2007-05-04 by The Independent

VOL. 5 ISSUE 18

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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007

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WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA —

LIFE 21

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E X C L U S I V E

‘I didn’t kill anybody’ Joe Oliver says he didn’t murder Dale Worthman and Kimberly Lockyer almost 14 years ago in a patch of woods on the edge of St. John’s, but does he know who did? BRIAN CALLAHAN

or someone charged in the execution-style murders of two people, Joe Oliver seems anxious enough to talk — about his arrest, about the police, about the case itself, about his lawyer (or lack thereof). But there are long, often awkward pauses before he answers those questions, and for good reason. Oliver knows he has to be careful not to jeopardize his own case before it goes to trial. Most of his replies begin with: “I just can’t go there.” But not all of them.

Joe Oliver in Her Majesty Penitentiary. Paul Daly/The Independent

See “I’m not doing time,” page 2

Grenfell graduates to university status JOHN RIETI

ir Wilfred Grenfell College will soon be its own university … sort of. The provincial government has decided to grant Grenfell, Memorial University’s Corner Brook campus, full university status based on the recommendations of an independent study by John Davies and John Kelly, two professors from the U.K. Grenfell’s new status will prompt a name change to Memorial University (Corner Brook) or a similar variation. The campus will have its own president and senate, and there will be a separate budget from the St. John’s campus. However, Grenfell will continue to report to the board of regents, Memorial’s highest governing body. The decision was made along with the announcement of an $18 million increase to Memorial’s operating budget in the April 26 provincial budget. “Both (the budget and the report) have been met with universal applause by not only the members of our college community but also the

broader community in the city of Corner Brook and western Newfoundland,” Grenfell Principal John Ashton tells The Independent. “We see a very bright future … the college has grown and matured by leaps and bounds over the last number of years.” The decision was met with some apprehension on the St. John’s campus. In a press release issued by Memorial University, President Axel Meisen said the university will seek “clarification” on the matter. “This will require discussion and debate inside the university, especially at the board of regents’ level, and discussion in the general community to understand its implications,” said Meisen in the release. The release went on to say the university had not seen the Grenfell study until it was introduced at the provincial budget. Numerous reports have been written over the past decade examining the difficult relationship between the two campuses. In 1989, a report recommended increasing the Grenfell student population to 1,500, a target the college has yet to reach. A 1992 report urged better communication See “Less than happy,” page 10

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Let me just come out and say very frankly here that I’ve met a variety of soldiers who are pissed off.”

— Gen. Rick Hiller in Kandahar. See page 12.

GALLERY 18

Project Equinox by Darka Erdelji

‘Contrary to some myths …’ Premier Danny Williams removed Canadian flags from Canadian buildings in 2004. Paul Daly/The Independent

On May 3, Premier Danny Williams delivered the following speech to the Economic Club of Toronto.

am truly humbled by the opportunity to speak here, especially after seeing papers promoting myself and another upcoming speaker. Here is my promotion in the National Post and here is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s. I should change my name to Danny Devito and ask the governor if he wants to do Twins II. But seriously, I always welcome an opportunity to speak to what we in Newfoundland and Labrador call “mainland” Canada. I welcome the opportunity because I think, though we are sometimes misunderstood as a province, we are at the core very much like our friends here in Ontario. We all strive to be the best that we can be. We all have as our common objective

to secure a greater future for our children and grandchildren. And we all believe in the fundamental values that make this country the greatest place on earth to live. I believe that success for the country as a whole is best achieved by the individual successes of provinces and territories. And though I am sometimes compared to Hugo Chavez, or assailed by national editorialists as a juvenile showman, my desire is to have the rising tide of the Newfoundland and Labrador economy lift all boats across this country. For my entire life, I have always thrived on challenges. Most things in life worth having often require you to face obstacles — sometimes minor and sometimes significant. I discovered this to be true whether I was in the courtroom, in the board room, or on the hockey rink. And the best challenges result in effecting mean-

SPECIAL SECTION 28

Check out The Independent’s home improvement pages

In a May 3 speech in Toronto, Premier Danny Williams set the record straight about Newfoundland and Labrador — and took direct aim at Stephen Harper ingful and powerful change for others. When I entered the political arena almost seven years ago, it was not because of a lifelong ambition, but because if I had not tried to make a difference, I would have failed a province that had given me so much. See “It’s not,” page 8

Scrunchins . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Paper Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Noreen Golfman . . . . . . . . 17 Movie review . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Let their memory live on with the only monuments crafted from Newfoundland granite. For a local representative call 1-888-840-3734 or visit our website www.terranovagranite.ca

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2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

MAY 4, 2007

Seeing the environmentally friendly light

as the environmental lobby been so successful over the last few years that things have gone off the rails? These days it’s hard to find anyone who disagrees with the concept of climate change. We have some real environmental problems, most of which have been caused by us. We have to do something about it and we are. This is a good thing, but I question some of the actions being proposed. Take the whole concept of changing incandescent light bulbs in favour of those compact fluorescent lamps. Apparently we all have to do this to improve the environment. Well, I took it upon myself to go out and get a couple of those lamps and install them in my home. I want to upgrade my environmental credibility where I can, so jumping on the bandwagon before the incandescent lightbulb ban comes into effect seemed like a good idea. To that end, I went to the store and purchased two of the new bulbs for my house. Imagine my shock at finding that two of them set me back $10.

RANDY SIMMS

Page 2 talk According to the in-store promotion, the new bulbs will last seven times longer than old Tom Edison’s invention so I would save money long term. Not to mention my personal effort at saving the environment. I ran into a few problems, though. It turned out the store did not have any kind of conversion chart for the bulbs. What do you replace a 60-watt incandescent bulb with — a 20-watt or 15-watt fluorescent bulb? You have to figure it out for yourself. No matter, I was saving money and helping the environment. I took two 15-watt bulbs, paid my money and headed home. Now I’m no fool, so I read the package before installing the little darlings. On the back of the package, in very small print, I was told the bulbs have

limitations. For example, you should not use the lights with dimmer switches. In my house that means the dining room, kitchen and the main bathroom are off limits for environmentally friendly bulbs. You aren’t supposed to use the bulbs in any enclosed light fixtures. That eliminated the laundry room downstairs, the second bath and guest bedroom. Apparently using the bulbs in enclosed fixtures shortens their long life span. The bulbs should only be used outside if they are in weather-protected fixtures. That won’t work for me at all. I have three lights on the front of my house and the bulbs are all exposed to the elements. You can’t use the lights in recessed “can fixtures” either. “Can fixtures” is a fancy mainland way of saying recessed lighting. The new energy-efficient, environmentally friendly bulb can’t replace the two light bulbs over the kitchen sink either. I can use them in my bedroom in the bed lamps but not in the ceiling fan.

(There was no technical problem with the ceiling fan but they looked so stupid there I had to take them out). The bedroom lamps should have been perfect but my remote control went haywire when the light and TV were on at the same time. I was warned this might happen by the small print on the package. The manufacturer’s solution was for me to move the bed lamp or move the TV. My solution was to remove the environmentally friendly bulbs. There are two nice lamps in the living room and I tried to install them there. They worked fine but I couldn’t use the lampshades because the clips that go over the nicely shaped incandescent light bulb won’t work with the fluorescent bulb design. This is a real flaw as far as I’m concerned. My wife was quite vocal about the shades being removed from the living room lamps. Not in her house. Eventually, the bulbs came out in favour of old Mr. Edison’s earlier effort. Simply stated, the compact fluorescent light bulbs are not up to snuff, they’re

not user friendly. Before the ban comes I hope the technology improves. On a more serious note, are we doing anything for the environment when we come up with such lame laws or are we pretending to care for the environment instead of taking real action on real environmental issues? I accept that we all must do our part for the environment. I’m even prepared to change my light bulbs, but first let’s see some emission standards set and enforced. Let’s see industry step up to the plate and pay the price to improve things. Let’s see government set some deadlines for change that will arrive in my lifetime — not in 2050 and beyond. Changing light bulbs to help the environment is like shuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic believing it will save the ship. I returned the fluorescent bulbs and got my money back. Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s Open Line radio show. rsimms@nf.sympatico.ca

‘I’m not doing time for something I didn’t do’ From page 1 There are a few things he’d like people to know — people who are bent on judging him guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. “I’ll tell ya one thing — I ain’t goin’ down for a double homicide for anybody. I can tell you that right now,” Oliver, 37, tells The Independent in an exclusive interview at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s. He has been locked up at the Pen since Jan. 12, when he was arrested for the murders of Dale Worthman and Kimberly Lockyer. According to information filed with the court, the two were shot sometime between Aug. 27 and Sept. 30, 1993. Police have long believed it was a hit in retaliation for an unpaid drug debt. “Anything else, sure. I’ll do my time for something I did. But I’m not doing time for something I didn’t do. And I didn’t kill anybody. That’s about all I can say about that right now. I just can’t go there. Only time will tell, and the time is going pretty slow right now, I’ll tell you that.” The police, Oliver says, are as guilty as anyone for jumping to conclusions. “They’re acting like they can do whatever they want, especially when you get a cop who just wants to close the case and they don’t even know what they’re talking about. I think they were pressured into arresting me. But I think they jumped the gun

and just figured the chips would just fall in place for them, but it didn’t work that way. And now I’m being railroaded.” Oliver will admit that investigators were not completely out to lunch in questioning him. “I can’t say they were totally off base, no — because maybe I did have some information. But certainly nothing that would make them charge me with second-degree murder. Not that I would think anyway. Do I have any idea who is involved? Sure, I have ideas. But did I have anything to do with it? I just can’t go there with any comment at all.” Oliver has been questioned twice by police since the bodies of Worthman and Lockyer were unearthed last July in woods between Thorburn Road and Windsor Lake on the edge of the capital city. He credits lawyer Bob Buckingham — who has been assisting him pro bono since his arrest Jan. 12 — with keeping police at bay. “To tell ya the truth, I’d say they thinks I know a lot more than I’m saying. Do I think they’re just using me for information, to get someone else? Sure I do. But I can’t go there right now.” Oliver says he was surprised, but not entirely shocked, when he was approached and arrested at an airport in mid-January. He won’t say which airport, other than it wasn’t in Newfoundland. He acknowledges being questioned by police before leaving town, so he knew he was a so-called

“person of interest. “I just didn’t think (the arrest) would happen like that. But then, I didn’t have any idea how it would happen, either. I just wasn’t expecting it, put it that way,” says the diminutive but stocky Oliver, in a confident yet soft-spoken voice. “They never said much to me at the time, but I kinda got a feeling — because of everything that was going on — what it was all about. There wasn’t much to see there (at the airport) because I never opened my mouth or nothin’. I just came back with them (to St. John’s), was locked up that night, and the next day it was lights, camera, action (in court).” Asked why he left town, Oliver said it was to shield himself and his family from the rumours and media circus in the days and weeks Joe Oliver following the shocking discovery of the bodies, almost 13 years after the couple disappeared. “Well, I think leaving was one of the better things to do at the time. I didn’t want my kids down around there either. So I just figured it would be better for everyone.”

Nor has the ordeal been good for Oliver, a mechanic by trade, who has been on workers’ compensation for almost 10 years and suffers from chronic nervousness and anxiety. He hasn’t been able to see his family doctor while in jail. “I was on medication before I came in here, but now I’m not. And I needs to get stable again. I mean, I’ve always had bad nerves, and none of this is helping, I can guarantee you that.” Then there’s his legal conundrum. Oliver had a lawyer before his arrest, but there was a conflict with other lawyers in the firm. Buckingham came to the rescue on short notice to get Oliver through his first court appearance and to ensure full disclosure of evidence from the Crown. Prosecutor Elaine Reid says she should have all the evidence from police within two weeks. Oliver acknowledges he can’t afford Buckingham, who was forced to withdraw as solicitor of record this week. The preliminary inquiry was set for May 22, but that will likely be postponed now until the fall. Oliver was offered a particular legal-aid lawyer from Gander, but he is worried about that lawyer’s lack of experience in criminal law cases (none involving murder trials), and that the lawyer would not be readily accessible (Gander is a three-hour drive from St. John’s). “(The Crown and police) are doing everything, putting all their best resources to work against me. Why can’t I be as prepared with the best people available? We all know how big this case is for them, and for me. “And my life is on the line here. I can’t afford to have this shagged up. I can’t take that chance.” Oliver has an application before Supreme Court for the province to pay Buckingham’s private lawyer fees, but, in another catch-22, that application has yet to be heard because Oliver needs a lawyer to make the case for him. He has yet to seek bail for the same reason. Meantime, Oliver waits for the police to make another arrest. The RNC said in January they have “at least one other suspect,” but they’ve refused further comment on the case since then. Regardless, Oliver says he will plead not guilty. And he reminds people not to judge until they have all the facts. That’s especially true, he says, when it comes to recorded phone conversations given to the media by Shannon Murrin, who grew up near Oliver on Thorburn Road — close to the crime scene — and has also been questioned by police in the double-murder. While on the surface Oliver’s words seemed selfincriminating, he cautions there’s more to his story. “Nobody knows the situation, or where I was at the time. And nobody should jump to conclusions. Sometimes looks are deceiving, ya know? But it’s like you’re guilty until proven innocent. And this case is still wide open. “To tell ya the truth, I think I was pretty drunk at the time. I’m a different person when I’m drinking. Always have been. Anybody can tell ya that. A couple of beer and I may be fine. But if I gets into it, a few beers, or start drinkin’ the rum ... unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. “But I’m really no different than anyone else that way. I’d say a good 80 per cent of people I know changes when they’re drinking. Me? I’m one of those people who’s constantly on the phone when I drink.” It was Murrin, meanwhile, who accused Oliver of trying to finger him for the murders. Oliver believes that was just Murrin playing with the police. “Well, Shannon’s been around the law an awful long time. He knows the law like the back of his hand, and he will play with them. He likes that. He don’t care. And he never did.” As for the phone calls, Oliver admits it’s his voice on the other end, but “sometimes Shannon needs his cage rattled. So I might say things to try to rattle him ... and see if he’ll bite.” Asked if he believes Murrin has information that would help police, Oliver says yes. “But he’s a character. A person of interest. I know the cops are after approaching him a couple of times. But he’s pretty keen with the law. So I can’t say whether he might be arrested or not. “I mean, when they picked me up it really was a shock. And I don’t think it’s still sunk in — not 100 per cent. “There’s times I still wake up in my cell and think I’m home. Many times.” bmcallahan@hotmail.com

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS â&#x20AC;˘ 3

SCRUNCHINS

YOUR TOWN

The Stanley Cup made a trip to Afghanistan last week. Could it soon be making a stop in Newfoundland and Labrador? Above, Brigadier-General T.J. Grant (left), Dave (Tiger) Williams (centre in uniform), and General Rick Hillier stand with members from Hockey Team Canada and the Cup at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. Sgt. Roxanne Clowe/DND

A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia

s a journalist, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fascinating to attend an event first hand and then stand back and watch how the other media report it. On April 27, our Danny called reporters in Town together to take a public swing at his nemesis, Prime Minister Stephen â&#x20AC;&#x153;Steve the Sleeveâ&#x20AC;? Harper. (For the nonNewfoundlanders and Labradorians among us, reports have it that sleeve is a play on sleeveen.) Danny gave it to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Steve the Sleeve,â&#x20AC;? although he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do it in a rage. The premier didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose his cool for a moment, not from where I sat (about five feet away.) To start the scrum, a reporter joked with the premier about knowing how to â&#x20AC;&#x153;fill upâ&#x20AC;? a room. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know how to empty one too,â&#x20AC;? the premier joked back. He was relaxed, wearing jeans and a sports coat. There was laugher; the mood was almost jovial. More than one reporter commented later that Danny seemed in fine spirits. Contrast that to the headline later that day of the lead story on CBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national website: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Steveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is no buddy of mine, furious premier says. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen and heard Danny when heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spittinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nails (in my direction even), but he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t furious that day. What happened here? Was this a miscommunication, or is the CBC trying to contribute to the stereotype of Danny as a regional hothead? Whereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s David Cochrane when you need him? Oh thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right â&#x20AC;&#x201D; CBC Television sent him back to radio. For those who missed it, CBC Radio has also moved out of its downtown digs and relocated to CBC Televisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters off Prince Philip Drive. More and more it seems that CBC Television and Radio are melding into one. Math isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t my strong point, but doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that mean one less media voice in the province? And isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that a bad thing â&#x20AC;Ś WHINING AND COMPLAINING Danny gave a speech Thursday, May 3, to the Economic Club of Toronto. (The full text starts on page 1 this week, continuing on pages 8 and 9.) Speaking of media coverage, the premier took a shot at the Canadian press in his speech. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Recent national editorials â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which are not worthy of repeating â&#x20AC;&#x201D; summarize some of the more xenophobic attitudes towards me and my province,â&#x20AC;? Danny said. Hold on, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a Globe editorial headline here somewhere â&#x20AC;Ś oh yes, Newfoundlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fine, thank you very much, which ran in the March 24 edi-

tion, just after the release of the federal budget when â&#x20AC;&#x153;Steve the Sleeveâ&#x20AC;? broke his promise to Newfoundland and Labrador. The Globe sure got that headline wrong. The Williams administration didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a stain of Globe coverage last week when it handed down its good news budget. On the other hand, the premier pointed out, â&#x20AC;&#x153;when federal money went to Quebec to facilitate tax cuts, the story was still about Newfoundland and Labrador whining and complaining.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost like a conspiracy â&#x20AC;Ś

are energy policies, based primarily on oil and gas, secondly on nuclear reactors, and thirdly, on hydroelectricity, even though hydroelectricity is cheaper, more stable and, much more importantly, a renewable resource. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately, hydro resources are located, in the main, in northern Quebec and Labrador, and they can be neglected because political pressure groups are scarce, to say the least, from these areas.â&#x20AC;? Do you think â&#x20AC;&#x153;Steve the Sleeveâ&#x20AC;? would agree with that point â&#x20AC;Ś

CAESAR WILLIAMS Of course, life isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all peaches and cream for our fearless leader, Dan the Sultan of swatting whoever has it coming. Jim Meek, a columnist with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, wrote a piece this week headlined The next revolution in Newfoundland. Read the story, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Premier Danny Williams will win a stunning (and stunned) majority in the Newfoundland and Labrador election in October. And then his fortunes and public favour will plunge off the cliff at Cape Spear.â&#x20AC;? Meek wrote there are limits to the virtues of fighting spirits, as there are to the tenures of elected demagogues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today, in fact, the only people in Newfoundland who love Danny Williams are the people themselves. But while the man bestrides public opinion polls like a colossal Caesar, the huge butt of his ego is squishing the juice out of the provinceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once the voters catch on to this, it will be all over for Danny Williams. You see, Newfoundlanders tend to love their premiers for a while â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and then they turn on â&#x20AC;&#x2122;em.â&#x20AC;? That wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the case with our two Brians â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peckford and Tobin â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they took off for greener mainland pastures before the posse could run them down â&#x20AC;Ś

CHARACTER CLEARY Back to our Dannys â&#x20AC;Ś Mike Babcock, head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, described Danny Cleary of Riverhead, Harbour Grace, one of his star forwards in the Stanley Cup playoffs, as giving an â&#x20AC;&#x153;outstanding effort. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mean, we might have a better player in the playoffs, and if we do, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know who it is â&#x20AC;Ś heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a character guy and when you see character people do well, you feel very happy for them.â&#x20AC;? Some nice to see a Cleary doing well â&#x20AC;Ś TRUMP CONFEDERATION Cleary and his Wings are currently going head to head with Ryane Clowe of Fermeuse and his San Jose Sharks. Cleary has this to say recently of the possibility of him or Clowe winning the Cup. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The biggest thing that ever happened to Newfoundland, sports-wise, was winning the gold medal in curling (Brad Gushue) â&#x20AC;Ś bringing the Stanley Cup home would trump that. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be special. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be really big. I think it would be the biggest thing to happen to the province since we joined Canada.â&#x20AC;? ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca

ARROGANT ATTITUDE While on the topic of former premiers, the late Frank Moores gave a speech to the Empire Club of Canada in December 1976 on Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political and economic problems. At the time, Moores said growing regionalism challenged the â&#x20AC;&#x153;essenceâ&#x20AC;? of the federation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is based on the arrogant federal attitude that consultation is not necessary, but rather that decisions made in Ottawa are for the good of everybody, whether they like it or not,â&#x20AC;? Moores said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are fisheries policies, supposed to suit the Atlantic and Pacific coasts at the same time, even though conditions, markets and even the species of fish, are different â&#x20AC;Ś There

Scott Martin of St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s captured these winter scenes in Wesleyville and Poolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Island on the northeast coast of the island. Your Town is open to submissions from amateur photographers across Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information, or to send photos, contact paul.daly@theindependent.ca

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4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

MAY 4, 2007

IN THE COURTS

Her Honour

Time has come for woman lieutenant-governor: status of women By Ivan Morgan The Independent

David Ryan, 41, reviews his notes in court this week. Ryan, of Conception Bay North, is representing himself in his second degree murder trial of his half-sister Pauline Lane and the attempted murder of her husband Leslie Gosse in February 2006.

Danny Cooper, 23, is led into court by a sheriff’s officer this week. Cooper, of Bonavista, is accused of the Jan. 4, 2003 murder of Reggie Harris and attempted murder of Stephanie Marsh. He is also charged with arson and robbery. Paul Daly photos/The Independent

No cost-benefit study A spokesperson for Danny Williams’ office says the premier has no plans to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the province’s economic relationship with Canada. Former Liberal cabinet minister Walter Noel recently wrote a letter to the premier (printed in the April 13 edition of The Independent) asking Williams to commission a study of the financial consequences of confederation for Newfoundland and Labrador. The Independent completed a six-part cost-benefit analysis project in 2004. According to the numbers compiled by The Independent, while the province has benefited by $8.9 billion from the federation, Canada has received six times that, or $53.5 billion. — Ivan Morgan

ith current Lt.-Gov. Ed Roberts’ term set to end this fall, the president of the province’s women’s advisory council is calling for a woman to be chosen as his replacement. “We think it is time that a woman was appointed,” Leslie McLeod, president of the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women tells The Independent. “The time has come.” Roberts is the province’s 10th lieutenant-governor since Confederation, and the 10th male. The lieutenant-governor is appointed by the Governor General of Canada on the advice of the prime minister, usually in consultation with the premier of the province. While there is no official length of service, tradition dictates a term of five years. The province’s current lieutenant-governor was appointed in November 2002. The premier was asked if the current strained relations between the province and the PMO would affect the selection of the next lieutenantgovernor. In an e-mailed response, a spokeswoman says Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not consulted with the premier and so the premier has no comment. “We really are not involved in the process.” The role of the lieutenant-governor is largely symbolic and ceremonial in nature, with duties related to acting as the Queen’s representative in the province. In other provinces this position has been used to promote minorities such as aboriginal people, women, and persons of colour. The current Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, is a black woman whose family fled Haiti and came to Canada as refugees when she was a child. The previous Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, is of Chinese ancestry and also immigrated to Canada with her family as a young girl. “We would like to see someone who has likely done some strong work to advance women in our province and

Lieutenant-governor Ed Roberts.

who has demonstrated a real commitment to advancing social issues,” says McLeod. “We think that someone who has at least had some involvement in that would be ideal. “A woman with a strong sense of community, a strong commitment to community, and a strong commitment to advancing equality of women would be an ideal candidate.” McLeod says that when they realized a new lieutenant-governor was due to be chosen they “had some fun tossing around a few names.”

