2007-02-16

VOL. 5 ISSUE 7

—

ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007

—

WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA —

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

STYLE 21

Finding perfect wedding dress a matter of taste

CONTEST 18 Independent’s new photo contest: details inside

233 days and counting Former MHA still on paid leave IVAN MORGAN

R

etired Liberal cabinet minister Jim Walsh remains on paid administrative leave from his appointed position on the Transportation Safety Board of Canada as a result of the ongoing political spending scandal.

A spokesperson for the board says Walsh has been on administrative leave since June 29, 2006. The spokesperson says the amount Walsh has been paid since he was on leave is personal information, but the salary range for Walsh’s position is between $104,900 and $123,400 a year.

Walsh went on leave after auditor general John Noseworthy identified him as having overspent his constituency allowance while he was an MHA. Between 2003 and 2004, Walsh filed signed claims totalling $289,169, which is $228,169 in excess of the $61,000 ($30,500 per year) he was allowed as an MHA. Walsh, who could not be reached for comment, collects a provincial pension for his time as an MHA and cabinet minister.

The federal transportation board’s mandate is to advance transportation safety in Canada’s marine, pipeline, rail and air modes of transportation by conducting independent investigations; identifying safety deficiencies as evidenced by transportation occurrences; making recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce any such safety deficiencies; and reporting publicly on the investigations and subsequent findings. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “My assessment of it, quite frankly, is this: if Danny Williams ever does a lower Churchill deal … he’ll do the deal I had on the table, or very close to it, because it is the only one that makes any economic sense.”

— Former premier Roger Grimes. See page 13.

LIFE 17

Two years and $3 million later, Wiseman Centre ready to reopen

The Jordan family (from left): Emma, Darrell, Abbey, Cheyenne, Joshua, Tamara and Alex.

Paul Daly/The Independent

‘We will have more’

Parents who raise large families say they’re doing themselves, and society, a favour

By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent

D

arrell Jordan, 38, of Kelligrews, quiets his 11-week-old baby while his other four children play nearby. He knows his family stands out from most in his neighbourhood, and around the province.

“It’s a total commitment and an absolute conscious decision on our part to have a big family while everyone else is waiting or having one, maybe two kids,” he says. “Few are having kids, and we’ve had five in 10 years and we don’t say we’re done yet.”

Sandra Nolan of Moorings Cove on the Burin Peninsula, knows how he feels. She admits she has a hard time recalling the age of her children.

“It’s not Alzheimer’s, it’s busy all-thetimers,” she says with a laugh. Nolan can be forgiven for being forgetful. At 40 years old, she’s a mother of eight.

Large families were once common in Newfoundland and Labrador, and a high birth rate was the province’s “cushion” against outmigration.

But Newfoundland and Labrador now boasts the lowest birth rate in the country, at 1.3 children per family — well below the 2.1 statisticians say are required to maintain the population.

Worsening the blow, Newfoundland and Labrador recorded more deaths than births in 2006, becoming the only Canadian province to show a negative natural population change.

Mary Lou Short of Marystown wishes more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would take the risk and have more children. She says big families are not only good for the soul, but for society.

“When my kids go out in the world they know they have to fend for themselves and they have to find ways to make do and by working hard they contribute,” says the mother of four.

“If the girls wanted new jeans, they babysat for it and the boys have a paper route.

“The world is geared towards neat little families of four with mom, dad and the two kids, yet most I know are even smaller than that these days and that’s a sad, scary thing for the future of our province.”

Births in the province dropped from 12,700

in 1971 to about 4,400 in 2006, and are projected to fall to less than 3,100 by 2021. With outmigration figures added into the equation, the province’s population is projected to drop from its current 509,677 to roughly 481,000 by 2021.

Demographics are “most important for longterm planning,” says Trevor Taylor, minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, pointing out population numbers impact everything from health care and education policies to immigration strategies.

“You can develop and build economic opportunities that make people stay, but it’s virtually impossible for government to tackle the problem of a declining birth rate,” he says. “It has nothing to do with the fact that we have no women of child-bearing age left, but that the ones who have stayed are having fewer children.”

Taylor says his government aims to create a climate where people not only stay in, but also return to, Newfoundland. That, combined with an immigration strategy, would help turn things around.

See “Secret weapon,” page 5

‘Not God’s will’ Mother of Chrissy Newman speaks about the murder and her faith in the RNC; Bagby offers advice

SPORTS 29

Colin Escott waiting for chance to skate as Fog Devil Patrick O’Flaherty . . . 10 Paper Trail . . . . . . . . 12 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Book review . . . . . . . 20 Woody’s wheels. . . . 25

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

O

n Feb. 10, nearly three weeks after the murder of her daughter, Yvonne Harvey told a church full of mourners in her hometown near Ottawa that her need for justice outweighs her desire for closure.

Harvey is a patient woman. Reading the eulogy for her 28-year-old daughter, Chrissy Predham Newman, was just another in a series of ordeals that started with the news of Newman’s violent death in Airport Heights in the east end of St. John’s on Jan. 21.

Harvey endured a brief public tussle over her

daughter’s remains with Newman’s estranged husband, Ray Newman. Her only grandchild, 16-month-old Ireland, is in protective custody in Newfoundland.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has yet to lay charges in the case. Const. Paul Davis says while the investigation continues, police have no suspects or persons of interest. They aren’t issuing any public warnings.

Harvey’s eulogy expresses a mother’s anguish of losing an only child.

“This was not God’s will. And I ask for the power of prayer here today to bring forth justice See “It can happen,” page 2

A better choice to London The only non-stop service to London from Newfoundland.

Save your money and save your time. Newfound, in association with Astraeus Airlines and Carlson Wagonlit Harvey’s Travel offers you an exciting new travel choice with great prices, great service and home-grown spirit.

499

TWICE WEEKLY (TUESDAY & FRIDAY) FLIGHTS BETWEEN ST. JOHN’S & LONDON (GATWICK)

$

R E T U R N

Fuel surcharge included

Fares indicated are return. Taxes, insurance, NAV CANADA surcharge, airport improvement fees and Air Travelers Security charge are not included. Tickets are 100% non-refundable.

Fares valid at time of printing and apply to new bookings only. Seats are limited and subject to availability. Maximum stay and other conditions may apply.

Chrissy Newman

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

SCRUNCHINS Cross sank in 1914 with her entire crew of 173 on her way home from the Gulf with a full load of seals; and the SS Viking went to the bottom in 1931 after an explosion aboard the steamer, 25 of the 147 crewmen were lost. In September Danny Williams recommended that hakapiks (clubs with hooks at one end) be banned, although his advice hasn’t been acted on — rifles aren’t as handy as hakapiks when it comes to jumping over ice paddies …

Paul Daly/The Independent

A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia

I

t’s almost swilin’ season, don’t you know? Sealing may be near and dear to a Newfoundlander’s heart, but few of us actually head out to the “front” anymore. There was a time when participation in the seal hunt was a “manhood ritual, evidence that a man was tough and could ‘take it.’”

In a recent paper, Memorial University history professor James Hiller mentioned how, in 1889, the governor’s wife, Lady E. Blake, noted with astonishment that returned sealers were regarded with admiration, and might “be seen walking with respectable looking women evidently proud of the escort of their greasy cavaliers.”

Hiller wrote that a reply of sorts came in a song written circa 1918 …

Nice folks may perhaps laugh at us But they don’t understand That the boys in oily jumpers are The pride of Newfoundland.

Wrote Hiller: “In these texts the real Newfoundland is outport, rural Newfoundland and its inhabitants; and they are the real Newfoundlanders.”

Which begs the question, what does that make Townies?

OUR AMSTERDAM Most Townies may have bay in their blood, but they’re apparently more European than anything else. In a recent feature for The Globe and Mail, writer Noah Richler wrote, “St. John’s is our Amsterdam … which is not to say that it is a haven for glass-fronted sex workers’ shops and drugs … it is comparably pretty, lived in and loved.”

I’ve never heard a bayman put it quite that way …

with the accusation that they do not protect other species like fish. For its part, Sea Shepherd says it has been warning about the consequences of overfishing since the early 1980s.

Quote (and an exact one): “In 1992, Captain Paul Watson brought his concerns about the cod to the United Nations Conference on the Environment in Brazil where he was told by Newfoundland Premier Frank Wells to mind his own business.”

PREMIER ‘FRANK WELLS’ Sealing and fishing are two of the occupations that made us who we are, but the appreciation is definitely Paul Watson not universal. A photo-op involving a mega-star or two is as routine on the ice every spring as a shot of a no-name baby seal, or as Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society likes to call them, the “lambs of God.” Watson’s group is pushing for a boycott of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. The website points out how Newfoundlanders are quick to respond to protest groups

SWILIN’ WE WILL GO Federal Fisheries is contemplating a cut to the 2007 seal quota from the 335,000 animals harvested last year.

Some reports indicate that high catches in recent years may have led to a drop in the number of young seals (985,000 seals were taken between 2003 and 2005). Seal quotas, however, are nowhere near what they were in 1831, when the catch exceeded 686,000 seals.

In those days between 300 and 500 sailing vessels — from 70 to 200 tons — took part in the fishery, carrying crews of up to 15,000 men. It was good work, but dangerous. The four major Newfoundland sealing disasters include: the SS Greenland disaster in 1898, 48 men lost out of a crew of 270; the SS Newfoundland disaster in 1914, 77 men lost out of 189; the SS Southern

NEW NEWFOUNDLAND No doubt Newfoundland and Labrador has a cool culture, but Saskatchewan is catching up.

According to a story in this week’s Toronto Star, from TV shows like Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie, everyone is fascinated with the prairie province.

“It just might be that Saskatchewan is the new Newfoundland,” read the Star story. “The eastern province enjoyed a brush with coolness in the 1990s thanks to hits such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes and the band Great Big Sea. Consider the similarities: both provinces lose workers to Alberta and have struggling economies based on a single industry (farming in Saskatchewan, fishing in Newfoundland) … even though Saskatchewan residents don’t have a distinct accent like Newfies, there are still words unique to the province such as bunnyhug (known as a hoodie in the rest of the world) and frajolaki (essentially souvlaki on a bun).” I bet that’s not half as good as a touton dipped in baked beans …

Actors (from top) Gordon Pinsent, Peter O’Toole and Clint Eastwood.

nalists at the Sundance Film Festival who gushed over his performance asked the director where she found the “unknown.”

NATIONAL TREASURE The Victoria Times Colonist carried a story earlier this week on our own Gordon Pinsent. At 76, the Rowdyman isn’t having anything to do with retirement, touring in the play Away From Her, an Alice Munro tale about a retired professor whose wife has Alzheimer’s.

The professor watches his wife slip away, one memory at a time.

“But to be able to still do this at Peter O’Toole’s or Clint Eastwood’s age,” says Pinsent. “There’s still a few of them in there. Now if they all go together, that’s when I may worry.”

While Pinsent is a national treasure in Canada, he’s not as well known in the U.S. According to the Times Colonist, the screen veteran laughed when he heard that some fans and jour-

REMEMBER Finally, a wreath was laid last week at St. Mura’s graveyard in Fahan, Ireland by members of the Ulster Newfoundland Initiative for 16 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. On the evening of Jan. 25, 1917 the supply ship Laurentic left for Halifax loaded with 3,211 ingots of gold, a payment from Britain to the United States for armaments and supplies. The ship, a luxury White Star passenger liner, had been requisitioned as a troop ship and later converted to an armed merchant cruiser. The ship struck two German mines laid only a few days earlier by a U-boat. In total 126 men were saved, 344 were lost — among them 16 young Newfoundlanders. I’ll bet more than one of them was once a sealer … ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

renewed push for safety from the Newfoundland and Labrador Snowmobile Federation.

Terry Smith, the federation’s safety co-ordinator, says safety at individual snowmobile clubs around the province has not always met a certain standard, as co-ordinators have not always kept themselves trained.

This summer, Smith attended Portage College in Alberta for a fiveday course on snowmobile safety. He then put in place a new program at the snowmobile federation to teach snowmobilers how to plan a route, dress appropriately, and perform regular machine checks.

“We’re trying to get programs in

schools now,” he says. “We’d like to go in and do a topic on, for example, ice crossing. We just deal with that issue on a two- or three-hour program, based on what space the teachers will give us.”

The federation maintains a number of groomed snowmobile trails around the province, but Smith says that accidents rarely happen along these paths.

“We’re also trying to get it out into the back country, because we know that this is where all the fatalities are happening,” he says.

Cochrane Pond is a popular area for snowmobiles, but is not a groomed trail maintained by the federation. To date, no deaths have occurred on groomed trails in the province.

Death on the ice

Snowmobile safety priority after season’s first fatality

By Devon Wells For The Independent

D

arrell Babb reconnected with his childhood friend Scott King just six months ago. King died while riding his snowmobile outside St. John’s last week.

“Me and Scott grew up together on Bell Island,” says Babb. “We grew up with dirt bikes and stuff like that — quads and Skidoos. We were around that stuff all the time.”

On Feb. 8, King and friends were riding their snowmobiles across Cochrane Pond, when King lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree head on.

Despite the efforts of his friends, he

Health Minister Ross Wiseman

Too many hotlines?

F

ive months after the province introduced a new health advice telephone hotline, the Janeway continues to operate two other lines for poison control and pediatric information.

Health Minister Ross Wiseman says the redundancy is a test period for the new hotline.

He says once the line has been operating for a year, the province will reevaluate the need for the Janeway lines.

The new hotlines cost $771,000, paid for in part by the federal government, which offered Newfoundland and Labrador funds if it signed a partnership with the other Atlantic provinces.

— Devon Wells

died from his injuries.

“It was a very substantial sized tree with three substantial trunks,” says Const. Paul Davis of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. “It was probably equivalent to hitting a wall.”

Davis says there was a lot of snow on the pond that evening, which affected driving conditions. King was wearing a helmet and had not been drinking.

Although King is the first snowmobile fatality of the season, the provincial safety co-ordinator with the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations says it’s “one too many.”

In an interview from Labrador, Craig Giles says the province usually has fewer than 10 snowmobile-related

Number of snowmobile-related deaths in province Season 2003-2004 — 8 Season 2004-2005 — 8 Season 2005-2006 — 9 Data from the Newfoundland and Labrador Snowmobile Federation

deaths each year. In the last three years, there have been 25 deaths in total. Nonfatal injuries are harder to account for because they often go unreported.

“This season we’re hopefully a bit slower because the season is a bit later in getting going,” says Giles.

King’s death coincides with a

4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Political favourites

Dumaresque says Liberal districts bear brunt of Premier’s wrath

Take your seats

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

A quick introduction to the province’s newest MHAs

T

KEITH HUTCHINGS TORY MHA FERRYLAND Age: 40 Occupation: private consultant in health and safety, aide to former MHA Loyola Sullivan Marital status: married Residence: St. John’s On entering the House of Assembly at the height of the spending scandal: “In any process that I’ve been involved with, whether it’s volunteer organizations or working myself, the one thing that you want in terms of accounting and financing is that you want clear rules that can be followed and adhered to, and then there’s a quite clear auditing process if those rules and procedures are in place.”

he president of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador says the Williams administration is punishing Liberal districts and rewarding Tory ones.

“Absolutely, no doubt about it, Tory ridings are getting a higher percentage of the capital works budget of the province and the record of the province is very clear on that,” Danny Dumaresque tells The Independent from Madrid, where he was on business.

He points to capital works budgets of the last few years, and the disbursement of make-work money as evidence of his claims “If you are in a Liberal riding certainly you don’t get anywhere near the percentages of the funding.”

He says many of the voters of Port au Port, suffering from the closure of the Stephenville mill, may have felt they had to vote for the Progressive Conservative candidate.

“If you have your main employer gone and economically you are on your face,” says Dumaresque, “it’s quite normal to opt for the government side, especially in a byelection for the next eight months.

“They certainly couldn’t afford, in my opinion, to say no to the power of government.

Especially when it is being exercised in such a clear and unequivocal fashion: either you are for or you’re against me.

“We’re seeing the kind of interference in the democratic process greater in these byelections than we have seen in the history of byelections.”

Dumaresque says Humber Valley voted Liberal because, unlike Port au Port, the district

President of the provincial Liberal Party, Danny Dumaresque.

Paul Daly/The Independent

is a service centre and more independent of government influence.

A federal byelection rule prohibits the governing party from making announcements involving public funds during the campaign, Dumaresque points out. He says this political civility gives the voter a reasonable chance to decide one way or the other without any undue pressure from government.

“I think we should be getting more mature in how we approach our process, and certainly from that point of view Mr. Williams has a lot to learn.”

In an e-mailed response, a spokesperson for the premier’s office says the Williams government does not discriminate against opposition districts. The spokesperson says the government’s substantial investment into Arnold’s Cove, resulting in the fish plant staying operational and saving more than 300 jobs is “just one example.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

TONY CORNECT TORY MHA PORT AU PORT Age: 42 Occupation: political assistant to Education Minister Joan Burke Marital status: married Residence: Kippens On his goals as MHA: “I want to work with the oil company, I want to work with the industries that are here in the Bay St. George area and see if there’s room for expansion, and to see if there are new developments on the way and properly maximized to bring economic development and employment.”

JOHN DINN TORY MHA KILBRIDE Age: 62 Occupation: retired teacher, former St. John’s city councillor, former mayor of Goulds Marital status: married Residence: Goulds On accounting errors: “It’s not rocket science.”

On voting in the House of Assembly: “I’ll have my opinion in the proper place when the time comes. It’s not a simple answer as saying ‘Will you ever vote against your government?’ … If I believe in something strong enough, someone’s going to have to convince me otherwise, especially if I think they’re wrong.”

DWIGHT BALL LIBERAL MHA HUMBER VALLEY (Position subject to official recount) Age: 50 Occupation: pharmacist, seniors’ home operator Marital Status: common law Residence: Deer Lake On his first goals as MHA: “The first thing I’m going to do is set up an office, that’d be the first thing. Then I’ll be going around and meeting with all the community councils and groups around and we’ll be putting our priorities in place on an issue or issues that they’re currently working on.”

Compiled by Devon Wells

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

HAVE A HEART

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

‘Secret weapon’ From page 1 “We need people to see this as an attractive place to live and return to,” he says. “We need to develop and build economic opportunities that will make people stay.”

Nolan says big families like hers help the economy and could be the province’s “secret weapon” against out-migration.

“My eight are close and they want to stay in Newfoundland near their family if they can,” she says. “We fill the schools, we are the biggest consumers, we have our teenagers out there looking for part-time jobs and chances are good we are the only ones who won’t pack up and move out west.”

She says her children saw the family’s struggle when the fishery closed — Nolan’s husband lost his job at the fish plant, but found another — and the kids also saw their parents bounce back.

“With a big family, you just can’t pack up and leave the same way you can if you have one or two. You need to stay put and keep going.”

Christa Mahon takes part in the Multiple Sclerosis Society news conference Feb. 14 on the steps of the Confederation Building in St. John’s.

The organization’s cookie campaign aims to raise awareness about the need for MS drugs to be covered by the provincial drug plan.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Not as accurate ‘as it should be’ Auditor general Sheila Fraser says aging coast guard fleet hurting fish science OTTAWA

By Nadya Bell For The Independent

A

journalist rose to his feet at a Feb. 13 press conference in Ottawa and asked federal auditor general Sheila Fraser a pointed question on behalf of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

“Does the minister have bad information about fisheries science?”

“The information may not be as accurate as it should be,” Fraser replied, choosing her words carefully.

“There is an increasing cost for repair and maintenance and just the reliability of the ships is in question at times.

“So, for example, certain fish stock surveys have had to be cancelled, which means the Department of Fisheries and Oceans does not have up-to-date reliable information on which to make decisions,” she said.

The auditor general has drawn a direct link between the aging and obsolete fleet of Canadian Coast Guard vessels and the quality of DFO’s fisheries science. In her latest report, Fraser pointed to the number of years since 2001 the coast guard has had to cancel or postpone a scientific survey — every one.

