worked for the first couple of years but after that there was a 33 per cent chance it would either work, not work, or catch on fire. So this was the best selling car in history, cute, economical, great in the snow and fun to drive. It had no heat and a tendency not to steer well in wet weather. The old Beetle didn’t meet North American vehicle emission requirements and was phased out of production. The new Beetle is a gorgeous tribute to a car that was more than just transportation — it was fun. Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s eventually owned a couple of other species of Volkswagen, both of which had heat.
26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT
JANUARY 19, 2007
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27
Don’t stop asking questions AND DON’T LET THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT HAUL YOU IN FOR MAINTENANCE YOU DON’T NEED
I
f you purchase a new vehicle these Four years ago, I leased a new van. days, you’ll notice something great. One of the neat-o selling features at the Well, if you read your owner’s time was an oil light that came on to tell manual like I told you last you when to take it in for an year, you’ll notice it. oil change. Not the scary oil Thanks to all the advances light (“your engine is seizing in technology, your new car as you ponder pulling over”), will need little service other but a little Engine Fairy oil than oil changes for about the light. The sales person was first 100,000 km. For most of adamant that I could cruise us, that’s about five years. merrily along until the light Of course, your salespercame on, then bring it in withLORRAINE son was diligent about drivin the week for the change. SOMMERFELD ing this fact into your wee Great. undecided skull. As you ponAbout four months later, dered new over used, and the service department called contemplated the $85 per me. hour labour charges alone on “Hi. This is XYZ Dealervehicle repair, you no doubt ship. It’s time for an oil factored in a maintenance-free pur- change on your van.” chase and figured you could breathe a “Aren’t I supposed to wait for the litlittle easier at least for a few years. tle light to come on?” Now, if only your salesperson had “Weeeeeeeeell, you could, but I can walked across the dealership to let the schedule you now for the work. Is service department know this, all Thursday good?” would be wonderful. “Why did I pay for this little light if I
don’t get to see it come on?” And on we went, for three years. Until I told them to stop. I wanted to make use of the feature that had been a big selling point. What’s wrong with that? I am really careful with my vehicles. I believe in oil changes and tire rotations and cautious maintenance instead of costly repair. But why do some of the hottest selling features of a new vehicle get thrown out the window when the file gets handed over to the other side of the dealership? I’ve spoken to a sales agent, a dealership owner, and an independent garage owner. All agreed. Service departments make money only when a car is in there. Very little goes wrong on new cars now. What service departments call friendly reminders I call cold calling. If my salesperson said this vehicle wouldn’t need a tune-up for four or five years, why is the service department calling me six months down the road suggesting something that sounds sus-
POWER SHIFT
piciously like a tune-up? I think they count on something I call Fear Factor. The conditions of those warranties and lease agreements make people nervous of accidentally voiding something. You didn’t replace those wiper blades on time? There goes your drive train warranty. I don’t mind an oil change reminder. I think your 5,000 km oil change and tire rotation are two of the smartest things you can do to take care of your car. And they don’t cost much. But when a service department starts calling with suggested add-ons, I feel like I’m dealing with a waiter peppering me with side dishes that I don’t want, or need. In your manual, there is a little chart that tells you when your vehicle should require various services. Read it. While people drive under different conditions, and mileage accumulates at different rates, you will still get an excellent indication of what to expect in the way of maintenance.