Paul Daly/The Independent

The lieutenant-governors of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, PEI and Quebec are women. Every other province has appointed at least one woman to the role in the past. McLeod acknowledges the decision lies with the prime minster’s office. “We have looked at this and have seriously considered women who would be good candidates,” says McLeod. “They are hopeful government will do the right thing and put a woman in place as our next lieutenantgovernor.”

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1.The Contest will run from May 4 – 25, 2007.The winner will be announced in the June 1, 2007 edition of The Independent. Entries may be mailed to Ryan Cleary at: The Independent, P.O. Box 5891, Stn. C, St. John’s, NL A1C 5X4 or by e-mailing ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca. No purchase necessary to qualify. 2. Text files can be up to 500 words. Submitted photographs must be a minimum size of 5"x7" @ 170 dpi. 3.The prizes cannot be redeemed for cash and are non-transferable. 4.The winner will be selected randomly. All entries must be received by The Independent by 5 p.m. Monday, May 28, 2007. 5.The contest is open to all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, with the exception of The Independent, prize sponsors, employees, agents, contractors or immediate family members. 6. In accepting the prize, the winner agrees to allow publication of their entry, name and photograph in The Independent for promotional purposes. All submissions may be published and edited for length and clarity. 8. By entering the contest, the contestants agree to accept the rules as stated. Greenspond, Ben Hansen photo

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5

Studded tire deadline extended

f you need to change your tires but can’t spare a minute, you’re in luck. The Department of Government Services has extended the deadline for studded tire removal to May 31 from April 30. A department spokesperson says it’s “not uncommon” for the province to extend the winter tire removal period if it is thought winter conditions might continue into the spring months. The deadline was also extended in 2004 by a month. The fine for not removing studded tires in time is $23. “Say someone’s living up on the Northern Peninsula for instance, there’s a possibility of having winter weather and it’s safer for them to leave on their tires. It allows them to do that without being penalized under the regulations,” the spokesperson says. John Barry, senior project engineer at the City of St. John’s, says there will be some adverse effect of studded tires on the province’s bare asphalt, but it is almost impossible to calculate the financial cost. Barry was unable to say how much physical damage studs cause the roads. He said several factors are considered, including the mix of components in the asphalt that will determine the amount of “raveling.” Barry says studded tires are unnecessary in the capital city and on the province’s highways due to ample salting. He recommends wellmaintained winter tires to ensure safe driving. — Mandy Cook

‘No plans whatsoever’ A spokesperson for Premier Danny Williams says there are “no plans whatsoever” to nationalize Newfoundland Power. The recent Speech from the Throne used the term “masters of our own house,” borrowed from the 1960s rallying cry of Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. A key aspect of that era was the nationalization of the province’s private electric companies. With Newfoundland Hydro already a Crown corporation, The Independent asked the premier if there was any movement afoot by the provincial government to nationalize the Fortis-owned Newfoundland Power. The spokesperson said it was not under consideration. — Ivan Morgan

Teachers, not textbooks, are priority: union By John Rieti The Independent

he province invested more than $43 million in kindergarten to Grade 12 education in its recent budget, but Kevin Foley, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association, says government has its priorities wrong. Government will now pay for all school textbooks, and aims to improve infrastructure in schools across the province. “I’ve got no problem with putting treadmills and rowing machines in schools,” Foley tells The Independent. “I’ve got no problem with the government paying for textbooks, but when the children in that same school have to go months, sometimes years, without someone to test them, I have some questions.” Education Minister Joan Burke says the provincial government has done plenty for teachers in this budget by maintaining the number of jobs, even adding some, despite the fact there will be 2,500 fewer students in the school system this year. The provincial government has also contributed $2 billion to teacher pensions. Foley says the $13 million textbook and school supply purchase was a political move. “I think it’s more politically expedient to appeal to the public and to say ‘we’re going to pay for all your books,’” he says.

Education Minister Joan Burke

Burke denies this and says the budget has to reflect the desires of parents and students as well as teachers. She says the investment in textbooks builds on last year’s decision to eliminate school fees, adding her goal is to make school accessible to all students and to make sure “we don’t expose them to the face of poverty as soon as they get in the door.” Both Burke and Foley are focused on two studies scheduled to be released this month. One examines the Individualized Student Specialized Plan (ISSP) system and the other looks at the current teacher

allocation model. The ISSP system helps around 14,000 students who face classroom challenges ranging from cognitive delays to basic remedial issues by providing them with specialized academic plans. Foley says the teachers he represents can provide these plans, but are too overloaded to implement them. “Those children remain in the classroom … unable to grasp what is going on.” He says the study will identify this problem, and government “knows what the answers are” — but failed to invest in a solution. “The problems kids face aren’t going to be fixed,” he says. Burke hasn’t received either study yet, but says both are extremely important. Her department will conduct a full analysis of both. Burke and Foley agree the teacher allocation model — which determines how many teachers a school needs, based simply on its student enrollment — is a problem. Burke says her department is searching for a new way to assign teachers to schools, and has already implemented some temporary solutions, such as capping class sizes. Grade 3 classes cannot exceed 25 students, and the department’s goal is to keep all kindergarten to Grade 9 class sizes under 20 students. john.rieti@theindependent.ca

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Williams and his party applaud the recent Speech from the Throne.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Quiet riot

Is province using Quebec’s Quiet Revolution as blueprint for revival? by Ivan Morgan The Independent

n last week’s Speech from the Throne, the Williams administration used the phrase “masters of our own house” to describe its economic goals for the future. The term carries great significance in Canadian political history. It is how (“maîtres chez nous”) Quebec politicians ushered in the “Quiet Revolution” — a period that saw Quebec gain control of its social and economic destiny and give birth to the separatist movement. Memorial University professor Robert Sweeny says, while Quebec’s Quiet Revolution was not primarily economic, the Williams Throne Speech indicates theirs is. Sweeny says Newfoundland and Labrador can learn from Quebec’s mistakes “You shouldn’t think of the Quiet Revolution as primarily an economic issue,” Sweeny tells The Independent. “It was much more a provincial government assuming its responsibility and secularizing, that’s the main element of it.” By 1959 Maurice Duplessis had been Quebec’s premier for 30 years, a time some Quebec historians refer to as “les années noires” (the dark years). Churches, primarily Roman Catholic, operated most social institutions, such as schools, hospitals and social welfare establishments, with the province merely supervising. After his sudden death in 1959, Duplessis’ successor, Paul Sauve, gave a speech outlining his vision for Quebec’s future. Considered one of the greatest speeches in Canadian political history, it was progressive and optimistic, signalling the ushering in of a new, liberal era. The speech galvanized Quebecers. Sauve died 100 days later. The dream did not. A group of young Quebecois, led by Liberal Jean Lesage, stepped forward to lead the province. Lesage was leader, but his cabinet con-

tained assertive and ambitious young men like René Lévesque. They had plans to remodel Quebec, wresting control of social programs from the churches and looking to gain control of the province’s economy. “Where the issue became economic was in the second election associated with the Quiet Revolution, the election in 1962,” says Sweeny. Sweeny says Lévesque pushed for the nationalization of a number of power companies in southern Quebec so they could turn Hydro Quebec — a power distribution company “kind of like Newfoundland Power” — into a major energy company. At that time most electrical generation was private. NATIONAL NEWS While Lesage feared nationalization would alienate the English business community, the younger members of his cabinet, led by Lévesque, pushed for it. The 1962 provincial election was fought on that single issue — the nationalizing of all 11 of Quebec’s private power companies. The Lesage Liberals’ rallying cry was “masters of our own house.” Lesage won and Hydro Quebec was built. Sweeny says this led the way for the creation of other powerful Quebec institutions, such as the Quebec pension fund, developed separately from the Canadian fund. This put cash in the hands of the Quebec government, creating, he says, the largest active corporate investor in Canada, and paying out better benefits for Quebecers than CPP did for Canadians in other provinces. Sweeny says Lesage’s 1962 victory gave him “a very active mandate to use those billions of dollars to further economic mastery.” Sweeny says there were a number of initiatives financed by the pension fund that allowed large-scale assets — like power companies and pension funds — to come under the control of the new

government. At the same time, the province took over control of areas that were run by the church, such as hospitals, schools, and social welfare systems. As masters in their own house, the Quebec government was protective of its jurisdiction, not allowing any federal interference. Sweeny uses the example of the Canada Health Act. Other provinces made deals with Ottawa for national health standards set and funded by the federal government but administered by the provinces. That was not acceptable in Quebec. While terrorist violence by a small group of Quebec separatists calling themselves the FLQ ended the optimism of the Quiet Revolution, Sweeny says most historians agree its completion came in the early 1970s when Quebec, under Premier Robert Bourassa, wrested control of health care from doctors and started their own version of Medicare. When asked why the Williams administration used the term “masters of our own house,” Sweeny says natural resources are a provincial responsibility. “So I think they are speaking more along those lines than they are about education, health, or social services,” he says Sweeny says Newfoundland and Labrador can learn from the mistakes Quebec made during the Quiet Revolution. He says successive Quebec governments didn’t take into account regional interests, making decisions from Quebec City for all of Quebec. He says if Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial government does not take into account “the crippling reality off the Avalon that is contemporary Newfoundland, it will be a very, very poor strategy.” “We should learn that lesson,” says Sweeny. ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

Join host Shelley Pardy as she speaks with some of the provinces leading environmental groups, businesses and individuals. Every Monday from 4-5pm on 93.5FM www.chmr.ca Miss the show? Download the podcast at www.nlen.ca Green Speak Radio is sponsored by: The Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Network, The Western Environment Centre, MUN Project Green,Wellness Coalition St. John’s Region, 93.5FM CHMR

6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

MAY 4, 2007

‘Are there realistic alternatives to Canada?’

wo weeks ago some of my comments regarding the future of Newfoundland and Labrador were featured in the pages of The Independent (‘Is there a better way?’by Katie Hyslop). I offered various suggestions and possibilities to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. For example, I argued we should not fear nationalism (but recognize its moral legitimacy). I suggested that Canada is a multination state, and that we should embrace multinational federalism. These ideas are neither particularly new nor controversial. They have been at the heart of Quebec politics at least since the election of the Jean Lesage government in 1960. The interview suggested other less conventional possibilities. I proposed, for example, a serious discussion on secession (not as a threat — but simply one option among many) and consideration in clear academic terms whether and how independence might work. I would like to be perfectly clear that I am not a separatist, and I am not promoting secession. My first option is a multination model of Canadian federalism. My intention in raising the question of secession pertains solely to merit and feasibility. The logic is conditional: if Confederation cannot work for Newfoundland and Labrador, then its citizens must initiate a realistic discussion about alternatives. My position is motivated, in part, by the simple fact

MICHAEL TEMELINI

Guest Column too obvious to mention: that the constitutional status quo is unacceptable. Moreover, the Government of Canada has no intention of altering the situation, and Newfoundland and Labrador has no bargaining power within Canada. The ease with which Ottawa was so cleverly willing to undermine our interests with respect to equalization and the Atlantic Accord is only one case in point. In fact, there are so few examples in which the federal government has championed Newfoundland’s interests, it is an amazing testament to the patience and goodwill of the people of the province that a credible secessionist movement did not emerge long ago. Some might reply that compromise is the foundation of federalism and that we should be satisfied with what we have now. But compromise is not capitulation — it is the negotiated outcome of contested principled positions. So how does the province strengthen its negotiating position? And at what point do we stop compromising and decide we’ve had enough? Are there realistic alternatives to Canada?

Perhaps for guidance we could look to other neighbouring island states, nations, and territories. For example, with only a fraction of our population and resources, Iceland is a developed sovereign state. Can we join it and other North Atlantic territories in a new political or economic arrangement? One idea that’s been floating around is membership in a European body, such as the European Economic Area, or the European Union. The point I would like to convey is that joining Europe should not be dismissed outright. It is no more ridiculous a proposition than to suggest the same for other neighbouring North Atlantic territories. Given their history and proximity, does it make any sense that Greenland and Iceland are parts of Europe? It would not be absurd for Icelanders to seek full EU membership (rather than Canadian Confederation) so why would it be ridiculous for Newfoundland? To those who still think the idea is weird I would remind you that until 1949 this province was part of Europe — not Canada. The question I am raising pertains only to the feasibility and merit of rejoining. Some people may think the suggestion is completely absurd — pure fantasy. The politics of the situation preclude any serious consideration of these ideas. The EU would never allow mem-

bership to a break-away Canadian province. The United States of America would never recognize Newfoundland independence. And yet, absurd things tend to happen in international politics. My position is inspired in part from my students at Memorial University, most of whom come from the multiplicity of towns and villages of this province. What I hear and learn from them is not just a love for this place, but also resignation, a quiet desperate hopelessness, and an understated sense of frustration about the future. For most there is no other option but emigration. How many young people do you know who are planning to leave? I know too many. I’ve had the honour of meeting some of the most intelligent and creative young minds Canada could possibly offer. And yet they see no future here. We are witnessing an entire generation of Newfoundlanders without hope, without enthusiasm, without access to meaningful, steady employment. An entire generation of mariners, musicians, scientists, doctors, writers, engineers, and philosophers are being lost. The statistics support my case. With almost no public debate, the 2006 census released earlier this year revealed that the province is slowly depopulating. If demographic trends continue, there will be very few people living outside of Labrador mining towns, and the greater St. John’s area.

To the youth, I say there is a better way. There are political solutions to the decline of the outports. I’m not suggesting that economic decline and depopulation are entirely Canada’s fault. But Canada does bear some responsibility for refusing either to recognize or help solve these problems. Since the cod moratorium, the Government of Canada has offered no clear vision to address the economic and demographic crisis. In many respects, Canada simply does not know or care that this 500-year-old civilization is disappearing. The situation demands much, much more than equalization payments or handouts. One of the frustrating aspects of Newfoundland politics is that there are so few new or young voices, and in fact so little open public dialogue about alternatives. Tired old battles are continually rehearsed, and the same predictable old lines are already predetermined. Everyone seems to already know each other’s position. We are too easily organized into familiar camps and categories. That stubborn, cantankerous refusal to even consider other possibilities will spell the end of Newfoundland. Michael Temelini teaches political science at Memorial University. Ryan Cleary’s column, Fighting Newfoundlander, returns next week.

YOUR VOICE An inconvenient Newfoundland truth Dear editor Just wanted to raise a point or two about what seems to be the crusade for independence by you and your newspaper. To quote from your April 27th column, Vive les b’ys by Ryan Cleary: “The only way for this place to move forward is with the ultimate threat of doing for ourselves. The self-sufficiency strategy certainly worked for Quebec.” So reads, in part, your latest column. Are you sure about that? Maybe the knife-to-the-throat approach has resulted in more money for Quebec, but you probably know that La Belle Province is still a have-not province. According to my favourite dismal scientist, Wade Locke, Quebec still receives equalization payments, despite having some major advantages: a critical mass of population (7.5 million people is surely enough to achieve a service-based economy), as well as a goodly share of that eternal golden goose egg — Ottawa/Hull. And finally, proximity to the American and Ontario markets in all their vastness. I think it’s arguable that an economy based on extortion ultimately makes a province (or a person) lazy and unable to “do for themselves.” Think about it, with all Quebec has going for it, including upper Churchill power, it still receives equalization payments, just like us.

The other issue I want to raise is one of basic honesty. In all your musings it seems the assumption is that Labrador will happily accompany Newfoundland on the rosy road to separation. I doubt it! I’m originally from Labrador and unless I misread things totally the sentiments expressed by you and your newspaper do not resonate there in the slightest. Much more likely is that Labrador would assume territorial status like the Yukon or that Quebec would somehow contrive to right what it sees as an historic wrong. All bets would be off and the potential for serious problems, perhaps even including violence, would be there. An inconvenient truth (to borrow Al Gore’s phrase) is that Newfoundland will almost certainly leave Canada without Labrador, without Churchill Falls (upper and lower), without Voisey’s Bay, without the apparently vast amounts of natural gas off the Labrador coast and without all the other resources that you and Premier Danny Williams are perhaps banking on. Maybe the island will make a viable economic entity on its own, I really don’t know. But until you honestly tackle this issue then you leave yourself open to a charge, I think, of dilettantism at best and deception at worst. Then again, perhaps you are just trying to get people talking. David Paddon, St. John’s

‘Best of luck Anne’ Dear editor, This letter is in response to an April 20th Independent article, Woman of Labrador, Anne of the island, by Susan Rendell, profiling Anne Budgell. I have known Anne for a long time, since she hosted Fisherman’s Broadcast in the 1980s. I have done many interviews (100 plus) with her over the years and I found her a very intelligent and pas-

sionate person and she loved to talk about Labrador. By the time you read this Anne will have retired from CBC Radio. She will certainly be missed by many listeners. Best of luck Anne in your retirement or any future endeavours you may undertake. Your friend, Captain Wilfred Bartlett, Brighton

‘What has happened to Canada?’ Dear editor, Oprah Winfrey recently aired a show over the controversy in the States about racist and sexist comments made by Don Imus. Justifiably so, his show was cancelled and hopefully it sent a message to our social consciousness that these comments are no longer acceptable anywhere. I read an article by Jonathan Kay in the National Post (Maîtres chez Newf, April 25) by Jonathan Kay and asked myself how is he any different from Imus? To belittle any society, especially a group deemed to be poorer, should not be tolerated. Whether it is bigotry, prejudice, sexism, discrimination, or derogatory comments they are all under the same umbrella of racism. It is disturbing for me to read this article and know someone with such contempt for one group has such a position that his comments, are important anyway. Kay should lose his job, or his editor should, same as Imus. I am a world traveler and a proud

Newfoundlander. While traveling in Asia it is common to hear other Canadians (only Canadians) blatantly say derogatory things about Newfoundland and express so many ignorant sentiments. Too often, I have heard my fellow Canadians preach to foreigners about why we are “stupid” and “poor.” Each time I am left speechless, especially when it is expressed by people from a “politically correct” society like Canada. There is no arguing with ignorance so often I accept the person as a bigot and walk away. Ignoring this bigotry and taking the high road isn’t always easy. This continuous expression of ignorance and arrogance widens the gap and makes me defensive (like now) and I become more of a Newfoundlander and less proud to be a Canadian. If people like Mr. Kay would refrain from expressing their ignorant opinions then maybe we could be more patriotic towards Canada.

Instead, some of us feel shame, confusion and hurt about why some Canadians resent us. Of course, we have the right to express our opinions but Mr. Kay and others should limit their comments to the individuals and not attack our entire province. We are aware of our financial problems and maybe that is why Danny Williams throws “hissy fits” against those that have such disrespect for his people and their troubles. Our economic troubles are symbolic of greater problems that cannot be solved with prejudice. If Mr. Kay were a true Canadian he would not further degrade Newfoundlanders but try to understand us wanting to do better and be more self-sufficient. What has happened to Canada? When we allow someone to express such deplorable feelings toward a culture in a national paper? Lisa O’Neill, Fermeuse

Time for independent audit of Confederation 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

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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

Dear editor, The Independent’s cost-benefit analysis of Confederation can only be explained as an eye-opener regarding the real crux of the problem facing Newfoundland and Labrador’s place within Canada. For the first time in black and white Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, myself included, received some sense of the fiscal imbalance Canada has levied upon our people. While I believe myself to be well-informed in terms of Newfoundland and Labrador’s inequity within the Canadian federation, I have to admit that my estimates were well off the numbers presented to us by Ryan Cleary and Sue Dyer, and I guess it’s that realization which makes me somewhat nervous. I’m nervous because we have not presented a coherent case for a better

financial arrangement within Confederation. Every time Danny Williams pushes for a renewal of the former Atlantic Accord agreement he is seen by Canadians living “across the Gulf” as someone who wants to “have his cake and eat it too,” as it was recently put to us. We can’t, as a people fighting for fair treatment, expect the public, and indeed the Canadian government, to understand we get the short end of the Confederation stick with the current information at their disposal. Even the injustice of the upper Churchill agreement is not well understood by other provinces. The Independent’s own polling conducted in Ontario and Quebec in November 2005 demonstrated people in those two provinces were relatively uninformed about the issue of hydroelectric power generated from Labrador’s Churchill River,

let alone the lopsidedness of the contract. And why would they be better informed? Do any of us know anything of the fiscal capacity of New Brunswick, or even Ontario? The only thing other provinces in Canada ever see of us is media reports on a decimated fishery and out-migration. Rather than citing Stephen Harper as a promise breaker, I believe it is the duty of Mr. Williams to get a full independent audit of how much Newfoundland and Labrador contributes to Confederation as opposed to how much it extracts. This is the only way to demonstrate that we are anything but a drain on the country. I think once these irrefutable facts are presented, a more fiscally balanced arrangement could be possible. Todd Benson, Nova Scotia

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7

Are we the scumbags? R ight off the top, for those who think I should lay off the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan, I reply: “Nuts.” The Conservative government is facing allegations of turning a blind eye to the torture of detainees in Afghanistan. Looks like we have been knowingly turning over prisoners to the Afghan government — the folks we are supposedly “helping” — so they could then torture them for information or, for all we know, amusement. Torture is a motherhood issue. One would think that the response to any allegation of torture would be outrage. Until, that is, you read some of the responses in the media. In the wake of the Globe and Mail’s superb journalism on torture and human rights abuses of detainees in Afghanistan, the outrage seems to be limited to the ranks of the Opposition. The government is denying the allegations, hiding behind the troops, wrapping themselves in the flag, getting caught out on every denial, and generally behaving despicably. Afghan war defenders in the media are trotting out increasingly weaker and more repulsive arguments to defend their case. Jonathan Kay of the truly dreadful National Post wrote “This is a war, not a grad seminar.” Leaving aside his sneering contempt for graduate seminars — where, even if he did attend one, he apparently learned nothing — Kay suggests having the Afghans torture detainees is the best we can hope for right now. Otherwise, we would either have to bring in many more troops to run things, or leave and doom the people of Afghanistan to medieval lives. Why is this spun as our problem? Shouldn’t this be the problem of the Afghan government? As in, stop the torture or we go home and you are screwed? Why is the Afghan government not moving heaven and earth to show this is not true, or put a quick stop to this? Aren’t they already being medieval, with our help? Much is written and said about the great respect the Afghan government has for the sacrifice Canadians are making. Where is that respect? Show us. Why am I reading dire predictions of the fate of the Afghan people if we leave? Amnesty