Scientists use surveys to check the health of various offshore fish stocks — from crab and groundfish to scal- Auditor general Sheila Fraser lops. Numerous groundfish stocks such as cod and flatfish are considered commercially extinct, and have been survey to be cancelled. Hearn opened a small recreationsubject to moratoria since the early 1990s. al fishery for cod later that summer.

If surveys are not done at the same time every year the Liberal Scott Simms, MP for Bonavista-Ganderinformation is less accurate because the fish stocks Grand Falls-Windsor, is concerned that Hearn and DFO ministers before him were making decisions on groundmove around seasonally.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn says he’s fish quotas without the benefit of surveys. happy with the information he has been receiving from “We took a substantial cut in quota in northeastern fishermen themselves — either in the experimental, Newfoundland on snow crab which is the most vital of the resources, and yet it was based on what we now see recreational or sentinel fisheries.

“We don’t depend just on the coast guard survey or the as bad surveys,” Simms says.

“If you’re going to make these decisions based on scientific survey to get the information,” he says.

“Sentinel fisheries where the fishermen participate all half-baked numbers, then we’ve got problems, we’ve over the coast brings us in a lot more information than got major problems.”

Simms doesn’t have a problem with the recreational the survey by a big boat.”

Still, Hearn is keen to get new science vessels on the fishery, but he says he hopes the minister will restore water. There are 10 new boats on order for the coast guard funding to fisheries science.

— six of which were approved in the 2005 budget — that In her report, the auditor general wrote that offshore Hearn says will help maintain the fleet. fish surveys are costly to the cash-strapped coast guard.

Fisheries scientists themselves acknowledge that their The service the coast guard provides is also unreliable, vessels can be trouble at times. The Newfoundland- with so many ships breaking down. based Teleost has had problems with its main engines, Fraser says government must pay for all repairs, winch systems and water tanks, and the Wilfred whether the vessels are operational or not.

Templeman has been in dry dock for refits and repairs Vessel maintenance costs have doubled since 2000, for longer than expected in recent years. reaching $39 million last year.

“It is certainly the case that the science vessels are ridAlthough the whole fleet is aging, the fisheries vessels dled with breakdowns and problems — and coast guard seem to have more problems than others. Scientists with manages the whole DFO fleet,” wrote Jake Rice, DFO’s the National Research Council’s Institute for Ocean director of advice and assessment.

Technology in St. John’s occasionally use coast guard The last offshore survey was completed in 2002, icebreakers or smaller fishing vessels for testing. although even that one was delayed because of vessel Dave Cummings, a scientist with the research council, problems. Every other year the surveys have been says they have never had any problems with cancellaincomplete. In April 2006 problems with the drinking tions or delays when dealing with the coast guard. water tanks on the Templeman and Teleost caused the

While some of Nolan’s children claim they will never have any kids, others want big families of their own. “I am one of nine and when you are from a big family, you tend to want one yourself, and perhaps that will keep the next generation here the way it kept us here and that’s good for us all.”

Jordan, one of 15 children, agrees.

“There are people who say that in this day and age having a big family is crazy because it’s expensive. But I say this is just a great thing and we will have more if we can.”

Jordan says parents of larger-thanaverage families — like all parents — will do what they have to do to keep food on the table and a roof over everyone’s heads. They will also fight to stay near extended family members for support.

“When you have two babies like we do, and then older kids who are in all these activities, there are times you need to call in for back-up,” he says.

“Our back-up is here at home, so we won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Sue me T

he threat of a lawsuit isn’t so bad, not when there’s no fear of losing, and when the threat sells newspapers. The Independent flew off the shelves last summer when Harvey Hodder put up his dukes and had his lawyer throw a punch. The Speaker of the House insisted on a front-page retraction and apology for the story headlined, ‘You’ll never see this again.’

Hodder went so far as to demand that all unsold papers be removed from store shelves.

Even if we were so inclined — and, for the record, we weren’t — The Independent sold out at most shops, thanks to the publicity. (Which reminds me: thank you, Harvey.) There were no papers left to pull.

The retired teacher and long-time mayor of Mount Pearl went off his head over the front-page layout of the July 2 issue when we published the names and faces of all 48 MHAs alongside a breakdown of their expense claims.

Hodder said the article didn’t correctly identify the “nature” of constituency allowances, leaving a “false impression” that many MHAs overspent their budgets.

The hosts of VOCM’s open line shows, along with at least one caller (former Fisheries minister Jim

RYAN CLEARY

Fighting Newfoundlander Morgan), took the “false impression” and went with it.

VOCM and Morgan chose to apologize — on air — after Hodder’s lawyer went after them. The Independent stood its ground — we believed our story and numbers were clear.

The ultimate purpose is always to sell newspapers, but, believe it or not, our first and foremost motivation was to print the facts. (Editorial types have a tendency to publish first, and ask questions about business repercussions later.)

Said Harvey in a prepared statement: “It is incumbent upon the media to act responsibly in dispensing information, especially when it comes to the reputations of individuals in the public domain.”

No worries about that anymore — reputations are fading fast, Harvey’s included. Asked recently whether he still has faith in the Speaker (that’s Harvey), Williams said (pay attention here) he has faith in “the office.”

SLUSH FUNDS It’s now clear that the expense accounts were actually slush funds that MHAs could essentially spend however they saw fit. What controls were in place were so lax that the paperwork was rife with mistakes.

It’s said any publicity is good publicity, but not in the case of Lake Melville MHA John Hickey. The more he insists on an apology from Roger Grimes, the more focus is directed on the fact he was either clueless or incompetent.

I would say that’s fair comment, considering the guy personally “signed and filed” 20 double billings worth more than $3,770 between 2004 and 2006. As for getting the taxpaper to pay for his lawsuit against Grimes, I can’t, for the life of me, see the grounds for a suit.

“Please judge, make Roger stop picking on me (sob sob, sniff sniff). He’s being a meanie on Randy’s show (sniff sniff, sob).”

The settlement should be worth millions.

Granted, there was a change in heart — Hickey is now paying for his own case — but it took a public outcry to do it. In Hickey’s words to the CBC, “I’ve thought it through and I decided that I wanted to change course here.”

You don’t say.

It’s said any publicity is good publicity, but not in the case of Labrador MHA John Hickey. The more he insists on an apology from Roger Grimes, the more focus is directed on the fact he was either clueless or incompetent.

Danny himself has been going after Grimes and the Liberal Opposition with a vengeance — as if he would personally like to wipe them off the face of the electoral map. If you ask Danny, the real opposition to his administration is the NDP. Yeah right — the New Democrats are no more a provincial party than Water Street in downtown St. John’s is a provincial highway. Lorraine Michael is no more a potential premier than John Hickey is a potential Finance minister.

(Numbers aren’t exactly his forte.)

Like it or lump it, the Liberals are the official Opposition, even if their chances of winning the next election are about as remote as Michael’s. The Grits rolled

over long ago and have been playing dead ever since. Leader Gerry Reid may not be leadership material, but that’s all right with the Liberals — anything to tide them over until Danny’s day is done. With all due respect, I’d call that politically pathetic.

I wouldn’t blame the premier for being frustrated, which you can see in his face when he stands before the mics.

His government has been effectively paralyzed by the ongoing spending scandal. Indeed, his government has made little headway on any front in what seems like months.

Even if the Oct. 9 provincial general election date wasn’t set in stone, calling an election before then is out of the question until auditor general John Noseworthy is finished reviewing the constituency allowances of the current crop of MHAs. That won’t happen before September, at the earliest.

It’s going to be a long nine months.

God knows how many more feelings will be hurt between then and now, or how many lawsuits will be filed. No matter, political reputations will probably be well shredded by then. Considering the way things are going with the House of Assembly, maybe we should have sued the Speaker. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE ‘A perfect line’ Dear editor, A perfect line.

“What we need, more than ever before, are political representatives with the backbone to do the job. If

they don’t have it, then get the hell out of the way.” (Last line of Ottawa defender, a Feb. 9 column by Ryan Cleary.)

Richard Duke, St. John’s

More Dantine please Dear editor, Being a Newfoundlander living in the U.S.A. for the last 40 years I couldn’t agree more with your column Attitude adjustment (Feb. 2 edition by Ryan Cleary). Newfoundlanders aren’t into change — they would rather tear an idea down than build it up (The Danny-Christ, Nov. 17 edition). We’ll need a lot more Dantine if the premier is going to pull off what most of us want — our coun-

try back — with all that belongs to it.

I would include tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders who can’t take it the way it is and has been for a long time (1949). I wear my Pink, White and Green flag every day on my Republic of Newfoundland hat (being born and raised a Newfoundlander).

Thanks for another great article.

Paul Mullins, Hartwick, N.Y.

Mail-in ‘sacrilege’ Dear editor, You guys keep me busy with your disinformation.

Ivan Morgan’s most recent sacrilege is his complete failure to understand the mail-in voting system (A necessary cost, Ivan Morgan says you cannot place a price on the value of elections, Jan. 26 edition). As a proponent of the mail-in ballot, cost was not a primary consideration.

It happened to be a byproduct — so much Andy Wells the better.

The facts are that the vote-by-mail is a much better system. It provides a more convenient method to vote as people are able to do so in the comfort of their own homes, at their convenience. The lack of any significant issues or problems strongly supports the city’s position that the systems and processes adopted for the most recent municipal election set a strong foundation for future elections.

Furthermore: • Ninety per cent indicated their name was on the voters’ list and 89 per cent said they received their ballot in the mail.

• Seventy-five per cent of survey

participants indicated they had voted in the recent election (78 per cent of those voters returned their ballot by mail).

• Eighty-three per cent of voters indicated they were generally quite satisfied, 62 per cent were very satisfied and 21 per cent were somewhat satisfied.

• Almost all voters (93 per cent) indicated the vote-by-mail method was convenient for them and the instructions were easy to follow (96 per cent).

• While 26 per cent of voters indicated they were not alone when completing their ballot, almost all (96 per cent) completed the ballot themselves.

• When asked, 65 per cent of all eligible voters indicated a preference for the vote-by-mail.

In conclusion, the vote-by-mail method has been accepted by a large majority of eligible voters. The reasons for not voting in the 2005 election were more related to the candidates and voter apathy than to the method of voting.

Andy Wells, Mayor of St. John’s

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

P.O. Box 5891, Stn.C, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, A1C 5X4 Ph: 709-726-4639 • Fax: 709-726-8499 www.theindependent.ca • editorial@theindependent.ca

The Independent is published

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

PUBLISHER Brian Dobbin EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Cleary MANAGING EDITOR Stephanie Porter PICTURE EDITOR Paul Daly PRODUCTION MANAGER John Andrews ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sandra Charters SALES MANAGER Gillian Fisher CIRCULATION MANAGER Karl DeHart

sales@theindependent.ca • production@theindependent.ca • circulation@theindependent.ca All material in The Independent is copyrighted and the property of The Independent or the writers and photographers who produced the material. Any use or reproduction of this material without permission is prohibited under the Canadian Copyright Act. • © 2007 The Independent • Canada Post Agreement # 40871083

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

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

‘Why not start thinking locally?’

Dear editor, The Association of Seafood Processors, as represented by Derek Butler, hypothesized that “the common-property notion of the fishery” is a myth (No disputing the fish facts, Feb. 9 edition). The basic argument is that those who pony up the coins to prosecute the fishery resource own the resource. This argument holds about as much water as the argument that there is no need for biodiversity in the oceans or that the ecosystems of the oceans do not exist. I could agree with Mr. Butler that the fishery of the future is heading toward a myth if a shift is not initiated toward

sustaining the resource.

Just as “the commons” in our province exists for blueberry picking, cutting a Christmas tree, or walking along a river or coastal trail, “the commons” of the fishery still exists in the spirit of the people of Newfoundland. We, collectively, are bringing the marine resources of the province to near extinction. We have a struggling Fisheries Products International planning to cut up the fabric of the corporation to retrieve the coins that the shareholders invested. It has been postulated by a number of prominent experts in the fishery and intellectuals outside that

Sandy Gibbons, St. John’s

‘I’m with Golfman’

Take I love NL national Dear editor, I think The Independent’s recent I love NL contest would be an excellent contest to have nation wide. I’m sure the airlines would be proud to donate airfare for two from anywhere in Canada. The winner could also have a choice of where to stay — eastern, western, central — depending on the airlines and where they land.

My interest in visiting Newfoundland is to see where my family came from. My paternal grandparents were from the Burin Peninsula. My maternal grandparents were from St. Anthony Bight and La Scie. I have made two trips to Newfoundland: the

the quotas of the fishery should be returned to the communities adjacent to those resources. Those communities, like Burgeo and others, are the lifeblood of this province. These communities, with wise governance, will maintain the ecosystems of our province. Newfoundland and Labrador can unfold a new paradigm of sustainability in this world. Why not start thinking locally and acting locally.

“The commons” is ours to protect and share.

first in 1986 to see my maternal grandmother; the second in 2006 to attend a wedding in which I was honourary mother-of-the-groom. I look forward to my next visit, which, hopefully, will be in two years.

Megan (Crews) Skinner, North Rustico, PEI

Dear editor, Your I love NL Valentine spread was most impressive. As an editor you captured the mystique of this place that we all love so much. Overall a great read.

I especially like the Noreen Golfman/ Rick Mercer debate. My daughter emailed me from Ottawa as it appeared on her PC. I’m probably one of a small minority but I’m with Golfman. I hope your circulation reflects the high quality of your paper. You should be blowing your own horn a lot more.

James A. McGrath, St. John’s

Taken aback by the ‘cat fight’ Dear editor, A recent edition of The Independent included another wonderful column by Ray Guy (Debating ‘the Military’, Feb. 2 edition). Mr. Guy’s articles are always interesting, however I found this one to be more so than usual since it talked about the war in Afghanistan — something that has bothered me from the start.

I (and apparently I wasn’t the only one) was somewhat taken

aback by the intensity of the cat fight between Rick Mercer and Noreen Golfman. I suspect that this is not the last you will hear of this. Ms. Golfman works as a professor of women’s studies at Memorial University, now that sounds like a plum to me. I think it only fair that Memorial offer Mr. Mercer a job as professor of men’s studies.

Joe Butt, Toronto

Rick Mercer

Noreen Golfman

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

I have a list

There are many reasons you can’t go around shooting people

Y

ou can’t go around shooting people.

Kim Walker of Yorkton, Sask. shot James Hayward, his daughter’s boyfriend, because he felt Hayward was responsible for the young woman’s morphine addiction. Walker, at wit’s end, went to their apartment with a loaded .22 and plugged Hayward.

He says he had to do it to “save” her. Sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years, he has become a bit of a folk hero.

The daughter now also says he is a hero. So do a lot of other people.

Who exactly are these folk? My issue isn’t so much with the hot-blooded Mr. Walker (people can get pretty crazy when they think their kids are in trouble), but with the legion of yahoos who support what he did.

I would like to remind anyone out there who thinks Walker is a hero: You can’t go around shooting people.

Why? Because I have a list, that’s why. I have a real long list. If you are reading this and thinking “Maybe I’m on that list,” here’s my rule of thumb: if you think you are, you probably are.

Problem is, no doubt I am on more lists than there are names on my own list. That is why we don’t go around shooting people — because many of us have lists. There is a word to describe what happens when everyone goes around putting a cap in the ass of anyone they have a grudge against: Baghdad.

I don’t want to live in Baghdad. Neither, I would suspect, do the majority of the poor people of Baghdad. That is why we formed a civil society. The cornerstone of a civil society is the rule “You can’t go around shooting people.”

It’s policy.

When I hear people applauding Mr. Walker’s actions, and I have heard a few, what I hear is anger, alienation, fear, and misguided romanticism — all key ingredients in the soup we like to call stupidity. A lot of people, after a big bowl of this soup, think grabbing a gun and meting out justice makes sense.

BLACK AND WHITE You see this kind of black and white vigilantism in movies all the time. Bruce Willis’ Die Hard series in particular are great (well … OK, only the original and the second one, the third was lame). What’s not to like? Tough but loveable mutt Willis smirking his way through scores of evil terrorists with a gun and an attitude, while the authorities bumble about ineffectively. It has it all: deliciously nasty terror-

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason ists, stupid cops, venal journalists more interested in “getting the story” than saving innocent lives. Great fun.

And total fantasy. The truth is always sadder and more complicated.

Attacked by 19 terrorists — who were mildmannered, middle-class Saudi nationals — the United States reacted by spending trillions of dollars invading Afghanistan and Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands in the process. Yippe-i-oki-ay.

That’s the reality. Kim Walker isn’t a hero, just a frightened, misguided dad who probably saw one too many Die Hard movies and took too much stock whatever “message” there is in them other than “I have two hours to waste.”

These movies are designed to appeal to the average lunkhead. A macho guy frustrated with “the system” and beleaguered by “rules” that “protect the bad guys” grabs his gun and goes off to dispense simple justice with a clean conscience in a black and white world.

It isn’t the same world of greys that you and I, gentle reader, live in.

Most hard drug users I have known were more pathetic than venal. Drug use is often a symptom, not a trap innocents get lured into.

The boyfriend was also hooked on drugs.

Should his parents now find and shoot the person who got him started? In a feminist world, what does it mean when a man shoots someone to keep him away from his daughter?

Better brains than mine, over hundreds of years, have hammered out a justice system, not a perfect system, but better than the free-for-all Walker opted for. We all need follow that system for better, as Walker’s system is worse.

You can’t go around shooting people. Walker appointed himself, judge, jury and executioner, and in a fit of helpless rage ruined two families — his and Hayward’s. We provided him with a real judge, a real jury, and because capital punishment is illegal in Canada, no fear of an executioner.

His supporters call him a hero. I think he is a twit. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

John Hickey ‘lucky to have a job’ Dear editor, On Monday morning, Feb 12, I couldn’t believe my ears — Minister John Hickey was following through on his threat to take Roger Grimes to court on the so-called filamentary remarks that Mr. Grimes had said in the media.

What Roger Grimes did say was what a lot of us would echo.

That is not partisan remarks because I am still a strong supporter of Premier Danny Williams, but John Hickey double-billed over a period of three years and was cleared by the RNC only because it’s hard to prove in these cases if it was a mistake or an intent to defraud us of our tax John Hickey dollars. If the auditor general hadn’t been allowed to go in and investigate this money ers’ money. You should think yourself lucky that would not had been paid back and who knows you still have a job. how much more of our taxes would have been lost.

Capt. Wilfred Bartlett, Give it up John Hickey, stop wasting taxpayBrighton

Hickey should apologize Dear editor, Former premier Roger Grimes and minister John Hickey are testing the fibre of fundamental freedom — freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression as written in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Hickey says he has been exonerated by a police investigation pertaining to the alleged double-billing of expenses.

Consequently, Hickey is suing Grimes for comments the former premier made on radio, unless an apology is forthcoming.

It appears strange the RNC did not make public its reasons for the findings. Stranger still, Roger Grimes why a police investigation would exonerate any person being investigated.

Would not the mandate of a police inquiry be to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to lay a charge?

Isn’t exoneration, guilty, and not guilty decisions or verdicts the responsibility of our judiciary, a judge or jury?

If Minister Hickey can sue Roger Grimes for expressing an opinion on a public issue related to the operating of government, an issue that has paralyzed our political system, we might as well shut down the media and all public forums that encourage public discussion, opinion and debate. Public opinion will be totally muzzled.

With the support of the premier’s ego, I think Hickey is attempting to silence a strong, experienced voice, and deflect the spotlight away from the ongoing scandal. Hickey should probably apologize for taking an axe to our freedom of speech..

Our province has fallen into political chaos. Now, sadly, I feel we are on the edge of a political dictatorship.

God help us all if John Hickey succeeds on this front. Speak now — tomorrow may be too late.