Good-bye to a racing legend
B
ack in the early ’70s, tive of the many men and women when I was starting to do who’ve kept club-level racing some motorsport writing alive and well in this country over for the Globe and Mail, I the years — is because he died thought I’d join a car club in suddenly of heart failure on Jan. 8. order to meet some of the peoHe was 79. ple involved in amateur road And his death came hard on the racing. heels of the passing of Martin But I didn’t know which was Chenhall, the General Motors NORRIS best, so I asked my great friend, engineer who started the Player’sMCDONALD Dan Proudfoot, who’d just startGM Challenge Series. He was 73. ed working for the Toronto Sun, A service for Klaus was held at to make a suggestion. the Gifffen-Mack Funeral Home in “Go to a meeting of the Scarborough and the place was Deutscher Automobil Club,” he packed. A native of Germany who said. “The fellow who runs it is named came here in 1956, he was — as the family Klaus Bartels. Even if you don’t join, it said in his death notice — a proud won’t be a wasted evening. Klaus is as Canadian who loved his adopted country. entertaining as any television comedian.” Horst Kroll, the last Can-Am Series So I went to a meeting and Dan was champion and a close friend of Klaus’s, right: this fellow Bartels opened the meet- read a eulogy that was sent from British ing and for the next 45 minutes had the 50 Columbia by Philip Powell who, as Phil or 60 people in attendance alternately Murray, hosted racing radio and TV shows cheering, whistling, clapping, guffawing back in the early ’60s when Klaus was a and oh-ohing as he made editorial com- champion Porsche driver and a good ments about items in the minutes of the pre- enough rallyist to finish second one year in vious meeting, reminisced about races and the Canadian Winter Rally. rallies he’d been in, joked about something Wrote Powell: “He was, in my opinion, his wife, Ruth, had said to him on the way one of this country’s finest race drivers, downtown and, well, generally carried on. though somewhat of an unsung hero …” I’ll never forget one particular story he Kroll, who wanted to say a few words of told. I can’t recall the name of the person he his own but was too choked up, said this was talking about, but they’d been in a rally week that he has Klaus’s ice-racing car — a together and had stopped at a hotel for the Volkswagen Rabbit — race-ready in his night. Scarborough shop. “I’m in the bed,” he said, “with the cov“He still raced every year in the ice races ers over my head. I can’t sleep because (his at Minden,” Kroll said. “He was planning partner) has turned on the television set and to go up there this year. You know what is watching the hockey game. they say: once a racer, always a racer. That “He’s jumping up and down one minute was Klaus.” and swearing the next. I wished he would Another fellow who was “always a get as excited about our rally! I finally racer” was Chenhall. Although Martin made him turn it off. I told him if we didn’t passed away in December, a celebration of get some rest we would lose the rally and his life wasn’t held until last Saturday at the then I would have no choice: I would have Whitby Yacht Club, when his old pal Chick to blame it all on him.” McGregor rallied the troops. Now, the reason I’m reminiscing today People reminisced for several hours about Klaus Bartels — who is representa- about a guy who paid his way through the
TRACK TALK
University of Toronto by playing the clarinet and leading his dance band, the Top Hats, during summer gigs at Clevelands House in Muskoka; raced his Corvette with wild abandon at Mosport (“he won a lot, he crashed a lot”); headed up GM’s operation in Bogota, Colombia (among many other duties with the company over the years), and created (with one or two others) the Player’s-GM Challenge Series that enabled young Canadian racers like Ron Fellows, Richard Spenard and David Empringham to strut their stuff. Paul Cooke of ASN-FIA Canada (in attendance with fellow executives Roger Peart and Barry Morton) called Marty “a Canadian racing icon” who’s probably already talking to Saint Peter about a Pearly Gates racing series. Others in attendance included champion drivers Bill Brack, Eppie Wietzes and Kroll; marketing and public-relations experts Sid Priddle and son Jerry Priddle, Nelson Hudes and Sylvia Proudfoot; Mosport media manager Glenn Butt, automotive writer Bert Coates; retired Toyota executive and racing photographer F. David Stone; Mosport announcer Jim Paulsen and Jim Robinson. I’ll give the last word to Jennifer, who’s tribute had many in attendance reaching for the tissue. “I was in my first year of university,” she said, “and I was on the soccer team. There was a playoff game the same day as my high school graduation. The coach insisted I couldn’t miss the game … But the playoff game was in London, at Western University, and my graduation was in Toronto. That presented a problem. “So my dad came to the game and waited for me. As soon as the final whistle went, I jumped in the car. We got back to Toronto in time for me to duck into the girls washroom to change, catch up with my class in the hall and go up on the stage to get my diploma. That was my dad. I’m really going to miss him.”