IVAN MORGAN

Rant & Reason

International, which reports serious concerns regarding the torture of prisoners at the hands of the Afghan government, states Afghanistan has “… an obligation under international law to protect the right to life and to prevent torture and other illtreatment on its territory and within its jurisdiction.” Duh. The Conservatives and their apologists are all about getting tough. They want to get tough on things. Me too. I am all about getting tough with Afghan “President” Hamid Karzai. He wouldn’t last 10 minutes without American and NATO protection. We should lean on him to clean this up. One only has to read Margaret Wente’s astonishing column The prisoners’ dilemma to see the mess we are in. Google it. She is way out in “Huh?” territory. As I read it my mouth hung open in amazement. I think every Canadian Forces soldier on active duty in Afghanistan and each and every one of their loved ones should read her “wake up and smell the coffee” piece on how there is no doubt the Afghan government tortures prisoners Canadian troops capture and hand over. As an outraged friend far wiser than I pointed out in an e-mail, “And this is Canada post-Arar enquiry!” Canada’s role in Afghanistan seems to be this: we are sending young people to fight and possibly die for people whose own government thinks torture is OK. We have to stay there to fight the “bad guys” who, we are told, are even worse. With the revelation that we have been knowingly handing over prisoners to local Afghans who beat, cut, electrocute, freeze, and otherwise abuse them, I have to paraphrase the words of Rick Hillier, the straight-talking Newfoundlander general. Are we the scumbags? ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

YOUR VOICE ‘Maybe God is trying to tell us something’ Dear editor, The Catholic Church is calling on the public’s assistance in funding the restoration of the Basilica in St. John’s, this on the heels of homes being lost in Daniel’s Harbour. Maybe God is trying to tell us something. The church is old and, in my mind, an unsafe eyesore, a real ugly dinosaur. The Basilica obviously doesn’t have the congregation to keep it going. Add to this the beautiful view that’s being wasted day in, day out, night in, night out. I say tear it down and put up condominiums and let people enjoy the view. They can rebuild the church on what should be considered

a humble piece of land, that’s what a church should be — humble, not rich. The rock from the Basilica could be used to build a bridge from Signal Hill to the Southside, extending the walking trail and giving people a view of cruise ships as they come in. An appropriate name could be Basilica Bridge. Wouldn’t it be nice for cruise ship tourists to travel under that bridge? My last word on this is that the Catholic Church set the precedent for this when they tore down Mount Cashel. Marian Walsh, Conception Bay South

‘The consummate brown icon’ Dear editor, A couple of observations to preface my question and suggestion: 1) Many residents in St. John’s have seen VOCM’s painted Hummer. The other week I had the opportunity to speak with the person driving the vehicle, and express my great (and negative) surprise that such a successful and well-known business, with such intelligent and well-known personalities, should be represented by a Hummer driving casually around town: the consummate brown icon. 2) This morning The Independent’s painted vehicle was idling in line at a St. John’s Tim Hortons; I pointed out to the driver that this was definitely not a positive green image. Again: a successful and well-known enterprise with lots of public support. What’s up?

Are there guidelines on environmental ethics? If not, I feel that it is in everybody’s (and the planet’s) interests if this was the case. Personally (and in the opinion of my family and all my friends) I think it is truly shocking that painted and idling company vehicles would be conspicuously acting against our (and the planet’s) collective self-interest. One could multiply these examples, which seem small but in fact are momentous. I’m sure there are lots of counter-examples, but positive actions so often go unnoticed and under-reported. Green should become a creed, and all businesses should be showing off their commitment and attitudes, with real actions, green vehicles, environmentally responsible behaviour, etc. Ted Miller, St. John’s

Feds should not allow ‘novices’ on the Front Dear editor, Let us imagine Lady Heather is at the Front cuddling a seal pup and Sir Paul is standing nearby, beaming his approval. A thousand yards away a sealer is doing a balancing act on slippery ice with a loaded gun intent on killing a seal. The sealer looses his footing, the firearm accidentally discharges, and Sir Paul is wounded by the stray bullet. Now the feds are liable for damages (probably millions) because they allowed the celebrities to enter a dangerous zone where firearms are being discharged (the feds shooting themselves in the foot with our money). We also pay the wages of DFO officers to see that sealers kill seals humanely, not to divide their duties by having to watch out for the safety of Sir Paul and a host of other novices who are on the ice in a killing zone where firearms are being dis-

charged. I ask myself, what has changed? The difference is, we are now using high-power rifles and not the traditional gaffs to kill seals. The rifles used by sealers use soft-nosed bullets that mushroom in the seal, killing the animal instantly. Unfortunately the same bullet can blow a hole in you a mile wide at a distance of more than a mile. Adding to the confusion, I understand there is not a “no-fly zone” over this hazardous area where firearms are being discharged. The irony is the feds spend millions of dollars promoting safety, yet they allow novices on the ice in unsafe conditions. The bottom line: effective immediately, the feds should not allow novices on the ice because of unsafe conditions that will put their lives in danger. Chas Luter, Buchans

7e love celebrations too.

YOUR VOICE Are think tanks paid to think? Dear editor, Why are the neo-conservatives so effective at lying these days? As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pointed out in a 2005 speech entitled, We must take America back, the answers lie in the fact that both Canada and the United States are facing grave threats to an independent free press and a politically educated, involved citizenry. What we now have are huge disconnects in place that blind us to what the realities of current situations are. In North America, large corporate donations from oil and gas, pharmaceutical and other self-interested industries to “think tanks,” which in turn fund pundits to preach their industry’s causes in the media, seem to be a major source of these disconnects. Some Canadians believe that if we actually got tougher with the oil companies, we would suffer economically. This is a disconnect that is purveyed by the right-wing think tanks that are funded by North American oil and gas companies, a disconnect that doesn’t play out internationally. For example, the government take for oil and gas resources in Norway is fairly huge at 77 per cent. Yet, Norway has the sixth most competitive economy in the world, as ranked by a 2006 report of global competitiveness of the World Economic Forum. Canada lags behind at No. 16 on that same list. In fact, Sweden — the best country in terms of meeting its Kyoto emissions for greenhouse gases — has the third most competitive economy in the world. Yet, Stephen Harper’s government seems to continually argue that Canadians must choose between the environment and the economy. As it relates to greenhouse gases, one of the

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Reuters

current sources of the disconnect in Canada is that greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta went up 42 per cent between 1990-2003, and Alberta’s Environment minister has warned that Alberta’s emissions will increase further by another third in the not-too-distant future. This is a staggering increase for a single province that is unparalleled by any other province. Nevertheless, I am sure that Harper will again try to argue that the fault of increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the last 15 years is all the fault of the Liberals. Well, at least the Albertan ones ... all two of them. Is it any wonder that Newfoundland wants out of this madhouse? Robert Miller, Halifax, N.S.

MAY 4, 2007

8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9

IN CAMERA

‘It’s not separation we crave, but respect’ From page 1

I learned from experience that the potential was there to achieve great success in Newfoundland and Labrador. But after years of experience, I was also frustrated that so many opportunities for growth were being missed, lost or mismanaged. Napoleon said, “Leaders are dealers in hope.” And my goal was to launch our province on the road to hope and prosperity. This is why I fight so passionately and vocally against federal leaders when they let us down. Disraeli once said, “The English nation is never so great as in adversity.” Newfoundland and Labrador is no different. Let me share with you the facts about our province and then you can make your own informed decision about what Newfoundland and Labrador really stands for. When we joined confederation almost 58 years ago, we had cash in the bank, but our per-capita debt increased tenfold the very day we joined. We were a nation that had come through the war in good financial shape and abundant in natural resources. Since confederation, things have changed. For starters, we gave away our right to manage the offshore oil and gas resources that we didn’t fully realize we had at the time. We passed them over to Canada, even though other jurisdictions in the country fully own and manage their resources because they are under ground instead of under water. In the late ’60s, we also lost most of the return on our upper Churchill hyrdopower resource to Quebec, which received an outrageously-lopsided contract for 70 years to buy and sell our power after the federal government refused to allow Newfoundland and Labrador to transmit our power through Quebec. Our loss is estimated at $1.3 billion minimum every year — a billion dollars from our resource that goes directly into Quebec’s revenues. Our return is approximately $75 million annually. And yet this year once again, we see Quebec receive massive benefits from equalization changes while Newfoundland and Labrador is made to beg for what was promised. At the time of the upper Churchill contract, the Prime Minister of the day told our premier the price of doing otherwise could have been civil unrest in Quebec. Sounds extreme. But the reality is that we made the sacrifice for the sake of national unity. In entering confederation, we also lost the power to manage our fisheries, and Ottawa in turn used its control of our fishery to trade quotas to other countries in so doing, it mismanaged some species of our domestic fishery to the point of commercial extinction. As a result of this mismanagement, tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave our province. But even in the face of that great adversity, accepting defeat was never an option for us. We are determined to cultivate greater moral autonomy — no longer letting others decide what is good for us; but finding our moral compass within and defining our own values and priorities. We are cultivating greater cultural autonomy and projecting ourselves as a distinct, innovative, determined, courageous and confident people. And we are cultivating greater financial autonomy by acting responsibly, strategically and competitively. It’s not separation we crave, but respect. Self-respect breeds self-confidence, self-determination and selfreliance, economically and socially. Our change in attitude started slowly after the collapse of the ground fishery. We started by diversifying into the shellfish industry and we have recently invested unprecedented amounts of money in aquaculture opportunities. And we have turned to new economic opportunities including our burgeoning oil and gas sector, which has helped to define the new face of Newfoundland and Labrador. Just recently, John Lau, CEO of Husky Energy stated that the relationship between his company and our province is so transparent that it has resulted in a level of trust that is unusual between companies and governments. Last week, our provincial budget forecasted a surplus of $261 million, which is an affirmation of the direction our government has taken. Improved revenues, a strengthened economy and fiscal responsibility have given our province the capacity to make strategic investments in

The Newfoundland National Convention (1946-48) debated the Dominion’s future post commission government.

Terra Nova production platform.

priority areas. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business commended it as a model budget for Atlantic Canada. In our budget, we announced $32 million specifically for both business attraction and business grants, in addition to more than $70 million in business assistance programs for various sectors. When you add to this our very competitive business tax regimes, Newfoundland and Labrador has a great deal to offer investors. But absolutely nothing compares with our bountiful supply of energy. We may not have Alberta’s oil sands, but collectively Newfoundland and Labrador has a tremendous diversity of energy assets. The upper Churchill is one of the world’s greatest hydroelectric-generating stations, and at the lower Churchill river development, there flows one of the continent’s great untapped sources of hydroelectricity; a clean renewable energy source of 2,800 megawatts just waiting to be developed. That is enough power to light up 1.5 million homes. The Churchill river developed in total would be the clean equivalent of 225,000 barrels of oil a day forever and the equivalent of taking three million cars off the road. Clean electricity at its very finest. If the federal government wants a green initiative, there is no better place to start. In addition, Labrador has the best wind power regime in North America. And we are working with your Premier

Sandor Fizli

NL Archives

Churchill Falls power lines.

Paul Daly/The Independent

MP Loyola Hearn had Stephen Harper’s ear long before he was prime minister. MP Peter MacKay looks on.

Crab fishing off Bay Bulls.

Dalton McGuinty to see if we can deliver some of this energy right here in Ontario where you so desperately need it. Our challenge is to get cooperation from Quebec and let me tell you they do not make it easy. But we are extremely pleased by the approach of Ontario’s government and particularly the support of Minister Dwight Duncan who has said that this project is an exciting one for your province. The Ontario government is also a staunch supporter of an east-west power grid, which is fundamental to effectively meeting the future energy needs across this great country. Unfortunately, Quebec is fundamentally opposed to such a concept with federal government involvement. I cannot understand how opposing such a wonderful national initiative can be considered good for the country — especially in these days of climate change and environmental urgency. Without Quebec’s cooperation, the alternative for our province will be that we send our power south to New Brunswick and the U.S. They are equally as hungry and this is a very feasible and real option that we are actively pursuing right now due to stumbling blocks in Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador simply cannot allow ourselves to be restricted by a province that monopolizes power transmission. I am hopeful that Quebec will choose

Paul Daly/The Independent

to work with us, as opposed to against us, as we start to move this project forward. Stranded clean energy in Labrador and the Northwest Territories is a green setback for the country. And I would hope that they would not oppose potential federal participation, just as we do not oppose the substantial federal contributions and industry subsidies that annually bolster the Quebec economy. As all provinces do, we depend upon federal government dollars to an extent but we have also made substantial and meaningful contributions to this country. For example, over the course of the life of our current offshore oil and gas projects, the federal government will receive an estimated $20 billion, and our nickel from Voisey’s Bay helps to employ workers in Ontario and Manitoba thereby feeding into your economies. If you extrapolate the numbers in simplistic terms, it is estimated that 25 per cent of INCO’s Sudbury workforce and 38 per cent of the Thompson workforce are employed as the result of nickel coming from Newfoundland and Labrador. So contrary to some myths, we do contribute to this great country. Newfoundland and Labrador’s three offshore oil projects to date have generated about $11 billion for the companies, $5 billion for the federal government and $2 billion for my province. We have used our new revenues to pay down debt, eliminate our deficit and ulti-

mately achieve credit rating upgrades from our three bond rating agencies. These revenues have enabled us to turn the fiscal corner and among other things implement personal income tax cuts. People may say, “well, things cannot be too bad in your province if you are implementing tax cuts and announcing surpluses.” But that is far too simplistic a reaction. We all know that competitive tax regimes are critical to economic diversification and success. With a competitive business tax regime and now with a competitive personal tax regime we are able to offer our province as an even more attractive place to invest. Ironically, Newfoundland and Labrador has been described disparagingly as the poor cousin of Confederation — as defeatists who do not want to or know how to take care of ourselves. Recent national editorials — which are not worthy of repeating — summarize some of the more xenophobic attitudes towards me and my province. These same papers disparage us and berate our position. But when I sent an opinion editorial piece to the Globe and Mail to defend our position, they refused to print it. When our province brought down our fiscally and socially responsible budget last week, our best budget in decades, not one word was printed. Not a story, not a sidebar, not a mention. When federal money went to Quebec to facilitate tax cuts, the story was still about Newfoundland and Labrador whin-

ing and complaining. When we as a province implement tax cuts on our own merit and financial responsibility, they do not bother to report that to the rest of the country. A misinformed author of the Western Standard recently implied that my province has a “culture of defeat” and — I assume this was my biggest offence of all — I actually had the nerve to insist that the Prime Minister keep an election commitment. The same Prime Minister who attributed a culture of defeat to all Atlantic Canadians in 2002. A Prime Minister named Stephen Harper who in 2001 said that Liberal ridings west of Winnipeg are “dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from Eastern Canada: people who live in ghettos and who are not integrated in Western Canadian society.” A sad commentary indeed. And to be clear, the Prime Minister’s commitment — given verbally and in writing on countless occasions — was that non-renewable natural resource revenues would be removed from the equalization formula. His promise had nothing to do with protecting the Atlantic Accord as he claims today. Those words were never even mentioned by him when he was looking for our votes. In promising to remove non-renewable resource revenues from the equalization formula, he explained his reason of economic development by saying “the hope

Paul Daly/The Independent

Lineup for an Alberta job fair, held at the Capital Hotel in St. John’s last October. Paul Daly/The Independent

is if you leave the resource royalties there, they will generate over time much larger permanent revenue flows in other areas which is what the experience in Alberta has been.” So you can imagine my surprise when in this years budget that promise was not only ignored; but the Prime Minister decided to also penalize us while bolstering other provinces like Quebec. In addition, he has decided to unilaterally make changes to the Atlantic Accord, which we fought so hard to achieve with Paul Martin’s government, and put a cap on our ability to benefit financially. In doing so, he has breached the letter, spirit and intent of an agreement between two governments that was signed to develop an industry. Now, I know there has been much debate about what this cap means. Many think — because the federal government has chosen to spin it this way — that Newfoundland and Labrador wants to be richer than Ontario. We want to have a greater fiscal capacity and still take equalization. We want to double dip. This is simplistic and an easy and attractive argument for the federal government to make. But let’s face the facts here folks. Does anyone in this room honestly believe that Newfoundland and Labrador is fiscally better off than Ontario? Do people honestly believe that a fiscal cap figure — one that is fundamentally artificial due to the manner in which it is

calculated — means that the people of our province are richer or better off than the people of Ontario? Here are the facts. Our debt expense per capita for every man, woman and child is twice that of the next worst province in the country. Our unemployment rate is the highest in the country at 14.8 per cent compared to 6.3 per cent nationally. Our per capita disposable income is the lowest in the country, and our per capita incomes are the lowest in the country with real incomes 26 per cent below the national average. Our population is more widely dispersed that any other province with 1.4 people per square km compared to 12 per square km in Ontario, making essential services more costly to deliver. These are the real facts about our fiscal capacity. If debt expense alone was deducted we would be below Ontario’s fiscal capacity. But we are working hard and making real progress to turn all of these indicators around for our province. The Prime Minister’s complete lack of recognition of his promise is only slightly less alarming than his seemingly “anything to win a majority” attitude. This attitude has now extended to his Finance minister condoning federal finance officials providing misleading information to independent economists in order to reach inaccurate conclusions to foster a deceptive agenda. When the federal Minister of Finance

and the Prime Minister resort to these tactics to win at all costs, Canadians beware. This is conduct unbecoming elected officials in the highest offices in our country and moreover it is dangerous. Just two weeks ago, while Minister Flaherty was trying to convince Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that his government had not misled our province, his own officials were apologizing in writing for doing exactly that. While the Prime Minister and his finance minister continue to untruthfully state they kept their promise their own Deputy House Leader MP Tom Lukiwski, admitted they did not. Over the last month, I have cautioned the Canadian people about the trustworthiness of this government and their propensity to provide misleading and inaccurate information to further their own interests. Government’s handling of the Afghanistan detainee situation verify this as well, as do the recent words of Al Gore when he stated that this government’s climate change plan is a complete fraud designed to mislead the Canadian people. We should be very leery of this pattern. That is why I am encouraging Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and Canadians in the next federal election to vote ABC — Anything But Conservative. When we signed the Atlantic Accord there was elation and euphoria throughout our province. Finally, the fiscally poorest partner in confederation would have the

opportunity to use its own resources to kick-start the kind of growth that would build a sustainable future. Once that oil and gas is pumped out it is gone for good. Each and every development has a defined shelf life and when the resource is gone, so too is our ability to use the financial benefits for our province’s good. And though we have some great projects on stream, they will not last forever. Hibernia will not last through my children’s lifetime, nor mine if I live to see 70. The issue for me it is not about handouts from Ottawa. It is about allowing us to use our resources to our own advantage, so that once they are gone we do not revert back to the fiscal reliance that existed in our province before oil and gas development. We are truly in a catch-22 situation where we cannot escape fiscal dependency without developing these resources and yet if we develop them the benefits will be clawed away from us so that we will never be able to use them to escape fiscal dependency. So why would a prime minister break a written promise that significantly penalizes our province? I think the answer is fairly clear. We are facing a federal election and in the House of Commons there is no equality among provinces. Seats are distributed by population, and unfortunately for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador our numbers are often not deigned significant enough to matter. It is shameful that our quest to have a prime minister keep a written commitment to our people is ridiculed while a commitment to the province of Quebec resulting in several hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade is ignored. This Prime Minister stood up in the commons in the last week and mocked a milestone Newfoundland and Labrador budget. We don’t deserve that kind of treatment. We are too honest and hard working and proud a people. We don’t begrudge others improving their lot, but don’t pit provinces against one other. Don’t take from one to give to another. Don’t break firm written commitments. Honour them. And if other provinces suffer by virtue of your promises then find another means to make them whole. Not only was the promise broken, but as I alluded to earlier the federal government has since misled an independent economist in our province. They allowed a decent and honest man to put his reputation on the line by feeding him information that was inaccurate to the point where this economist had to go public and release e-mails from federal officials who admitted they misled him. It was the most shameful, dishonourable thing I have ever witnessed in politics. To this day, the federal finance minister insists they did nothing wrong. And they continue to get away with this blatant misleading of the public. I can tell you now that if this Prime Minister can so easily and blatantly break a promise to us, just imagine what he will do to you if he wins a majority government. His word is meaningless. His promises are lip service to win votes. And he will do absolutely whatever he has to in order to win power. You may not agree with my position and maybe you don’t agree with the promise that Stephen Harper made to our province. But that does not change the fact that he made the promise, he broke his promise and you could be next. Let our experience be a lesson to all Canadians. Collectively, we as fellow Canadians make Canada stronger by enabling one another to use our individual strengths to enrich the federation and make all of us stronger than we would otherwise be. Let’s start realizing that national unity is absolutely meaningless unless it is backed up by tangible actions that enable us to live up to our optimum potential and stand securely on our own strengths. I encourage the Prime Minister to consider the words of George Washington: “Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.” His failure to do so will be to the detriment of this great country. Let all of us as Canadians work even harder than ever before to make Canada what it truly ought to be — a land of promise and opportunity, not just at the centre, but also at Canada’s rural hinterlands where our ancestors learned hard but true lessons that there is no survival without friendship and cooperation and most importantly trust. Thank you.

MAY 4, 2007

10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

‘My little baby’

By John Rieti The Independent

Nurse Sylvia Powers looks back on a career of caring for newborns

Nurse Sylvia Powers at the Janeway hospital in St. John’s.