Jim Combden, Badger’s Quay

YOUR VOICE ‘A false and misleading statement’ Dear editor, In Noreen Golfman’s Feb. 9 column (Blowing in the wind …), she states that the Canadian mission in Afghanistan has changed from a short peace-keeping mission. This is a false and misleading statement. The mission has never, ever been a peacekeeping mission. Canadians were sent as part of a UN mission to take the Taliban

out of power, and engage the Al-Qaeda operatives that had free rein in the country. If Noreen can’t even bother to find that out before pontificating on it, she really has no qualifications to question the mission. It is obvious that the facts do not interest her in the least.

Alex Shanks, Gander

‘Danny on notice’ Dear editor, In regards to the byelections won by the Williams regime last week, it’s no victory for the PCs. These seats were Tory seats regardless. If you mentioned Liberal (or NDP) on the Southern Shore six months or a year ago you would be tarred and feathered, likewise in Kilbride and Port au Port. The Liberals and NDP pulled many PC votes away from three of those districts. Keeping in mind these byelections were caused due to the so-called Williams team leaving their constituents high and dry in the first place.

Danny gained absolutely nothing in these proclaimed victories; he only got back what he had in the first place. You could hear the relief in Danny’s voice in his victory speech; he knew he was lucky this time around even though they were Tory strongholds. I campaigned (for the Liberals) in both Southern Shore and Kilbride and what I heard on the doorsteps was that people who supported Williams in the past are not giving a vote to him this time around, but not giving it to the NDP or Liberal just yet. They said if you have nothing good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all (they were speaking about Danny). This was reflected in the low turnout at the ballot box.

Premier Danny Williams

Residents advised me they will see how the Williams government performs over the next months leading up to the general election and if he doesn’t shape up big time, a good number of them said they would vote red in October.

The bottom line is the PCs lost ground, and the message is that when the elections are held on real battle grounds (not Tory safe harbours such as the Southern Shore, Kilbride and Port au Port) the people will put Danny on notice when the battle is taken out to the open seas of the general election.

Roger Linehan, St. John’s

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9

IN CAMERA

Hands on

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

T

he parking lot of the College of the North Atlantic’s Seal Cove campus is filled to capacity. It’s a clear, cold, midweek day, and classes are running full tilt.

One look around the back of the building shows this is a facility like no other currently in the province. There’s a fully equipped and functioning drill rig perched in the yard and, a little further over, a “pole farm” — lines of telephone poles, ready to train up and coming powerline technicians.

Inside, too, is a glimpse into a number of different careers, with pockets of hands-on learning. Average looking classrooms and computer stations alternate with electronics and instrumentation labs, and warehouse-sized construction and electrical learning facilities. There

The College of the North Atlantic’s Seal Cove campus is busier than ever, with long waiting lists and full classes of students looking to break into the booming skilled trades market.

In many cases, the college is actually training workers for Alberta, but the school administrator hopes it’s a path that will eventually lead home. Photo editor Paul Daly and managing editor Stephanie Porter spent a morning at the bustling school. are specific rooms dedicated to state-ofthe-art equipment for petroleum industry training, including a well control simulator and the complex equipment needed for oil and gas separation.

This campus, one of 17 operated by the college in the province, features regular classes for five main professions: construction/industrial electrician, industrial instrumentation mechanic, powerline

technician, oil burner mechanic and cook. It also offers adult basic education courses and shorter contract courses specifically tailored to the particular needs of the oil and gas sector.

Campus administrator Robin Walters says the school has been doing its best to meet the changing and evolving needs of industry. He admits that much of the time instructors are training people at home

for work elsewhere.

“Our graduates find work literally everywhere in the world, and we help them,” he says. “I guess we gear our programs here at the college to meet provincial labour market demands, but we are aware that our students migrate.”

In all, the campus sees more than 450 full-time students per semester, and more than 1,000 part-time and evening course participants.

With the pronounced need for more skilled trade workers, both in the province and beyond, the college’s expertise is attracting more attention — and more government budget allocation — than ever before.

“Provincially, within the college, we’ve had a 30 per cent increase in enrolment in the trades,” says Walters.

“Because of the shortages in skilled tradesworkers, the provincial government has increased our budget.”

The total operational budget for the college currently stands at $115 million.

On the Seal Cove campus, Walters continues, the college has increased capacity in powerline and electrical training this year. As for next year — “We won’t know until budget time.”

He characterizes the wait times for most programs as “very high or very healthy” — or between one and two years. While he’s well aware of the advertised labour shortages, he says sometimes the numbers can be a bit misleading to job hunters.

“There was a time when companies weren’t hiring apprentices, now they are,” he begins, cautiously. “I guess they’re seeing the potential shortages … but it is debatable whether there’s a shortage there. Often, what companies are looking for are journey people.

“For that, you need college training and then significant work experience.”

Walters, based at Seal Cove for the past three years, has been working for the college for upwards of 17. When it comes to the trades, he says there’s always “a mix” in ages of students — some straight out of high school, others switching careers, upgrading training, or looking for official certification after years on the job.

It’s the hands-on experience the college offers that sets it apart, he says.

“We try to provide quality programming, and from our perspective in the area of skilled trades, it’s more than technical training, it’s also practical.”

It’s why the powerline students could be scrambling up the backyard poles in any weather, or why certain forklift training may actually happen out on an oilrig on the Grand Banks. It’s also helped create a number of links between specific companies and the college. The drill rig was donated by Petro-Canada, for exam-

ple, and one of the line trucks was a gift from Newfoundland Power.

The nine-day roughneck training at Seal Cove is offered in partnership with an Alberta-based company. In this case, Walters says, students often start their training on a Tuesday, finish up the next Wednesday, and are working out west, making between $20 and $30 an hour, by the following week.

While the school does do have some contract programming for the offshore industry — “so companies don’t have to send their employees to Halifax or overseas” — Walters says there is no collegeoffered program specifically geared for the offshore.

“We have had some preliminary discussions with the industry, but part of the problem is the offshore working environment is so unique … we’d almost have to develop one specific to Hibernia or Terra Nova.

“They tend to get their people, experienced land drillers or people who have worked on drill rigs on land.”

In that kind of roundabout way, Walters points out, the college could very well be currently training the next crop of Newfoundland and Labrador offshore workers.

“In the short term, we’re meeting the needs of Alberta’s work force. But we are recognizing the fact that there are a lot of Newfoundlanders out there, and more and more of them are commuting, and maintaining a Newfoundland residence.

“That’s just the reality of work right now. If we provide them with their four weeks’ training in the province, why wouldn’t we do that? And we’re giving them skills, so that when they get to Alberta, they can get better work.

“And when the jobs open up here, they’ve got the experience, and they can come home.”

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Down but not out

YOUR VOICE ‘Very selfish woman’ Dear editor, Thank you Rick Mercer for your excellent and well-written rebuttal (Fighting words, Jan. 20 edition) to Noreen Golfman’s egocentric Jan. 12 column (Blowing in the wind …) about her Christmas joy being spoiled

Patrick O’Flaherty says Liberal demise greatly exaggerated; NDP weak as ever

by articles about our troops in Afghanistan.

Golfman comes across as a very selfish woman.

Lois Duncan, Ottawa

PATRICK O’FLAHERTY A Skeptic’s Diary

H

aving had the experience of losing twice in politics, I always feel a twinge of sympathy for defeated election candidates.

This is especially so if the defeat is by a large majority, as was true in two of the recent byelections. Take the case of Kilbride district, where the Liberal party ran a highly articulate man, namely Bob Clarke. He got 15 per cent of votes cast; John Dinn, the PC, got 79 per cent.

Kilbride is the district held by former cabinet minister Ed Byrne — not just a minister, a key figure in the Danny Williams administration — who resigned after being named by the auditor general for overspending his district allowances by $470,000.

You’d think that would have hurt the government’s chances in the election. It’s hard to see why it wouldn’t have. But it seemed to matter not a jot or a tittle in Kilbride, which is mostly an urban district with inhabitants as sophisticated politically and likely as well off economically as any in Newfoundland. In fact, the percentage of votes for the PCs was marginally higher in the district than during the general election of 2003. Meantime, the percentage of Liberal votes was marginally lower.

The results in Kilbride and Ferryland (where they got 75 per cent of votes cast) apparently indicates the level of support for the PCs in much of St. John’s and the area around it, and on the Avalon Peninsula generally.

But it’s a different scene off the Avalon, as suggested by the results in Port au Port and especially Humber Valley, where the PCs actually lost the seat. October’s general election may produce — not a landslide for the PCs — but an Assembly even more sharply divided on the basis of geography than the present one. The Liberal charge that the PCs are indifferent to rural parts of the province, while it makes little sense to me, may have taken root.

In politics what matters is not truth,

Liberals in the House of Assembly.

but whether the fictions and halftruths in partisan propaganda are believed.

The PCs have their propaganda to spread around too. I listened in to some commentary on the first three byelections on Bill Rowe’s phone-in show, Backtalk.

A man named Norm came on, pronouncing himself an ex-Liberal who had turned against the party and was now PC. His view was that the Liberals were on the verge of extinction, and if the NDP played its cards right, it could be the next official Opposition.

I understand that this is part of the strategy now in PC circles, i.e., to picture the Liberals as totally disorganized and dispirited and to talk up the NDP as the “real opposition.” That’s the PC fiction. On Backtalk, Norm maintained the argument in the face of statistics showing how poorly the NDP had done in the Feb. 8 byelections, namely getting 4.75 per cent of votes cast. In Humber Valley they did even worse, getting just 119 from a total of 4,413 votes cast, or 2.7 per cent.

What these four byelections reveal is not the imminent demise of the Liberals but the continued weakness of the NDP, despite the change of leadership and Lorraine Michael’s impressive victory in Signal HillQuidi Vidi. To picture the NDP as the “real opposition” in the light of these

Paul Daly/The Independent

results is a gross distortion. And as demonstrated in Humber Valley, the Liberals are certainly not out of the picture.

One further remark on the byelections. The turnout in three of them was low, which provoked a comment from St. John’s MHA Shawn Skinner, recently appointed to cabinet as minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment. He noted that in Australia voting was mandatory and said he’d like to see people here fined if they don’t vote. Chuck Furey, the province’s chief electoral officer, also seemed worried about the turnout.

To impose a fine for not voting, as Mr. Skinner suggests, would be a violation of Clause 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which says that “Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members ... of a legislative assembly” and says nothing whatever of an obligation to do so. As for Mr. Furey, none of the responsibilities of his office relates to encouraging voters to get out and vote. As citizens, we decide whether to vote or not. That’s our business — not his. His is to provide information to voters as to when and where to vote, to provide facilities to enable us to vote if we so choose, to count the votes accurately, and validate the result.

Patrick O’Flaherty is a writer in St. John’s.

mercedes-benz.ca /c

More to love.

T H E C - C L A S S AVA N TG AR D E E DI T ION

THE C280 AVANTGARDE ADVANTAGE PREMIUM PACKAGE SLIDING GLASS SUNROOF 10 - WAY POWER ADJUSTABLE DRIVER’S SEAT WITH 3-POSITION MEMORY AND POWER STEERING COLUMN HARMAN/KARDON® LOGIC7® SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM MP3- COMPATIBLE 6-DISC CD CHANGER 17" 7-TWIN SPOKE ALUMINIUM -ALLOY WHEELS METALLIC PAINT

ENJOY ALMOST $6,000 OF ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT AT NO COST TO YOU.

WITH $4,350 DOWN

MSRP STARTING FROM

43,500

$

*

415

$

BASED ON A 39 MONTH LEASE

673 Topsail Road

PER MONTH

4.25

%

* AT

Presenting the C280 AVANTGARDE Edition featuring spectacular performance, available 4MATICTM permanent all-wheel drive†, unprecedented value and the superb level of luxury you expect from Mercedes-Benz. Its appeal is unlimited. But it’s only around for a limited time. Visit your local Mercedes-Benz dealer for details.

TOM WOODFORD

364-9888

© 2007 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. *Lease offer based on a new C280 AVANTGARDE Edition available only through Mercedes-Benz Financial O.A.C for a limited time. $415 per month for 39 months. Down payment or equivalent trade of $4,350 plus first monthly payment and security deposit of $500 plus applicable taxes due at lease inception. C280 AVANTGARDE Edition MSRP: $43,500. A.L.R. of 4.25% applies.

Total obligation is $21,035. 18,000 km/year allowance ($0.20/km for excess kilometres applies). Freight/PDI (up to $1,795 – dealer may charge less), licence, insurance, taxes and PPSA are extra. Dealer may lease for less. †C280 4MATICTM AVANTGARDE Edition MSRP: $46,100. C280 4MATICTM AVANTGARDE Edition shown. Offer may change without notice and cannot be combined with any other offers.

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11

YOUR VOICE ‘Overdone and overkill’ Dear editor, Like Ray Guy (Debating ‘the Military’, Feb. 2 edition), I found Rick Mercer’s reaction to Noreen Golfman’s column overdone and overkill. Do we all have to agree with Rick? If not, are we to be savaged? Can Rick give out criticism but not take it?

Another thing, what is his obsession with the boomer generation all about? That’s getting tiresome! (Get over it, Rick, or get help!) The boy is on the way to becoming a blowhard.

A. Martin, Bridgewater, N.S. (Formerly of New Perlican)

‘Get with the real world’

Afghani boys watch Canadian soldiers from the Royal 22nd Regiment Battalion Group conduct a patrol in LAV III infantry fighting vehicles in Afghanistan.

Sgt Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

Dear editor, Regarding the Jan. 12 column by Noreen Golfman (Blowing in the wind …), I have shared this article and Rick Mercer’s response (Fighting words, Jan. 20 edition) with all of my friends, here in Nanaimo, B.C., and elsewhere across this great country of ours. Most of my friends are as pissed as I. Her attitude of cocooning herself in the comforts of her Christmas home, with only her vested self-interests, rings true to her employment. The attitude of “something for everyone, yet do

nothing for it” seems to prevail within the learning enclaves. It’s time for Professor Golfman to get with the real world. Time to be responsible for her actions and more importantly, to use those actions to help others in need.

What thought have you given to the women of Afghanistan? What theories will you propose to improve their lives? Or will you sit on the sidelines, do nothing and continue to make useless pontifications?

Ron Blank, Nanaimo, B.C.

‘What is going on here?’

Dear editor, Bravo Dr. Noreen Golfman (Blowing in the wind … Jan. 12 edition). Too few questions have been raised about the war in Afghanistan, and I applaud you for having the guts to address this issue in your recent articles.

Bravo, Rick Mercer. While not all of your supporters (some of whom are no doubt responsible for the spate of hateful emails and abusive phone calls Dr.

Golfman has received) possess the skill of critical reading/thinking, you have shown your true colours. You have proven that the skill required in mounting an ill-informed, defensive, ad hominem attack is indeed one that you possess. I am a student at Memorial University, and though I have never met nor taken a class with Dr. Golfman, her article made me proud to be associated with an institution that fosters the

free public discourse and question-asking that is so lacking from your “satirical” coverage of government and politics. Unfortunately, we have seen the kind of foul response that questioning the wisdom the Canadian mission in Afghanistan generates. To echo Dr. Golfman: “What exactly is going on here?”

C. Carew, St. John’s

We’ve been managing growth and change... in Newfoundland and Labrador’s dynamic offshore oil and gas industry for more than 20 years. Working on behalf of the federal and provincial governments, the C-NLOPB has regulatory responsibility for safety, environmental protection, land sales, exploration, resource management, and industrial benefits.

The offshore oil and gas industry has become a major contributor to the Province’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it continues to grow through new exploration, expansion of existing fields and increased production. The C-NLOPB has been administering the Atlantic Accord Acts to ensure development of oil and gas resources offshore for the benefit of Canada as a whole, and Newfoundland and Labrador in particular.

As the Chairman and CEO of the C-NLOPB, I invite you to learn more about us and the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore oil and gas industry, and to keep pace with changes that are taking place in this dynamic environment.

Visit our website at www.cnlopb.nl.ca.

Max Ruelokke, Chairman and CEO

5th Floor, TD Place, 140 Water Street St. John’s, NL, Canada A1C 6H6

Tel: (709) 778-1400

CALENDAR OF EVENTS MONDAY, FEB. 19 Kick-Off Reception – Oil and Gas Week 2007 11:30 am – 1:00 pm College of the North Atlantic, Prince Phillip Drive Campus

Newfoundland and Labrador’s three producing offshore oil projects (Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose) operate in one of the world’s harshest environments. Local companies work with global operators to research and develop innovative ways to overcome the challenges presented by ice, wind and waves.

Did you know… …Hibernia’s 15-metre-thick “ice belt” includes a special ice wall with 16 sharp teeth? The Hibernia structure can withstand contact with a six-million-tonne iceberg, even though icebergs of that size are only expected once in 10,000 years.

TUESDAY, FEB. 20 Open House at Marine Institute 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Marine Institute, Ridge Road Campus

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21 …most oil and gas industry workers travel over 300 km offshore by helicopter to get to “the office”?

Many technical and safety innovations are built into helicopters to make sure workers arrive safely.

NOIA Oil and Gas Week Luncheon 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm Holiday Inn, St. John’s Guest speaker: Max Ruelokke, C-NLOPB Chair

THURSDAY, FEB. 22 Ocean Technology Speaker Series 8:30 am – 9:45 am Institute for Ocean Technology (MUN) Hosted by City of St. John’s and Oceans Advance Guest Speaker: Dave Finn, Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada Open House at Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Memorial University, Earth Sciences Building, 4th floor

The Oil and Gas Industry: Overcoming Nature’s Challenges

FRIDAY, FEB. 23 Open House at Centre for Marine CNG Inc. 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm 130 Southside Rd.

SATURDAY, FEB. 24 Oil and Gas Industry Food Drive 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Oil and gas industry employees will be accepting donations at participating Dominion stores for the Community Food Sharing Association.

For a complete listing of events visit www.nloilandgasweek.ca Thank you to this year’s sponsors:

…the oil and gas industry uses underwater robots that can work in water that is 2– 3 km deep? These robots, called Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), are used for research projects and for routine maintenance in areas and places considered too dangerous for divers.

…Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore is home to record setting wells? In 2003, a well drilled from the Hibernia platform was more than nine km long! That’s the distance from St. John’s International Airport to Signal Hill.

…companies use sophisticated over-the-horizon radar that can detect icebergs more than 40 km away? Icebergs can then be “lassoed” and towed away, or diverted by using high-pressure water jets to make smaller icebergs change direction.

For more information visit www.nloilandgasweek.ca

P.F. Collins Customs Broker Ltd. / Blue Water Agencies Limited / A. Harvey & Company Ltd. / Schlumberger Canada Ltd. / Chevron Canada Ltd. / Noble Drilling Ltd. / Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada / Eastern Valve and Control Specialties Ltd. / Women in Resource Development Committee

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

AROUND THE BAY We are much obliged to our Harbour Main correspondent for the list of vessels sailing from that place. Such information is valuable, as showing the increasing importance of that interesting settlement which as our correspondent has well observed is deserving a better representation in our Colonial Parliament than it has yet enjoyed, we trust that the time is approaching when Newfoundland will be without close boroughs and when her sons will be represented by men of their own choice.

— Conception-Bay Man, Harbour Grace, Feb. 25, 1857 AROUND THE WORLD The official message in reference to the loss of the Viknor was received by the officers of the HMS Calypso from the Admiralty on Saturday night last.

It contained the definite news that 25 of our Naval reservists perished when the Viknor foundered off the coast of Ireland. A number of bodies with lifebelts attached have been washed ashore at various places, and it may be that among the number are some of our boys.

— The Guardian, Bay Roberts, Feb. 5, 1915 YEARS PAST A fracas occurred in a central dry goods store, owned by a foreigner, shortly after dinner yesterday, which ended in one of the combatants, a prominent member of his religion in this city, being hurled through the store door, carrying glass and woodwork with him. The police were on the scene, but no information regarding the cause of the row could be gleaned.