If you get reminder notices or calls, haul out your book (keep a photocopy of the page in your home) and compare what they are suggesting with what the manufacturer suggests. If it differs, ask why. If you can’t get a satisfactory answer, ask the agent who sold you the car. If need be, go as high as you have to until it makes sense. Dealerships vary, and some are more aggressive than others. But in a competitive environment where manufacturers are using every method they can think of to make you buy their product, you are entitled to receive every bell and whistle that convinced you to buy that product in the first place. Don’t stop asking questions after the sale has been made. As the dealership owner told me, repeat customers are more important than ever. They want to make you happy. Let them. www.lorraineonline.ca
FACE TO FACE
Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland drives his car with his portrait on the hood during an exhibition on an ice rink in a 4X4 Fiat Panda at the team's winter retreat in the Dolomite resort of Madonna Di Campiglio, northern Italy, Jan. 12. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
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28 • INDEPENDENTFUN
JANUARY 19, 2007
WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Luigi’s “see you later!” 5 Coordinate 9 Zubenelgenubi, e.g. 13 In shape 16 B.C. falls, highest in Canada 17 Like many cabernets 18 Stage part 19 Roman greeting 20 Turkey with ___ (3 wds.) 23 Cdn. identifier 24 Relating to veins 25 Tolstoy’s Karenina 26 With little v’s cut out 28 Blood pressure raiser 29 Bulletin board fixer 31 Abound 33 ___ and abets 34 Functional start? 35 Plane’s speed, relative to speed of sound 36 Lose resistance to gravity 37 In addition 39 Bits of knowledge 42 Europe’s highest active volcano 44 Had one’s whey? 45 Virtuoso 46 Bouquet specialist 49 Actor’s part finder
CHUCKLE BROS
52 N.S. dog: ___ tolling retriever 54 Pub pint 55 Greek mountain 56 Foxy 57 Horse 58 Terrible tyke 59 Sailor 60 Fall (over) 62 Peanut product 63 Army vehicle 64 Picture setting 66 African tours 68 Type of shirt 69 River of E France 70 Prying 71 Gridlock situation (2 wds.) 75 Enjoyed a mystery 77 Many, many moons 78 Plural of locus 79 Say further 82 Lab culture medium 84 Pronto! 86 Melody 87 Mexican uncle 88 Least relaxed 90 Piece of a whole 92 Areas of shallow water 95 Mineral: suffix 96 Ice cream parlour treat (2 wds.) 99 Luba of “Air Farce” 100 Depend 101 Maple tree genus 102 Inverness natives
103 Of the nature of: suffix 104 It starts off friendly? 105 Dried up 106 Solomon Gursky Was ___ (Richler) DOWN 1 Stringy veggie 2 Ailment 3 Choir voice 4 Island with Pearl Harbor 5 Witty remark 6 Otalgia 7 Lizard 8 Song of praise or prayer 9 Indian honorific 10 Metric weight 11 Ont. region with Agawa Canyon 12 Silence in a score 13 Jeanne Beker, e.g. 14 Like many an ivory tower 15 Is inclined 16 Cronenberg of cinema 21 Large property 22 Gaspé coast town 27 Fidel 30 Behave 32 It may be coddled 35 Crooner Dusk (Back in Town)
36 Unwell 38 Sun sign 40 Its language is Manx 41 The 100m dash 43 State of India 46 Envelope part 47 Permitted 48 Weight of an empty container 49 Requests 50 Collect patiently 51 Vengeful motto (4 wds.) 52 Speaker’s platform 53 WWW address 54 Equal 57 Me to Marie-France 58 Red meat 61 Light beams 63 Beliveau of hockey 64 Its capital is Suva 65 It’s stranded in the body 67 Nordic rug 68 Too much (mus.) 69 Right to enter 71 It may be loose or bagged 72 Do like a butterfly 73 Atom with a charge 74 Bullfighter 76 Rushes 80 Widen 81 Prescribed amounts 82 Shirt worn under Inuit parka
83 Board (2 wds.) 85 Swiped 86 Follow the path of
89 Beige 91 “___, poor Yorick” 93 Silence
94 A single time 97 Designer of flag’s maple leaf: St.-___
98 Bard’s before Solutions page 30
Brian and Ron Boychuk
WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19) Is that Arian self-esteem in need of shoring up? Best advice: Do something that will make someone feel good about him- or herself. It will make you feel proud that you did it.
CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) You’ve done well on your own. But now could be a good time to consider advice from confidantes, as long as you continue to let your own instincts be your primary guide.
TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) It’s time to prove to your detractors that you’re way ahead of them when it comes to getting things done. So, be sure to avoid surprise distractions and complete that project as soon as possible.
LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) A belated New Year’s “gift” could create a problem if you feel unwilling or unable to adjust your plans to accommodate the new development. Check all options before deciding.
GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Be careful not to waste your precious energy on frivolous matters that don’t advance your goals. Stay focused. There’ll be time enough for fun and games after you reach your objective.
VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) There’s a possibility that you could be goaded into making a statement you might regret. It’s important to try to stay cool no matter how heated the conversation gets. LIBRA
(SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) A recent sad experience can become a valuable lesson. Examine it well and take what you’ve learned to help you make that important upcoming decision. SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Lingering problems in a personal or professional partnership still need to be resolved so you can move on. Insist on more cooperation from everyone. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC.21) That recent problem that made you feel emotionally trapped and physically exhausted is gone. Don’t dwell on it. Instead, make new plans and set new goals. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) Your creative talents combine with a strong domestic aspect, which means you can start on
those home-improvement projects you’ve been planning for a long time. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) It’s a good time to anticipate an upcoming change in the near future. This could mean taking on a new career, going off to a new city or moving into a new home. PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) Soon, you should be learning more about the motives of those who continue to pressure you into making a decision you’re still not sure about. Use this information wisely. YOU BORN THIS WEEK The flow of your generosity seems to have no limit. But you’re smart enough to know when it’s time to cap it. (c) 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each column of nine and each section of nine (three squares by three) contains the numbers 1 through 9 in any order. There is only one solution to each puzzle. Solutions, tips and computer program available at www.sudoko.com SOLUTION ON PAGE 30
INDEPENDENTSPORTS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, JANUARY 19-25, 2007 — PAGE 29
MUN’s Katherine Quackenbush has her eyes squarely on the goal: a national title.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Katherine the great Two years after transferring to MUN, Katherine Quackenbush is emerging as the Sea-Hawks’ key performer and leader By Don Power For The Independent
T
here is no glamour in university athletics. The young men and women who wear Memorial University’s jerseys do so for the pure love of the sport. And it’s a necessary passion, because combining education with athletics is a labour of love, since the hours are long and the work is difficult. Katherine Quackenbush had all but lost her love for basketball before arriving in St. John’s. A highly recruited high schooler out of her native Halifax (she was the area’s metro league MVP in her final year), Quackenbush accepted a scholarship to the University of Maine. However, after two seasons as a Black Bear, she’d had enough. “The basketball was very intense,” the quiet Nova Scotian says. “I definitely improved as a player playing with people down there. For me, though, I found it was too much of a business, and sometimes they didn’t treat their players in the best possible way. “It totally, for me, took the love of the game away, and when that happened, I needed out.”
That was April 2004. By September, Quackenbush was a student at Memorial, and a redshirt guard on the Sea-Hawks basketball team, which meant she could practise but not play. “Looking back, it was probably the best thing for me,” she says, “because I got to watch the girls play and it made me realize I really wanted to be out there with them and I kind of got the love for the game back. It was good having that year off. “I did want to play, but I didn’t realize how much.” These days, Quackenbush is not only showing basketball fans how much she wants to play, she’s also displaying a talent level that manifests itself on both ends of the court. In her first full season as a Sea-Hawk, Quackenbush led the team in offensive categories such as scoring (with 13.8 points per game), rebounds (4.8), free throw percentage, three-point percentage, assists, and minutes per game. At the other end of the floor, she led the club in defensive rebounds, steals and blocked shots.
Perhaps most impressive is a stat many may overlook. Despite forcing the play on defence constantly, she didn’t foul out of one single game last year. “In high school, I had a tendency to foul out quite a bit,” Quackenbush admits. “I know now that if you get two fouls in the first half, you’re done for that half. I want to contribute to my team by being on the floor, so fouling constantly is not going to happen. “I think I’ve matured as a player, too. I’m better now being in the right spot rather than trying to make up for it with my athleticism. I’m better at being where I need to be.” For her efforts in 2005-06, she was named the Atlantic University Sport’s defensive player of the year and a first-team all-star. (At the MUN banquet, she also won the Edward P. Browne Memorial Trophy as outstanding Sea-Hawk basketball player, and the Harold Squires Scholarship, given to the student-athlete best combining outstanding achievement in athletics and education, and made the dean’s list for kinesiology, which she’s studying.) “I was pretty shocked and surprised with that