Nick Langor/The Independent

hether you know it or not, you may be one of the thousands of people Sylvia Powers has cared for. She has worked as a neo-natal nurse in St. John’s hospitals for 35 years, looking after sick babies during their most vulnerable hours, and helping parents cope with the stress of not being able to hold their newborn. Powers trained at the Grace Hospital Nursing School, then run by the Salvation Army, at a time when the province badly needed nurses. She remembers a time when nurses cared for 70 babies at any one time in the city’s hospitals. Today, the neo-natal ward of the Janeway childrens’ hospital is home to only 14 infants who were born prematurely, or are fighting illness. The stress is the same. Worried parents ask the same questions: What’s wrong? How much longer? What next? Power comforts them all the same way. “Good old-fashion compassion goes a long way,” she says. “The nurse is the one constant … we’re the only one that are there 24/7, so (parents) rely on us — they know we’re the ones taking care of the baby while they’re gone home. It’s a very good feeling to know that they trust you.” After working 12-hour night shifts for 18 years, Powers is used to dealing with slow, stressful nights, and speedwalking to the rescue. She says her only short delay used to be a pause to put on lipstick, a habit she covered with a surgical mask. At the Grace, Powers and other nurs-

es would assist with every delivery. If a baby stopped breathing, they would have to insert a breathing tube it and take turns squeezing an air bag to fill the infant’s lungs with oxygen. The Janeway is now equipped with high-tech monitoring equipment, ventilators, and teams of specialists, but neonatology is still a risky area. Most of the babies live, although sometimes one doesn’t make it. “You don’t ever forget babies and families that have had a loss,” says Powers. She relies on the nurses she works with for support and comfort, and knows the good times far outweigh the bad. One of the biggest rewards for Powers is seeing the babies she helped bring into the world grow up. “The parents are very thankful and grateful … they send up pictures, we have albums, many albums, of baby pictures,” she says. The Janeway even has “preemie parties” each year where families who became friends during their time at the hospital can reconnect. “There’s a baby that I took care of at the Grace years ago and she’s now a nurse in the unit. I still call her ‘my little baby’ when I see her,” says Power. As she speaks over the faint wails of sirens in the Health Sciences Centre cafeteria, Powers’ voice is soothing and relaxed. When she talks about motherhood and her three daughters, her passion is obvious. May 6-12 is nursing week in Newfoundland and Labrador, a chance to reflect on the profession and its nurses like Powers who have become mothers to the province. john.rieti@theindependent.ca

‘Less than happy’ From page 1 and separate budgets for the campuses, but that idea was rejected by another report in 2005. In the introduction to their report, Davies and Kelly write: “It quickly became clear to us that the senior administrative and academic personnel of Memorial University, based in St John’s, together with its board of regents, were of the opinion that no major change in the status or corporate governance in Grenfell College was required. “At all levels, the great majority in

Think You Know Nursing? Take a Closer Look. Innovators and pioneers. Ca regivers and advocates. Leaders and mentors. Nurses embody all these roles. Nurses work in research and technology finding solutions for improved health care. They are in our hospitals and communities caring for our families. Nurses educate nursing studen ts today to meet health care needs of tomorrow. They are leaders and activists striving for a stronger health care system.

National Nursing Week May 7-13, 2007

Grenfell College were less than happy with the current arrangements with St. John’s and wished for change.” Davies and Kelly agreed with the provincial government’s 2005 white paper on education that recommended expanding Grenfell’s role and strengthening the link between educational, social and economic growth in the western region. The researchers also used precedents set by other universities and statistics in their decisions. Fifty per cent of Canada’s 67 universities began as colleges, including Memorial University’s St. John’s cam-

pus. Studies have shown that out-ofprovince students, a demographic Memorial is focusing on due to Newfoundland and Labrador’s declining population, are more attracted to universities than colleges. The report also examined issues like infrastructure, student services, academic programming and student recruitment. Ashton will meet with Meisen and the chair of the board of regents this month during Grenfell’s spring convocation to further discuss Grenfell’s growth. john.rieti@theindependent.ca

To recognize and thank all nurses in Newfoundland & Labrador on the occasion of National Nursing Week from Faculty, Staff, & Students Memorial University School of Nursing.

The NLNU proudly celebrates all Registered Nurses working in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Newfoundland & Labrador Nurses’ Union 753-9961 ł 1-800-563-5100 ł www.nlnu.nf.ca

www/mun.ca/nursing

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11

CLEARY BASHING

Joan Cleary, former president of the Bull Arm Site Corporation who resigned in the face of allegations of improper contract tendering, announced this week she is seeking the PC nomination in the provincial district of Bellevue. Cleary lost to Liberal MHA Percy Barrett in the 2003 provincial election by 100 votes. Paul Daly/The Independent

YOUR VOICE

Nurses lead health-care charge Dear editor, More than 5,000 registered nurses work in our provincial public health-care system. Next week, May 7-13, is National Nursing Week and the 2007 theme is Think you know nursing? Take a closer look. It encourages us to consider the diversity and complexity of the nursing profession. Nurses are involved in every aspect of delivering care to the people of our province. They are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will find nurses in hospitals and long-term care facilities, in clinics and communities, and in our schools, all helping people to be and live healthier. Debbie Forward Nurses are educating our future nurses, working to mitigate staffing shortages and ensure we can continue to meet the province’s health-care needs. Nurses are involved in research and in technology, seeking to improve health-care delivery. And nurses are fulfilling political roles, advocating for a stronger public health care system. In an ever-changing health-care system, the role of the registered nurse is always evolving. Our

nurses are caregivers and advocates, innovators and pioneers, leaders and mentors. We are dealing with global health challenges, such as new diseases and staffing shortages. The demographics of our patients and our workforce are shifting. Yet, nurses continue to lead the charge to strengthening the system for the benefit of our patients and future generations. During National Nursing Week, I am proud to represent our 5,000-plus members working to provide the highest-quality, safest patient care possible to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I thank them for their continued dedication, courage and compassion, and the excellent work they do everyday. I encourage you to take time during this week to say thank you to a nurse. Debbie Forward, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses Union

1+1 = who knows? Dear editor, I wish to comment on Education Minister Joan Burke’s remarks on the problem with the math program taught in the school system. Three of my kids had and are having similar problems in the school system with respect to math. While attending school in the late 1960s and early ’70s, both at the high school and college level, I cannot recall having a problem with the math program. However, I was unable to help my kids with their math past Grade 5 (late ’80s early ’90s). The logic, approach and concept being used to teach the program has lost its step-by-step logic and created difficultly in the flow sequence of problem solving. The sum of 1+1 has not changed. Was there a problem in the ’70s in Newfoundland as it compared to the rest of Canada? There is no such statement or concept as new math; math has not changed. Why then was the approach of presenting the program and the textbook changed — if it’s not broken don’t try to fix it. The number of classes per day has been reduced to a level where it’s impossible to cover the material at a speed that can be attained by most students. There is no time to spend on students who require additional help. There are only five class-

es per day, the school day is less than five hours in length, and my children have been in very few classes of less than 30-35 students. The school my youngest daughter attends has 39 teachers employed with only 30 classrooms in the school. What was the benefit of the introduction of Grade 12 to the school system, the results seem to have been poor since its introduction? The latest survey of high schools in Atlantic Canada rated the schools in the province, with the highest grades recorded in rural schools. This result is due to the class size and the relationship between teachers and parents. The curriculum and delivery of the curriculum is not working, and throwing money at the problem does not take government off the hook for its responsibilities, nor does it solve the problems in the classrooms. The survey indicated that Newfoundland and Labrador is above the Atlantic average. That does not indicate that we are not in a crisis. Why not return to the textbooks and the principles taught in the late 1960s and ’70s? Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl

Daily News, May 3, 1932

AROUND THE WORLD The Duke of St. Alban’s was to marry Miss Gubbins. She has a large fortune and a pretty foot, but a bad nose. — The Sentinel and Conception-Bay Advertiser, May 26, 1840

YEARS PAST Yesterday at morning service the beautiful low oaken screen and new carpets at St. Thomas’ were dedicated by the Lord Bishop in brief special form of worship. — The Daily News, May 2, 1932

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Mr. Editor — I know that Memorial University is under fire and has been for a while, at least since drugs have become an issue. Personally, I frown at the illegal use of drugs of narcotics and the greater percentage of the University population hold views similar to mine. Then, who are the people heard about in the news? I’ll tell you who they are. They are a small minority who have either traveled to the mainland and tried the “stuff” or else were coaxed by some person who desperately needs someone to join his small distribution cult. The result is a naïve student trying something he knows nothing about. I hope that people will begin to realize that Memorial University is not that bad. If you feel this way, surely your children are going to inherit much the same opinion. Thank you, Derrick Anthony, Seldom — Fogo Island Profile, May 7, 1970

EDITORIAL STAND Even the oldest inhabitant who hugs the grocery store, and tells weather lies for two rusty herring, and one pair of cast off boots per lie, admits with a solemn shake of the head that this is the coldest month of May ever seen in and around St. John’s. Piercing east winds prevail, mud fills the streets, fog fills the air, ice fills the narrows, the bar-girl fills the tumblers, and disgust fills the breasts of the inhabitants. — The Indicator, May 12, 1888

QUOTE OF THE WEEK All things considered, the greatest and the most interesting man who now lives on this planet is William E. Gladstone, and it is within the bounds to declare that by far the most interesting sketch of Mr. Gladstone’s personality, character and methods of work that has ever been written is the brilliant article which is published in the May number of the Review of Reviews. — The Weekly Record, Trinity, May 28, 1892

AROUND THE BAY Every dog found at large without its owner, or other person in charge thereof, is required to have fastened to its neck a Clog or a piece of wood not less than seven pounds weight, and not less than eighteen inches in length, with the name of the owner stamped or marked thereon, and every Dog so found at large may be immediately shot or destroyed by any person. — Twillingate Sun, May 1, 1886

MAY 4, 2007

12 • INDEPENDENTNEWS

Hillier: no regrets as furor grows KANDAHAR By Rosie DiManno Torstar wire service

he thud of an incoming rocket sent everyone scrambling for the concrete bunkers. But there’s more shelter in Afghanistan than there is in Canada at the moment for Gen. Rick Hillier, the country’s top soldier and formal signatory to what has proven a sadly impotent bilateral agreement on the disposition of detained Taliban suspects. His name is on the document. That means he wears it. And right now few others are willing to defend the alleged moral weakness of a custodial accord that has soiled Canada’s reputation as a stout champion of human rights. No regrets, the general reiterates. “At the time, we felt that was the right thing to do,” Hillier said of the 2005 agreement that directed Canada to hand over to Afghanistan security agencies all captured Taliban, without any provisions to independently monitor their treatment afterwards in Afghanistan’s brutal prison system. “We were comfortable with our approach, that the involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the government of Afghanistan, of course, being required to live up to its commitment, were sufficient. “Obviously, we would reassess that as allegations come out that perhaps that was not sufficient.” Reports of appalling mistreatment suffered by some Taliban suspects once transferred out of Canadian custody has sparked outrage at home, eroded morale among the troops and brought embarrassment to an Afghan government strugAsked if his own gling for legitimacy. The fiasco has also shone a harsh leadership should be light on the original agreement between the two put into question, the nations, formulated in a hushgeneral responds: hush environment, and now exposed as a blueprint for dis“Well, that wouldn’t aster. Best that could be done at be a question to ask the time, Hillier says. me, would it? You’d “Of course, circumstances change and perhaps you go have to ask the men on to do something else that’s going to be better, more and women that I effective.” Hillier insists he had no lead.” knowledge of alleged torture by Afghan intelligence police of detainees — at least not until just before the story broke with a thunderclap last week, the reverberations still rumbling across Ottawa and Kabul and Kandahar. Media reports say Foreign Affairs officials were made aware of such allegations last year. Hillier says he heard not a word of that. “I was not aware of reports at that time that there were any allegations of abuse of any detainees.” And, most of all, there should be no blame or blowback attached to Canadian troops for following the rules of engagement as specified, which haven’t changed as a result of recent revelations. Those troops, Hillier says, are mighty disgruntled that their tangibly effective presence here has suddenly been eclipsed by allegations of severe mistreatment by Afghan interrogators of Taliban suspects once handed over. “Let me just come out and say very frankly here that I’ve met a variety of soldiers who are pissed off.” The mess can and will be fixed, Hillier stresses. So does Kandahar Governor Asadullah Khalid, who told reporters the torture allegations are 1) being fully investigated; 2) will result in charges against the perpetrators if substantiated; and 3) are not true anyway but merely the result of effective Taliban propaganda. What’s worrisome, perhaps, is that Canadian officials — and Hillier himself — may not have gone to any lengths in trying to ascertain, earlier, whether detainees were being ill-treated. “The allegations have been made, the government of Canada has responded,” says Hillier. “They will meet their responsibilities and their obligations. All those things are underway right now. An investigation will determine whether there’s substance to them.” None of this, however, should reflect poorly on the troops, and that is central to Hillier’s concerns right now. “Our soldiers, we believe, handle the detainees with the utmost professionalism, according to the rules of engagement we give them.” Asked if his own leadership should be put into question as a result of this imbroglio, the general responds: “Well, that wouldn’t be a question to ask me, would it? You’d have to ask the men and women that I lead. And you’d have to ask my Prime Minister, of course.”

INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007 — PAGE 13

The ASL Sanderling in St. John’s harbour.

Paul Daly/The Independent

‘A piece of the action’ Province should consider opening an international port: Harris Centre By John Rieti The Independent

he Atlantic Gateway, a huge east coast port and focal point for international trade, could be in Newfoundland. The port would link North American markets, the world’s largest importers, to suppliers in the Far East and Europe. Everything from clothing to car parts would be containerized and shipped through. Congestion in Pacific coast ports is driving the demand for a major eastern operation. An eastern port is also necessary for the size and speed of new container ships, many of which can deliver transnational shipments in six days but can’t squeeze through the Panama Canal. Several ports on the eastern

seaboard are vying for the title of Atlantic Gateway including New York, Miami, a Mexican harbour, and Halifax, N.S. However, there has been relatively little discussion surrounding the possibility of a major port being established in Newfoundland. On May 30 the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development will host the Atlantic Provinces Transportation Forum in St. John’s. There will be several presentations by shipping professionals and researchers about the gateway concept. “(The gateway) is not a dream, this is going to happen, the question becomes whether Newfoundland gets a piece of the action,” David Vardy of the Harris Centre tells The Independent.

He hopes the conference will spark excitement in the business community, and prompt a logistical study to figure out costs and potential rewards of a gateway in Newfoundland. Four different groups have already conducted studies regarding Halifax’s potential and Vardy predicts the location of the gateway will be decided within the next five years. “(Newfoundland and Labrador has) to be much more vigilant and much more aggressive in pursuing this economic opportunity,” says Vardy. Placentia Bay, Argentia, and Mortier Bay could all be possible gateways due to their size, depth, and ice-free conditions. Any port that becomes a gateway would require massive amounts of

infrastructure, a factor that favours Halifax harbour, which connects to major road and rail systems. “The main advantage (Newfoundland has) would be being able to bring the big vessels into a port and use that same port to transship to smaller vessels so most of the infrastructure would be marine terminals, transportation, and land next to the port,” says Vardy. The federal government is investing $2 billion in the Atlantic Gateway project, and has made other investments into infrastructure for Prince Rupert, B.C.’s port which, combined with Vancouver’s harbour, comprises Canada’s Pacific Gateway. Vardy says without a study, it is hard to gauge the impact a gateway would have on the Newfoundland

and Labrador economy, but says there would definitely be employment benefits for the province Even a gateway in Halifax would reduce export costs faced by Newfoundland companies moving product to European and Asian markets. Vardy says too many businesspeople have abandoned the project because of its daunting scale, unknown development costs, and unanswered questions regarding taxation and the involvement of groups like Marine Atlantic. He says there is “no reason” the province shouldn’t launch a study into the possibility of opening the most eastern Atlantic Gateway possible. john.rieti@theindependent.ca

Board of Trade gives latest provincial budget a thumbs up

rom worst to first. In one fell swoop, the 2007-2008 provincial budget has taken Newfoundland and Labrador from an unenviable position of having arguably the highest personal income tax burden in the country, to — as of July of this year — having the lowest rates of all the Atlantic Provinces. It’s even comparable or better than some provinces further west. Over the past several months, the St. John’s Board of Trade made some pointed recommendations pertaining to personal income taxes to Finance Minister Tom Marshall and his officials. In Budget 2007, government delivered on those recommendations in spades. Namely, the budget announced significant cuts in personal income tax rates (from 10.57 per cent to 8.7 per cent on

CATHYBENNETT

Board of Trade the lowest income tax bracket; from 16.16 per cent to 13.8 per cent on the middle bracket; and from 18.02 per cent to 16.5 per cent on the highest bracket); an elimination of the nine per cent surtax on middle and high earners; and full indexation of personal tax brackets (as well as most non-refundable tax credits and certain benefits) to account for inflationary rises in incomes over time. These personal income tax changes, combined with an increase in the small business tax threshold from $300,000 to

$400,000 and a one per cent reduction in the retail sales tax rate applicable to the private sale of used motor vehicles equate to an annualized value of over $154 million that is effectively passed back to taxpayers. How can we afford $154 million in tax cuts when we’ve had some tough fiscal challenges to deal with? And after we’ve lost out on hundreds of millions or billions of extra dollars in federal transfers courtesy of the Harper government’s new equalization program? Oil and minerals are a big reason. A look at the budget’s statement of revenues confirm offshore royalties are expected to grow by a whopping 137 per cent in 2006-2007 to reach more than a billion dollars. Revenues from mining royalties and taxes are also pegged to

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rise by roughly the same percentage to hit over a quarter of a billion dollars. These non-renewable resources — with some genuinely solid fiscal prudence for good measure — have helped open a window of opportunity for this province to get a better handle on our $23,000 per capita net debt and our comparatively high tax burden and to invest smartly in critical infrastructure and services. Cutting taxes isn’t just about leaving additional money in the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, it’s about stimulating consumption, encouraging personal investment, generating more economic activity, and making this a province of choice for people and business. It has a direct impact on the bottom-

line earnings of individuals and profits of businesses and, therefore, on people’s decisions on where to live and work and where businesses choose to locate. In the 2006 edition of the Fraser Institute’s Canadian Provincial Investment Climate Report, Newfoundland and Labrador ranked last among all provinces in measuring personal income tax burden (based on tax rates and the levels of income to which they apply). Clearly, the personal tax initiatives in Budget 2007 make Newfoundland and Labrador’s overall tax regime more competitive and attractive. If you’re a business considering where to invest and locate an office and employees next, this province suddenly looks a bit better than See “That’s positive,” page 15

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MAY 4, 2007

Long Harbour, site of Inco’s proposed hydromet plant to process Voisey’s Bay nickel ore.

Paul Daly/The Independent

Hydromet a no go? Premier raises questions about viability of experimental nickel processing technology By Ivan Morgan The Independent

remier Danny Williams says he doubts the hydromet nickel processing process will prove economically viable for Inco’s proposed Long Harbour plant. While speaking to reporters recently about the need to generate long-term employment in the province, the premier said: “So my next concern is: are we going to get that hydromet plant that we were promised at (Long Harbour)? “My guess is no, so we are going to have to see — is it going to be nickel matte or is it going to be some other possible construction, whatever it is … Because the contract is open-ended enough that basically they can put some

other similar facility there.” When asked to expand on the remarks, a spokesperson for the premier’s office deferred questions to Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale. “We have a very good relationship with the company and we share information regularly,” Dunderdale tells The Independent. “But at this point in time we have no reason to believe that the hydromet is going to go ahead, or that it won’t go ahead.” “We know that they’ve encountered some technical issues with the demonstration plant, so there’s a lot of unanswered questions.” Dunderdale says the company has until Nov. 15 to decide whether the plant will use the experimental hydromet

technology, or the more conventional nickel matte process. “And of course the premier will always be concerned with that, always concerned with what’s happening there, and I guess that’s where that statement came from.” The primary difference between the hydromet and nickel matte process is the smelting. With nickel matte, the ore from Voisey’s Bay has to be shipped elsewhere, smelted and returned to Long Harbour for finishing to market quality nickel. With hydromet, the whole process would be done at the Long Harbour facility. Bob Mercer, a spokesperson for the Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company, a subsidiary of Inco, says the company will

YOUR VOICE A prescription for ‘wild fishery disease’ Dear editor, Tired of blaming others for the demise of the wild fishery? Feeling used and abused by politicians, bureaucrats, and merchants? Discouraged by and cynical of international apathy? You may have chronic wild fishery disease. It’s a disease of pandemic proportions so all those affected (fishers and otherwise) need not feel alone. There is help and a way forward for you. Symptoms of chronic wild fishery disease include: resistance to economic and cultural change; chronic employment insurance; high debt-to-equity ratio; seasonalityitis; poverty wages; business predators; shareholder greed; cultural melancholy; chronic anti-federalism; no fish, no pension, no research, no future. There is a prescription. If you have five or more

of these symptoms, where possible get yourself and your children into professional schools of business, marine sciences, and other related studies as soon as possible. Establish 50 aquaculture centres of production and research excellence around the province. They should be species varied and owned by you and your children with a limited number of secondary processing and value-added facilities owned by designated communities. A central marketing agency with branches on every continent (except Antarctica) should be financed and owned collectively. Then, please call me in 20 years. I wish you the very best of good luck. Robert Rowe, St. John’s

INVITATION TO TENDER COMMODITY ITEM

decide whether hydromet as a technology is technically and economically viable for the commercial plant at Long Harbour by year’s end. If it is not, he says, Inco is committed in their development agreement with the province to build a processing facility. “Hydromet remains our preferred technology for the plant at Long Harbour, and we’re working very diligently to make sure that we complete a thorough review of hydromet from a research and development perspective,” says Mercer. Dunderdale says a failure of the hydromet technology to prove economically viable will not affect the number of jobs, the size of the plant, or any other part of the original deal with Inco. She says Inco will still be obligated to

import for processing the same amount of ore they are currently exporting while proving the hydromet technology. Ore from Voisey’s Bay is currently being processed in smelters in Ontario. Inco has said an amount of ore equal to the amount shipped out of the province will eventually be shipped back for processing at the new processing facility they have committed to building at Long Harbour. “All those provisions remain in place, if we go to matte as opposed to hydromet,” says Dunderdale. In regards to the premier’s comments, Dunderdale says, “basically what he is saying is there are a lot of questions around this at the moment. And he’s absolutely right.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca

A ‘new beginning’ for NAPE Editor’s note: the following letter was received by The Independent prior to the re-election of Carol Furlong as president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Private and Public employees (NAPE), the province’s largest public sector union. By the time you get this letter, congratulations. I hope your election to office in NAPE is the start of a new beginning. From my research with NAPE members across the province and from my own experience and observations, our brothers and sisters are having serious morale problems because of union neglect. This letter is not a personal attack on any one person or group of people in the union. But I am very concerned about union problems such as petty politics, too much bureaucracy, over-inflated egos, ignorance, arrogance, narcissism, etc, etc. Being an activist, I become very frustrated when I witness union passivity, complacency and stonewalling when we try to protect our rights. In other words, I am very frustrated by the hierarchy in our union. Through this state of affairs our rights are being neglected. I witness this at my place of employ-

ment and feel that the company, observing union weakness, takes advantage of the situation to make as much money as possible at the expense of the workers. Whoever reads this letter I would like to hear your advice and opinions on these issues that we as NAPE members experience. I was raised up in a good, hard working family with strong Canadian values and a Newfoundland work ethic to stand up for one’s rights. Even though I am an activist, I still have to perform my regular work duties and the same with my brothers and sisters. So we depend on you Mr. or Mrs. President to protect our rights and hope that I haven’t got to go to the human rights commission for help. So never get up on a higher horse, but stay at our level. Being a fellow Canadian and a working Newfoundlander never ever forget where you came from and most of all do not forget us union members who put you there. Thank you and good luck. Rocky Cole, Mount Pearl My thanks to The Independent.