— The Evening Chronicle, St. John’s, Feb. 2. 1910 EDITORIAL STAND Consumption is an increasing disease in this Colony, and there is no more prolific cause of its spread than the habit of spitting or expectorating in public places. The health authorities of New York, have just taken formal action against it. Aside from the real and important dangers from a sanitary standpoint, the filthy habit of spitting in public places and conveyances is officially pronounced an

The Daily News, 1895

intolerable nuisance and should not be permitted in a well-regulated and intelligently governed community.

— The Enterprise, St. John’s, Feb. 6, 1897 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Sir – Today, we were informed that Mardi Gras will not go ahead due to lack of acts. I fail to see why people complain about nothing to do when they do nothing themselves. People like to see, but they don’t like to do. That’s what’s wrong with everything, “I want it, yes, but I’m waiting till he makes the first move.” This is the attitude of so many people everywhere. As far as I am concerned, they can label 1971 as “The year the Mardi Gras died in St. Lawrence.”

— Yours Truly, Marilyn Tarrant — Burin Peninsula Post, Feb. 25, 1971 QUOTE OF THE WEEK All kinds of blank forms always on hand.

— The Courier, St. John’s, Feb. 17, 1877

‘Praying for politicians to be honest’ Dear editor, There is more suspicion, deception and mistrust in the House of Assembly because of the recent cash allowance to MHAs to go along with the recent scandals. This is not about the amount of money — it’s about the principle. Open and transparent, haven’t we heard that before? The commitment by the premier is impressive, but he is failing to relay the message to members of his government.

The constituency allowance had been increased with no requirement to supply invoices for the additional dollars and no accountability — it stinks. By accepting the cash bonus, MHAs indicated they are happy to put their own interests ahead of the interest of the taxpayer.

The method of repayment must be from the

members’ pockets — not a reduction of the constituency allowance in 2007 as suggested. A reduction in the allowance does not penalize the members or cause them an unwanted hardship or embarrassment. The premier turned a blind eye when the hands were in the cookie jar, and did not see fit to react until the residents of the province demanded action. Giving the money back just doesn’t cut it, justice is not being done.

To think that this was orchestrated by the members of the Internal Economy Commission.

The members must pay for their dishonesty and remove themselves voluntarily from office.

There is no support or respect left for these members of the House. It is just not good enough to say this will be corrected, the perception remains. What is more disturbing in this situation was the consensus of the 48 members. The entire constituency allowance for each member must be available to the public prior to the next election.

Let the residents decide if the spending was appropriate and not spent on election expenses or voter influence. There are no standards in this House of Assembly. It is time to disband the House, call a general election and maybe return some trust in the House of Assembly. Even the clergy in the local churches are praying for politicians to be honest.

Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

‘Big political lie’

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007 — PAGE 13

Former premier Roger Grimes says his lower Churchill deal ‘only one’

By Ivan Morgan The Independent

F

Former premier Roger Grimes

Paul Daly/The Independent

ormer premier Roger Grimes says when — or if — Danny Williams signs a deal to develop the lower Churchill, it will be “almost identical” to the one Grimes nearly signed with Quebec in 2002. He says the project remains undeveloped because of political games played by Danny Williams’ administration.

“My assessment of it, quite frankly, is this: if Danny Williams ever does a lower Churchill deal,” Grimes tells The Independent, “he’ll do the deal I had on the table, or very close to it, because it is the only one that makes any economic sense.”

Grimes served on the planning and priorities committee of former premier Brian Tobin’s cabinet when they worked on a deal with Quebec to develop the lower Churchill. During his own term in office, Grimes also worked on a deal. He says he has not seen any indication Quebec is worried about not being involved in developing the lower Churchill.

Williams may be considering other options, such as a maritime route that avoids Quebec by transmitting power via undersea lines down the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but Grimes says the only economical route for getting lower Churchill power to market is through Quebec.

He says Williams is responsible for the project remaining undeveloped.

“We didn’t get it finished and they criticized it on a phony basis and talked about Quebec being able to own it, which was the furthest thing in the world from the truth. They spread the big political lie which scared people off.”

Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, a national energy watchdog, agrees with Grimes’ assessment.

He says the prospect of Newfoundland and Labrador developing the lower Churchill without the co-operation of Quebec is “a long shot.

“If Labrador power is going to come on stream,” says Adams, “there is a practical necessity that Newfoundland and Quebec are going to have to come to terms.”

Memorial University economics professor James Feehan is coauthor of a paper on the details surrounding the signing of the upper Churchill deal. He says the suspicion and hard feelings instilled by the previous deal with Hydro Quebec are creating problems in terms of a deal on the lower Churchill — but economics will ultimately be the deciding factor.

“If they (Quebec) really need the power, there should be a price at which they are prepared to buy,” says Feehan. “And if the price is high enough, that determines the merits of the lower Churchill.”

Grimes says the provincial government has looked at alternate routes many times over the years, but the costs associated with transmission drives the economics of the project off the scale.

“You can’t make any money at it,” says Grimes. “So the conclusion therefore was that this project, when it gets done, will go through existing and or upgraded lines in Quebec, because it is the only option that’s ever going to make financial sense.”

He says Danny Williams knows this, and the current assessments will show the same thing.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is costing the options of different routes of transmitting lower Churchill power to market.

The corporation’s engineers were recently in Europe studying undersea hydroelectric cables linking Norway and Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, and Sweden and Poland.

Grimes says the lower Churchill deal will not be signed during Williams’ time as premier, because Williams won’t be able to face signing a deal similar to the one his predecessor brokered.

“There’s a little bit of gamesmanship and political manipulation going on with the current administration, suggesting that we’re still thinking about going some other way,” says Grimes.

“It’s never going to happen.”

Adams says the principle barrier to moving forward with lower Churchill is the province’s need to somehow rewrite history.

“This continued insistence from politicians in Newfoundland that they’re going to bring Quebec to their knees otherwise we are not going ahead with our project has kept a good project from moving.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

You need a retirement plan And with only two weeks left before the RRSP deadline, now’s the time to think ahead

W

hoever said the winter months drag? I beg to differ. It seems like only yesterday I was writing here that we had only a couple of weeks to Christmas. Two months later, and there’s only two weeks left to purchase or add to RRSPs with a tax benefit for the 2006 tax year.

If you’re one of the millions of Canadians planning to make a contribution, now’s your chance.

AL ANTLE

Your Finances Getting in there and making that contribution is important, and the tax benefit sure is great. But our RRSPs are about so much more than just a way to

pay less tax. When you make this year’s contribution, why not take the time to look long and hard at your overall retirement strategy and the financial commitments you’ll need to make it a reality?

This process will resemble stargazing, or a little like looking into a crystal ball. While the questions are somewhat simple — “What kind of lifestyle am I aiming for in retirement?” and “How

will I finance it?” — the options are quite complex indeed. External factors have the potential to impact hugely, in both positive and negative ways.

Most of your expenses won’t change — at least you think they won’t. You’ll still require shelter, transportation, food, clothing, and so on. But their nature well may change. You may own your current abode outright, and it may meet your needs quite nicely now.

But what if your plan for retirement includes no more cutting grass, shoveling snow or painting second story windows from a rickety ladder? This means you’ll sell the family home and possibly buy a condo in a senior or adult community. What if the proceeds of your house sale won’t cover the purchase of the condo? You see? You need a plan.

See “Are you saving,” page 14

14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Flaherty and mayors discuss funding for cities

C

ommunities are “faltering” and need permanent funding to tackle their most critical needs, a delegation of municipal leaders told Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Delegates, including Toronto Mayor David Miller, made the pitch for cash during a key prebudget meeting with Flaherty.

“He clearly gets it,” Miller said after the 90-minute meeting in Ottawa. “He said he understands the importance of investing in Canada’s cities and major urban regions. Of course, he was noncommittal about the budget.”

Miller last week helped persuade the big-city mayor’s caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to endorse his suggestion that Ottawa share one cent of the GST with cities across the nation.

Municipalities are faced with a backlog of some $60 billion in infrastructure repairs.

— Toronto Star

Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (2nd L) receives a standing ovation while speaking in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Feb. 13.

Chris Wattie/Reuters

ERGONOMIC AWARENESS WORKSHOP

PREVENTION WORKSHOP SERIES - Recognizing Ergonomic Risks in the Workplace

Preventing soft tissue injuries is important in any work environment and ergonomics is an essential part of an occupational health and safety program.

This is the first awareness workshop in a series of three. Look for Evaluation of Ergonomic Risk Factors in June and Controlling Ergonomic Risk Factors in October.

In part 1, participants will gain knowledge of: ] Methods of determining what risk factors exist in the workplace; ] The process for recognizing ergonomic risk factors in the workplace; ] Practical exercises and case studies specifically focusing on identifying ergonomic risk factors.

Date and Location l St. John’s, Holiday Inn Monday, February 26 Tuesday, February 27

(Workshop start time 9:00 a.m.)

REGISTRATION IS FREE To register for workshops please call Valerie Ducey at (709)778-2926, toll-free 1-800-563-9000 or e-mail vducey@whscc.nl.ca Visit our website www.whscc.nl.ca

PRIME

Are you saving enough?

From page 13 What about the cost of working now?

Can you name the amounts and how much of the total, if any, will end up in your pocket when you stop working?

Do you have an employment pension? How much is it likely to provide you each year? Will you qualify for public or government benefits like Canada Pension or Old Age Security?

If you pre-decease your partner, how will your passing impact his or her monthly income? Speaking of partners — what will that person’s income be?

When will it kick in, and from what source?

What will you “do” in retirement?

Will you pursue more education, volunteer more, become more active in church life, political life or community affairs? Whatever your choice or choices, they all come with a cost and will have to be financed.

And in most cases, there are grandchildren. Here’s where you’ll definitely spend big bucks, particularly if you have to travel to see them. The good news, though, is you don’t actually plan your grandchildren.

Some of us have the benefit of severance pay, others do not. Determine if severance applies as a benefit at your place of employment. How will receiving it impact you from a tax point of view?

Look at your current debt load, and

what it might be at and during retirement. The more you owe right now, the more limited you are to save for retirement. If you’ll still be committing monthly payments to debt after you’ve retired, then clearly you need more net income to help keep you going.

This might be an ideal time to reconnect with your investment advisor or financial planner, particularly if it’s been a few years since you sat down together. It’s a good idea to look at your whole portfolio and re-examine priorities and strategies. You’ll probably learn that you’re a little less willing to risk your nest egg if your retirement is close, or at least is on the horizon. But if you’re still 20 or more years from the golden handshake, you just might be a little gutsy and be willing to take some risk.

Remember that some of your choices will yield diamonds while others will bring only stones. The outcome is a result of your decisions, and are not your advisor’s fault.

Back to RRSPs. Many people opt to borrow to purchase these — that’s fine.

But to call it an ideal decision, make sure you use all the resulting tax refund as either a payment on the RRSP loan itself, or as a contribution to your RRSP for 2007. Doing anything else makes no financial sense whatsoever.

Al Antle is the executive director of Credit and Debt Solutions.

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15

16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Surplus Freight

WAREHOUS OPEN TO THE PU E BLIC!

LIVING ROOMS! BEDROOMS! ALBERTA • MANITOBA • ONTARIO • NEW BRUNSWICK • NOVA SCOTIA • NEWFOUNDLAND DINETTES! MATTRESSES! AND MUCH MOR E!

L AYAWAY UNTIL TAX FREE LAYAWAY REFUND OR LONGER IF NEEDED! PACKAGED PRICED!

798

$

#1000

GET ALL 9-Pieces

9

1028

$

#2000

GET ALL 9-Pieces

#0300

GET ALL 9-Pieces

LIVING ROOM PACKAGE

pc

1268

$

#2369

GET ALL 9-Pieces

1348

$

GET ALL 9-Pieces

5-PIECE Metal / W o od e 5-Piece Dine tt

#4600

GET ALL 9-Pieces

1268

$

248

GET ALL 5-Pieces

4-PIECE

#7300

GET ALL 9-Pieces

#2302

1368

$

Maple Finish

548

Dresser, Mirror, Set Includes: Dresser, Headboard & Nightstand

$

GET ALL 4-Pieces

GET ALL 9-Pieces

1298

$

NO GIMMICKS! #1650

GET ALL 9-Pieces

1428

$

TABLE & 4 CHAIRS • 7Pc DINETTES ALSO AVAILABLE!

Cou ntr y Sty le e 5-Piece Dinett

GET ALL 5-Pieces

318

$

#1020

Oak Finish e 5-Piece Dinett

GET ALL 5-Pieces

398

$

4PC BEDROOMS INCLUDE DRESSER, MIRROR, HEADBOARD & NIGHTSTAND!

Chest Also Available!

#2200

#0221

5PC DINETTES INCLUDE

BEDROOM PACKAGES

Chest Also Available!

MICROFIBRE!

MICROFIBRE!

DINETTE PACKAGES

$

798

LIMITED SUPPLIES!

NEW FOR 2007! #4700

1148

$

$

INCLUDES: SOFA/LOVESEAT COFFEE TABLE/2 END TABLES .

2 DESIGNER LAMPS AND A All 9pcsLY...

GLIDER/ROCKER with OTTOMAN! FROM ON

FREE LAYAWAY!

#2100

MICROFIBRE!

FACTORY DIRECT!

Chest Also Available!

#3100

Pine Fin ish

Set Includes: Dresser, Mirror, Headboard & Nightstand

GET ALL 4-Pieces

618

$

#4700

Set Includes: Dresser, Mirror, Headboard & Nightstand

GET ALL 4-Pieces

Cherr y Finish

728

$

SAVE YOUR MONEY AT SURPLUS FREIGHT! FREE BED FRAME WITH PURCHASE OF PREMIUM MATTRESS SET! Qualit y $ Mattresses ly Star ting At On

76

Sleep Aid

$

Royal Comfort

$

244

Pillo w to p Mat tress

TWIN .... $174 ea. pc.

FULL .... $214 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $244 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece KING .... $249 ea. pc.

20YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

‡

154

Queen Size each piece

Any Value Plus Twin or Full Set

TWIN .... $109 ea. pc.

FULL .... $139 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $154 ea. pc.

5YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Sunrise

269

$

TWIN .... $199 ea. pc.

FULL .... $249 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $269 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece KING .... $263 ea. pc.

7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Posture Care

Chiro Firm

Nordic Rest

Supreme Comfort

194

$

TWIN .... $144 ea. pc.

FULL .... $164 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $194 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece KING .... $216 ea. pc.

10YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

299

$

TWIN .... $214 ea. pc.

FULL .... $274 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $299 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece KING .... $276 ea. pc.

7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

214

$

TWIN .... $149 ea. pc.

FULL .... $194 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $214 ea. pc.

KING .... $223 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece 15YR PRO-RATED WARRANTY

$

334

Euro to p Mattress

TWIN .... $249 ea. pc.

FULL .... $309 ea. pc.

QUEEN . $334 ea. pc.

Queen Size each piece KING .... $299 ea. pc.

7YR NON PRO-RATED WARRANTY

Premium Mattress Sets Are Sunrise, Nordic Rest, Supreme Comfort, Majestic, Elite, Platinum Comfort and Hampton Pocket Coil. Mattress Fabrics Vary By Store Location. Advertised mattresses sold in sets only. See store for individual mattresses at factory direct prices. King sets consist of 3 pieces.

Open To The Public

Opportunity Is Knocking...

Call Toll Free

Visit Us At:

Visit our Web Site or Come to a Location Near you for an Immediate Interview

1 (866) 929-9949 For a Location Near You!

www.surplusfreight.ca For Incredible Savings Everyday!

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

StJTele_21.5x11.5_0207.indd 1

ST. JOHN'S 22 O'Leary Ave. (709) 726-6466 Across from Avalon Mall next to Avalon Software

Locations Also In: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland We Accept: Cash, Interac, Visa, Master Card, American Express, Cheques, FREE Layaway

Tables, Fabrics, and Colours May Vary by Store Location. 9-Piece Packages Include Your Choice Of Sofa & Loveseat Or 2Pc Sectional, A 3-Piece Table Set (#2221, #2213, #3612, #3623, #4710), two #6117 Lamps plus a Glider/ Rocker with matching Ottoman (#7291). Same Day Delivery Valid On In Stock Items Only.

1/18/07 10:43:56 AM

INDEPENDENTLIFE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007 — PAGE 17

Richard Symonds of Sheppard Case architects outside the newly renovated Wiseman Centre.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Built with compassion

Two years and $3 million later, the Wiseman Centre is set to open next week; a Salvation Army home for the homeless

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

S

ince the Wiseman Centre, a Salvation Army-run shelter for men, closed its doors two years ago, the 100-year-old building has been given a $3million overhaul. Many of the historical features have been restored, floors leveled, rooms reconfigured and modernized, and a brand-new extension — with 10 longer-term supported living and 20 short-term shelter rooms — has been built.

No longer a ramshackle grey building on the west end of Water Street in downtown St. John’s, the centre is much more attractive, reflective of its colourful history. It’s set to reopen again as early as next week.

As those behind the centre are quick to point out, the facelift isn’t just out the outside.

When the centre started in 1986, says executive director Major Harold Bungay, its mandate was to provide temporary shelter for men between the ages of 18 and 65. “But really, there were no limits,” he says. “We took teens, we had men in their 80s, all this kind of stuff.”

With only one staff social worker and a number of cooks and maintenance workers, there were no resources to provide for the men beyond the most basic needs. Warranted or not, the centre gathered an uneasy reputation in the neighbourhood.

“We weren’t doing very much for the guys outside of feeding them and giving them a place to stay,” says Bungay. “We became what you would call a dumping ground for every group out there that didn’t know what to do with the men coming to them.

“We were taking guys coming from prison with all kinds of issues. We had guys who were pyromaniacs, complex mental health issues … they’d be discharged from the Waterford and come directly to us.”

They had a capacity of 40, and were regularly “very close to that.”

Driving the renovations, then, were not just the serious structural issues — but the Salvation Army’s desire to move towards a program-driven environment.

Bungay now oversees a number of staff with social work training. There are life skills coaches and a psychologist on staff. The program is already in motion at the centre’s temporary location in Catherine Booth house on Springdale Street.

“We wanted to get about from the charitable model of doing for people, and move to an empowering approach,” Bungay says.

“The men are here for six to eight weeks. We try to help them realize what they need to do to get out into the community and become a contributing member of society … to move along and do something for themselves.”

The 20 new smaller rooms will be used for this kind of shorter-term stay, generally to a maximum of two months. The beds will also be available for one-night or other extremely short-term emergency shelter.

Upstairs, the 10 rooms — which each have their own bathroom, microwave, fridge, and small dining table — could be occupied by a resident for years at a time.

There will be certain rules and communal dinners, part of an effort to “create community.”

Bungay admits that more than one observer has wondered aloud if the place is too nice, “a bit ostentatious” for its purposes. He flatly rejects that idea.

“We want to make this a place where they have a sense of belonging and they’re valued and they’re part of something that’s great,” says Bungay. “I think everybody needs that to be whole and be real.”

It’s another turn in the varied history of the former merchant home and health care facility.

According to project designer Richard Symonds of Sheppard Case architects, the original house was built sometime around 1905 by William Butler, who also designed Winterholme and Waterford Manor. First owned by C.K. Thompson —co-owner and operator of the Newfoundland Boot and Shoe Factory — the building became Sudbury Hospital in the 1920s. In the 1940s, with the addition of a back extension, the facility was renamed the Merchant Navy Hospital. A few decades later, the hospital catered primarily to the needs of children with mental or physical disabilities.

In 1986, the Salvation Army took over, and the old home became the Wiseman Centre, perhaps the province’s only shelter for homeless men.

“We didn’t have to preserve the building, it’s not in the city’s heritage area,” says Symonds. “But we wanted to. I think it’s good for the city to preserve these structures when they can.”