award,” she says of the league’s top defensive player honour. “I wanted to come and have an impact, be an impact player, and I felt like I did that.” This season, Quackenbush, a finalist for Molson St. John’s female athlete of the year, has raised the bar again. The five-foot-11-inch guard has increased her scoring (to 16.7 points per game), rebounds (5.5), defensive rebounds (3.8), steals (2.6), assists (3.8) and blocked shots (0.6). About the only thing that’s down from last year is her minutes played. “On defence you’ve got to be focused all the time,” she says, taking pride in her play in her own zone. “If not, people in this league will pick up on that and make you pay. You’ve really got to focus the entire (shot clock time of) 24 seconds, whereas on offence, you can have a small opportunity to rest — although that’s probably not the right word — if you’re not directly involved in the play. “Defence is more enjoyable, too, when you get it down pat and you get teams frustrated. It’s fun See “Spoken like,” page 30
A different kind of plus-minus
Despite the great showing by the Fog Devils last week, there’s not a lot of optimism that the club has turned a corner
I
f ever there was a week of hockey to springboard the St. John’s Fog Devils onto greater things, last week was it. The Lewiston Maineiacs arrived at Mile One Centre leading the entire Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They left the same way, a full six points clear of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the race for the overall regular season title. However, the Maineiacs also left with their proverbial tail between their legs, because the lowly Fog Devils — 27 fewer points than Lewiston — took two of three games from the league leaders. St. John’s opened the rare three-game series with a 6-4 win in which Luke
DON POWER
Power Point Adam had his QMJHL coming out party, with two goals in a first-star performance. After a 6-1 defeat Jan. 11, St. John’s won a thrilling 2-1 overtime game in the Jan. 12 finale. And when Ryan Graham scored yet another overtime winner, Mile One erupted. And as team president Brad Dobbin told me in early December, “There’s no marketing like a few W’s.” Attendance for the three-game set
was average, even though the Maineiacs have a top-ranked team and four NHL-drafted players. For the first game, 3,505 showed up. Even fewer (3,175) watched the second game. Friday, there were 4,620, but with a Fog Devils promotion at two schools — which meant hundreds of complimentary or cheap tickets – you’d expect a big crowd. Despite the great showing by the Fog Devils last week, there’s not a lot of optimism around the team or city that the club has turned a corner, and will now become a successful entity. There’s a train of thought out there that the Fog Devils will never be successful as long as there are two entities
with something at stake in the operation of the team. And right now, there obviously are. The Dobbins run the Fog Devils. St. John’s Sport and Entertainment runs Mile One Centre. That means each side is looking out for its own interests, which is perfectly understandable, since it is, after all, a business. However, because the building houses the team, the two sides should be on the same page. I spoke to a season ticket holder recently, who was also a Leaf season ticket holder in years gone by. During the Leaf days, the guy used to receive — with his Leaf tickets — a coupon for
food and beverage. He’d receive a few free hot dogs, some Pepsi coupons, and a couple more for a few cold Molson. It wasn’t necessary, the ticket holder said, but it was a nice touch. So when he gave away a few tickets — they’re company seats after all — he was also able to provide the recipient with a hot dog and drink ticket for their kid, saving him about $10. The coupons were an addon, not included in the price, but it was very welcome. Because of the agreement Mile One and the Dobbins signed, Mile One is in charge of concessions, although there is a profit-sharing arrangement. Team See “Bottom line,” page 30
30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS
JANUARY 19, 2007
Got to eat me moose, b’y
AT YOUR SERVICE
Wild game is packed with protein, vitamins, and low in fat
L
ast Friday at the gym a young man asked if I ate much moose and rabbits. “Any protein in that stuff?” My friend was pumping iron, and if moose were a good source of protein, he would gladly eat it, rather than spend his hard-earned money on protein shakes, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and prime cuts of lean beef. Apparently, his father had a full moose in the freezer, free for the eating. “My son,” I responded, “eat all the moose your father can spare, and what you can’t eat yourself, I’ll be happy to take off your hands.” Many people hold the misconception that wild game — including moose, caribou and rabbit — has no nutritional value. I’m not sure exactly where this notion originated, but nothing could be more untrue. I’ll join the ranks of the conspiracy theorists just long enough to accuse animal rights fundamentalists and the supermarket chains of spreading such vicious propaganda. I’m joking, of course. I’ve had my share of verbal and written attacks from the right wing of animal rights, and the last thing I want is to be chased by a cleaver-toting butcher. Truth is, in days gone by when people worked much harder physically, they could get away with eating more fat. They burned it off by walking, chopping wood and washing clothes on a scrubbing board. Perhaps then the notion was born that fat was good and that lean old rabbit and moose meat was of lesser value. I’m clearly speculating, but for whatever reason many people still believe that one could starve eating wild game. Now let’s think about this for a moment. How do you suppose trappers of olden days survived while they lived in the woods for months on end? How did the prospectors of Klondike days keep meat on their bones while working in isolation north of 60? They didn’t carry those Winchesters just to fight over mining claims. They shot wild game, ate it, and survived just fine while tackling the hardest kind of manual labour. Moose, caribou, beaver, muskrat, porcupine, musk ox … you name it, they ate it. For that matter, native North Americans sur-
PAUL SMITH
The Rock
Outdoors
Majestic and good for you.