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INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15

‘That’s positive’ From page 13 it did before. We should also be encouraged by the Finance minister’s indication that government probably isn’t done creating greater tax competitiveness yet. That’s positive. More progress can certainly be made toward ensuring our province’s competitive position is maintained over time as other jurisdictions make strides in enhancing their own tax regimes. And, other taxes, like the 15 per cent provincial sales tax on insurance premiums and the payroll tax levied from employers, need to be looked at closely. This was labeled by many as an “election budget.” Along with income tax cuts, it included spending on things like research and development and innovation, infrastructure, skills, and so on (though program expenditures grew by only 5.6 per cent, down markedly from an eight per cent jump in last year’s budget). Call it what you want. I don’t know or care how many votes it may have garnered. All I know is that, with muchneeded tax relief and strategic spending, Newfoundland and Labrador looks like a more attractive destination for people, business, and capital. I call that good policy and good leadership. Cathy Bennett is president of the St. John’s Board of Trade. Her column returns May 18.

YOUR VOICE Airlines ‘gouge’ on Newfoundland’s beauty Dear editor, I read with great interest the April 6 story, Dollars for Tourists, by Independent reporter Mandy Cook. When I saw the story headline I thought government had finally worked with the airline companies or Marine Atlantic to lower costs to tourists and to allow local growth in the tourism market. This was not so. I do not even know if I can be considered a tourist, but I do come home every year. I like to think of myself more as a displaced Newfoundlander, one who had no choice but to move away with my parents when my father was transferred many years ago and has been trying to get a job home ever since, but that is another story. As I stated, I come home every year, with my Ontario husband (we will call him a tourist), and we tour areas of the island on each visit, spending dollars doing so. Sadly, this year it may the last annual visit and we may only be able to make it a bi-annual event due to the travel costs. With 500,000 visitors (basically the population of the province), I calculated that those tourists might pay more than $350 million just to get to the island. It will cost my husband and I nearly $1,300 to fly home this summer from Ottawa for 10 days. I waited for a seat sale, but one never arrived. I would also like to mention this is $400 more then it cost the two of us in 2006 and more then double what it costs us in 2005 to fly home. Given the transportation costs, I can guarantee you I will not have as many dollars to spend in George Street bars or Water Street restaurants on my visit back home. If it was not for longing to return to see my grandparents, who are both in their 80s, the cost of the airfare may have deterred me from visiting at all. Please note I checked the cost of traveling across on the Gulf ferry and my costs would have been the same. With the tourism industry listed as one of the top five in the province, it has obviously become an important factor for growth in local businesses and bringing money into the province. I suggest the Tourism Department work with airlines to ensure fairness in pricing. In reality I could go to Europe for the price I paid and I am sure it costs the airlines more to fly to Europe with the fuel costs. There is no doubt that Newfoundland is the most beautiful place on earth. I encourage everyone in the world to at least visit once. For this to happen, however, something has to be done about Canadian airlines gouging on its beauty.

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16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007 — PAGE 17

‘Nudge from God’ Sister Kathrine Bellamy holds the Order of Canada, the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Papal Honour of the Cross and her Sister of Mercy cross.

Bay Roberts native on joining the Sisterhood, her life’s work, a dwindling congregation, and being awarded the Order of Canada

MANDY COOK

ister Kathrine Bellamy opens the front door at the St. Joseph’s Convent in St. John’s to the drizzle and damp of an early May morning. Ushered into the peaceful hush of an understated but beautifully ornamented sitting room, Bellamy extends an invitation to sit and promptly begins unspooling her considerable knowledge of the historic house. “The brick exterior dates back to the 1830s, but the inside didn’t survive the fire of 1892. It was bought from …” Steered in the direction of a more personal topic, the spry and quick-witted Sister of Mercy — the religious congregation of nuns established in Newfoundland in 1842 — instantly recounts the moment she committed her life to God. “I can give you the exact date. It was Christmas Eve and I was 14 years of age,” she says with precision. “I was in Bay Roberts and it was late at night and it was a beautiful, beautiful evening and I remember looking out over the harbour and of course there were no lights in those days in the town … it was a very calm night and the stars were reflected in the harbour and there was something about that night. It was some kind of experience I had.” Bellamy was first introduced to the Sisterhood as a young boarding student at St. Bride’s College at Littledale in the west end of St. John’s. She says her teachers at the school and “a nudge from God” inspired her to become a young initiate. After a brief stint at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax — saying she “got fed up with it” — she entered a life of religious devotion at 18. A keen student of academics and music, Bellamy was guided into a musical teaching position by her superiors. As a newly initiated nun, she could no longer lie about in bed until one o’clock in the day, as she often used to do, and would rise at six in the morning instead. Her life became full of discipline and concentrated study, but also included a lot of fun. Raised as an only child, Bellamy enjoyed the camaraderie.

“We used to play games and go to Mercy College and play basketball and go swimming and skating and anything any young person would like to do, we did. We did it all together.” A teacher of music at Our Lady of Mercy Convent on Military Road and Bell Island, Bellamy retired

early because of health problems, but quickly became assigned as the fulltime music director at the Basilica Cathedral. She worked with the poor and helped establish Emmaus House, an interdenominational food bank. She says she loved working there because she “very

Sister Kathrine Bellamy

Paul Daly/The Independent

much” admired the people who had fallen on hard times but faced their troubles with courage. When her senior administration approached her about writing a book to record the history of the Sisters of Mercy in Newfoundland, she was reluctant. “I hesitated because I loved my work with the poor and I had a lot of contacts in the middle of the city and an awful lot of friends and wonderful people and I knew I had to give all that up,” Bellamy says, her voice softening. Despite her initial resistance, she resolved to complete the project, traveling to Ireland and England to research the Mercy Sisters’ foundress, Catherine McAuley, and the organization’s global reach. Six years later, Weavers of the Tapestry was finished, a weighty tome of 963 pages. Bellamy is now occupied with her second book — a record of the musical contribution the Sisters of Mercy have made to Newfoundland and Labrador. The written account of the work of the Sisters has become all the more important, considering the declining number of new nuns entering the congregation. Bellamy says the Sisters received a novice last month, bound for Peru and there will be one more professed in St. John’s in August, but it is a trickle compared to the “crowds” years ago. Bellamy faults her own organization for the decline, saying the Sisters have been a bit shy to speak up. Consequently, she says, young women are unaware of the option of the Sisterhood amongst the numerous professional choices available to women today. Bellamy, still actively working into her later years and showing no sign of slowing down, will receive the insignia of the Order of Canada at Rideau Hall in Ottawa this week. She has already received the modest pin, a white crest with a silver maple leaf in its centre, and displays it next to her Order of Newfoundland and Labrador pin and the Papal Honour of the Cross. She tries to shrug off the attention and quickly deflects to the work done by all of her Sisters, together. Tucking the three pins into her pocket, she points to the black and silver cross attached to the blue lapel of her jacket. “This is the most important one — that’s the cross. That shows I’m a Sister of Mercy.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

Creative resistance Where small demonstrations and letters to the editor have failed, Canada’s top writers are stepping in

hen Margaret Atwood talks, people listen. The multiaward winning novelist is more widely known outside Canada than almost any other living artist, or athlete for that matter. In Canada, she has the reputation of being both talented and daunting. Famously testy, Atwood can cut you down at a party faster than a bad oyster. Like many other readers whose good company I share, I was once given the rude treatment after innocently mentioning that we had some good friends in common. I can still see the clouds of carpet dust she kicked up after turning on a heel and heading for another corner of the room. No, Atwood doesn’t make nice, not if she doesn’t have to or wants to. But she does speak her mind. Fortunately, it’s a fine mind, one worth listening to. Perhaps there is a connection between her take-no-prisoners social behaviour and her capacity to challenge the status quo, but many of us are willing to

NOREEN GOLFMAN Standing Room Only overlook her contemptuous party manners and get behind her political attitude. Last week, at Montreal’s annual Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, Atwood declared that the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out to “squash the arts into the dust.” The festival at which she was being feted had been cut by 10 per cent of its budget, and so the remarks were not only broadly provocative but also directly relevant. Not surprisingly, her comments were also widely circulated in the press. They also raise two important and related questions. Is Atwood right? Is the Harper government determined to “squash the arts”? If so, what is the

best way to fight back? Atwood underscored her point by pointing to the facts of both underfunding and actual cuts. Most obvious evidence of squish-squashing is the government’s elimination of a 35year-old program aimed at promoting arts and culture through Canada’s embassies. Roundly criticized, this gesture shows just how small-minded the government really is. As Atwood and others have said, they just don’t get the value of promoting culture abroad, largely because they don’t get what it is in the first place. Further proof of the indifference, if not the downright cynicism, about arts funding can be located in the office of the minister in charge of the whole Heritage file, Bev Oda. Brazenly selfinterested, a woman who likes to snuggle openly with rich private broadcasters and corporate titans of the telecommunications sector, Oda recently had the audacity to ask only Conservative

MPs about funding summer festivals in their party-serving ridings. In short, those in government would have the first and likely only crack at serving their constituencies. It’s enough to make you spray graffiti on the Humphrey Gilbert Building. Beyond the evidence, and there is much more of it, that the Conservatives, or at least their inner circle, see no value in arts funding, don’t even believe in it, and don’t fear Canadians caring enough about it to boot them out of office, there is the unmistakable whiff of contempt coming from Harper himself. What little we do know about the impenetrable Prime Minister is that he shakes hands with his children, embraces George W militarism, and is allegedly writing a book on hockey. The Canadian public does not and will likely never see him attending theatre, opera, literary festivals or even movies. That would be fine if he just hinted he had an open mind about

other interests. But it is hard to imagine him digging into an Atwood novel after a long day speaking on behalf of his own ministers, isn’t it? How to fight back? Some writers have been searching for publicitygrabbing ways to get Harper’s (and, surely, the public’s) attention. Man Booker prizewinner Yann Martel (Life of Pi) has assumed the role of spiritual therapist, having decided to send Harper a different novel every two weeks, encouraging the Prime Minister to bring more “stillness” into his crazy workaday life. Martel’s first gift mail was Tolstoy’s short masterpiece, The Death of Ivan Ilych, about as concise a take on the human condition as ever was. Undaunted by the crushing silence of Harper’s reply, Martel just posted his second recommendation in the mail, George Orwell’s political allegory, Animal Farm. As Martel writes in his See “Folly and illusion,” page 20

MAY 4, 2007

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

GALLERY PROFILE

DARKA ERDELJI Visual Artist

he Republic of Slovenia, independent from Yugoslavia since 1991, is rich in traditional story and folklore. Darka Erdelji, born in the central European country and a Newfoundlander by marriage, says her upcoming show is loosely based on the folktales of the land of her birth. But, she adds, cultural elements and stories from her new home have inspired her as well. A puppet-maker and visual artist, Erdelji has concentrated on her puppeteering since settling in St. John’s and marrying her partner Jason, a theatrical

set designer. Crane Wife, featuring shadows, cut-out silhouettes, the miming skills of Susan Kent and the music of Chris Driedzic, was well-received at the LSPU Hall in January 2006. She says it was her “biggest proud” moment. “It was very visual, no talking, no words — nothing,” she says. “It was specific on light and sound … It was different in its new styles with the live actors and puppets.” Project Equinox, Erdelji’s new show, won’t have any shadow puppets in it but will still explore two of the artist’s

favourite elements: light and darkness. This time, the light will be contained in 14 cylindrical paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. Each lantern will be candlelit from within, illuminating a watercolour scene painted on the outside. The delicately painted panels draw on Erdelji’s interest in Slavic folk tales. An eastern European folk tradition celebrating the end of winter is behind the lantern installation. St. Gregorijevo Day marks the first day of spring, the end of months of darkness and winter, the coming of new light and longer days. In celebration of the event, Slovenians float candle-lit eggshells down rivers through their towns. Erdelji hopes to eventually recreate the event in St. John’s harbour. For now, she will fill the

gallery space with lanterns pierced with pinholes, moons and stars. On one such lantern, a heartbroken woman is slumped in a boat at sea. Erdelji tells the tale of how the new young bride had been playing with her shiny wedding ring and lost it in the water. She implores her father and brother to retrieve it for her, but, saying they can’t swim, they refuse. “She then asked her husband and of course he would do anything for her so he jumped into the sea and never come back. She found out what she’d done so … she threw herself into the sea and both died.” The artist giggles about how the young man was “kind of stupid, but romantic.” In her painting, the new widow mourns in the boat, while the

drowned husband is sparsely sketched at the bottom of the scene, face hidden, one hand trailing out of the frame. Stars in the inky night sky are lit by tiny pinpricks in the paper and mirrored by air bubbles under the sea. “It’s about mood, it’s about her, her sadness,” Erdelji says. As Erdelji’s artist statement puts it: “Project Equinox is about those moments in life where light and dark, the good and the bad, hang in absolute balance … without the bad there is no good just as without the darkness these lights would be nothing. Each depends on the other.” Project Equinox is showing at the Rogue Gallery at the Eastern Edge Gallery in St. John’s from May 5-25. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

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Open call to artists in Western Newfoundland Juried Visual Arts Exhibition Artists are asked to submit up to three works which examine our relationship to nature and the environment. For complete details contact LAWN at 693-5968. Deadline for submissions is May 25th, 5:00 pm.

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19

TIM CONWAY Film Score Next Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Biel 96 min. 1/2 (out of four)

Hot Fuzz 121 min. Starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (out of four)

Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is very good at his job. He’s a dedicated policeman whose crime-fighting skills are unequalled in London’s Metropolitan Police Force, but his success and tenacity have backfired on him.

Simon Pegg (left) and Nick Frost (right) in Hot Fuzz.

Hot Fuzz may be comedy classic And Next is at least better than most recent Nicholas Cage flims His inability to separate himself from his work has ruined his relationship with his girlfriend, and while he has earned yet another promotion, his accomplishments have served to make his co-workers appear to be inadequate. Consequently, he is reassigned to the village of Sanford, regular recipient of the Village of the Year award, a distinction it enjoys partly due to its low crime rate. Angel hasn’t long relocated when a series of grisly murders, made to look like accidents, begins. While he’s in his

comfort zone with this kind of activity, the local officers are hard to convince that there is more going on than a number of coincidental mishaps. From their perspective, Angel is looking at events through big city glasses. Hot Fuzz comes to us courtesy of the folks who brought us Shaun of the Dead a couple of years back, and their take on the buddy-cop film is just as entertaining as their previous comic homage to zombie pictures. All things crime-fighting are sourced for comic references, clever-

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or the second time in less than three months, we find Nicolas Cage in the role of a performer concealing a supernatural talent. In contrast to the flamboyant stunt rider, cheating death in front of mobs of screaming fans in Ghost Rider, this picture features the actor playing Chris Johnson, who, under a pseudonym, is barely entertaining small numbers of Las Vegas nightclub patrons with his magic act. Ironically, this occupation, which relies heavily upon distraction to astound onlookers, offers him suitable diversion from scrutiny, a means of remaining relatively inconspicuous. Johnson can see into the future, albeit not very far — two minutes. A gift, perhaps, but investigations and explorations of his ability when he was a child have left him feeling more cursed than blessed. His magic show serves as a fine cover, allowing his knack for prediction to be easily passed off as just another parlour trick. Despite his diligence, he hasn’t been completely successful in masking his identity, or at least, covering his tracks. FBI Agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) has somehow fixed her attention on him, convinced that he is a genuine psychic, and the key to thwarting a suspected terrorist plot to explode a nuclear device in Los Angeles. As much as Johnson’s skills make him rather slippery prey, he’s well matched by Ferris’ dogged determination. Next is an engaging, entertaining thriller. It reportedly bears little resemblance to the “novel story” (The Golden Man by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick) upon which it is derived, which seems to be a sore point with some viewers who’d prefer to see the original tale brought to life. Those of us unfamiliar with it are spared the disappointment, and have a tip on some good reading. Moreover, although the story that plays out here could very well be inferior to Dick’s, compared to Cage’s last picture, and hot on the heels of Perfect Stranger, Next comes off looking pretty good. Director Lee Tamahori, who made such a splash on the world movie scene with Once Were Warriors, has since proven as unreliable as Nicolas Cage has been since Leaving Las Vegas. Here, however, he keeps the pace moving briskly, and guides the humourous moments of the film skillfully. There’s a confidence to his style that suggests the film could delve deeper into the characters, and explore a number of more sophisticated themes. This could lead to elevated expectations on the viewer’s part, but Tamahori’s focus is on the action — and that’s just fine. Fans of attractive visuals are in for a treat, as some of the locations are amazing, and the cinematography is splendid. With plenty of stunts, plot twists, and a civilized running time, Next is a better than average thriller that despite what it isn’t, could easily have been much worse.

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ly including a classic horror movie that’s so obvious, it’s easy to miss. Smart writing forms the core of the film, juxtaposing the “English way” against the modern crime drama, and the depiction of crime fighting in American action films. It works because the performers play it straight, except Timothy Dalton, who’s having a ball in the role of a character blatantly meant to look like a villain. The result is a decent murder story, played for laughs.

The one problematic feature of the movie is that it goes too far out of its way to include certain references and scenarios near the end. It runs much longer than it should, and seems to be deliberately avoiding a quick resolution. Still, Hot Fuzz is arguably an instant comedy classic that is sure to hold up for years to come. Tim Conway operates Capitol Video in Rawlin’s Cross, St. John’s. His column returns May 18.

MAY 4, 2007

20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

‘Folly and illusion’ From page 17

deadpan blog (www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca), both works “show the reality-changing power of great literature, and both deal with folly and illusion.” Vowing to keep sending novels as long as Harper occupies government office, Martel has conceived a strategy that is at once shrewd and earnest. He will never get a response from the Prime Minister, of course, but by the time it’s all over he will have an impressive list of great works and a useful political statement. Already, Martel has been experiencing a backlash from those who think his game is condescending. But it is actually difficult to admit you don’t want or like to read, and Harper can’t real-

ly win this one simply by ignoring it. He’d be so much more interesting if he actually replied with his own book list, but that would show charisma and imagination, even a hint of a sense of play, all of which he so fatally lacks. Marching in protest on Parliament Hill in groups of 11 or 12 has as much force these days as a letter to the editor. As long as the press knows that writers make news, Atwood will gripe and Martel will mail. Let’s hope all those who champion creative resistance do the same — find new ways and words to bring down that House. Noreen Golfman is a professor of literature and women’s studies at Memorial University. Her column returns May 18.

PUBLIC READINGS

Peter Hart (above), author of Mick: The Real Michael Collins, along with five other writers shortlisted for the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards, will read from his work May 14 at Bitters Pub, Memorial University. Hart, along with Frederick White (Memoirs and Madness: Leonid Andreev through the Prism of the Literary Portrait) and Gerhard Bassler (Vikings to U-Boats: The German Experience in Newfoundland and Labrador) are nominated for their non-fiction work. They will be joined by the three contenders for the E.J. Pratt poetry award: Mary Dalton, Red Ledger; Patrick Warner, There, there; and Stan Dragland, Stormy Weather: Foursomes. The readings begin at 7:30 p.m. Paul Daly/The Independent

POET’S CORNER Seaman’s Knots By Stephen Rowe So easy the way the hooked moon hangs, limp dangle from a point suspended from the stars.

that sudden sinking, the bobbing of a head near sleep, that weight malignant growths

This he thinks in the shed out back, shuffling by the light switch near the door, halting every so often,

engender. At eighty-two it seems easier than it might otherwise, age and skewed vision like fog or

a pause, to glance at the shop stool he’s placed midway between fish-nets he knitted and the wall

a storm sling thoughts through air— Right quick, no one will know till tomorrow. They’re better off without

holding model ships he’d made. From wall-mounted hooks hang seaman’s knots, tresses of braided hair.

the pity. What good’s an old feller anyway? Each word another twist in the rope, a knot

Under foot the rotting floor teases incessantly, creaking threats to fall out from under him:

to go alongside the others tied and strung, a frayed end, hair strands in the fits.