As well as preserving key features of the original See “They’re all,” page 19

Wiseman Centre interior

Paul Daly/The Independent

Major Harold Bungay outside the Wiseman Centre in 2003 — before renovations.

Jeff Ducharme/The Independent

‘You never know’

East Coast Music Awards feature lots of music and socializing — but does the event benefit new artists?

By Chris LeDrew For The Independent

S

t. John’s singer-songwriter Blair Harvey is in Halifax this weekend with his new CD, GutterBeGutted, in hand. It’s the annual East Coast Music Award weekend, and Harvey was granted a coveted slot in the mainstage showcase.

Although his release has been garnering positive buzz at home, Harvey is cautiously optimistic about getting a break this weekend.

“You get a thousand business cards and maybe only one of them will actually be a worthy contact on a follow-

up, but you have to follow up anyway.

You never know,” he says. He’s looking forward to the 20-minute showcase slot — but experience has taught him it’s best to expect nothing but prepare for anything.

Boasting national and international industry delegates, many artists from Newfoundland and Labrador consider the four-day East Coast Music Association awards and conference their best opportunity to network with the rest of the world.

“There are other showcasing opportunities throughout the year in Canada and elsewhere,” says Denis Parker, blues musician and executive director

of MusicNL. “But an ECMA showcase provides the opportunity to play for a diverse group of music business delegates that would not normally be gathered in one location.”

The ECMA awards show and conference started at the Flamingo Club in Halifax in 1989, and has evolved into four days of showcases and concerts, leading up to a nationally televised awards show.

Parker says the official showcases, though short, have many benefits — but it’s not as easy as just showing up and playing.

“Artists have to do their homework in advance,” he says. “It’s advisable to

contact key music business individuals who are attending, make yourself known, and give them details of your showcasing slot.

“An ECMA showcase can be beneficial, but promoting yourself yearround has to be the goal if you want to cultivate a career in the music business.”

With the proper preparation, says Parker, the trip should be worth the expense.

Sandy Morris, guitarist, composer, and 40-year veteran of the music business, has played more than one ECMA-sponsored event. For all the hype, he says, the merits of the show-

cases are shaky at best.

“The ECMA has lost its focus because of its huge growth in recent years, and with the large amount of showcase artists and venues it is easy to get overlooked,” he says. Morris says he can’t recall many instances of artists gaining national success solely from an ECMA performance.

“Most artists who see success from an ECMA showcase or nomination have already made inroads with a particular record or management company,” he says. “And the companies then use the ECMA as an opportunity to See “Many failures,” page 19

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

GALLERYPROFILE

Portraits, clockwise from top left: Joan Sullivan, Barry Hillier, Mark Wood, Mark Callanan, Tracie Redmond, Bonnie Leyton, Glen Tilley, Sandy Morris, Ken Coffey and Ed Kavanagh.

MICHELLE STAMP Visual Artist

M

ichele Stamp admits she’s always been fascinated by faces, so it was only a matter of time before she started drawing them.

“Every single face is different,” she says. “When you look at a person, what makes them compelling? Is it the way they move physically? Is it their voices? Is it the sum of their features?”

For Stamp, the faces of her friends set off her artistic impulse and, over the

past two years, she has been drawing a series of portraits for a show titled, simply, Portraits. It opens at the RCA Gallery in the LSPU Hall next month.

Most St. John’s residents already know Stamp’s work without even realizing it. She is the original sculptor behind the Easter Seals’ mermaids that dotted the downtown landscape for months last year.

While the mermaid project was particularly high profile, Portraits offers the sculptor a new set of challenges.

The exhibit focuses on accurate pencil drawings of Stamp’s friends, often well-known figures in the local arts community. As well, Portraits is Stamp’s first solo show after a decade of group exhibitions.

When first planning the show, Stamp intended to include a variety of her work in different media. Traditionally, most of her work has been in clay and in bronze. While setting up the exhibit, however, she grew interested in the process of simple pencil sketches.

“The more I got into it, the more I started to appreciate the sculptural quality of graphite on paper,” she says.

“If you’re building a sculpture, say, out of clay, you’re adding, you’re always adding and adding and taking away, but mostly adding. If you’re carving something out of stone, it’s reductionist, you’re taking away bits of stone.

“During these drawings, I was adding, taking away, adding, taking away, and it was so beautifully sculp-

tural a process to be in.”

Delaying the show for a year, Stamp regrouped and concentrated on her fascination with portraiture, pushing the boundaries of her abilities by requiring all of her portraits be as realistic as possible.

She says the emphasis on producing likenesses of her models helped ease people into the idea of being drawn. “If I’d said ‘You’re going to sit there and I’m going to draw whatever I see’ … I don’t know if people would have been as willing.”

Stamp also wanted all her drawings to feature a “direct gaze,” with eyes focused outward, looking back at the viewer. She says having the eyes of the portrait meet the eyes of the viewer cre-

ates a tension she likes.

“When you’re looking at a portrait and the person’s looking directly at you, you get the sense in some way that they’re challenging you.”

Stamp already has exhibitions planned for the rest of the year, in particular one at The Leyton Gallery that will showcase her oil paintings, coming up in June.

Portraits will show at the Resource Centre for the Arts gallery from March 4 until April 15.

— Devon Wells 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

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19

Quality, quantity and special effects In spite of all the technological advances, artists still face the eternal problems of finding an audience and getting paid

U

nless you’ve been hiding under a rock since Cheers went off the air, you’re probably aware that digital technologies and the Internet have revolutionized the way a lot of art — particularly music, television and film — gets made and distributed.

And as pretty much any advertising agency will tell you, there’s a new era dawning when it comes to the marriage of art and science. Of course I recall hearing that line a lot when the Commodore-64 came out. For all I know, the guy who invented the fountain pen used it to hawk his wares, too.

But, cynicism aside, it is in many ways true.

Thanks largely to war and pornography, the computer gadgetry we use for making music, movies and visual art has been improving at an exponential rate. Let’s be honest: if it weren’t for pictures of naked people and an enduring desire to blow stuff up at greater distances and in more exciting ways, the

SEAN PANTING

State of the art human race would still be playing Pong and using the Internet to discuss physics equations (and maybe Star Trek trivia).

Since all the art getting made on all those gadgets is essentially bunches of ones and zeros (that’s digital information, people) getting it from one place to another is no longer the problem it was back in the days of surface mail. That’s both a blessing and a curse.

The music industry is still trying to find ways to adjust to the new reality, and while large record labels have mostly given up trying to stop the flow of downloaded music altogether (smart choice — it’s not a winnable war), they’re still doing their best to control it.

Copyright lawyers the world over have been pulling their hair out, trying to protect intellectual property from everyone from professional bootleggers who make scads of cash on stolen CDs and DVDs to regular Joes who just like looking at and listening to things for free.

The current spat between the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (a.k.a. the folks who make shows) and ACTRA (a.k.a. the actors who appear in them) is in large part a dispute about who gets paid how much for stuff that shows up on the Internet.

Ah, getting paid. There’s the rub.

You’ll hear a lot of hoopla about the exposure the Internet can generate, but as a wise man once said, you can die from exposure. Unless you’re actually being paid, there’s very little benefit to being famous on the ’net.

Imagine you’re a tax attorney (unless you really are one, in which case, just imagine you’re you). What would you say if I told you I would like to make

use of your services and not pay you, but would instead refer all my friends to you so they could avail themselves of your services for free, too? Sound like a good deal? No? Because that’s the sweet, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity offered to artists the world over every day.

The upside of all this, we are told, is that independent musicians and filmmakers who didn’t have a way to reach the masses can do it via the Internet for next to nothing. What often gets forgotten is that colossally huge artists also have access to all the same opportunities and, in addition, they have the cash to make sure their stuff looks and sounds better than yours. So good luck with that.

Then there’s the problem of quantity.

Because you no longer need a $100,000 recording rig or the support of a big Hollywood studio to churn out something that looks and sounds pretty serviceable, many more people are able to do so. And because more people can,

more people do. Suddenly getting noticed — even when you’re staggeringly, mind-blowingly brilliant — becomes harder, not easier.

The new technology is changing the way the audience reacts as well. People know they have a choice and they’re used to getting their way — so you’d better suck them in fast or they’re on to the next link. For better or worse, art is more than ever another commodity to be traded and consumed, and nowhere is that more evident than on the Internet.

There are always going to be opportunities to make meaningful art, just as there will always be people looking for it. But in spite of all the technological advances, the eternal problems of finding an audience and getting paid are still with us. They just happen faster and with more exciting special effects.

Sean Panting is an actor, writer and musician living in St. John’s. His column returns March 2.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians nominated for East Coast Music Awards: Ron Hynes • FACTOR Recording of the Year • Male Solo Recording of the Year • SOCAN Songwriter of the Year • Entertainer of the Year Amelia Curran (NL/NS) • Female Solo Recording of the Year • Folk Recording of the Year Rex Goudie • Single of the Year • Pop Recording of the Year Bill Brennan • Instrumental Recording of the Year Brian Byrne • Pop Recording of the Year Chris Kirby • Blues Recording of the Year Danté Hiscock • African-Canadian Recording of the Year David Hensman • Gospel Recording of the Year Duane Andrews • Jazz Recording of the Year Heather Bambrick • Jazz Recording of the Year hey rosetta! • NEWCAP Radio Rock Recording of the Year Spanner • Instrumental Recording of the Year The Punters • Roots/Traditional Group Recording of the Year The awards broadcast, hosted by the Trailer Park Boys, airs Feb. 18 on CBC.

Ron Hynes is up for four awards at this year’s ECMAs.

Paul Daly/The Independent

bl

/d

pp

0*

– Canada’s Newest National Park

.0

house — the eaves, the roof detailing, the striking curved windows — it was equally important to the designers to meet the security needs of the facility while creating a friendly and comforting environment.

The kitchens are furnished with residential-style appliances, so men without cooking experience can learn to put together a meal. Individual shower stalls are lockable. Every room has plenty of storage and at least one window; the common areas are bright and well furnished.

“There’s no criminals here, they’re all good people,” says Symonds. “It’s going to be very civilized. That’s the idea of making it so nice, and painting it all these warmer, homey colours, as opposed to institutional paint.

“It’s done with a lot of compassion.”

Bungay admits the job the Wiseman Centre staff have set out for themselves is “humongous — but it is our job.”

Eager to get started in the new building, Bungay mentions the Salvation Army have big plans for their other facilities in town, including a community centre in the Catherine Booth Building, and supportive living apartments in the old Harbour Light Centre.

But for now, the focus is on the newest old house on Water Street.

“We now have a building that is aesthetically beautiful, and we have a program that seeks to lift these men to a new level. We see the beauty in them too.”

Explore the Torngat Mountains

m ro

From page 17

F ys 5 Da 9 99 3,

‘They’re all good people’

$

heighten the profile of the artist through the heavy media concentration that this event receives.”

According to Morris, a band or artist has to cover expenses such as application fees, ECMA membership fees ($50 for each band member or backing musician), photocopying, mailing, product and other costs, even before the actual trip is made.

“Then there are several nights accommodations, air or ground transportation, food … These expenses can sometimes add up to $2,000 or more, depending on your situation.” MusicNL will reimburse 50 per cent of expenses such as flights, hotels, and food for selected showcasing artists, says Parker, who will be heading to Halifax this weekend — a big help for struggling artists who otherwise would not be able to attend.

Although, counters Morris, half of $2,000 or $3,000 is still a hefty price for a struggling independent musician. He’s known artists to take out personal loans or rely on their families to help out, and says that’s a problem.

“If this event is all about the musicians, why are musicians usually the ones who can’t afford to stay in the host hotel, or eat at the hotel restaurant?” he says.

“It seems like the ECMA uses struggling musicians to construct a colossal four-day musical

event while cleaning up on the membership, application and admission fees in the meantime.”

The ECMA is big business. In 2004, when St. John’s last hosted the event, the provincial government pegged its value to the area at $6 million.

More than 1,000 musicians performed in St. John’s that weekend, and Halifax is set to top that. With all that competition, participants have to wonder: even when everything goes smoothly for an act, are the influential delegates paying attention?

According to Dan Kershaw of SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), the four days are primarily time for people in the Canadian music business to reconnect while getting a break from the big city.

As far as local musicians are concerned, Kershaw says he usually gravitates towards artists that are already popular in the region, or those making waves on a national scale.

“My first priority is reconnecting with peers,” Toronto-based Kershaw says. “After that, I mostly relax and enjoy the great east coast hospitality.”

Readying for his trip, Harvey remains philosophical about the experience of being an admitted struggling musician.

“You could get noticed in the biggest dive in the world,” he says. “There are many failures behind every success.”

Cruise Labrador to the Arctic

S

From page 17

U

‘Many failures behind every success’

Authentic & Affordable.

©ShoshonaJacobs

As a privileged guest of the Inuit we will explore the spectacular, rugged beauty of Canada’s Labrador coast, accompanied by an official Parks Canada Interpreter from the Torngat National Park Reserve.

Beginning in Happy Valley/Goose Bay and ending in Kuujjuaq, we’ll visit:

Be among the few to ever visit the Torngat Mountain Range on the north coast of Labrador. Rising to 1,800 meters, it is among the wildest and most magnificent coastlines in North America.

• • • • • • • • •

Join this adventure as we sail north en route to our Arctic homeland.

Price includes sea, land excursions, guides and airfare back to Montreal.

CRUISE

Hopedale Nain Okak Islands Hebron Torngat Mountains Saglek Bay Eclipse Harbour Nachvak Fiord Cape Chidley

NORTH

®

™

1-866-263-3220 www.cruisenorthexpeditions.com * Cruise begins in Happy Valley/Goose Bay NL. Prices are per person based on shared occupancy and are subject to change. Please call for complete details and information. Some restrictions may apply, GST of USD$239.70 and air taxes of approx. USD$155.00 extra. Departure times and schedule may change. All tours are subject to availability and on a first-come-first-serve basis. The Travel Network Corp. Ontario Reg. #2455619.

What do Old Spice, Excalibur, and Natural Born Killers, have in common?

They all feature “O fortuna”— the opening of CARMINA BURANA.

Composer, Carl Orff set part of a collection of 13th century songs and poetry to music.

Carmina Burana is an audience favourite and features a large orchestra, chorus, three soloists and lots of rhythmic energy. Clifford Crawley is music professor emeritus at Queens University and he now lives in St. John’s and Ban Righ is Gaelic for “wife of the king” or “queen”. Soprano Jane Leibel, tenor Brian Roberts, baritone Calvin Powell, the NSO Philharmonic Choir and the MUN Festival Choir join the NSO for a night to remember - Masterworks 4

Friday & Saturday, March 30 & 31, 2007 Arts & Culture Centre—8pm Prelude Concert 7:15pm: the NSO Winds Ban Righ Overture Carmina Burana

Clifford Crawley Carl Orff

Tickets: $35/$29; $27/$23; $21/$17.50

Call 729-3900 Peter Gardner General & Artistic Director Principal Conductor Marc David

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

‘Something stinks’ Just not bad enough to warrant a public inquiry, Randy Simms writes

T

he call for a public inquiry seems to be all the rage at the moment. Newfoundland and Labrador politics hasn’t been as preoccupied with any one single issue for quite awhile. When the first hint of scandal was revealed by auditor general John Noseworthy last summer the first thing we heard was the clarion call for a public inquiry.

We all know what has happened since. A total of five former and current MHAs are now under investigation for possible criminal wrongdoing. An employee of the House of Assembly, Bill Murray, was barred from his office altogether for alleged misconduct involving these same elected officials. A number of companies that sold novelty items to government also form part of the larger police investigation. Acting on government’s behalf, some person, or persons, purchased everything from key chains to gold rings at a cost of thousands of dollars. One of the companies involved was directly related to Murray. A police investigation was a must and it is being conducted as we speak.

More than $4 million has gone missing. No matter how you look at it, something stinks and the RNC is now involved in an investigative full-court press to get to the bottom of things. But does this scandal, as titillating as it is, require the spending of millions outside the police investigation to get results? I say no.

There are a lot of questions that must be answered before these mat-

RANDY SIMMS

Page 2 talk

Does this scandal, as titillating as it is, require the spending of millions outside the police investigation to get results? I say no. ters can be put behind us. How did the five members overspend their constituency allowances to such a degree without it being discovered?

How was it possible to purchase more than $2.5 million worth of trinkets without proper authorization and what methodology was used to provide inventory control for purchases at the House of Assembly? Is it possible that proper methods were in place but simply avoided for more nefarious purposes?

Well, you can see why some people are calling for a public inquiry.

But is it really the kind of circumstance that warrants such a costly endeavour? The police investigation

may make the whole question of public inquiry moot. If there are villains to be caught let the police catch them. Anything else is unnecessary.

Spending millions on a public inquiry to get answers that will be forthcoming from the police investigation is unjustified.

As for the rest of the so-called scandals, not one of them has enough merit to defend a full-blown public inquiry. Look at the AG’s report on double billing. Here we have two people named by the auditor general for having double-billed expenses to their constituency allowances, former MHA Kathy Goudie and Transportation Minister John Hickey. The police have cleared Hickey of any wrongdoing.

Like MHA Terry French before him, Hickey can claim mismanagement, bad bookkeeping, accounting errors, etc. Opponents will use stronger language such as incompetence to explain the double billing, but no matter.

The incidents revealed are not of sufficient weight to justify a public inquiry. The missteps, deliberate or otherwise, were caught, restitution was made and procedural changes applied to ensure double billing will not occur again.

In other words, the system has been improved and proper checks and balances implemented. Reasonable people cannot view such an incident as deserving of the attention that would be generated by a gratuitous public inquiry.

The last item revealed so far is the extra $2,800 members received in 2004. MHAs can argue all they like about why it was done and they can try and justify it until the cows come home. The public is simply not going to buy it. The vague minutes of the Internal Economies Commission and the poor timing of the event clearly show what was done. Even this embarrassment does not require spending millions on a public inquiry.

Justice Derek Green is now concluding his report and recommending changes to improve the use of constituency allowances. His report will bring huge change to how the House of Assembly works. I for one will applaud it.

It seems to me that none of the incidents identified by the auditor general thus far would warrant a public inquiry. Most of the political commentators in our province appear to have come down on the side of this call for a public inquiry. I am not one of them.

Let’s admit that we love good political theatre and such an inquiry would certainly provide that. Sadly it would not provide much else. Clear heads and a calm review of the circumstances show that a public inquiry is not required here. What needs to be done is being done. For now that’s enough.

Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s open line. rsimms@nf.sympatico.ca

Chrissy Newman’s daughter, Ireland.

‘It can happen to anyone’ From page 1 to this heinous, heinous indignity,” Harvey wrote.

So she waits for justice.

Harvey doesn’t want to say much about the investigation of her daughter’s murder. While nobody wants the case concluded more than she does, Harvey says — in light of Newfoundland’s recent history of wrongful convictions — she doesn’t want to do or say anything to harm the police’s work.

She understands why the police are being careful. The strain to retain her composure can be heard in her voice.

“As much as I would like it to progress quicker, I think that it is in Chrissy’s best interest that it is moving the way it is,” Harvey tells The Independent. “And I think that when there is an arrest, I will be very confident that there will be a successful … I think they will have done a very good investigation.

“I am sure there will be lots and lots of information I can share with you in a not too long time. I’m quite hopeful.”

When she speaks about her granddaughter, Ireland, Harvey’s voice brightens.

“I can tell you about Ireland. She is in protective custody, and we are endorsing that. She is doing very well. We get reports every other day.”

She says she has spoken with David and Kate Bagby. The Bagbys are highly critical of the provincial government’s handling of the circumstances leading up to the murder of their infant grandson, Zachary Turner, while he was in the care of his mother, Shirley Turner, who was accused of murdering their son Andrew Bagby.