vived just fine for many millennia before Europeans immigrated with their domesticated critters in tow. And there’s even a bigger picture. Domesticated meat has been available for 0.5 per cent of the time that erect walking humans have roamed this planet. For the other 99.5 per cent of our time on Earth, we ate the Flintstones diet: wild game, fruit and vegetables. Our heritage is hunting and gathering, plain and simple. Farming has been with us for a mere fraction of a per cent of our history on Earth. And supermarkets even less. But some still argue that somehow we have changed, and should no longer eat wild animals. In fact, we have changed genetically just 1.6 per cent in the last six or seven million years. That’s what science says anyway. No wonder I like hunting, fishing and sitting around a campfire so much. And my moose and onions must certainly be very good for me. But what does modern food science have to say about the nutritional value of my moose and onions? I’ve searched the Internet and chatted with a few medical doctor friends and here’s the consensus: all wild game has protein, about the same amount
per serving as chicken, beef or pork — about 25 per cent by weight. My moose, however, has only about half the calories of beef per serving. When it comes to fat, the difference is even bigger. Moose is extremely low in fat, even when compared to other wild meats. Deer, elk and caribou have one gram of saturated fat per serving (85 g or 3 oz) compared to seven grams for beef and five for pork. Moose has only trace amounts of saturated fat per serving. Although, I must confess, my moose servings are much bigger than those listed in nutrition data sheets. I should point out that these are average values. From my own personal experience, early fall caribou carry much more body fat than winter caribou, but the ratio of good fat (polyunsaturated) to bad fat (saturated) is much higher in wild animals. As an added bonus, game meat contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a type of omega-3 fatty acid commonly referred to as fish oil. EPA is thought to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Wild meat is also high in iron and vitamin B, essential ingredients in a healthy diet. It also contains potassium to aid in cell function and phosphorus to build sturdy teeth and bones. It’s all there — no wonder wild meat sustained our ancestors so well. Finally, there’s an extra bonus: selenium, the latest trendy immunesystem boosting super mineral that’s now added to certain breakfast cereals is right there naturally in wild meat. Research has revealed that our very own national game bird, the partridge, contains 0.43 mg of selenium per kilogram, compared with 0.04 mg for beef. So how can we hunters go wrong? We’re out in the fresh air, running all over the woods, getting plenty of exercise, and trying to put food on the table. And now we know that our food is much healthier than what those supermarket strollers are eating. Sure, we’re all going to live forever. Paul Smith is a freelance writer living in Spaniard’s Bay. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com
Spoken like a true leader From page 29
China's Peng Shuai serves to Slovania's Andreja Klepac at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne Jan. 17, 2007. Petar Kujundzic/Reuters
NFL PICKS Conference championships Sammy’s Crystal Football SUNDAY, JAN. 21 NEW ORLEANS AT CHICAGO (-2 1/2)
TAKE NEW ORLEANS (+2 1/2) NEW ENGLAND AT INDIANAPOLIS (-3)
The Bears should be praying for a snowy, cold day this Sunday when they host the Saints. However the forecast does not seem to be co-operating. New Orleans looks to be the far better team. If this game was in New Orleans, the Saints would be favoured by a touchdown. Last weekend Chicago beat a terrible looking Seattle team that shouldn’t have got past Dallas in the wild-card game. Chicago also had the benefit of a weak schedule this season, playing against only three teams with winning records. The Bears now face a very good team coming to town on a real high. The Saints are playing for a city that needs a lift. The Saints have never made it to the Super Bowl. Unless the weather comes to the Bears’ rescue, this may be the first. And certainly no city deserves it more than New Orleans.
New England, with Tom Brady at quarterback, has a 12-1 post-season record. Last weekend the Pats came back to defeat a Chargers team that was favoured to win it all this year. However, the Colts beat a very good Baltimore team without even scoring a touchdown. All Indy’s points came on five field goals by Adam Vinatieri, who left New England after last season, having played 10 years there. Indianapolis is undefeated at home this year. That sounds good but New England is 14-01 in its last 15 games when playing on the road against Indianapolis. The winner of this game will be favoured to win the Super Bowl. Throw the stats out and toss a coin. It should be close. Chances are Vinatieri will be the story of the game. How about this … Indy wins, New England covers the spread. TAKE NEW ENGLAND (+3)
Solutions for crossword on page 28
Solutions for sudoku on page 28
to see that happen.” Even more impressive than the litany of numbers Quackenbush has posted is the respect she has earned from her teammates. Last year, before she had even played one regular season game for MUN, her teammates voted her a co-captain. It’s an honour she has retained this season, with fifth-year Krista Singleton. Initially, Quackenbush balked at the leadership role on the Sea-Hawks. With no experience, she was hesitant about speaking up, and she had no results to back her up if she did say anything. “Last year it was definitely an issue for me,” she says frankly. “A big issue, the fact I hadn’t proven anything; I hadn’t played yet. This year has been a lot easier. “Plus, Krista obviously plays a huge role on the team. As a captain, yes I’m looked at as a leader, but we all work well together and everyone
“Last year our focus would come in and out. We’re focused in practice and that carries over into games. We don’t want to let up now.” can step up and say things when they need to.” Not a lot has needed to be said so far for the Sea-Hawks. At six wins and four losses, MUN is third with 18 points. But this team knows it won’t be measured on what it does in the regular season’s 20 games. It’s the post-season where this team will have its mettle tested, especially this year. In March, MUN will play host to
the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s basketball championship at the Field House. As host, the team is guaranteed a spot in the tournament. But nobody on the team wants to back into the nationals: they want to walk in through the front door with an AUS championship. “We don’t just want to be there because we’re the hosts. We want to prove we belong there. “You know the short-term goals have to be met before we can meet our long-term goals. The national championship is our goal and we can’t do that if we don’t do those little things every day that will get us to our goal. “We’ve been really focused in practice and everything. Last year our focus would come in and out. We’re focused in practice and that carries over into games. We don’t want to let up now.” Spoken like a true leader. donniep@nl.rogers.com
Bottom line is everything From page 29 president Brad Dobbin is surely not giving anybody $50 worth of hot dog or pizza tickets. And you can’t blame him. What people don’t understand is that the St. John’s Fog Devils team is a business. It’s a private entity, owned by Derm Dobbin, who obviously wants to turn a profit on it. It’s no different than owning, say, O’Hehir Arena and contemplating whether hockey is more profitable than razing the building and putting up condos. (A purely hypothetical example.)