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFE • 21

‘We never really stops lookin elsewhere now do we?’ An excerpt from Right Away Monday, the new novel by Joel Thomas Hynes Note: contains adult language

says look here girl, I says, I’ll f—kin eat you alive I will. And she blushes at that, goes right scarlet she do. Of course. Cause I’m far from stunned. I knows how to smile when I wants me skin. It’s all in the smile. I was crossin on the other side of Water Street when that gangly Philip f—ker bawls out and waves me over. Skull-and-crossbones on the front of his girls-size tee shirt. That pisses me off, cause you gotta earn the privilege to wear that particular badge and you can tell at a glance that he’s nowhere near worthy. Wavin like that, with his wrist, and I says to meself — who the Christ are you to go orderin me, Clayton-goddamnReid, across the street there f—ko? Course then I spots her alongside of ’im, doin’ a little twirl on the bar stool, sippin at something cold, and even though I aint out on the hunt and really do got better stuff to be at, I cant help makin a grand uproar cuttin across through the traffic, just to show ’em all that I dont give a f— k for nothing or no one. Cause I dont. At the Gropevine, where the whole front wall is a window that the staff opens to the street in the good weather. Water Street drenched with the panic of the comin fall, all hands bailin back the shooters, tryin to make the best of the rest of the summer. Like we’re in f—kin Greece or something. But we’re not. No sir. She there swivelling in them skimpy shorts and I knows f—kin well I seen her around the Hatchet the other night. Out back in the alley. Right, I minds that greasy Jane Neary introducin us in the middle of a dirty big draw. — Clayton, this is Donna. She’s from the Battery. Jane right f—kin sing-song about it too, thinkin I’ll swallow the notion that there might be something in common between us just cause where Donna’s from the precious Battery. Besides, I dont buy into that f—k-arsed matchmaker shit, cause if you hits it off with someone you’re after bein hooked up with, then whoever did the hookin figures they got some kinda claim over your love life, like they can pick around and ask questions and make f—kin suggestions. I says you’re better off f—kin around with strangers, easier to walk away when you have to. Cause when your buddies and her f—kin buddies are all tangled up with the skin situation, then it’s bound to f—k shit up when you starts lookin elsewhere. And we never really stops lookin elsewhere now do we? There she is anyhow: tight white shorts and a store-bought suntan with her clean blonde hair whippin around in the afternoon and that desperate screamin plea way down deep in the back of my head that wants me to please just keep hobbling on up the street with me head fully

Joel Hynes

intact and me c—k well tucked into me pants, not bothering no one, gettin on with what I should be at. And I says I’ll f—kin eat you alive girlie. It just pops out like that. And she goes red like that and I knows I f—kin got ’er. I tells her me name then. F—kin right she remembers me from the other night, but she says she knew me from somewhere else before that too. I tries not to let on I’m as popular as I am. But then she’s gotta go and ask me if I’m anything to Valentine Reid. And I gotta say yes, cause he’s pretty much the only family I got, see, these days, and I loves him for it. But I aint no f—kin name-dropper either and sure I already got her, so … I mean, I cant help it that he’s all famous and shit. But I just sees him for who he is, and that’s a crooked old bastard half the time. But then, next thing, after she goes on a bit too loud and long about how much she likes Val’s songs, his older stuff anyhow, I finds meself sayin to her (and well within earshot of that glossy Philip dickhead, who sat there sippin his pissy Corona through a f—kin straw), I’m sayin: — Well girl, why dont you come by and I’ll introduce you to Val sometime, how ’bout this evening? And of course she says yes and wants to know if I got any draws. I shakes me head but gives her a wink to let her know I can hunt some down. She offers to buy me a beer then and me skull almost collapses with how easy it could be to just plank meself down and drink the whole goddamn lot of ’em under the table. Slay the f—kin works of ’em. Summertime, sun beatin down and the young ones strollin the streets in their tightest whites for one last August flaunt. Me there, perched on a barstool with the music on bust and me whole life ahead of me. Christ come f—kin kill me. It’s every ounce of energy in me soul to shake me head, to decline. She seems surprised. I stumbles back a bit then, where I got too much weight shifted onto me f— ky foot. Then she wants to know what’s wrong with it, by the way. And while I’m writin down me address on her little tropical rum coaster I says: — I’ll tell you in the morning.

And she smiles again like that and goes right red and I knows I f—kin got ‘er, that she’s been gotten, that I’m f—kin well gettin some. ••• I gets showered and swipes a decent shirt outta Val’s closet. I swabs a bit of polish on me boots, but dont bothered to shine ’em up, just leaves ’em a nice dull black. Donna shows up at the door around nine o’clock, all dolled up with a suede purse and the make-up caked on like she’s off to some karaoke contest. Big loopy gold earrings I dont have much time for. But it’s alright. She looks pretty goddamn good, actually. I watches Val sizin ‘er up, head to toe, right obvious and sleazy about it. Then he gives me The Nod right in front of her, a foolish attempt to rile a reaction outta me. — Well done yourself Clayton my son. Like I needs his f—kin approval. — Yeah, thanks. This is Donna by the way. Val’s in one of his better moods. He breaks out the guitar and rigs up a couple of hot whiskeys for himself and Donna.

Val is into the Jameson and water these days, hot or cold, depending on the time of day. He reckons the clearer the drink, the clearer the next morning. And I says sure why dont you just drink vodka then? But he says vodka’s the last resort for the drownin alcoholic. Him with his nasal cavities on the verge of collapse. — Want one Clayton? — No thanks. — Want one? — No. — You’re sure now? He keeps diggin at me to take a drop, even sets one down in front of me with cloves and sliced lemon and sugar and all. The steam fumin up my nostrils, snakin into me heavy, heavy brain like that. Breathe. I takes the mug of whiskey and dumps it into a crusty cereal bowl left on the table since this morning. Val’s face drops. He puts the guitar away and turns off the kitchen light before headin upstairs. Me and Donna sittin here in the dark. She gives me a look but I dont know what to tell her. That’s just the way he is. We heads down to the Duke for pool.

I’m still scopin her out a bit, tryna make sure she’s up for a romp later on and not just lookin to snare me in for the long haul. F—k that, she’ll be lucky if she gets tonight outta me. She tosses a scattered sly glance across the pool table at me and smiles like she’s sayin Let’s get the f—k outta here and go have at one another. Or at least that’s how I chooses to interpret things. After a few clumsy games she goes back to the bar and when I scans the room I sees Val comin in through the side door. He takes a booth in the corner and I goes over to join him. He nods and smiles like he hasnt seen me in months. That’s how it is. He takes a clear glass vial out of ’is coat and taps a little mound of coke onto the table. He dont give a f—k who’s lookin, what with bein’ the Valentine Reid and all, living legend. He cuts a few lines and rolls up a five-dollar bill, snorts the works back, then slides a line across the table at me. And BANG! Me head reels with the pressure of a thousand possibilities: Me and Donna whacked on coke and f—kin my headboard right through the bedroom wall. I plucks the five-dollar bill from Val’s hand, leans back in me seat to re-roll it. The end of the summer. Family. Skin lined up. F—k it once more. I forces all the air from my lungs and leans in over the line. — Hey? What’s going on over here? Donna. She hands me a glass of soda water, like I asked for, and I’m floored with the insanity of how quickly the tables can turn for me, how easy I can fall when I aint watchin where I’m goin’. I grabs the glass and slugs back half the soda water in one go. It erupts in me guts and burbles out through me nose. I tosses the five-dollar bill back onto the table and tries not to look at the white stuff while I makes a straight cut for the downstairs bathroom. As I rounds the corner I hears Val say: — Help yourself Miss Donna. I stares at meself long and hard in the foggy bathroom mirror. It’s been two weeks. That’s the longest I’ve gone yet without a drink or a beer. Ten days last year. Me eyes dont look so tired and baggy. I aint so pale as I tends to get. I can remember where I was and what I was up to this time last night, and even the night before that. I conjures up all that old detox jargon, one day, one hour, one moment at a time. Me old man Randy throwin up blood in a bowl next to the woodstove, tryin over and over to keep the liquor down long enough for it to reach his bloodstream and regulate his nerves. And I knows how shit like coke and pills are just lubricants, how they makes your resolve all slippery, opens up the windows in your head, the ones that lets all the booze and subsequent madness flow in. I f—kin knows all this. Deep See “They makes,” page 24

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Paul Daly/The Independent

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‘No one should die for a job’ North American Occupational Safety and Health Week kicks off May 6

len Pardy of Fortune Bay prepares to return to his job as a steel worker in Alberta, back to the $10.8-billion Horizon project site where two Chinese employees were recently killed and four others injured when a roof collapsed. Pardy says he feels for the “fellas” and he feels for the company, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., saying that training and safety is always a priority on the site as far as he can tell. At the same time he is shocked and saddened. “No one should die for a job,” he says. Every year in Canada, 60 workers die and another 60,000 are hurt or seriously injured on the job. Joe Lake, a health, safety, environmental, quality and security supervisor with A. Harvey Marine Base in St. John’s, says workplace injury, disease and death can no longer be ignored. “All places of employment are governed by a set of laws that protect all workers from workplace hazards and danger,” he says. It doesn’t matter if you work at a mom-and pop-grocery store, a coffee shop or on a construction site — safety matters, he says. The North American Occupational Safety and Health

“All places of employment are governed by a set of laws that protect all workers from workplace hazards and danger.” Joe Lake of A. Harvey Marine Base

(NAOSH) Week kicks off on Sunday, May 6, with a flag raising ceremony scheduled to take place on Monday at Confederation Building in St. John’s. Officials hope the event will not only raise public awareness, but keep occupational health and safety in the thoughts of government and industry. “Raising awareness and increasing understanding reduces injuries and illness not only in the workplace, but in the home and in the community as well,” Lake says. Today’s occupational safety and health laws have been in effect for almost 30 years, but it took a disaster in Newfoundland to really give the movement the momentum it needed.

In his book, Dying Hard, author Elliott Leyton tells the first-hand account of how the economic savior of the Burin Peninsula-town of St. Lawrence — the fluorspar mines — also claimed the most lives. Leyton illustrates how lives were torn apart by industrial diseases caused by unsafe working practices. “I wrote a book that raised a tremendous amount of awareness,” Leyton tells The Independent. He says the story of the miners “captured the hearts” of readers and “got the point across that there are hazards in the workplace” for the first time. See “Employees,” page 24

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MAY 4, 2007

24 • INDEPENDENTLIFE

‘They makes your resolve all slippery’ From page 21

‘Employees and employers have a shared responsibility’ From page 23 As late as 1974, Leyton says miners were not considered human beings and he wonders how much things have really changed. While Lake agrees there’s still room for improvement, he also says society has come a long way. “There is a focus on safety now,” he says. Companies understand that workplace inspections, ergonomics and housekeeping maintenance — everything from proper lighting to tidy aisles — are just as important as having a well-trained employee. An injured worker costs money, Lake says. Beyond the loss of an

breath. Soda water. Smoke. Two whole f—kin weeks Clayton. I leaves the bathroom then, finds Donna at the bottom of the stairs tryna coax some cigarettes outta the machine. She cant get no satisfaction out of it, says it ate her money, so I steps in and gives the machine a solid boot with me good foot like that f—ker from Happy Days and holy f—k sure change and smokes goes flyin across the floor. I glances up the stairs and then drops to me knees and starts stuffin me pockets. I dont bother with the money. Donna giggling nervous behind me. One of the bartenders clomps down over the stairs so fast I havent got a chance to cover up the situation. He looks at the floor, looks back to me. I’m standin there with a load of smokes cradled in me arms like a newborn youngster, coins still drippin outta the machine behind me. He steps towards me but I’m so

blinded now with the free smokes, me nerves seethin from the tease of the coke upstairs and the hot whiskey fumes back at Val’s and the cold, cold beer I didnt have not one goddamn drop of at the Gropevine earlier today, that just as he reaches a f—kin hand in my direction I shoulders him hard against the wall. He falls back and slops his leg into the scuzzy mop bucket. Donna grabs the hem of me coat. I turns to sees the look of fright and giddy panic in her eyes and we takes off up the stairs and out through the crowd into the night. F—k Val I says. He’s big and ugly enough to look after himself. That’s me though, barred from the Duke I s’pose. On Water Street I trades a pack of Craven A for a couple of hot-dogs while Donna flags down a cab. Right Away Monday, published by HarperCollins, is set for release May 5. Also catch Hynes’new stageplay Say Nothing Saw Wood at the LSPU Hall, St. John’s, May 8-13.

experienced worker there is also a dollar figure associated with a loss of production and increased workers’ compensation fees. Injuries on the job site benefit no one, Lake says, adding there’s also more of a partnering now. “Employees and employers have a shared responsibility when it comes to safety.” Employers are investing in safety and employees are more aware, Lake says, but the job can’t stop there. Health and safety is “the total package,” he emphasizes. “We can’t continue to have injured workers, that is not OK.” — Pam Pardy Ghent

Manpower encourages you to protect your health and safety by knowing your rights the right to know, the right to participate and the right to refuse. Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent)

139 Water Street, 739-1692 StJohns.nf@na.manpower.com

‘It’s like a friend has gone’ The Away From Her star tears up when she recalls the liberal Canada that was and now seems lost By Geoff Pevere Torstar wire service

ulie Christie is shedding a tear for Canada. The spot of moisture appears during a conversational detour she’s taken to comment on how much this country has changed politically since the 66year-old actor first came to British Columbia for the filming of Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller 36 years ago. Christie was in Toronto last September for the world premiere of Sarah Polley’s highly celebrated directing debut, Away From Her, in which she costars with the iconic Gordon Pinsent. The movie opens May 4. Canada, once the vast untamed frontier of tolerant liberalism, seems to Christie a harder, more conservative place. “I’m very conscious of the change in Canada since I was here before,” says Christie. “And the change is very disturbing,” the veteran performer and activist (primarily for nuclear disarmament and animal rights) adds. “I think a lot of the world looked up to Canada — I feel like I might make myself cry — because it’s a wonderful thing to have someone not participating in the stuff you feel that you yourself are struggling against. And here was this whole country that had decided to pursue a path of common sense and gentleness. That was terribly gratifying for all of us. So it’s like a friend has gone.” Christie has never been shy about making her feelings known. And the fact is, those feelings have often been stronger in matters of politics than of her profession. Indeed, few celebrities have been as ambivalent about celebrity as Christie. “It’s much more unpleasant now,” she observes about the fame game. “I’m not grumbling because I don’t have to suffer. Fortunately none of that applies to me any more, so (I’m) looking at it from the outside and I’m so glad that I’m not a young actress.” One can only imagine that it was precisely this kind of sentiment which forged such a close relationship between Christie and Polley, the equally celebrity-ambivalent Canadian actor-turned-film-

maker who has coaxed such a commanding performance from Christie as Fiona, a woman with Alzheimer’s. “It’s devastating now,” says Christie of today’s brand of fame. “And Sarah is very cleverly foreseeing the danger that lies ahead. I’m sure she’ll manage to deal with it, especially that she’s now directing. It’s so much easier in a way for a director to avoid the evils of celebrity and to be regarded as a worthwhile human being who is something more than a beautiful face or a beautiful body or a beautiful handbag or a beautiful dress.” Polley met Christie in 2001, during production of a movie, shot in Iceland, called No Such Thing. Immediately struck by the young actor’s intelligence and practicality — “I don’t often make friends with actors and actresses,” she stresses — Christie struck up a correspondence with Polley that endured not only the making of another film (2005’s The Secret Life of Words) but the younger woman’s persistent requests that Christie take on an especially challenging role in Polley’s ambitious adaptation of an Alice Munro short story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which became Away from Her. “She got hold of me for this,” Christie recalls with a sigh. “And I thought, ‘This is a great big part, takes me out of my own wonderful life that I enjoy so much.’ Plus I’ve got to learn a Canadian accent and I hate learning accents. I think I’m basically terribly lazy … I can’t learn to ski for God’s sakes.’ Anyway she lured me in the end and I’m terribly glad she did because it was a joy. It was an absolute joy.” There’s another aspect of Christie that Polley no doubt found both inspirational and illuminating. Like the younger actor, who has been known for her outspoken views on matters of Canadian culture and politics, Christie has somehow managed to strike a productive balance between acting and activism. “I’ve done the best I can because I do feel the people who are trying to spotlight these things which aren’t talked about, and which are so terribly dangerous, those people need all the help they can get. And if unfortunately they need it through someone like me who will then be quoted, that’s great.”

INDEPENDENTSTYLE

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007 — PAGE 25

Be Koi with your garden Indulge your senses — and your outdoor space — with an aquatic oasis By Mandy Cook The Independent

Koi fish

Reuters

n an age when people are logging more hours at the office or on the road than the generation of workers that came before, more and more of us are investing time and money into the little bit of tranquility we have. The restorative benefit of the garden is no secret to the weekend digger, eager to blow the corporate cobwebs out of their hair. But beyond the hoe and trowel, the average green thumb is now beginning to branch out. The yard is no longer just a yard — it is an outdoor room waiting to be furnished. Fish ponds are increasingly becoming a top choice for garden enhancement. Jerry Jones, of the newly-opened Aquarium Fanatics, 29 Commonwealth Ave. in Mount Pearl, says about one in 10 homeowners has some kind of fish pond in their backyards, depending on the area. “Everybody wants their own piece of paradise in their backyards,” he says. “It’s proven about keeping fish and how relaxing it can be and how it really takes your mind away from all the stress going on today.” Koi, a Malaysian fish, is a popular choice as it originates in a climate similar to this province’s. Koi are a cold water fish and, in order for them to behave and feel like they are in their natural environment, must hibernate in the pond throughout the winter. A depth of at least three feet must be dug in the pond so the fish can spend the cold months beneath the frost line. Koi will breed once the warm spring temperatures arrive. “They have babies like crazy,” says Jones. The little ones are happily purchased by local exotic fish dealers, he adds. Building a fishpond in your yard requires a lot of research, Jones says, or the help of a professional. Horticulturalist Michael Murray, of Murray’s Garden Centre in Portugal Cove, says fishponds should be in a good sunny location, properly lined with PVC or some other kind of synthetic material, and bordered with ledges planted with semi-aquatic plants, such as irises. Reeds, bulrushes and hyacinths can all be added to help oxygenate and filter your new ecosystem. As for the aesthetic value of a fishpond, Murray is quick to point out the numerous benefits. “It adds the component of light gleaming and bouncing and reflecting off the water as you would on a regular pond,” he says, “and you have the entertainment … as soon as you approach the fish they come to be fed. They’re like trained cats.” Murray says he and his team of 55 have designed fish ponds all across the island, starting at a cost of $1,000 and topping out at … well, the sky’s the limit. He says it’s not unusual for some people to spend “tens of thousands” on their garden creations. It’s a sign of the importance homeowners are placing on their outdoor peace of mind. “Landscaping has become as important, and in some cases more important, as the inside of the house. “It’s where recreation takes place, a place where people entertain and relax … it brightens the spirits.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca

Beautiful brine

Here’s a surefire way to add moisture to your meat

am not a believer. I don’t have that mechanism in my body that instantly believes something is good — that leap of faith that it will work. I am an experimenter. I’ll try a technique here with a flavour from there and see where it goes. This week I was reading about the secret world of brining. This is a simple, yet fantastic, technique for enveloping your food in lots of good flavour. And you can thank science for it.

NICHOLAS GARDNER Off the Eating Path The principle is simple. Cells in a protein are semi-permeable, which allows a salt solution to flow in and out of the cells — however, some of the larger salt cells are left behind. Next, an equilibrium is established:

water drawn into the cells is trapped slightly by the salt, the cells engorge or fatten, and more moisture is held in the meat. As the meat cooks, there is still a lot of moisture remaining, which creates a very moist product evenly seasoned throughout. The technique can inject lots of flavour into your food, and works well for most meats, including turkey, chicken and pork. This recipe covers one moderate sized chicken. Feel free to increase the

volumes to scale. However, do not exceed one cup of kosher salt per four litres of water or the meat will become overly salty and be inedible. • 2 litres cold water • 1/2 cup Kosher salt (must be kosher, as it dissolves properly) • 3 cloves of garlic, whole • 1 tbsp whole peppercorns • 1 small bunch thyme • 1 small bunch rosemary • 3 bay leaves

• 1 lemon cut in half • 1 tbsp honey Put all ingredients in large pot and bring to boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. Place your bird in a non-reactive container big enough to accommodate both the bird and the liquid. I used a well-sanitized and oversized coffee See “Container,” page 26

MAY 4, 2007

26 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

Boosting flavour and season From page 25

soggy, and cooked the roasted vegetables in a separate pan. container. Allow the brining to take place in a nice The brine is a great vehicle for some flavour cool environment like a cold basement or the transfer — substitute oranges for lemons, sage for refrigerator for up to six hours. rosemary and brown sugar for When the brining is complete, honey for rich pork brine. remove the chicken and discard Whether it is for your thick pork liquid. Pat the bird dry and allow chops or back ribs ready for The brine is a great the chicken to come to room grilling, this is the best way to temperature, about 30 minutes, boost flavour and season at the vehicle for some before roasting. same time. flavour transfer — Roast in a 425F oven for about On another note: while I was an hour and a quarter. My 1.7 kg up to my elbows in salt solusubstitute oranges bird took 75 minutes and was tions, I almost forgot to tell you perfect. It came out a dark rich an interesting event comfor lemons, sage for about golden brown on the outside, and ing up in the city — Tastefest — was incredibly tender and seafirst food festival to be held rosemary and brown the soned on the inside. in St. John’s. I cooked my chicken on a Running from May 10-13, it is sugar for honey for roasting rack. Underneath the to be a feast for all those interestchicken I placed some parboiled ed. Tastefest offers food lovers a rich pork brine. Yukon gold potatoes, whole unique trip around the world — shallots, garlic cloves and and you don’t have to leave the onions, which were tossed with city. olive oil and liberally seasoned. Visit www.tastefest.ca for details, times and I was surprised that there was so much moisture ticket prices. coming out of the chicken. Had I my time back, I would have cooked the Nicholas Gardner is a freelance writer and chicken on the rack, but removed the vegetables erstwhile chef living in St. John’s. from underneath to keep them from getting nicholas.gardner@gmail.com

Versatile miso stimulates sense of umami By Susan Sampson Torstar wire service

S Apology The Independent would like to apologize to the Department of Government Services for running their National Occupational Health and Safety week advertisement in lieu of their National Day of Mourning advertisement, which is what they had planned to run, in the April 27th, 2007 edition. This error was the fault of The Independent and not the intention of the Department. We apologize for any offense this may have caused.

oybean paste sounds so bad and tastes so good. That’s because it stimulates your sense of umami. Bet you didn’t know you had such a thing. Umami is known as the fifth taste element – after sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It is that mouthwatering, savoury quality found in seaweed and fermented foods such as soy sauce, wine, aged cheese — and miso. Miso is a paste made with fermented soybeans, water, salt and grains — usually rice, but sometimes wheat or barley, which add their distinctive flavours to the mix. Miso may be marred by the addition of MSG, so check labels. I also prefer brands made with soybeans that are not genetically modified. An Asian shop will offer a large selection in its refrigerated cases. Health food shops also sell miso. Generally, they are priced from $4.58 to $6.98 for 500 grams. Most are packaged in tubs. They will last for months in your fridge. When cooking, prevent clumping by creaming miso with a bit of boiling water or stock before adding it to your dish. Don’t boil miso in a soup or stew; add it at the end. You can stir miso into boiling water. That’s the simplest way to serve it, as a quick hot broth on its own or as a starter before a sushi meal. To get fancier, invest some time in the following soup.