Contacted by The Independent at his home in California, David Bagby says if Newman’s child is in a similar kind of danger, “I am very, very happy that the authorities who can protect the child are doing it, and if Zachary’s death is what prodded them into taking this action, then that’s great.”

Harvey says they are “very pleased” with how Ireland is being cared for. Her family has as much access to her as they like.

“She’s being well cared for, she’s in good health, she’s sleeping well, she’s eating well, and she’s safe, and that’s the most important thing.”

Harvey wants people to have an idea who her daughter was.

A flight attendant with First Air out of high school, Newman later trained as a dental assistant. She was an enterprising young woman who, before age 25, had bought and sold two new houses in Ottawa, and purchased a new 30-foot trailer on a lake, her summer retreat.

Harvey says her daughter always talked about when she would be a mother and have a family. “She had very, very strong ideas about that, about how a child should be raised.”

Harvey has little to say about Ray Newman, her daughter’s estranged husband and father of Ireland.

She says her daughter moved to Newfoundland to be with her father, who is ill. She met her future husband during that time; they dated for eight months before marrying. Harvey met her son-inlaw only once before the marriage.

When asked for impressions of the young man, Harvey says, “I am going to reserve my comment on that right now.”

She has not spoken to him since the murder.

In the eulogy to her daughter, Harvey said “God blessed her with an abundance of compassion for others.”

Harvey’s brother Bruce says a similar thing about his niece.

“She was a great girl. If she had any fault, she tried to find the best in everyone … She was a good girl and I guess people have their opinions, you know, like how can this happen to a great girl?

“It can happen to anyone. And that’s the sad thing about it — it could happen to anyone.”

When told that many admire her courage in the face of such an ordeal, Harvey is quick to respond.

“Don’t admire me, pray for me. Just pray that we get this resolved.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

Hey Newfoundland & Labrador miser.ca is now province wide! ...So log on to miser.ca and check out sponsor websites, view menus, download flyers and coupons, enter to win great prizes, and much more!

Shop Wiser. Go to Miser.

Flat like Saskatchewan Corner Brook-raised writer may be better storyteller than poet

www.

R miser.ca Shop Wiser. Go to Miser.

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

eaders of Carl Leggo’s previous two poetry collections, Growing Up Perpendicular on the Side of a Hill and View from My Mother’s House, will no doubt remember Lynch’s Lane.

The Corner Brook street of Leggo’s formative years, its characters and stories, have inspired him throughout his poetic career.

As the Montreal novelist Mordecai Richler once said of his St. Urbain neighbourhood: “That was my time, my place, and I have elected myself to get it right.” Leggo might easily make a similar proclamation for his corner of the universe.

In Come-By-Chance, he returns to the well, combining a handful of childhood anecdotes from his time and place with meditative pieces on the natural world, his family, the aging process, and the dislocation of life away from his ancestral home.

The persona of Leggo’s poems draws on his real-life displacement — a professor of language and literacy at the University of British Columbia, he has lived on the west coast of the country for the last 16 years.

To Leggo, the past is both a balm and an artistic trigger. “Lynch’s Lane lingers in imagination / and poetry,” he writes in Rhizome. The past trails behind him “like a train of U-Hauls stuffed / with stories” (Scratch in My Throat); its characters are “waiting to be conjured” into existence within the mimetic reality of the poem.

Loss, the passing of the actual into the realm of memory, is offset by the joy of recollection.

Writing poetry, the vexing failure of language to capture the visible and internal world, is another of Leggo’s concerns here. Words are “no more than an exasperated expiration, / a hint of impossibility, things seen in a mist,” he writes in various formulations throughout.

This is all well and good, but nobody wants to hear the magician moan about the difficulty of transforming a scarf into a dove. We come for the entertainment and the sense of wonder we feel at witnessing the illusion that defies easy explanation.

But then, Leggo’s style has never been particularly rigorous. In Come-By-Chance

MARK CALLANAN On the shelf Come-By-Chance

By Carl Leggo Breakwater Books, 2006

it usually consists of writing out a particularly touching, funny, or meaning-laden incident and letting it stand without much editorial interference. And while this unadorned style works well enough for the narratives of the Lynch’s Lane poems — character-driven as they are — it falls far short when he is working in a contemplative, lyrical mode.

Some passages are fodder for the greeting card industry. They bear the moisteyes and full heart of inspirational verse (though, mercifully, minus the gaudy endrhymes):

Thank you for the lessons: Smell everything.

Run fast enough so your ears stick out straight.

Always hunger …

Love children.

Take long naps.

Expect adoration.

Poop plenty.

Eat grass.

Bark, bay, howl with a heart’s loud echo of each day’s bounty.

(Charlotte)

deployment of a poet’s tools; a barely adequate word le mot juste. This kind of laziness prevents Leggo from creating the meaningful connections he is occasionally capable of, the kind that avoid what the British novelist Martin Amis calls “clichés of the heart” by startling readers into an altered perception of the world (scarf to dove, say).

In Lilacs, for instance, clothing items hung out to dry are “like semaphore flags, / signalling our presence / for the neighbours.” It is a simple image, yet it has definite depth and punch. It encompasses notions of community relations, the province’s rich nautical history, and delivers the comic charge assorted socks, shirts, pants and underthings flapping madly in the wind are capable of. It says in 14 words what I haven’t summed up in the last 60.

These moments occur too rarely. For the balance of the reading, we must satisfy ourselves with the likes of “flat like Saskatchewan” and “light dances up a storm beyond words.” Given a choice between Leggo the storyteller and Leggo the poet, I would take the first option.

Here’s hoping Leggo finds more Lynch’s Lane material for his next book.

Here, sentimentality trumps emotional depth; fast and loose technique the precise

Mark Callanan writes in St. John’s. His column returns March 2.

hope springs like a grasshopper like crocuses in April snow like a dog’s ears when it hears the refrigerator door open like a teacher’s heart when the final bell rings (Lucky Day) His poem to a dead dog fares no better.

To his absent companion, he writes:

M Y ARM

MY STRENGT H. M Y WELL-BEING.

ACCIDENT & INJURY LAW CENTRE

Injure your arm and you could find out that your family’s happiness can be quickly put out of reach. If you have been injured due to someone else’s fault, we can help. By properly looking after your case, we can make sure your needs and the needs of your family are protected.

PROTECTING THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE. Phone: 579-4000 • Toll Free: 1-888-579-3262 • chescrosbie.com ACCIDENT & INJURY LAW CENTRE

INDEPENDENTSTYLE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007 — PAGE 21

Wedding belles Shopping for the perfect wedding dress takes time, patience — and, sometimes, a trained eye

By Stephanie Porter The Independent

F

or the majority of the population — those not in the throes of wedding planning — the cold days of February might seem a little early to be buying a wedding dress for a ceremony next fall.

Hardly.

“I usually say the girls should start looking eight to 12 months before their wedding,” says Daphne Robertson, manager of the Bridal Salon on Water Street

Stephanie Shields models a dress by DaVinci at the Bridal Salon, Water Street.

in downtown St. John’s. “But we do get girls coming in two years, two-and-ahalf years, before their wedding, and they’re saying they just want to get it early.

“I’ve sold a couple like that. I don’t recommend it. They’ll get tired of it, or something else will come in that they love, and if you purchase something … you can’t bring it back.”

Once an order is placed, it can take up to four months to arrive. And then there’s the time needed for alterations — “and everybody needs alterations.”

Styles in wedding gowns evolve slowly, although strapless and A-line styles have been consistently popular. That said, there’s an increased interest in ivory wedding gowns, which now account for close to 50 per cent of Robertson’s sales. “It’s entirely up to the bride, almost anything goes,” she says.

“It’s her day.”

As for the bridesmaids, Robertson says they’re almost always asked to wear the same colour dress — but not the See “They won’t,” page 23

Paul Daly/The Independent

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

How much is too much for dinner?

Recent spread in Bangkok set new standard for expensive night out

I

am often asked to suggest a good place to eat in the city, but I’m generally non-committal, NICHOLAS and for many reasons.

GARDNER The first is that food is pretty subjective — one person’s love is another person’s poison. I Off the Eating Path try not to let my own judgments get in the way, and generally give options: if you like this kind of food then you should go to this place; and for Conti and a 1959 Château Mouton Rothschild that kind of food you go to another spot. were also served.

The check at the end of the night for me is just That’s just the wine. The food is equally a bunch of numbers. It really doesn’t matter astounding. when compared to the fun, the company, the Rumour had it the amuse-bouche was a creme food and all the other parts that make a night out brulée of foie gras that was “washed down” with memorable. a 1990 Cristal champagne.

However, I think foodies all over the world Kobe beef tartar, Imperial Beluga caviar, heard about the dinner held last week in Belon oysters, coquille Saint-Jacques and trufBangkok, Thailand, and the cost: a paltry fles (three-and-a-half ounces of Perigord truf$25,000 US per person. fles, themselves an incredible Questions arise when huge extravagance) were also on the sums are paid for food and menu. These were just a samThe wine list alone wine. Is it a gluttonous waste of pling of the rest of the foods money? But who says this is instills a sense of awe. trotted out in front of the lucky too much to pay? Is $25,000 diners.

Some great vintages too much to pay for a dinner Organizers say the event was paired with some of the world’s designed to promote Thai from some of the most best wines? Some would say tourism and that most of the collectable and expen- profits will go to two charities: yes — but then again, it’s all a question of financial scale.

Doctors without Borders and sive châteaus in the For the mega-wealthy, this is the Chaipattana Foundation, a not even a consideration. We’re rural development program set world were amassed. talking about the people who up by the king of Thailand. The buy $100 million yachts and do guest list included 15 paying not use them, fly in private jets and live a customers and 25 invited guests. lifestyle that would make a Saudi sheik blush.

While this might seem very opulent, it was For a dinner, 25K might seem like a lot of money nothing compared to one dinner presented at the — and by God, it is more than a lot of people Waldorf-Astoria in 1897. The hosts, Mr. and make in an entire year — but for those who can Mrs. Bradley Martin of Troy, N.Y., were possithrow down for this kind of feast, this isn’t even bly the best hosts of all time. At a time when the a day’s pay. This is the type of client the Thai average American worker’s annual income was government is trying to entice to get away from $400, the Martins paid for whatever their guests the capital city’s less than stellar reputation. desired, at a cost of $369,200.

Perhaps food and wine is the way to get peoIn today’s dollars, assuming the average ple excited about Thailand again. The wine list American earns $34,000 a year and applying the alone instills a sense of awe. Some great vintages same ratio the dinner would have cost … sit from some of the most collectable and expensive down … $31,382,000. It’s a staggering amount chateaus in the world were amassed. and a cost fit for a king.

The Château Palmer ’61, on the open market, For those of you who are upset you missed out is somewhere in the vicinity of $1,900 per bottle on the Thailand dinner, have no fear. I’m sure and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of another, bigger, better, and more expensive dinwine. By the way, you only get about a three- ner will follow. It’s just a question of time. ounce pour.

The 1967 Château D’Yquem, Sauterne is one Nicholas Gardner is a freelance writer and erstof the few wines ever to get a perfect 100 score while chef living in St. John’s. and it is almost legendary. A 1985 Romanee nicholas.gardner@gmail.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23

Pearls of wisdom

By Kim Honey Torstar wire service

W

Anton Bliznakov and Penny Kelly were married at St. Patrick’s Church in St. John’s.

Paul Daly/The Independent

‘They want the sparkle, they want the bling bling’ From page 21 same style, an option made possible by today’s designers. (Again, allow three to four months for orders to arrive.)

“For a little while there, it was like one, two, or three bridesmaids,” she says. “But now I find it’s like four to six. Most of the orders I’m taking are for more attendants than ever.”

At The Model Shop, just a couple of blocks east on Water Street, formalwear specialist Rhonda Angel gives a thumbs up to the flexible options new, less strict styles for bridal parties.

“They’re much better than the big ol’ drapes,” she says, laughing.

The colours are changing up, too.

“It’s not, oh, you have to go burgundy or you have to go navy … they’re mixing the espresso with the champagne and the greens and the pinks.”

Angel says shades of espresso, chocolate and pink are getting the most attention this year.

As for the tastes in wedding gowns, she says the preferences are as individual as the brides-to-be.

“Some dresses weigh a ton … and some women do want that, they want

the big train, they want the sparkle, they want the bling bling.”

On the other end of the spectrum are the “destination dresses” — usually, but not always, for the increasing number of southern resort weddings.

“They’re chiffon, not heavily headed, more flowy, elegant, not encrusted … more flowy chiffon, blow-in-thewind kind of things,” she describes.

They’re also lighter, a lot easier to pack, and less expensive.

Victorian Bridal on Freshwater Road also carries an increasing number of lightweight, airier dresses.

“A lot of people are going for the simpler dresses,” agrees manager Olin Clarke. Once making up less than 10 per cent of his sales, the less formal dresses are now chosen by almost 30 per cent of his clients.

“Of those, I’d say three-quarters of them are going south,” he says. “But also, a lot of people are looking at it like, well, I’m buying a home — why would I buy a $1,000 dress?”

Clarke, who’s been in the business 13 years, says he’s made it a priority to offer rental options for bridesmaids and flower girls — as well as the

Deals with the devil New board game perfect for wedding showers

By Judy Gerstel Torstar wire service

“I

’d do anything for love (but I won’t do that),” warbled Meatloaf.

What would you do for love? For great sex? For fame and fortune?

And how do you define the good life?

You must remain on a deserted island with little to do your whole life. If you had to choose … would you rather (a) spend it with one extremely irritating person who will never change or (b) remain in seclusion for the rest of your life?

If you had to choose … would you rather always have (a) an exciting and active sex life but never make much money or (b) an uneventful and minimal sex life but be extremely wealthy your entire life?

If You Had To Choose …? is the name of a teasing party game for two to 10 players. You pick a card and choose between two alternatives described on the card, assessing the price you’d pay to get what you want most.

It’s described on the colourful box as “a fantasy game about priorities” — in other words, a playful version of making deals

with the devil, deals that more often than not involve vanity, greed, lust and love.

While you’re choosing, the other players bet up to five chips on what your answer will be and collect from the bank if they’re right or pay the bank if they made a wrong guess.

Instructions suggest you discuss the psychology behind the choices “to avoid the questions running into each and perhaps sounding somewhat similar …”

It’s true, questions may sound somewhat similar — but when they’re about sex, money, love, looks, status and a soupçon of spirituality for good measure, repetition may be irrelevant.

The creator of the game, Torontonian Susan Morry, is a substitute high school art and English teacher who first posed some of the less risqué questions to her English students as journal topics. She’s been working on developing the game since the mid-’90s and within two years of marketing it, in 2004, she’s sold 7,000 here and in the U.S. The game is perfect for a wedding shower or a tête-à-tête.

It’s available through the website, ifyouhadtochoosegame.com, and at shops listed on the website.

“We’ve had … gowns and women thought they were horrible, then tried them on and loved them. You’ve got to be willing to try it.”

Olin Clarke groom.

“It’s important to the bride,” he says.

“They’d like to have their friends, if they can afford it, stand beside them.

It’s a big party, but a wedding is about getting your family and relations together — but moreso your friends.

So many people live away now, it’s the only time everyone gets together.”

All the wedding wear experts agree that women have to be willing to try some things they might first avoid.

“We’ve had bridesmaid and wedding gowns and women thought they were horrible, then tried them on and loved them,” says Angel. “You’ve got to be

willing to try it.”

Robertson agrees. “You leave the customer alone, let them pick out what they want first, and then you make some more selections … after seeing the dresses on different shapes and sizes, you kind of know what’s looking good and what’s not. You quickly get a feel for what the girl is liking and what she’s not.”

She laughs. “Granted, there are times I will see someone coming up the steps and I’ll already have a dress picked out for them.”

After 13 years in the business, Robertson says she’s got a good sense of people and their personal style.

She’s also seen more than one trend come and go.

Anything she was glad to see fall out of fashion?

“Oh, anything with puffy sleeves and the big ole headpieces with the little teardrop in the centre and the big puffy veils,” she says, laughing.

“Everything is more classy, elegant looking, which is good. There’s something for everyone … most of the time, you can find a nice dress for under $800 with a train and everything.”

hen a pearl farmer wants to prompt his livestock to make the iridescent gems, minor surgery is required. The shell is opened, a slit is made in its gonad and a tiny globule of mother of pearl is inserted along with a piece of tissue from another animal.

The oyster detects a foreign invader and madly starts encasing it in the same material that lines the inside of its shell in order to neutralize the intruder.

In natural pearls, the process is much the same, though the attacker could be anything from a teeny worm that drills into the oyster’s shell to a wayward piece of mini-plankton that went down the wrong way.

The end result looks the same: layers of nacre — otherwise known as mother of pearl — create lustre thanks to their light-reflecting, crystalline structure.

The colour of the pearl depends both on the species that produced it and the environment in which it lived.

“You can’t tell the difference between a cultured pearl and a wild one, not unless you cut it in half and looked at the nucleus,” says Dave Zanatta, who helped curate the 2005 Royal Ontario Museum show Pearls, says both types of pearl are considered real since they’re composed of nacre, although the cultured pearl just has a thin layer on top of a man-made orb.

And because nacre production is not uniform, the one way to tell a real pearl from a fake is to rub it across your teeth. The real thing will feel rough; the fake will feel smooth.

As for price, there’s a lot to consider.

First, wild pearls are found in an estimated one in every 10,000 animals, so they are exceedingly rare and exceedingly expensive.

A perfectly round bead is also difficult to find, and for that reason, there are actually eight different shapes of pearls, from spherical to baroque, which is a polite way of saying it’s a weird shape.

“Even the cultured pearl industry is not perfect,” says Zanatta. “Ninety-five per cent of them are duds.”

After that, size matters, as does lustre. Although the largest pearl ever found weighed more than six kilograms (worth $40 million), most pearl farmers would do well to produce something bigger than 10 millimetres in diameter.

That’s why many necklaces feature one large bead strung with ever-smaller ones. At birks.com, a necklace strung with uniform, round cultured South Sea pearls between 12 mm and 14.75 mm costs $168,000, for example.

24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Roll me in bubble wrap: I’m fragile

I

told myself this week I’d be more optimistic. Possibly even cheerful. However, I am a slave to my hormones and moods, and this week has been an emotional rollercoaster.

Sometimes I feel I’m too sensitive for today’s society. Sensitive is not a word I like to use to describe myself, but roll me in bubble wrap: I’m fragile. I take everything to heart and this leaves me open to insult and injury from all the voices that whisper to me during the day.

Before you think I’ve completely lost it, think of all the messages you hear every day. There are no little men living in my cranium. I’m merely a radio picking up signals, most of which are unwanted. I really don’t need to hear that who I am is not who I should be.

It’s well known and discussed that the media is influential — and that it doesn’t always use the power for good. As a society we surround ourselves with advertisements featuring outrageous claims.

I find it hard to believe cigarette ads still exist that promote smoking as fun and even attractive. It’s a habit I’m sure most want to quit, and almost everyone would agree that it offers nothing in terms of a healthy, beautiful body. The choice of how to interpret the ads is in the hands of the viewer. Yet how much can you resist before your will starts to weaken?

The pressure is often too great to ignore, and as a result, we constantly strive to achieve the unattainable. I can tell myself there is no point in trying to be something I’m not. I can even say I don’t want to reach that picture perfect goal that is plastered on every magazine and television screen. Telling myself something a million times won’t necessarily make it true though. Maybe I should take a lesson from the media and brainwash myself.

What is even more frustrating is that even those who try to promote self-acceptance become either misdirected or are drowned out. I have seen ads that encourage confidence and freedom — but there’s a catch. This inner strength comes from their product, and therefore I should use it. Apparently all I need is the right makeup and clothes and I’d be happy.

Thanks for the message.