Until both sides become one, the Fog Devils will never be successful off the ice, which is the only way the Dobbins measure success. You could win four President’s Cup trophies and three Memorial Cups, but if the Fog Devils’ bottom line shows red, the team has not been successful. That’s what happens in private enterprise. The bottom line is everything. And make no mistake; this is private enterprise. Anybody who thinks the Fog Devils are Newfoundland’s team, or St. John’s team, or the fans’ team, is in denial. (Let’s not even enter the
arena of debate about initial purchase of the team, which was strictly financially motivated.) This is the Dobbins’ team. Rumours are already circulating around Mile One that the family is thinking about selling the team as early as this spring. The club lost money last year, and Brad Dobbin expects if the numbers remain the same, it will again this year. And no matter what anybody says, the only record that matters in this operation is not wins and losses, but profits and losses. donniep@nl.rogers.com
JANUARY 19, 2007
INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 31
It’s crunch time in Halifax Cynthia Phaneuf, Emanuel Sandhu are at crossroads in their figure skating careers By Randy Starkman Torstar wire service
Loss would have hurt playoff chances By Damien Cox Torstar wire service
C
ynthia Phaneuf was a bright young star who really disappeared from the figure skating scene. With Emanuel Sandhu, it just seems like he did. Perhaps for these two skaters more than any others, this week’s Canadian figure skating championships represent a crossroads, an opportunity to prove they can still be a factor in the sport or a sure sign their time has passed. Phaneuf took some tentative steps Jan. 16 towards showing that some promise remains in her career, winning the women’s qualifying with a long program short on technical prowess but with artistry her less seasoned competitors couldn’t match. She’d not competed in an event of consequence since bombing out at the 2005 world championships in Moscow some 22 months ago, felled since by ankle and knee injuries. She put on 20 pounds — “I was having more cookies because I was feeling bad,” she said — and even contemplated quitting at one point. It was a dramatic plummet for a skater who won a surprise Canadian title in 2004 just before turning 16 and the next year reached the Grand Prix final. She did that on the strength of a victory at Skate Canada at the very same Halifax Metro Centre where Tuesday her knees were practically knocking together in the warmup. “The warmup was the worst thing,” said Phaneuf, who turned 19 Jan. 16. “It was a disaster. It was so bad that I went back to (coach) Annie (Barabeau) and she told me some stuff just to calm me down.” Her nervousness was understandable given her long layoff, but the reality despite her ability to regroup yesterday is that she only landed three triples doing a program that is very basic and a long way from making her competitive internationally. To her credit, she knows this and has set a modest goal here of reaching the top five to make the national team. “For this year, I just want to skate for me and be proud of myself at the end of the week,” she said. “I don’t want a medal or anything ... I don’t want to compete with anyone. I just want to compete with myself.” Realistic expectations and Emanuel Sandhu, though, are two things that have rarely been used in the same sentence. Sandhu’s goal is a top-three finish at the worlds in Tokyo in March, yet he was invisible on the Grand Prix circuit this season and wasn’t close to making the final. Commentator Tracy Wilson pulls no punches in her assessment of the
Win lets Leafs breathe a (little) sigh of relief
I
Canadian figure skater Cynthia Phaneuf prepares to blow a kiss after placing first in the Skate Canada International at the Halifax Metro Centre. REUTER/Paul Darrow
26-year-old Richmond Hill native. “I think for Emanuel it’s a make or break,” said Wilson. “It’s kind of gone on like a slow bleed that he’s got to stop. You can stand rinkside with anybody in the world and someone from Russia will turn to you and say, ‘He’s the best in the world. What’s wrong?’ But he has not been able to figure it out.” Sandhu flinches at such talk, of which there is much these days. “I don’t look at it that way at all,” says Sandhu. “I’m excited to be here. I can put it this way: whenever I go out to skate, I want to put my stuff down. So whether it’s a national championship, whether it’s an international, or the world championships, that’s always my goal. It’s part of my journey and the reason I work so hard.” This would seem a grand opportunity for Sandhu as two-time champion Jeffrey Buttle of Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., hasn’t competed all season because of a stress fracture in his spine. Buttle pronounced himself fit
and ready to go last week, but will be lacking fitness after missing nearly three months. Nine of the top women’s skaters from last year received a bye from the qualifying round won by Phaneuf Jan. 16, including Joannie Rochette of Ile Dupas, Que., favoured to win her third straight Canadian title. The key for Rochette will be to push herself despite the lack of rivals and land her first ever triple-triple combination in competition in her short program tomorrow, a jump she needs if she’s going to make the next plateau internationally. The stars of the Canadian team at the moment are ice dancers, MarieFrance Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, silver medallists at last year’s worlds and this season at the Grand Prix Final. Canada also seems to have a bright future with world junior champions Tessa Virture and Scott Moir. In pairs, Valerie Marcoux and Craig Buntin are expected to win a fourth straight Canadian title but have been struggling.