MISO SOUP WITH SHIITAKE STOCK & UDON NOODLES Adapted from Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook by Myra Goodman. STOCK:

• 4 large plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped • 2 carrots, scrubbed, coarsely chopped • 3 stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped • 1 large leek (white and light green parts), well rinsed, coarsely chopped • 1/4 lb (120 g) shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, caps and stems separated • 4 cloves garlic • 1 bay leaf • 12 cups or more cold water • 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley • 2 tbsp thyme leaves SOUP: • 1/4 lb (120 g) dried udon noodles • 1 tbsp Asian sesame oil • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 2 tsp puréed ginger root • 1 large carrot, peeled, sliced thinly on diagonal • 1/4 cup red miso • 3 green onions (white and three inches green parts), thinly sliced on diagonal • 1 tbsp soy sauce or to taste

For stock, put tomatoes, carrots, celery, leek, shiitakes, garlic and bay leaf in stock pot. Add water. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to mediumlow and simmer, uncovered, one to one-and-a-half hours, until flavour develops. Stir in parsley and thyme. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Cool briefly. Strain through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl. Work in batches, pressing on solids to extract liquid, then discarding solids. If desired, remove shiitake caps as you go. Slice shiitakes thinly; set aside. Add enough water to stock to make eightcups. For soup, cook noodles in medium pan of boiling, salted water on medium heat until tender but firm, eight to 10 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Meanwhile, heat oil in small skillet on medium. Turn heat to medium-low. Add garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft but not browned, one to two minutes. Set aside. Add prepared stock to medium pan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Add garlic mixture and carrot. Turn heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until carrot is tender but firm, about 10 minutes. Ladle bit of stock into small bowl. Whisk in miso to blend. Return to soup. Add onions, shiitakes if desired and noodles. Cook until heated through, two to three minutes, but do not allow to boil. Stir in soy sauce. Makes about 9 cups, or servings.

Does he, or doesn’t he, cover the grey?

“G

uys don’t want to have buddies say in the locker room, ‘Hey, I see you coloured your hair!’” says Rhino Gaudet, a Vancouver salon owner and international Redken artist. Straight guys, unlike gals, never discuss grey coverage with each other. In fact, they’re back where women were when the ads proclaimed, “Only your hairdresser knows for sure.” Redken’s Camo Colour for men to “phase out grey,” a 10-minute salon service, is a huge success, says Gaudet.

“It camouflages the grey, adds pepper to salt and pepper.” “It’s a back-of-the room, sink bar service,” emphasizes Tracy Silkstone, Calgary colourist representing Redken. She knows most men don’t want to be upfront or public about adding colour to their hair. “Sometimes even their wives don’t really know.” However, statistics show 19 per cent of men in Canada colour their hair, and the figure doesn’t include those who just do “touch-ups.” — Torstar wire service

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Newfoundland 1-877-513KIDS (5437) www.helpingkids.ca

MAY 4, 2007

INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 27

Enough to keep you up at night A ll parents wake — no matter the hour — when their little ones holler out in the middle of the night. But I’m willing to bet I get more than my share of late night awakenings: my lad talks in his sleep. The other night I fought out of the fog and managed to croak a “Wa?” to his bellowed “Mom!” He called again. I cleared my throat. “What is it?” I answered back — loud enough to reach him in dreamland. “What’s 18 plus 18?” It would have to be a math question. Somewhat mathematically challenged, I mentally combined 10 and 18 (easy enough, even for me), then added another eight (using my fingers). I called the answer, confident that I was giving his dreaming mind the clarity it needed. He corrected me — in his sleep. I was off by one. I’ve never been one for math, but I always did like a good yarn. Growing up, I heard tales about the shenanigans that go on in small communities like mine. One was about a fellow who never made it out early like

By David Rider Torstar wire service

he consumer marketplace is turning an ever-richer shade of green, expanding rapidly with products purportedly bursting with non-toxic, zero-emitting organic goodness. And it’s simply too much of a green thing, says Gord Perks, environmental expert and city councillor. “When you can buy a ‘green’ SUV, you know we’ve gone too far,” says Perks, formerly of organizations such as the Toronto Environmental Alliance and primary author of Pollution Probe’s 1991 bestseller, the Canadian Green Consumer Guide. “There are ‘3 Rs’ but we’ve forgotten reduce and reuse. In almost every case, the greenest product you can buy is the one you don’t. We consume too much.” “We’re on the cusp of something huge but there is a lot of green washing out there, so consumers have to do their research,” says Laurie Simmonds, publisher of Green Living magazine. As well as Perks and Simmonds, we consulted Earth Day Canada president Jed Goldberg; Rob Grand, owner of the two Grassroots environmental products stores; and Kalle Lasn, self-described radical greenie and co-founder of the Adbusters Media Foundation for their thoughts on the green marketplace. The most positively received items were organic cotton T-shirts and those twisty compact fluorescent light bulbs. “One product I wholly support is organic cotton,” says Lasn, whose Buy Nothing Day and Buy Nothing Christmas campaigns have spread to 65 countries. The cotton industry was, until a decade ago, “pretty lousy” because the crop is traditionally one of the most heavily sprayed. But the movement toward pesticide- and fertilizer-free production is a model to be followed. Grand, who started Grassroots 13

PAM PARDY GHENT

Seven-day talk the other fishermen each morning. Lazy, the more naïve called him — but he had, it seems, a need greater than fish. This man, tales say, had a few visits to make around the community as he made his way down to his boat. While other men were out earning a living on the sea, he was otherwise occupied, if you get my drift. In dem days, a husband would have to row back faster than … well, pretty fast … if he wanted to stop the goins’ on. Sundays, of course, was a day off for everyone. Amen to that I suppose. There is rest for the wicked — or back then there was anyway. I have no idea if the story is true, but it sounds awfully interesting. Oft times I’ve heard older folks say, “well, you blamed the right one,” when they see a new baby that (thankfully, I guess) looks like its daddy.

Lobster season has started up out here again and with the fast motors these fisherfolk have, there are no worries about taking long to get on home out of it if need be. And besides, many wives actually fish with their husbands these days. I’m not sure if the above tale has anything to do with that or not. Spirits are high for those out on the ocean on this end of Fortune Bay. The price of lobsters has gone up, but not to where it should be, and the catch is good, as it usually is, at the start of the season. Not all around the island are as lucky. My parents were on their way to Clarenville the other morning and stopped near Mile Hill to help two stranded motorists. A man and a woman were on their way back from a morning on the water with their day’s catch of six lobsters. Hardly enough for a meal if you were either bit famished. It wasn’t that they had a bad day, they said it’s been a bad season overall. These fine folks fish from Sandy Harbour and all they managed to catch since the season opened was a crate-

and-a-half of lobsters. Not much money in that, no matter what the price is.

SCHOOL DAYS The kids around here had their graduation ceremony this past weekend and I felt a twinge. It’s been 20 years since my high school days ended and while I’m excited for the three graduates from this tiny community, there is also a sense of dread. Our one and only graduate from last year has yet to return, not even for a visit, from his Alberta home. This year’s threesome will be gone before long, and who knows when they will return, if they ever do. This place has turned into a ghost town of sorts already. Eleven men have left to work away in the past month or so, gone for a half-year or longer stay out west. Three others are on their rotations, gone more than they’re home. One poor fella is leaving Tuesday for seven months away, hopeful his second child, a boy, is born before he has to leave. It might not be. He wouldn’t be the first to miss a birth in this town of

revolving door spouses. For those who haven’t yet left, it won’t be long. Most jobs will start up in a few weeks and those left are enjoying the last of their ’ome days. This spring, like others I have experienced since returning to outport Newfoundland, sees our men go on their way as the weather warms. This year, however, men who have never left before, ones who managed to make a living “somehow,” have finally given up and packed it in for the mainland. The mussel farm hasn’t opened yet this year, the shipyard hasn’t hired a solitary tradesmen from down over the road yet, n’ar soul won the lottery and no one started up any new industrial enterprises. It’s just gone, gone and, yes sir, there goes another Newfoundlander. It’s enough to keep you up, even on nights my lad’s tongue stays still. Even a weak mathematical mind like mine can see where that will leave us. Pam Pardy Ghent lives in Harbour Mille on the Burin Peninsula. Her column returns May 18.

Green lite You drive a hybrid car, eat organic food and for good measure, buy carbon offsets because you still sometimes buy takeout in plastic. Is that enough? years ago, is increasing his stores’ range of organic cotton clothes. The casually but fashionably dressed retailer notes that the T-shirt, sweater, jeans and socks he’s wearing are all made from organic cotton. Perks says organic cotton is fine, but why not skip a new purchase and head to Value Village? The environmentalists had only good things to say about the efficiency of compact fluorescent light bulbs, which can last up to 15 times longer than regular bulbs and draw between one-fifth and one-quarter of the power. Perks notes, however, they contain a small amount of mercury and therefore pose a disposal problem. “Like batteries, they should be on a deposit-return system so the mercury can be reused,” he says. Simmonds says Philips Electronics is working on a mercuryfree bulb. The most negatively received item was, surprisingly, not the much-mocked hybrid SUVs that manage to be huge and heavy while sporting a badge that tells the world “I care.” Drawing the most scorn was carbon offsets — essentially a credit you buy in someone else’s greenhouse gas-reducing project to offset the emissions you cause — and, by extension, Al Gore, the global-warming superstar and former U.S. vice-president. Gore lives in a 10,000-square-foot Tennessee mansion but claims to live a

“carbon-neutral” life because he buys a form of offset. Simmonds’ advice on offsets is “buyer beware” and she directs consumers to the David Suzuki Foundation’s webpage on them to understand what they’re buying (davidsuzuki.org; click on “Go Carbon Neutral”). City living, even in a moderately retrofitted old home, was touted as environmentally efficient compared to moving to a new state-of-the-art green home in the country. Natural, non-toxic home cleansers were described as good but not as good as hot water, baking soda and some old-

Al Gore

Reuters

fashioned elbow grease. Imported organic produce got a surprisingly bitter response. Although good for the earth because it was grown without pesticides and herbicides, four out of the five experts say the fossil fuels burned to transport

them vastly outweigh their benefit. Their first choice is locally produced organic, followed by local, commercially grown produce. “The average Canadian meal travelled over 1,000 kilometres to get there. That’s a lot of fossil fuels,” says Perks.

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How does your garden grow? T

he greens at The Wilds, an 18hole golf course on Salmonier Line about 45-minutes drive from St. John’s, keeps manager Adam Zieminas busy this time of year. “We have 75 acres to keep up and like homeowners we’re out there with our rakes as soon as the snow starts to melt,” he says. Raking is an essential part of the spring ritual for any gardener/homeowner or large-scale project, explains Barb Mundon of Gaze Seed in St. John’s, adding that raking can be done as soon as the snow melts and the ground dries. “Right now focus first on the clean up,” she says. Cutting back perennials, removing — and composting — last year’s annuals, plus adding compost and quality fertilizers to lawns and gardens is a great way for homeowners to start preparing the ground, she says, but there’s more. “Right now you should be liming your lawn and adding some slow release fertilizer.” Mundon says you should also pay attention to any brown, dead or otherwise unhealthy spots on your lawn. While it might be too early for pests, the best way to ensure you will have a healthy, pest-free lawn is to lay down a strong foundation. Topsoil should be at least eight-inches thick, add compost, then seed it, Mundon explains. Proper planning is the key to success in the yard and in the garden. Michael Burzynski, an employee with Parks Canada and an avid gardener living in Rocky Harbour, says planning ahead is essential, but warns against limiting options when it comes to gardening.

“Who says flower gardens can’t have lettuces?” Jacqui Hunter

Be creative, he insists. “I have found that there are very few garden plants that we cannot grow here, and some grow remarkably well,” Burzynski says. Primroses, poppies, saxifrages, and heathers thrive in the relatively cool, moist conditions that exist on the Northern Peninsula through most of the summer, he says. It is never too early to enjoy nature, Burzynski advises. “We still have almost a metre of snow over most of the garden, but there are already four species of plants in full bloom, hundreds of flowers popping up wherever the snow has gone. It is possible to have flowers here — as long as there is open soil — from spring melt until the hard frosts of late autumn,” he says. Newfoundland Flagstone in Pynn’s Brook has been producing landscaping and masonry stone since 1994 from their quarry near Corner Brook. The made-right-here product can be used for rough landscaping, retaining walls, or finished masonry in and around the garden, explains company

owner John Tuach. Bluestone, he says, is a sandstone, or flagstone, that is not only durable, but regal looking. “It is the Rolls Royce of patio stone, a prestige product in landscaping,” he says. Stone isn’t just for gardens, but for what surrounds them, he says. “Patios, benches, steps, retaining walls, paths, edging, water features — basically if it’s outside then stone can be part of the overall landscaping design of your home.” Gardening is Canada’s second favourite form of physical activity. The movements associated with the bending, stretching, lifting and pulling of gardening are a good way to add a physical boost to your weekly activities, advises Jacqui Hunter, owner of Java Jack’s, a restaurant in Rocky Harbour that serves up fresh produce that’s grown in the garden out back. “The added bonus of surrounding yourself with the beauty of a healthy garden is that while you eat fresh you also keep active and stay healthy,” she says. A garden, she says, is a labour of love. “Take pictures, keep a journal, make maps and mix things up a little,” Hunter laughs. “Who says flower gardens can’t have lettuces?” No one knows the work of keeping the greens green like those in the golf industry. “No one comes to a golf course for the sandwiches,” Zieminas says, they are coming for the well-maintained greens. “Keeping up with it all might not be 24 hours a day, but pretty darn close.” — Pam Pardy Ghent

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MAY 4, 2007

30 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE

EVENTS

CARRIER OF THE WEEK

MAY 4 • Energy efficiency and conservation lecture, Memorial University, Dr. Angus Bruneau Lecture Theatre, room EN-2006, S.J. Carew Building, noon-2 p.m. • Soulful Sundown, explore your spirituality through gentle movement, circle dance, drumming, chant and meditation, United Church Basement, Gower Street, 7:30 p.m. • Annual wine tasting evening, Marine Institute, Ridge Road, St. John’s 7-10 p.m.

• Home Show 2007, Mile One Centre. MAY 5 • MUN Botanical Garden spring cleanup (and potluck lunch). Volunteers are invited to meet in the garden’s parking lot, 10 a.m., 737-8590. • Mundy Pond book signing by author Roger Maunder, Costco, Stavanger Drive, St. John’s, 1-4 p.m. • Eastern Edge Gallery celebrates the Year of the Craft, 72 Harbour Drive, 3

Amanda Greeley

p.m., 739-1882, runs until June 16. • Annual Lilies for Lillie concert, fundraiser for cancer care in Newfoundland and Labrador, featuring Siochana, Blue Eyed Blonde, Tarahan, Greeley’s Reel and The Insiders, Bella Vista, Torbay Road, www.lflhome.com. MAY 6 • Celebrate composting at the MUN Botanical Garden with special Three Cheers for Composting family program, 737-8590. • The Five Island Art Gallery in Tors Cove on the Southern Shore will open its doors for its third season, 1-4 p.m. • Royal Canadian Legion Branch 18’s memorial service for those who fell in the Battle of the Atlantic, Seaman’s Memorial, Lance Cove, Bell Island, 3 p.m. • Small Skirmishes and Outright War, by Bunty Severs, Libby Moore and Susan Furneaux; Dragons of Avalon by Vicky Northey; and ARTefact, a group exhibition open at the Craft Council Gallery, Duckworth Street, 2-4 p.m. MAY 7 • Accordion courses at MUN, Music 2023, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon1:15 p.m., 737-7486, until August 3. • Say Nothing Saw Wood, a new play by Joel Thomas Hynes opens at the LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 8 p.m. Until May 13.

Denis Parker (pictured) and John Clarke will play at the St. John’s Folk Arts Council’s weekly folk night, Ship Pub, 9 p.m Paul Daly photo.

MAY 9 • Reading by Ami McKay, author of The Birth House, A.C. Hunter Library, 7 p.m. • Reading by Kristin Bieber Domm, author of Atlantic Puffin: little brother of the North, A.C. Hunter Library, 3:30 p.m. • Denis Parker and John Clarke at the St. John’s Folk Arts Council’s weekly folk night, Ship Pub, 9 p.m. MAY 10 • St. John’s first food festival, Tastefest,

begins. Visit www.tastefest.ca for list of meals, concerts, happy hours and other events. IN THE GALLERIES • Gordon Laurin, recent work, RCA Visual, LSPU Hall, until June 3. • Recent works by Linda Swain inspired by Newfoundland and England, Pollyanna Art Gallery, 214 Duckworth Street, St. John’s, until May 29.

Why women go beige

Soft blonde is often the default colour, whether highlights or whole head, as boomers avoid going grey By Judy Gerstel Torstar wire service

To join our Carrier Crew Call 726.4639 or visit www.theindependent.ca

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mid the colour and cacophony of the Allied Beauty Association hair show at the Toronto Convention Centre recently, surrounded by svelte models with platinum and pink locks, stands Lise Ratté, stout of stature and grey of hair. Ratté and her husband Gilles, reps for Novostyl International, a supplier of books, posters and stationery to salons, are regulars at these shows across Canada. In this industry hothouse of aesthetic alteration, the sensible couple in their late 60s could be seen as subversive. They are dismissive of the hues and tints on display, the burgundies, eggplants, champagnes, raspberries and cherries. The Rattés are not among the 65 per cent of Canadian women and 19 per cent of Canadian men who dye their hair, most of whom, if they are settled into adulthood and are not rock star wannabes, want the colour to appear natural. Outside the trade show, in salons and at home, the holy grail of hair colouring is subtle enhancement. And soft blonde is often the default colour, whether as

highlights or whole head hue. “Blonde disguises the grey and you don’t notice the re-growth so much,” says Bell. “Also, lighter tones do seem more flattering to aging skin. As we age, the colour we had at 20 may not be as flattering at 50.” But so many women, aging boomers (or beyond) have opted for blonde, often ashy coverage that it’s become a cliché: Women don’t get older, they get blonder — or beiger. There’s another reason why blonde women over 50 are ubiquitous: blonde, especially over white, grey or salt and pepper, is easier to achieve than trying to restore natural, darker colours. “It’s difficult to get a true brown,” says Brian Menzies, colourist at Glo Salon to a client who simply wants to cover the grey and restore her natural mousy ashy brown. “It’s the hardest colour to duplicate.” But why, when life itself can be cloned, can’t the chemists conjure a natural unadulterated brown? Because it’s not just what’s in the bottle that counts. Perhaps even more important, say experts, are the residual pigmentation in hair that hasn’t completely turned white, the condition of the hair and body chemistry.

Besides, it seems you really can’t fool, or match, Mother Nature’s subtlety. “Naturally, our browns aren’t as rich (as bottle browns),” says Joico rep Shannon Simmonds, a Vancouver colourist. As for black, well, “black hair is not really black,” Simmonds says. “Very few people have true black. And there’s often some grey. Going with a ‘natural’ black may seem too dark.” But any opaque colour can look unnatural, warn colourists. “Natural looking hair has variations, says Bell. “Opaque looks more artificial, more wig-like.” One way to achieve a more natural look with brunette colouring, suggest hair colour consultants, is to opt for semi-permanent colour to blend the grey rather than dye the whole head. “It blends 70 per cent of the white,” explains Bell. And then there’s Lise Ratté, who celebrates her grey hair. “I was for 30 years a redhead with blonde streaks,” she says. “But I lost all my hair three years ago when I had chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. When it grew back, I left it grey. “Maybe I would look younger with blonde hair. But now I look in the mirror each day and say, ‘I’m healthy.’”

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MAY 4-10, 2007

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…THE ALL-NEW 2008 MITSUBISHI LANCER AWAITS. AT LAST THE CAR YOU NEED … IS THE CAR YOU GOTTA HAVE. Efficiency and value. If that’s what you need in a car, you probably don’t expect to get what you really crave. It’s the redefinition of the sport sedan. So rev up your expectations. Not just a little. All the way to the redline. Mitsubishi engineers have developed progressive features to move the Lancer beyond its competition. The Lancer is the only Japanese compact equipped with standard knee air bag. In addition the Lancer is available with an impressive 650 watt Rockford Fosgate audio system and useful Bluetooth hands-free technology. 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer is available at Capital Mitsubishi, Kenmount Road, starting at $17,000-$27,000. Paul Daly photos/The Independent

You know you want it O

Corey Wood on his big, new sled in Corner Brook. John Wood photo

ne of the delights of filling this space is that I can justify sauntering around the garden drinking coffee under the generous premise that I’m working. It looks like I’m immersed in deep thought, but no, I got nothing. After mulling over several ideas, I selected one for heft and roundness, like a ball for batting practice. I failed on the first two swings, but on the third try I connect with a story, which feels like hitting a golf ball with an aluminum bat. I’ve got it now. I have a theory. Vehicles for playtime are illogical purchases. They’re fanciful notions designed to amuse us, and include (but not limited to) motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats, all-terrain vehicles and motor homes. My theory: everyone who owns a recreation vehicle wants a bigger one and ownership of one type leads to ownership of others. My term for it is poly-recreational vehicle usage, a mania for which there is no known cure. It’s a subtle addiction, but as long as we’re all having fun and no one gets hurt it’ll stimulate the economy. I don’t know anyone who owns a motorcycle or an ATV who doesn’t want a bigger, newer one. Same for snowmobiles — everyone wants a bigger, faster machine, especially one that will skim on water. Once you’ve realized that pond hopping on a snowmobile is something you like, you’re prone to buy a boat. You might start off with a small one, but soon enough you’ll realize you

might like to sleep overnight on it sometime. Someone’s going to wake up on May 24th You get a bigger boat, naturally, and realize you weekend in a tent — all gritty and sore after too might want to sleep further away from shore, so much beer and too little sleep — and glance you get an even bigger boat. Meanwhile, over at a camper trailer. The camper trailer you’ve accumulated a new motorcycrowd were also up all night, but had cle, a new snowmobile and you’re on a shower in the morning, followed by your third boat. a big breakfast. Now they’re loungNo one made you buy this stuff … ing around in matching camp chairs. you talked yourself into it. As you wipe the grit from your eyes, All you need is a subtle reminder a spider crawls out your hair and you with an advertisement every now and solemnly vow this will be your last then of new stuff and you’ll go for it. weekend in a tent. First thing you do Recreational vehicles sell themselves when you get back home is price one — you know you want it. of those lovely, cozy, sensible MARK Where were we? Yes, the third camper trailers. A year later when it’s WOOD boat. Now you’ve got a nice in for servicing you’ll notice the latWOODY’S est version; next thing you know overnight boat suitable for mediumsize trips, you’re established as an be driving off the lot with it. WHEELS you’ll experienced mariner and someone That one will have a flat-screen telesuggests a trip down south. How vision and satellite dish on the roof could you resist a perfect excuse to buy a big- so you can watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs in ger boat? Next thing you know you’re a rum- the woods this May 24th weekend. runner in a three-mast schooner with the Coast In the morning a victim will crawl out of a Guard bawling at you, “You’re under arrest!” tent near you with bugs nesting in his hair, and Your friends back home will read all the you will laugh. That used to be you. Eventually shocking details about you in The Independent you’ll own a massive motorhome, drive across and wonder where you went wrong. the Mexican border to Tijuana for a load of “He had all kinds of toys,” the neighbour will cheap, prescription heart medication and get say when swarmed by the media, “cycles, busted coming home in Port aux Basques. snowmobiles, you name it. Then he got into We’ll read about it and understand. boats, had to pay for it all somehow I s’pose.” Completely. I save the best example of my theory for last. The motor-home fiasco, or “how you went Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s is from sleeping in a tent to being king of the also a victim of poly-recreational vehicle road.” usage.