A recent example of this conflict of interest comes from television personality and former supermodel Tyra Banks. Banks was publicly outraged at media commentary about unflatter-

LEIA FELTHAM Guest Column ing pictures of her in a swimsuit. Her response — live the Tyra Banks Show — was to tell her critics to “kiss her fat ass.” She then appeared on magazine covers telling the world she is proud of her weight. At first it’s tempting to think, “good for her.”

Then I realized Banks is trying to play for both teams. As well as her talk show aimed at empowering people, she also hosts America’s Next Top Model. Modeling is an industry undisputedly based on aesthetics and extremely critical of appearance, something Banks should know a lot about. It appears she can’t choose what she is supporting.

I wonder if she understands even if she plays for both sides, someone is still bound to lose, and she will be part of it.

I know I’m arguing a point that has been

Former model and television host Tyra Banks

beaten to death. I do this because I don’t see any honest efforts to make a difference on a large scale. It seems every solution is only a gimmick offering false hope. The few small steps made in the right direction can’t compare to the magnitude of the beliefs in society that this problem was built on. They’re only pebbles in the ocean making tiny ripples of change.

The older I get, the more I see how little image or false expectations matter. I am still a woman, and a happy one at that, if I don’t wear makeup or fit into the smallest pair of pants or have cleavage as deep as the Grand Canyon.

Likewise, a man doesn’t need to meet the image society has created to be satisfied with who he is. No one does.

When put into perspective, the stereotypes are laughable. We were not made perfect, so why should we try to fit these definitions that are only someone else’s concept of ideal? It’s open to interpretation. Who you are truly is never open for others to change.

Leia Feltham is a first year student at Memorial University. Her column returns March 2.

REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

EVENTS FEBRUARY 16 • Valentine Burlesque hosted by Ms. Jezebel Express and featuring the Purity Girls, the Gentleman Jugglers, Natalie Noseworthy, Alley Oop! Gary Palen, Lynn Panting, Oddly Enough, Jill Dready Flamenco Ensemble, Deneen Connolly Bellydancers and more, 8:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, Duckworth Street.

• The Mount Pearl Frosty Festival continues, see www.mountpearl.ca for schedule of events and more information.

• Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor, directed

by Varrick Grimes and featuring Melanie Caines, Deidre Gillard-Rowlings and Nicole Rousseau, LSPU Hall, 8 p.m., 753-4531.

Continues through Feb. 18.

• The Avalon Unitarian Fellowship’s annual coffee house and fundraiser for the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, featuring Mary Barry, the Art Stoyles Band, Cyanne, Songs of Mi’kmaw with Susan Hill, and more. Gower Street United Church Lecture Hall, 7 p.m., 895-8333.

• Revue ’06 at the Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m., 944-5412.

• Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra, and conductor Marc David present The Viennese Tradition, their third Masterworks concert, 8 p.m., St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Prelude concert with Scruncheons Percussion Ensemble, 7:15 p.m., 729-3900.

• The Vagina Monologues, D. F. Cook Recital Hall, Memorial University, 8 p.m. All proceeds go to Iris Kirby House, Naomi

Centre, the St. John’s Women’s Centre, and VDay Spotlight on Reclaiming Peace.

FEBRUARY 17 • The writer’s tool kit, a half-day workshop with writer Paul Butler, 155 Water St., third floor, 753-7740, www.paulbutlernovelist.com • Mentor support group meeting with the Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2 p.m., 66 Kenmount Rd., 753-1445.

• Tainted Love: a series of short scenes presented by the Rabbittown Scene Study group, 7:30 p.m., Rabbittown Theatre, 739-8220.

• DJ Sky CD release party, Junctions, 208 Water St., 10 p.m.

FEBRUARY 18 • Avalon Unitarian Fellowship’s weekly service, 10:30 a.m., Anna Templeton Centre, 278 Duckworth St. FEBRUARY 21 • Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers’ Dirty Big Tour at the Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre.

• Allan Ricketts at Folk Night, the Ship Pub, 9 p.m.

• Al Antle’s money management seminar, Feb. 21 and 28, 7-9:30 p.m, sponsored by MUN Division of Lifelong Learning, 7377979.

• Issues in Contemporary Art, a two-night lecture series on current issues in contemporary art, 7 p.m., RCA Visual Gallery, LSPU Hall, 3 Victoria St.

acting director of the humanities program at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

• Lunch ’n Learn seminar with Mount Pearl mayor Steve Kent. Topic: Balancing your personal and professional lives, noon-2 p.m., 737-7979 or www.mun.ca/lifelonglearning.

FEBRUARY 22 • Gonzaga High School presents Guys and Dolls at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m. Continues through Feb. 24.

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

• Newfoundland Historical Society presents Dr. Jim Connor and a lecture on Dr. Ecke of Twillingate, Hampton Hall, Marine Institute, Ridge Road, 8 p.m.

IN THE GALLERIES • Kinetic Portraits of 12 Canadian Writers

by Peter Wilkins, The Rooms.

• Shift, an exhibition of new art by Kathy Browning and Susan Jamieson, until Feb. 25 at the RCA gallery, LSPU Hall.

• The Death of the Party, Part Two, (the counter ironic-contrarian-hipster-remix), by Les Newman (Manitoba) and Taking Care of Business by Mira Lyn Lu and Immony Men (Quebec) at Eastern Edge Gallery until Feb. 24.

• Celebrate Craft, a juried group exhibition at the Craft Council Gallery, Devon House, Duckworth St.

FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007

What’s new in the automotive industry

FEATURED VEHICLE

SATELLITE-LINKED NAVIGATION Introducing the new 2007 Acura RDX. Your technologically advanced medium to a world of satellite-linked navigation, voice-activated intelligence, and turbocharged urban versatility. Features include voice-activated navigation, HandsFreeLinkTM and Bluetooth® enabled technology — a leap into the future. This vehicle also boasts an all-new 240 horsepower 2.3-litre i-VTEC® turbocharged engine which offers you performance and superior fuel efficiency in one. With the Acura Super Handling All-Wheel DriveTM and a luxurious interior for all around comfort the RDX commands the road and your attention. The new 2007 Acura RDX is available at Tucker Acura, 915 Topsail Rd., Mount Pearl. Photos taken at Pippy Park golf course by Paul Daly.

‘Looked good and died young’

I

f there was ever a car doomed from rear style: a trunk, a hatchback, and a the start, it was the Chevy Vega. sort of wagon configuration called a John DeLorean was Chevrolet’s Kammback. general manager at the time that It had a 2.3-litre engine that produced General Motors dropped the half-baked 90 horsepower coupled with a wideprototype on him, instructing ratio three-speed transmission him to make it work and put and could cruise at highway it into production. In his speed without breathing too memoir On A Clear Day You hard. It finally managed to Can See General Motors, pass road testing without selfDeLorean distanced himself destructing and the press from the episode with rightloved it. So much, in fact, that eous indignation. “The it was named Motor Trend engine looked like it was Car of the Year. Very imprestaken off a farm tractor and sive. The public began snapMARK Chevy engineers were ping up huge numbers of WOOD ashamed of it.”

Vegas — 277,700 in 1971 When the experimental WOODY’S alone. Those who drove long Vega was first tested at GM’s in the first year WHEELS distances Michigan track the results detected some inherent were devastating. After eight engine problems but in 1972 miles the front of the car broke off and another 394,592 Vegas were sold. In separated from the rest of the vehicle. 1973 there was an upgrade of a double“It must have set a record for the short- barrel carburetor and a bit more moanest time taken for a new car to fall ing from previous owners but somehow apart,” Delorean quipped.

395,792 Vegas rolled out of showBut he was a company man and — rooms. against his own good judgment — he To mildly avert the inevitable engine was determined that his staff would problem there was a redesigned grill to make the best of the Vega, regardless of increase airflow to the radiator and who designed it. heftier bumpers were added for 1974.

Probably the only thing going for the Sales were even stronger with 452,887 car was its looks — it had a saucy units sold. shape. The grill had a nice smile and By 1975 the first wave of Vegas had sleek flowing lines gave it the appear- settled in to self-destruction and sales ance of a stubby Camaro. The Vega was plummeted to 204,178. The writing a two-door car with three variations of was on the wall. Halfway through the

year Chevrolet dressed up its failing product with a half-exotic motor and called it the Vega GT. Only 2,062 were ever made. It was too little effort much too late to save their reputation.

Ironically, in 1975 Pontiac released an identical car with a reliable motor called the Astre. If it didn’t take GM four years to do their homework, things would have been much different.

Sales continued to nosedive in 1976 with 159,077 Vegas hitting the streets and in 1977 an additional 78,402 were sold before the names Vega and Astre were history.

This would be a good time to offer condolences to those who owned Vegas and explain why they died.

The engine was a bold mistake, an experiment that went horribly wrong.

The main chunk of it, called the block, was aluminum with a silicone composite lining the cylinders.

The standard for cars at the time was a cast-iron block with steel cylinder sleeves that would last a normal lifetime.

Vegas, on the other hand, would wear down their light cylinders in a hurry and sip all the oil out of the motor and burn it off, making lovely clouds of blue smoke behind them.

While most customers at a gas station would fill up with gas and check the oil, a Vega owner would fill up with oil and check the gas. If oil wasn’t constantly added the Vega simply quit.

A brochure panel from the 1973 Chevrolet Vega.

It also had an aluminum radiator that clogged easily, causing the engine to overheat and damaged the delicate aluminum block. This too, was a fatal characteristic.

The Vega, it seems, looked good and died young.

Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philips drove a Pontiac Astre and thought it was cool at the time.

26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Be prepared to walk away SOME ADVICE TO HEED WHILE SHOPPING FOR A USED CAR

P

sst. Wanna buy a used car? Sure you do. these restrictions.

You know all the reasons why. Let someRemember when I told you to get a great one else take the hit for all that deprecia- mechanic you trusted? Here’s another reason that tion in the first year. Find out what first-year was good advice. model bugs had to be resolved. Maybe you’re When you settle on the car you just have to allergic to that new car smell. have, take it to your mechanic. If you’re a good Used is fine, but do your homework. Used cars customer and they’re nice mechanics, they’ll are either purchased privately, or from a dealer. check it out for you. They may even do it for There are some differences you need to free, but it’s worth a few bucks to get consider. their OK. A dealer is required by law to inform On the hoist, your mechanic can you if the vehicle has been in an acciimmediately detect any overspray dent. A private seller is not. A private from body repairs, door alignment, seller is required to provide a kit which and whether the odometre reading tells you the ownership history of the matches the wear on the car. It’s vital car, and if there are any liens on it, but that you find out what shape the brakes that’s it. are in — everyone drives differently, If a private seller insists on meeting especially people that know they’re LORRAINE SOMMERFELD you in a mall parking lot, be leery. going to get rid of a car.

Curbsiders, sellers that flip cars for You can ask them to check that the quick profit, are selling cars they know airbags are intact — unless it goes off little about. Don’t be fooled into thinkin your face, you just assume it’s in ing you are buying a car from the owner there, right? There are things you can who has cared for it since birth. look for yourself.

Dealers are selling cars they’ve taken in on Brand new carpeting and old upholstery trade. They have their largest margin for profit should make you wonder what’s underneath. on used cars, as new car prices are set from man- Worn pedals on a car with low mileage should ufacturers. set off an alarm.

Before making an offer on any vehicle, ascerBuy a convertible in the fall; it’ll be cheaper. tain the value of similar cars on eBay or Make sure you test the air conditioning in winter LiveDeal or publications like Auto Trader. and the heater in the summer. It’s easy to forget.

Going in armed with a realistic price range will Check out the repair manual on the car you are increase your ability to get a better deal. considering buying. If it has 100,000 km on it, Bringing cars up from the U.S. has difficulties you’re about ready for some major repair work you must be prepared for. Often cars pour in to start. Factor that into the price; there’s nothing from flood centres (remember Katrina?), and it’s worse than having to pour $3,000 into a car not until you find yourself with a corroded elec- you’ve had two months. If it needs new tires, add trical system that you realize it really was too in another thousand. good to be true.

It would be ideal if we could all just buy used American standards also differ from ours, and cars from people we know who’ve only driven you should be prepared for federal considera- them to church on Sundays. But as Utopia closed tions like daytime running lights, bilingual stick- its gates a while ago, the rest of us have to be ers on air bags, and an odometre in kilometres. prudent and vigilant.

Southern U.S. cars may not have a rear defogDo some homework, speak to your mechanic, ger. and trust your gut but not your heart. If it seems In exercising its uniqueness, Quebec also too good to be true, move along. If the most operates on different rules from the rest of the important thing to you is that it’s the right colour, country. move along.

They do not have to provide much of the inforTo walk away with the best deal, you have to mation with used cars demanded by the other be prepared to totally walk away. provinces, and unscrupulous dealers may purwww.lorraineonline.ca posely bring in Quebec vehicles to circumvent

POWER SHIFT

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27

Fuel targets could cost auto jobs: industry

By Allan Woods Torstar wire service

T

ough regulations for domestic car manufacturers could drive up prices, cost jobs and sacrifice investment in Ontario if they stray from current U.S. standards, the Canadian automotive industry warns.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in a speech last week that his government would soon announce fuel efficiency regulations that will be imposed on cars sold in 2011. The current voluntary agreement that expires

in 2010 requires the auto industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3million tonnes.

The exact Tory auto target, expected to be announced later this month, is still being hashed out between industry and government officials. But the head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said he fears a harsh target could result in a “de-coupling” of the Canadian and U.S. markets.

Mark Nantais said that could lead to separate manufacturing operations to produce two types of vehicles for the

two countries.

“It could have serious implications for our companies,” said Nantais, whose organization represents General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.

“We’re already fighting every day to get new jobs in Canada.”

Nantais was one of a number of witnesses testifying before a House of Commons committee that will rewrite the government’s Clean Air Act. Ken Ogilvie of Pollution Probe, an environmental organization, said there is “no doubt” that the technology exists to bring in new fuel efficiency stan-

dards that could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He said that the high level of support for action on the environment suggests the public is ready to do its part.

Ogilvie urged the committee to press the government for a “world-class efficiency standard” in Canada that can be designed within the next 18 months and come into effect in 2011.

Some environmental groups are pushing for a fuel efficiency standard on par with California’s, which calls for a cut to greenhouse gas emissions from new cars starting in 2009. The

regulations, which are being challenged in court, are expected to cut vehicle emissions by 30 per cent by 2016.

Nantais decried the California standard as an “arbitrary West Coast” target that does not take into effect Ontario-based auto manufacturers, whose major market is south of the border.

Buzz Hargrove, head of the Canadian Auto Workers’ union, told the committee that too-tough efficiency standards could result in plant closures.

Chevrolet announced on Feb. 1, 2007, that it will introduce two special-edition Corvettes, the Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06 and the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Replica Corvette Convertible at the Chicago Auto Show. Both vehicles will go on sale in the spring.

General Motors/Reuters

The ultimate Canadian rally W

hen John Bird and Bruce Hayward, who drove the legendary Miss Simpson — a university pro- Supertest III to glory. fessor and an electronics engiOther inductees: neer, respectively — went rallying back Hydroplane boat racer Robert in the 1960s, they always wore white Theoret, who is known in Quebec as the shirts and ties. They were all business.

“Gilles Villeneuve des Regates”; Lloyd They entered 140 rallies and Shaw, who had a spectacular won 107. They recorded 17 career as a builder of racing seconds and thirds for a total of cars, as a champion racer at 124 podium finishes — a home and in the United record unmatched in motorStates in both open-wheel sport. and closed-wheel cars, and as They entered the ultimate an administrator and promotCanadian rally, the Montrealer; Ted Powell, who was a to-Vancouver Shell 4000, six racer, organizer and administimes and won it twice, being trator, particularly in the NORRIS the only team ever to win it Ottawa area; Dr. Dan Marisi MCDONALD back-to-back. and Dr. Jacques Dallaire, Bird and Simpson, along who made significant contriwith nine others, were honbutions to motorsport oured for their accomplishthrough their Motor Sport ments Feb. 10 when both were Research Group at McGill inducted into the Canadian University in Montreal; Motorsport Hall of Fame, where I am Lorne Leibel, who sailed for Canada in chairman of the Selection Committee, at the 1976 Olympics and went on to be a gala black-tie dinner at the Sheraton world powerboat champion; John Duff, Centre hotel in Toronto. a Canadian born in China who won the They joined more than 100 other 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished in the Canadian speed pioneers in the hall of top 10 in his one and only Indianapolis fame, including Formula One drivers 500; Bob Atchison, who is one of the George Eaton and Gilles Villeneuve, true pioneers of Canadian drag racing; Canadian driving champions Eppie and Alec Bennett, who won most of the Wietzes and Bill Brack, motorcycle ace log-distance international motorcycle Yvon Duhamel and powerboat racer Bob races early in the last century.

TRACK TALK

OFF TO THE RACES This weekend, of course, features the Busch Grand National Series kickoff (the last season for Busch beer sponsorship, by the way) and the Daytona 500.

Watch this space next week for a NASCAR season preview …

Unless Forsythe Racing team owner Gerald Forsythe changes his mind and runs a second car to partner Paul Tracy’s entry, the Champ Car World Series might only start the 2007 season in Las Vegas with 17 cars on the grid. Eric Bachalart dodged a bullet recently. He was on the verge of closing down Conquest Racing when he got an 11thhour phone call. An unnamed sponsor will allow him to run one car this season (down from two a year ago). Looks like Andrew Ranger might be out of a ride, though …

Who wants to bet against the possibility that F1 Team Toro Rosso hasn’t named its 2007 drivers yet because coowner Gerhard Berger is negotiating with Carl Haas for Sebastien Bourdais?

And who’s on the bubble at Honda?

Rubens Barrichello or Jenson Button?

Marco Andretti is going back for another test and that is not coincidental …

A major U.S. credit card company nearly became the title sponsor of the Indy Racing League. But the deal would have seen the Indy 500 called

Racing, and motorsport in general, by introducing a special, limited edition, Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06. GM says the car will be distinguished by unique interior and exterior appointments and will be offered in a limited, pre-determined quantity.

Corvette, by the way, will return to the American LeMans Series this year to defend its manufacturers and drivers championships. First event is the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 17. Fellows will team with long-time American partner Johnny O’Connell in one car; Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta (Ah-lee and Oh-lee) will drive the other. The ALMS will make its annual visit to Mosport the weekend of Aug. 24-26 …

Another gala attendee will be Jeremy Hinchcliffe of Oakville. Jeremy is a member of the board of directors of the CMHF and father of Formula Atlantic and A1 GP driver James Hinchcliffe.

James had a scare in Australia last weekend.

Driving for Team Canada at Eastern Creek International Raceway, Hinchcliffe was clipped early in the race by Singapore’s Christian Murchison and had to hold on for dear life as his car barrel-rolled several times before coming to rest upside down in a gravel trap. James wasn’t hurt and shook off the incident …

Who wants to bet against the possibility that F1 Team Toro Rosso hasn’t named its 2007 drivers yet because co-owner Gerhard Berger is negotiating with Carl Haas for Sebastien Bourdais? “the Indianapolis 500 presented by such-and-such.” Mari Hulman George, chair of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, heard about that and put her foot down. “No way,” said the mother of Speedway president Tony George and I say good for her. Some things, it seems, are sacred …

Speaking of the hall of fame gala, Canada’s most successful international road racer, Ron Fellows, was in attendance (Ron and his wife, Linda, are always there) along with representatives of his long-time Canadian sponsor, Sunoco.

General Motors announced this week it is honouring Ron for his many years of contributing to the success of GM

We predict a lot More Fun in 2007.

2007 Civic DX 5-speed sedan/coupe

2007 Fit DX 5-speed

$

198

*

From

$

218

*

From

Special 6.9 48 month $0 Security Deposit Lease

Special 4.9% 48 month $0 Security Deposit Lease

%

Civic Sedan DX

4.9

%

Special Civic and Fit 60 Month Purchase Finance

†

¥

Selling Car 9 Years Straight!