f you can have a crucial victory in January, this might have been it. Actually, that’s not quite right. It’s not that winning the Jan. 16 contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning was that pivotal for the Maple Leafs. It’s just that losing it would have been utterly demoralizing. Or thoroughly deflating. Pick your favourite word or combination of words you might use, say, if you were to arrive home from vacation to find the basement flooded with untreated sewage. That’s what it would have been like for the hockey wing of the MLSE sports, ahem, empire in the wake of defeat. Midway through the third period, after all, the Leafs were in a tight 2-2 game with the Bolts while the Pittsburgh Penguins were romping to an impressive home-ice victory over the New York Islanders. Had the Lightning potted one late and won it, therefore, the Leafs would have been passed by the Pens and fallen to 12th in the conference, six points out of a playoff berth. Had it broken that way, well, the Leafs would have quickly forgotten the warm embrace of the Florida sun they’ve enjoyed since Sunday and the encouraging returns of Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov to the lineup, not to mention a spectacular performance by netminder Andrew Raycroft. They would have felt only the desolation of a season surely slipping away. Maybe, just maybe, it was a game that was a little more important to the visitors, or perhaps the difference in the game was that having played the night before on Long Island, the Bolts didn’t have quite the legs and energy to get the winner in the third period while flu-ridden Alex Steen did en route to a 4-2 victory. About two minutes before Steen’s winner, for example, Brad Richards couldn’t summon the concentration to complete the business end of a 2-on-1 break, continuing his mystifyingly mediocre season with a backhander off the side of the Leaf goal. Over the opening two periods, how-
ever, it was certainly Raycroft’s acrobatics that kept the Leafs in contention for a victory, particularly two stops made on Vinny Lecavalier moving smartly to his left across his crease, and then another diving the other way on Dan Boyle. More important, the soft goal that had been plaguing the Leaf starter didn’t materialize this time. In the third, Raycroft could have sat back in an armchair as his teammates checked the Lightning into the ice, allowing only one serious shot on goal. That one serious shot, however, came with 3:10 left in the third after Steen had put the Leafs ahead. Marty St. Louis fed a wide-open Vinny Prospal to Raycroft’s right, but the Leaf goalie got his body in front of a hard blast, with the ricochet hitting Lecavalier above the left eye and leaving a large lump. “First time I ever got hit in the face by a puck. Ever,” said Lecavalier, shaking his head afterwards. Once again, the Leafs delivered a significant victory on the road for their 11th win in 22 outings away from the Air Canada Centre, more victories than they’ve registered in 25 home starts in this campaign. It seems this season that when a win has been most desperately needed, it has come on the road for the Leafs. There was that 4-3 triumph in Raleigh Dec. 15 after winning just one of their previous eight, a game made more emotional by the fact it was coach Paul Maurice’s return to Carolina since being fired by the Hurricanes two years earlier to the day. There was a 10-2 win in Boston on Jan. 4 after five losses in seven games, and then last Thursday’s upset victory in Buffalo after the Leafs had dropped consecutive games at home to the Sabres and Canes. Just as Roy Halladay stops Blue Jay losing streaks, a charter flight anywhere apparently stirs esprit de corps in the hearts of Maurice’s squad and pushes desperation away for one more day. If the Leafs’ home record is a sign of weakness, their ability to win consistently in enemy rinks has to be interpreted as a sign of character. Last week, it meant not losing a game that would have been crushing to lose.
INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY , JANUARY 19-25, 2007 — PAGE 32
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