32 • INDEPENDENTFUN

MAY 4, 2007

WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 Hem and ___ 4 Elegant 8 Comedian Martin ___ 13 Impressed 17 Cigar end 18 Self: prefix 19 It’s now or ___ 20 Do like an eagle 21 Superficial (2 wds.) 23 Rugged ridge 24 Rail bird 25 The ___ that bind 26 Where to find our northernmost highway (the Dempster) 28 Among 30 Push out 32 ___ over (helped survive) 33 Wedding words 34 Window 35 Twists 36 Newspaper printings 40 I have 41 Red in Rimouski 42 Cries of agreement 43 Sleep stage 44 Of the heart 46 Motley collection 48 “Fee, fi, fo, fum” caller 49 Vows 51 ___ with the punches

52 Cheer for a diva 53 Fights 56 Barrier of bushes 58 Thinner 59 Cripples 60 Dreadful 61 Intended 63 Like a flattened circle 64 Our oldest candy company 66 Consents 70 Acquire 71 Leg parts 72 Soil 74 Take measures 75 Like eels 77 Ofra Harnoy’s instrument 78 Water (Span.) 79 ___-fairy 80 Pleasing to the palate 81 Bit of bread 82 Sign of deficit (2 wds.) 85 Make baby food 86 Pâté de ___ gras 87 Comedian Park 88 Silly 90 Start of a shower 94 Suffix for a scandal? 95 Nostrils 96 Sharp quality 97 Purge (with “of”) 98 Delighted

CHUCKLE BROS

99 Loses hair 100 Makeshift bed (Brit.) 101 Saguenay summer time DOWN 1 Possesses 2 Request 3 Bleach 4 Youth in military training 5 Colours 6 Mineral: suffix 7 Aping 8 Inwood, Man. roadside attraction: garter ___ 9 Biblical king 10 Stove part 11 Soften (flax) 12 Stepping 13 Birthplace of St. Francis 14 Cedar or birch 15 Fleshy projections 16 Darn! 22 Pleasing 27 Cow’s milk holder 29 French words 30 Sword and sandals movie 31 Computer language developed by James Gosling 32 Necum ___, N.S. 33 Standard of perfec-

tion 35 Regatta craft 36 Insignia 37 Heart or liver 38 Impertinence 39 Sling mud 41 Middle East money 42 Highly excited 45 Thin wooden rod 47 Man. town with giant crocus 48 Give one’s address 50 Pick-up hockey 52 Players’ seat 53 Online diaries 54 Bolero composer 55 Valuable violin 57 Libido 58 Milk: prefix 60 Milk processor 62 Like the worm-getting bird 64 Small pickles 65 They fly in a V 67 French inventor of photo process 68 ___ Secum, N.S. 69 Knife 71 Whirl 73 Changed 76 Hurt 77 Romantic touch 78 Parched 80 Adjusted pitch 81 Red traffic guides 82 Sturdy wool fibre 83 Mideast carrier

84 “Star Trek” android 85 Peel

86 Fruit often dried 89 Slangy refusal

91 Ruckus 92 Like: suffix

93 Surrey summer time Solutions page 34

Brian and Ron Boychuk

WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19) A seemingly stalled romantic situation could benefit from your reassurance that you want this relationship to work. And if you do, use a tad more of that irresistible Aries charm. TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20) Going to new places and meeting new people appeals to both the Taurean’s romantic and practical side. After all, you never can tell where those new contacts can take you — right? GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) That career-change opportunity that didn’t work out when you first considered it could come up again. But this time, remember that you have more to offer and should act accordingly. CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

There could be some tensions in relationships — domestic or workaday. But a calm approach that doesn’t raise the anger levels and a frank discussion will soon resolve the problem. LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) It’s a good idea to begin preparing for that career change you’ve been thinking about for a while. Start to sharpen your skills and expand your background to be ready when it calls. VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Bless that Virgo skepticism that has kept you from falling into traps others seem to rush into. But you might want to give a new possibility the benefit of the doubt, at least on a trial basis. LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Traveling and career are strong in

your aspect. Perhaps your job will take you to someplace exotic. Or you might be setting up meetings with potential clients or employers. Whatever it is, good luck. SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Someone might use deception to try to push you into making a decision you’re not fully comfortable with. But those keen Scorpio senses should keep you alert to any such attempt. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Romance dominates this week when Cupid shafts the Archer, for a change. Positive things are also happening in the workplace. Expect important news to arrive by the week’s end. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN.19) Anyone trying to bully the Sea Goat — whether it involves a per-

sonal or a professional matter — will learn a painful lesson. Others will also benefit from the Goat’s strong example. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB.18) Congratulations — with things going the way they are, you should be able to spare some time and take a break from your hectic schedule for some well-earned fun and games. PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 21) Your sharp Piscean intuition should be able to uncover the true agendas of those who might be trying to catch the Fish in one of their schemes. YOU BORN THIS WEEK: Your flair for innovative art and design keeps you at least a step ahead of most everyone else. (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 34

INDEPENDENTSPORTS CLOWE VS CLEARY SEMI-FINAL SHOWDOWN

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007 — PAGE 33

If the Detroit-San Jose series goes to seven games like Daniel Cleary predicts, both he and Ryan Clowe have the chance to put up some big numbers, and prove the quality of Newfoundland players.

RYANE CLOWE This series: 1 goal, 2 assists Highlights: Scored two points in Game 3 win including game-tying goal Press: “(Ryane Clowe) knows they’ll be ready for another late night watching TV back in his hometown of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. ‘Yeah, I think they’re taking pregame naps just like me,’ laughed Clowe.” — John Niyo, The Detroit News

DANIEL CLEARY This series: 1 goal, 1 assist Highlights: Scored the game-tying goal in game 2 win Press: “Cleary still looks like a prototype that got drafted so high — big, strong, skilled, mean, or to use the scout’s expression, someone with all the tools.” — Eric Duhatschek, The Globe and Mail — John Rieti San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov stops Detroit Red Wings Dan Cleary from scoring. Game 5 of the series is scheduled for May 5, in Detroit.

Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

A feeling ‘like no other’ Daniel Cleary’s strength is key to Detroit’s playoff success By John Rieti The Independent

aniel Cleary’s strength is helping him survive a bruising series against the San Jose Sharks — and could win a Stanley Cup for his Detroit Red Wings. In the first four games of the series, Cleary has been hammered into the boards on offense and played relentlessly on the penalty kill, and he’s loving every minute. “There’s no better feeling than winning a playoff round, being out there when you’re winning game six … it really is surreal playing overtime in the NHL — it’s like no other,” Cleary tells The Independent from San Jose. The right-winger had one goal and

two assists in the first-round win over the Calgary Flames. More importantly, Cleary proved himself capable of leading Detroit’s checking line, and head coach Mike Babcock has called upon him to kill penalties and capitalize on powerplays. Cleary’s powerful style — streaking along the boards, digging for loose pucks in the corners and fighting his way to the front of the net — allows him to succeed as a scorer and a grinder for the Wings. Cleary is also coping with the punishment delivered by a visibly bigger San Jose side. “As the playoffs go on everybody is banged up, and it only gets worse … but I feel ready to go,” says Cleary. “It’s important for me to be strong, and

to be willing.” That willingness and desire was proven in Game 2. Short-handed and losing 2-1 in the third period, Cleary swung around just outside the blue line before veering down the middle of the ice, stealing the puck from the stick of a Shark defender and snapping a shot over Yevgeni Nabokov to even the game. Cleary says he envisions plays like that before each game, carefully preparing himself for the different situations and scoring opportunities he might find himself in. But when he’s closing in on the goal “instincts take over,” he says. One vision Cleary can’t shake is of himself holding the Stanley Cup. He admits playing in the NHL playoffs is far more exciting than anything he imagined as a child, and he can’t put his

idea of winning the ultimate trophy into words. Although there are only a handful of Newfoundlanders playing in the NHL today, Cleary is optimistic about the province’s hockey future. “I think you’re going to see more Newfoundlanders getting drafted and playing in the pros,” says Cleary. He’s glad to see a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team in St. John’s, especially so players can compete at a high level without moving away, something he saw many fellow players struggle with. Cleary also recommends young players consider a college hockey career. “I think the biggest thing for kids to remember is make sure you get your schooling … I always felt that the col-

lege route was the best route.” Currently blocking his route to an NHL championship is another Newfoundlander. San Jose Sharks’ leftwinger Ryane Clowe has also become an integral part of his team and is having a huge impact on the series. Although he hasn’t spoken to Clowe, even to make a Mount Pearl joke, Cleary says this series is great for the province. “It’s definitely a good story, kids back home are definitely tuning in, it’s exciting to see a couple of Newfoundlanders do well and I think they’ll see a lot more in the future.” Fans across the province can prepare for more nail-biting hockey. Cleary predicts the series against San Jose will go to a seventh and deciding game. john.rieti@theindependent.ca

Why sports belong downtown

verything in Texas, they say, is big. And they’re right. Here in Houston — where I’ve been seconded all week (yeah, I know, it’s a tough gig) — the city sprawls over miles and miles. A cabbie here — at least one of the few who speaks passable English — said only Los Angeles is spread out over a larger physical area. So while the city is huge, so too are the sports facilities. Reliant Stadium, where the Texans play football, is situated next to the Astrodome, where the major league baseball team played for decades. In fact, Reliant Stadium dwarfs the Astrodome, making it look insignificant. Here at the Offshore Technology Conference, the football field is filled with a massive assortment of exhibits and booths. It’s in a part of the downtown with parking lots so large it takes 20 minutes to walk through it. Seriously. Across town, in another part of the downtown, Minute Maid Park is the

DON POWER

Power Point home of the Houston Astros, the 2005 National League champs. A retrothemed park with all the amenities, Minute Maid is the showcase of the city, about three blocks from the Toyota Center, where the NBA’s Rockets play. Monday night, both teams were home — the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds, the Rockets to the Utah Jazz in a first round playoff game. Tuesday night, I was at Minute Maid, taking in a ballgame with 30,360 of my closest friends. OK, I was with a guy from St. John’s and an important politician from Mount Pearl, both of whom are slaving away here in the humidity, where spring feels a lot like summer. The temperature hits 28 or 29

every day, which means you bring two or three dress shirts with you wherever you go, wrinkles be damned. The Astros are not having a great year so far, which leaves the locals in a very bad way. Already there are talks of firing the manager and general manager, or trading away some of their better players. On the bright side for the Astros, the club started off 2005 with 15-30 record and still reached the World Series. Anyway, the Reds arrived in town sporting a .500 record, but more importantly, they arrived with Ken Griffey in uniform. I had a chance about 10 or 12 years ago to see Griffey in action with the Seattle Mariners, and was excited about the possibility of seeing him again. Problem was Griffey — as he has done so often in his career — had missed a few games due to an injury. An unbelievably gifted player, Griffey has 564 career homers, but would be in a race with Barry Bonds were it not for injuries.

Griffey led off the third inning, having been stranded in the on-deck circle in the second with two runners on base. On a 2-2 pitch, Griffey’s smooth swing connected with a towering home run to right field’s upper deck. It was a majestic shot, the kind you can watch on replays all night — the highlight in a Reds’ 11-2 romp. (The real treat at a game like this is watching batting practice, which we did about two hours prior to the game. There you’ll see moon shots.) Gazing about Minute Maid Park during the game — you can’t go to a ballpark and just look at the events on the field — you realized what an economic generator it is. The 30,000 people would probably spend anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million a night, which is not tough to do with $40 tickets, $7 beers, $5 hot dogs and $100 jerseys. And that’s just in the building. The bars and restaurants surrounding the park began filling up about 4:30 for a 7 p.m. start. In cities of this size, if

you work downtown, you stay downtown for the game, enjoying a beer or dinner in any number of establishments. It’s the reason the parks are built downtown. (By way of example, Ottawa’s Scotiabank Centre is in Kanata — or the middle of nowhere, as the locals say.) Which brings me to Mile One. Before and after the game, the Newfoundland contingent at the game discussed Mile One and its presence downtown. The reason that building was put downtown was to generate economic activity. Whether it’s hockey or a concert or a trade show, event nights bring people downtown, and that leads to business for area bars restaurants and even parking lots. The facility is doing what it’s supposed to do, albeit obviously on a smaller scale that these major league cities. It’s better on Gower Street than Kenmount Road. donniep@nl.rogers.com

34 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS

MAY 4, 2007

My battle with Salar A day on Labrador’s ever-changing Pinware River

he sun is ducking beneath the scraggly black spruce that line the high walls of the ravine eroded deeply into Labrador’s terra firma. The Pinware River has been draining the land for eons, since the retreat of glaciers that probably dropped those massive boulders that lay scattered erratically throughout its meandering seaward path. Each year in spring, the mighty Pinware rearranges massive rocks like they were marbles. New additions get ripped from canyon walls by violent spates of ice and water. It’s never exactly the same river you fished last year — but that’s part of what makes this southern Labrador salmon river so intriguing. Not far below Big Chute, an impressive waterfall that tests Salar’s renowned tenacity, there’s a long deep boulder-strewn pool — appropriately named The Boulders — where salmon like to recharge before entering the fall’s tumultuous flow. Big fish in particular lie below one huge chunk of granite that, at least in my 10 years’ experience, has been spared the wrath of spring run-off. I call it My Boulder and I’m keeping my fingers crossed it stays put. Just about every season I manage to hook a whopper in the lee of this natural monolith. From my position, perched atop another colossal chunk ripped from the earth’s crust, it’s quite a long cast to Salar’s suspected lie. The distance challenges my casting ability, motivating me to improve. My casting roost is upriver at about a 45-degree angle; just right for a down and across waking wet fly. My Boulder separates the Pinware’s powerful steady flow into two rippling seams that emerge from opposite sides of My Boulder and conjoin about 10 feet downstream, forming a very distinct V in the otherwise smooth flow. The water around my boulder is deep,

PAUL SMITH

The Rock

Outdoors cold and well oxygenated, appearing inky black in the lengthening shadows of evening. Resting salmon lay along both seams and particularly at the point of the V or just below. My job is to present my offering of moose hair, feather and tinsel on a perfectly straight line that lands gently in the slick water inside the V. The strong current pressing on my fly-line will cause the fly to rip across the seam in a manner Salar finds difficult to tolerate. If my cast lands crooked or bowed, a bag will quickly form in my line, submerging my offering and pulling it downstream like a fleeing baitfish — tempting to trout but not the salmon. I’m facing a demanding adversary and precise presentation is the most critical element of the game; much more so than fly pattern, time of day, or the style of hat you wear. It is all about attention to detail. At this formidable distance, and with a gusty wind blowing up the river valley, the cast doesn’t always land just right. But this time it does; I can see the fly as it starts to rip across the seam. A swirling flash of silver engulfs the fly and instantly there’s a gigantic tug on my line. Instinctively, my right arm reacts and reaches skyward, bending a deep arc into my rod as the hardened steel hook point sinks deep into my prey’s jaw. We are connected and the fight is on. First there are about 15 seconds of stillness; the quiet before the storm. I can feel the weight of the fish, back in her lie, probably perplexed as to the nature of the sting in her jaw and the pressure pulling her to the side.

Paul Smith and the catch of the day.

I lean back on the rod as much as I dare. It’s enough — all hell breaks loose. My salmon responds violently with vicious headshakes in an attempt to dislodge the steel tormenter stuck solidly in her jaw. But it’s to no avail. I hang on, praying that the tippet holds. Under strain like this, the slightest fray or imperfection will cause the leader, and weakest link, to snap. A series of aerobatic somersaults sends water flying in all directions, breaks the evening’s tranquility and attracts the attention of nearby anglers. It’s a very impressive fish, maybe 10 pounds or more, fresh from the sea and full of energy. Its silhouette is football-like, thickened by years of gorging on the ocean’s bounty. This is going to be a tough battle.

Now she’s headed downriver in an unstoppable run — 10-plus pounds of muscle aided by the Pinware’s mighty flow. There’s only one option: run downriver and try not to get my line tangled around a rock or submerged stump. If I’m lucky, when my salmon eventually stops, I’ll be still connected. I jump precariously from boulder to boulder; rod held high to avoid snags. I’m not the greatest rock hopper, but when the chips are down, I get by. I guess salmon-induced adrenalin buoys my nerves. Finally, she tires and holds in a quiet stretch of water 200 metres below My Boulder. I just might win this battle. She performs a few more aerial displays, but her headshakes and runs are weakening. It’s time to end this. I

wade out in the river up to my waist and pull my worthy combatant towards me. By lifting my rod high, I manage to bring her head above the water’s surface, rendering her helpless. She slices though the water towards my belly and I slide my left hand down the line until my fingers touch her cold snout. I grip the hook with my thumb and forefinger and give it a quick twist. The barbless hook pulls free and my salmon and I are disconnected. She swims off, looking none the worse for her ordeal. I’m ready for a riverside cigar. Paul Smith is a freelance writer and outdoor enthusiast living in Spaniard’s Bay. His column appears weekly. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com

attached to an already successful (and financially viable) sports team. That is truly sad because they deserve a huge thank-you and patronage in recognition of what they do for amateur sports in this province. That said, we (and all curlers) are grateful for the coverage that curling gets in the local press, including The Independent. I just worry that one man’s unsupported opinion may be taken as “truth” and therefore hurt the future potential for teams in this province.

As for the main point of the column — “the cold-heartedness of Strong and Gushue” — perhaps if Power took the time to actually interview the people he writes about it would help him write a more accurate column. Or is this newspaper not interested in reporting the true story, but just the opinion of whoever’s writing the article. If this is the case, count me out. There are gossip columns to turn to for that. Laura Strong, Mount Pearl

YOUR VOICE ‘There are gossip columns to turn to for that’ Dear editor, I am writing in response to Don Power’s column, Cold as ice, in The Independent’s April 13 edition. As someone who wouldn’t normally respond to anything in the press, I had to make an exception in this case. What upset me most about this article was the proclamation that curling is a “professional” sport. The examples cited include winning the Brier and Olympic trials. These are among the most financially lucrative events, and yet the totals ($174,000

being the highest) become very small when you consider how the amateur sport of curling actually operates. The money is split at least four ways, though any team with a fifth player and coach also share some percentage of the winnings. So this number divided by four (the highest estimate of what one member may get) is $43,500. Take that number and keep in mind that all travel, hotels, expenses, time off work, entry fees, etc. are paid by the players themselves, and it becomes nowhere near

being worthy of “professional” sport status. Compare this to any other professional athlete’s salary and feel free to correct me. The biggest implication of putting this false designation in print for people to believe is that current and potential sponsors of curling teams are not given the credit they deserve for providing the essential help to local teams trying to achieve their dreams, and successfully representing the province. You have diminished their contributions to simply trying to get their name

Throwing the book at columnist Paul Smith Dear editor, I was astounded by Paul Smith’s column, Imagine you were a caribou, in The Independent’s April 5 edition. Smith writes that the Sierra Club issued a press release stating that caribou calf mortality was 100 per cent in Newfoundland. Smith then goes on to say that he doesn’t know where the Sierra Club got its numbers. I have an idea as to where the Sierra Club got its numbers. In my book, The Newfoundland Coyote, published in 2004, I have a lengthy chapter about the relation between coyotes and caribou. I refer to a 2003 provincial government study of three caribou herds — Mount Peyton, Middle Ridge and Gaff Topsails. Fifty-seven radio collars were deployed on calves in the three herds. Only three of the calves survived. When interviewed for the book, biologist Shane Mahoney stated: “No animal population can sustain itself with that level.” Since that initial calf mortality investigation, other radio collar studies have revealed similar results: almost all caribou calves are being killed by a host of predators (including coyotes). Hence, the zero per cent recruitment. Smith has obviously not read my book. Any freelance journalist worth their salt consults all relevant sources. Whether Smith agrees with my book, he could have at least examined it during his “exhaustive” research. Smith purports to be a hunter, but I hope he is a better shot than he is a researcher.

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INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 35

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Thunder but no lightning Toronto FC fans bring the noise, but team still can’t score By Morgan Campbell Torstar wire service

s Toronto FC and the Kansas City Wizards walked onto the pitch at BMO Field in Toronto, for pre-game introductions, more than 20,000 spectators let loose a roar so loud the entire stadium vibrated. One man seated just below the press box cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted his own special message to the home team: “Score some goals!” In a stadium packed with loud, loyal fans, Toronto came close but still hasn’t scored the franchise’s first goal. A late goal by Kansas City’s Eddie Johnson handed Toronto its fourth consecutive loss and TFC is the only team in Major League Soccer that has not scored this season. The 1-0 shutout marked the second MLS record Toronto has set in its inaugural season. No other MLS team has sold more season tickets than Toronto’s 14,500 and the 360-minute scoring drought is the longest ever to start a season. Toronto held the momentum for most of the first half, nearly scoring several times. Head coach Mo Johnston said the fan support and promising first half made Kansas City’s goal, scored in the 81st minute, that much more bitter. “I was pleased with the 90 minutes we put on. I was not pleased with the result,” Johnston said. “For the first time in a long time I had goosebumps before the game. I feel bad sending (the fans) home with a 1-0 loss.”

“We took our foot off the gas a bit,” forward Alecko Eskandarian said. “The first half was brilliant. I felt like they were scared. Just hearing them yelling at each other I thought we had them on their heels. That’s why it’s so tough to take this loss.” Eskandarian took the loss harder than the spectators, who, after the final whistle, stood and applauded Toronto FC’s effort. Johnston said the home crowd, which numbered 20,148, was the closest he’s seen to a Europeanstyle crowd since he came to MLS in 1996. “(Kansas City) is experiencing something they’re not going to experience all season,” he said. “These fans will be the best in the MLS.” Ten minutes after kickoff, the fans seated beneath the press box had already loudly, proudly and repeatedly broken BMO Field’s no swearing and no smoking rules. The supporters club members who filled end-zone seats chanted Danny Dichio’s name each time the rugged forward knocked down a Kansas City player. Johnson drifted too close to the sideline while celebrating his goal, a spectator in the front row showered him with beer – in a stadium where import brews cost $9.25. “It was crazy,” Edu said. “From warmups to the end whistle they were non-stop. They showed their dedication. It was the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of. It was amazing.” Johnston remains optimistic and hopes the fans will have more to cheer for at Toronto’s next game, May 12 at home against the Chicago Fire.

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INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIED FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4-10, 2007 — PAGE 36

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Photos by Gillian Fisher/The Independent

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