Fun on the run comes in two exciting sizes in the 2007 Hondas. The award winning Honda Civic and the smart new Honda Fit deliver more class-leading safety, exceptional fuel efficiency, striking style and the fun to drive spirit that will get you all revved up at every turn!

Best New Small Vehicle

¥1

Fit Sport

priced under $18k

www.honda.ca

Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

‡

All lease and finance offers are from Honda Canada Finance Inc., O.A.C. *Leases are based on new 2007: Fit DX 5- speed (model GD3727E) / Civic Sedan DX 5- speed (model FA1527EX)/Civic Coupe DX 5-speed (model FG1127E) fo 48/48/48 month terms, OAC. Monthly payments are $198/ $218/ $218 with $3,031/ $2,169/ $2,291 down payment or equivalent trade-in. Payments include $1,275/ $1,275/ $1,275 freight and PDI. $0/ $0/ $0/ security deposit required First monthly payment due at lease inception. Lease rates are 6.9%/ 4.9%/ 4.9%, respectively. 96,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. Total lease obligation is $10,835/ $11,929/ $11,929. License, insurance, applica ble taxes and registration are extra. Option to purchase at lease end for $6,441/ $7,981/ $8,075 plus taxes. †: 4.9% purchase financing for up to 60 months available on new 2007 Fits and Civics (excluding Civic Coupe Si and Hybrid), O.A.C Finance example based on a 60 month finance term, OAC: $14,000 at 4.9% per annum equals $263.56 per month for 60 months. Cost of borrowing is $1,813.38, for a total obligation of $15,813.38. ¥: Based on annual sales by category in Canada as reported by AIAMC, January 2007. ¥1: "Best New Car Under $18,000" awarded to Honda Fit by Automobile Journalist Association of Canada (AJAC), November 21, 2006. Limited time offers. See your Honda dealer for full details. .

All Honda vehicles are delivered with a full tank.

28 • INDEPENDENTFUN

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Cartoon sound effect 5 Sapphire, e.g.

8 Umbilical cord 12 Sound of annoyance, once 17 On a cruise 18 Cut brutally 19 Hodgepodge 20 Garlic mayonnaise 21 Ride on the runway 22 Cookies in Coventry 24 Valuable violin, in short 25 Odoured creature 27 Lay out merchandise 28 Sergeant’s directive (2 wds.)

29 Lend a hand 31 Genealogy word 32 Bikini tops 33 Commotion 34 Start of many Quebec towns 35 Iranian city 36 ___ Mahal 39 Restore moisture to 43 Baby bear 44 Old saw 46 Love god 47 Like most sandals 49 Paycheque extra 50 City of SW France 51 Get ready 52 Cot covering 54 Most easterly point of N. America: Cape

CHUCKLE BROS

___, Nfld.

56 He drops the puck 57 Flat, floating platforms 58 Theoretically 60 Alter in tone or pitch 62 Princess Anne, e.g.

65 French cup 66 Medical client 67 Prong 68 Ouzo flavouring 69 Classical pianist Kimura Parker 70 State of trance or seizure 72 Permit 73 Overfished Atlantic species 74 N.B.’s official tree: balsam ___ 75 The sun (myth.)

76 Author of Sisters in the Wilderness 78 Female deer 79 Stratas of opera 82 Enmity 85 Canadian creator of kerosene 87 Les ___-Unis 89 Solos on stage 90 Breed of dairy cattle 92 Hoop of the 50’s 93 The sky’s the ___.

94 Start for oxidant or macassar 95 Sign of summer 96 Egg-shaped 97 Blissful spots

98 Give out cards 99 Wind dir.

100 Fit one within the other DOWN 1 Off one’s trolley 2 Japanese port 3 Connection 4 Contradicts 5 Chatter 6 Be 7 Coordinate 8 Steep-sided ravine 9 Oil source 10 Religious ceremony 11 Back in Paris 12 Naples staple 13 Locations 14 Israeli dance 15 “Ah, me!”

16 Broad 23 Person aged 100 or older 26 A Canadian sports trophy is named after him (1997) 28 Salmon ___, B.C. 30 Sisterly 32 “And ___’s your uncle!”

34 Rung 35 Prov. with about 25% of Canada’s population 36 Cargo carrier 37 Malarial fever 38 Joke

39 Salesperson 40 Age 41 Stay while owners are away 42 Mimicry 43 Multiplying factor (math.)

44 Nearer the stern (naut.)

45 Do not 48 Peterborough university 51 L. Erie park: Point ___ 52 Butt of jokes 53 Enzyme that helps digest milk 55 Overtake 58 Roman? Tuscan? (abbr.)

59 Swede’s neighbour 61 Shakespearean king 63 OR personnel 64 Call for attention 66 Veggie container 67 Fundraiser on TV 69 Author Kogawa (Obasan) 71 Body of traditions and knowledge 73 Wodehouse rat 74 Prehistoric imprint 76 Wheat or rye 77 Silences in scores 78 River mouth 79 Makes a stab 80 First woman GG 81 Map compendium

82 Hearty’s partner 83 Fruitless 84 “The innocent and

the beautiful have no enemy but ___.”

(Yeats)

85 Departed 86 Anguillidae 88 Skeptic’s grain

90 Did possess 91 At the present time Solutions page 30

Brian and Ron Boychuk

WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19) Some unsettling facts about a past situation could come to light. And while you’d love to deal with it immediately, it’s best to get more information to support your case.

TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) A straightforward approach to a baffling situation is best. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into an already messy mass of tangles and lies. Deal with it and move on.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Don’t be discouraged or deterred by a colleague’s negative opinion about your ideas. It could actually prove to be helpful when you finally get around to finalizing your plan.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

Ignore that sudden attack of “modesty,” and step up to claim the credit you so rightly earned.

Remember: A lot of people are proud of you and want to share in your achievement.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) A financial “deal” that seems to be just right for you Leos and Leonas could be grounded more in gossamer than substance. Get an expert’s advice to help you check it out.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Don’t ignore that suddenly cool or even rude attitude from someone close to you. Asking for an explanation could reveal a misunderstanding you were completely unaware of.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Unless you have sound knowl-

edge, and not just an opinion, it’s best not to step into a family dispute involving a legal matter, regardless of whom you support.

Leave that to the lawyers.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) An awkward situation presents the usually socially savvy Scorpian with a problem. But a courteous and considerate approach soon helps clear the air and ease communication.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) A calmer, less tense atmosphere prevails through much of the week, allowing you to restore your energy levels before tackling a new challenge coming up by week’s end.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) Your approach to helping with a friend or family member’s prob-

lem could boomerang unless you take time to explain your method and how and why it (usually!) works.

AQUARIUS (JAN.20 TO FEB. 18) Someone who gave you a lot of grief might ask for a chance for the two of you to make a fresh start. You need to weigh the sincerity of the request carefully before giving your answer.

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) Too much fantasizing about an upcoming decision could affect your judgment. Better to make your choices based on what you know now rather than on what you might learn later.

YOU BORN THIS WEEK You have a way of seeing the best in people and helping them live up to their potential. (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, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007 — PAGE 29

Colin Escott is waiting for the day he can wear his new Fog Devils jersey in game action.

Paul Daly/The Independent

‘I will show them’ Colin Escott determined to make Gatineau pay for trading him to Fog Devils

By Don Power For The Independent

H

ockey players are used to taking big hits. The game is physical, especially at the elite level, with players skating fast and hitting hard.

The biggest hit Colin Escott took this past season was to his pride, after he was traded to his hometown St. John’s Fog Devils for a lowly 12th round draft pick.

The St. John’s native had huge expectations placed on him when the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League drafted him in the first round of the midget draft in 2005. Escott was the third player chosen in that draft, a move that surprised many.

Escott, who spent the 2004-05 season playing Junior B with the Northern Massachusetts Cyclones, was expected to be an offensive force with the Olympiques, a team that had a long history of success in drafting and using Newfoundland players. Escott, however, struggled to adapt, and finished his rookie year with five goals and 10 assists.

By way of comparison, Angelo Esposito — one of the top players in the Q and one day younger than Escott — was not chosen until the 11th pick by the Quebec Remparts. To be fair, Esposito had warned teams he was headed to college, but he changed courses and led the Remparts to the Memorial Cup last season. In his rookie season, Esposito scored

39 times and recorded 98 points. This year, Esposito has 71 points in 51 games.

Earlier this season, Escott was placed on the Olympiques inactive list after playing just four games. The player says it was a clash with coach Benoit Groulx.

“I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of,” Escott said. “If my coaches don’t see eye to eye, it’s not much sense in trying. (Groulx) wanted me to play a different style of game than I’ve been expected to.

“I’m not a crash and banger, and that’s what they wanted me to do in Gatineau.”

Either way, he was banished from the team, ending up in Ontario’s Central Junior Hockey League with the Kanata Stallions. While there, he played just

seven games, registering two assists.

Somewhere along the way, hockey, it appeared, became secondary to the St. John’s minor product. Now, however, Escott is home, comfortable in his Mile One Centre surroundings and determined to succeed. The banged-up pride comes from the freefall of being a first round pick to a guy traded for a 12th rounder.

“I had some issues in Gatineau,” Escott said Tuesday night during the Fog Devils game with Shawinigan, politely declining to say exactly what those “issues” were. “I understand why they traded me for a 12th round pick. I’m not worried, because I will show them.”

See “Expects to play,” page 30

Now the pressure starts

Wearing Canada’s colours at world championship, Stacie Devereaux rink can no longer fly under radar

W

hen Jack MacDuff shocked the curling world by winning the 1976 Brier, they were driven to success — literally and figuratively — by a Saskatchewan curling icon.

Sam Richardson was chosen as Newfoundland and Labrador’s driver during that Brier in Regina.

Richardson, in his book Say It Again, Sam, figured the local organizers gave him Newfoundland because they were sick of the Richardsons winning. (Sam, his brother and skip Ernie, as well as cousins Arnold and Wes won four Briers and world championships in five seasons.)

So Richardson did more than just cart the Newfoundland foursome — including Toby McDonald, Ken Templeton and Doug Hudson — back and forth to the club for games. He taught them about winning. He kept them away from the distractions that are often a team’s downfall at big

DON POWER

Power Point national or international events. There were no parties, no late nights, no hangers-on knocking on hotel doors. (Heck, the wives weren’t even allowed in.)

MacDuff’s team had one task during that March: win. So when he did emerge victorious and flew off to Duluth, Minnesota for the world championship — called the Air Canada Silver Broom back then, a great name — MacDuff wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen. There were parties, events, groupies, but no Sam Richardson.

At Canadian curling championships, any number of teams can win.

At a world championship, Canada is the target.

This is now the very situation young Stacie Devereaux finds herself in after capturing the Canadian junior women’s curling championship Sunday in St. Catherine’s, Ont. The Logy Bay native, who curls with Stephanie Guzzwell, Sarah Paul and her sister Julie, rolled off an impressive winning streak last week, culminating with a perfect draw (it counted, didn’t it?) in the 10th end for three points and a come-frombehind win in the title game.

With the draw, Devereaux became the first female rink from this province to win a national title. They’re the sudden darlings of the local sports world, as they should be. Attractive and articulate young women, the team has displayed a confidence and maturity beyond its years.

And for the past few days, the girls have enjoyed their newfound celebrity status. But that’s over. It’s time to get back to work.

In a few weeks, this group will find

Stop a heart attack before it starts.

Your support is vital.

Research into the root causes of heart disease and stroke will help millions live longer, healthier lives. As a leading funder of heart and stroke research in Canada, we need your help.

Call 1-888-HSF-INFO or visit www.heartandstroke.ca

itself in Minnesota, like MacDuff’s group, wearing a big red maple leaf — and a bigger target — on their backs.

Now, instead of being one of the surprises of the tournament, Devereaux’s rink will find itself as the favourite to win a world title, much the same way every Canadian team has in this event since it started.

Even the story on the Canadian Curling Association website immediately after Sunday’s win came out and said as much.

“Canada has won a leading eight world junior women’s crowns since 1988,” was a line included in the story announcing Devereaux’s victory. As inadvertent as it may have been, pressure was dropped into their laps immediately, much like the men’s winners, which head to the worlds knowing Canada has “won a leading 15” times.

The biggest difference between Devereaux and MacDuff, however, is the course has now been mapped out.

When MacDuff led on to Duluth, he was like a skier carving fresh snow.

There had been nobody from here before him.

Now, fortunately, Devereaux has plenty of paths to take, not the least of which is the one followed by Brad Gushue, who won the Canadian juniors in 2001 (in the same St. Catherine’s club, by the way) and then took the world title in Utah. Gushue met Devereaux at the airport this past Monday, and you can be sure the newest champs will talk to the former champs about what to expect and how to handle things a lot before March 3.

Whether this help can ease the pressure remains to be seen, but it should make the road less bumpy.

And if Devereaux does return as a world champ, she and her team should be afforded all the accolades Gushue’s boys received. donniep@nl.rogers.com

30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

Ice fishing: back to basics

T

he world is white. Earthy and aqua shades are thoroughly blanched by a thick lamination of winter’s ice and snow.

What’s the outdoor habitué to do? There’s plenty — so much, in fact, that it’s often difficult to choose. Yesterday, I struggled to decide between trudging the woods on snowshoes in search of rabbits or a quad ride/ice-fishing combo. I opted for the latter, mainly due to buddy pressure.

Winter recreation has become big business. My eldest daughter, Megan, is training to be a chef.

Right now she’s in Whistler, B.C., on an internship with the Fairmont Hotel (Chateau Whistler). It’s a huge luxurious hotel with five restaurants located in what amounts to a town built around recreation.

People from all around the world, some rich, others just struggling ski bums, flock to Whistler to whiz down nature’s steepest mountains on boards and skis. Our own Marble Mountain is a similar attraction, albeit on a smaller scale. Megan loves the outdoors but has never really taken to downhill skiing, and she’s quickly becoming disenchanted with the ski-town lifestyle, which was so appealing at first.

Then there’s snowmobiling, which seems to have mushroomed in recent years. The snowmobile has come a long way. There are those who live to sled, and not just in Polaris commercials. (I love the one with the young bride alone at the marriage alter — it was snowing). I actually know people who love it almost that much, and Megan is one of them.

Then there are those who love their snowmobiles as utility machines that take them fishing, hunting, sightseeing, or just out in the country for a boil-up. That’s me.

Snowmobiling and skiing are expensive ways to curtail the winter blues. But there’s plenty of cheap stuff do.

Snowshoeing for rabbits costs just a few .22 calibre bullets, if I’m lucky, plus the capital cost of a pair of snowshoes. And an outdoors person should have snowshoes anyway. It’s kind of like a cordless drill to the do-it-yourselfer. The big bonuses are fresh air, vigorous exercise and wild meat on the table. I’ve been snowshoeing since I was 10 and I love it.

And then there’s ice fishing. Ice fishing can be simple, frugal and enjoyable. It can be combined with other winter activities such as snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and rabbit shooting. Or you can just drive out to your favourite pond, check the ice for safety, walk out on the ice, cut a hole, drop down a worm and fish.

I tend to complicate most of my interests with excessive gear, but with ice fishing I’ve stuck with absolute simplicity. Nothing has changed since I fished with my father 40 years ago. All that’s necessary is a slender tree limb with a few yards of

PAUL SMITH

The Rock

Outdoors nylon line wrapped around the end. Tie on a hook and sinker and you’re good to go.

The only upgrade I’ve made since the good days is an ice auger. God love the person who invented the ice auger. I hated chopping holes through the ice with an axe, and it spooks the trout too.

Ice fishing doesn’t take excessive skill or talent.

Unlike fly fishing, you can be at the top of the learning curve in less than an hour. You bore a hole in the ice and clean away the slush, snow, and ice cuttings. A spoon with holes is ideal for this task (you can use your bare fingers, but they can get mighty cold awfully quick).

Next, you bait your hook with a nice fat worm and drop the line down into the hole until it reaches bottom. Pull up a few inches and twitch the baited hook up and down in a manner that might attract trout.

Robert claims he catches more trout because he has just the right twitch. I think he out-fishes me because I’m less than serious about ice fishing and I spend too much time drinking tea, taking pictures and lighting my pipe. Anyway, when the trout tugs on the line, pull it up though the hole. The best philosophy of ice fishing is to relax and enjoy the outdoors. A rousing boil-up is an essential ingredient to this end.

Make it a family outing. Kids love it — something about pulling a flipping flopping trout up though the ice from the mysterious depths is very exciting. Over the years, I’ve observed that kids can’t resist looking down the hole. My father always warned that I was going to scare the trout, but in retrospect, I think he was more concerned about my wet knees and frozen nose.

My own kids did the same thing, so I resorted to bringing along a plastic sled which doubled for gear and child transport. One more hint: a plastic five-gallon beef bucket and lid, while not essential to ice fishing, is a luxury I often afford myself. It serves as a perfect dry box for your lunch, gear, and spare mitts — but best of all you can sit on it while fishing. It’s not high tech but it works.

You know what? Writing this piece has rekindled my interest in ice fishing. I just might go buy a proper ice fishing rod.

Nah … that slope might get slippery. Next thing you know I’ll be trotting around the ice with an electronic fish finder …

Paul Smith lives and writes in Spaniard’s Bay. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com

Ice fishing for trout.

Paul Smith/For the Independent

Solutions for crossword on page 28

Expects to play soon From page 29

Solutions for sudoku on page 28

Escott’s words carry the hint of a threat, but it’s not evident in his voice. As he looks out on the ice at his new teammates during the first period, there’s no malice in the thought. It’s just a statement.

“I want to make an impact, to make a name for myself, show Gatineau they were wrong, and show everybody I can do it.

“That’ll drive me every time I’m on the ice.”

Escott, who doesn’t turn 18 until Feb. 19, says the way for him to make an impact is on the scoreboard, strong words from a kid who hasn’t scored in a year. Since the Jan. 8 trade, the lanky left-winger has been working out and practising with the club, and expects to get into a game this weekend as the team heads out for a two-game road trip.

“I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of,” Escott says, his suit hanging off his bony frame. “I want to be dominant. I want to prove that Gatineau was wrong and that if they let me play my style of game, I could do as good as I’m capable of.”

At his age, Escott can take any number of paths.

Sometimes kids — and Escott still is one — lose interest in hockey. Sometimes they get disillusioned because they game they played for love is suddenly a business.

Sometimes the thrill of playing leaves.

Not for Escott. He pictures himself as a winger on one of the team’s top two lines, eventually. He knows he’ll be eased into the lineup, but still wants to produce points. And when he does, he’ll have a big smile on his face.

“The ice is my home,” he swears. “I’ve lived on it the past 15 years.

“If you love hockey, you love hockey, it doesn’t matter where you are or what you do with it. It’s irrelevant, as long as you’re on the ice playing. What’s outside of the rink is outside. You deal with those things. What’s in the rink doesn’t change.

“I’ve always been a dominant player. I want to be a high impact player. I don’t want to come here and not be noticed.

I want to be noticed.”

Starting this weekend, he’ll get his chance. All he has to do is produce to see who got the better of the trade. donniep@nl.rogers.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2007

INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 31

INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16-22, 2007 — PAGE 32

FEATURED HOME 24 RED SKY ESTATES

Photos by Gillian Fisher/The Independent

Leslie-Ann Stephenson

Gillian Fisher

Welcome home to 24 Red Sky Estates. An ocean-view bungalow with a covered front deck and attached heated garage in prestigious Admiral`s Coast. This open-concept home has it all on one floor. Hardwoods, ceramics, nine-foot vaulted ceilings, a magnificent living room with propane fireplace and 15 foot ceilings and a gorgeous open kitchen with dark wood cupboards. Find three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one a spacious master ensuite with standalone glass shower and whirlpool soaker tub. This new home has a 10 year Lux new home warranty. For more information contact Donald Pacholka of Coldwell Banker Hanlon at 738-6200.

Southcott Estates