The Jasper Local July 1 2016

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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friday, july 1, 2016 // ISSUE 76

CRAFTY RAFTERS // JASPER RAFTING ADVENTURES’ PEPPER RUSTON, BRIDGETTE MORRISON, JALI DUBOIS, GEOFF DICK AND OLIVER HUNT COMPETE IN THE ANNUAL RAFTING PENTATHLON JUNE 23. DESPITE JRA’S LIGHTNING QUICK TIME IN THE FLIP EVENT, GRANDE CACHE’S WILD BLUE YONDER MADE THE BIGGEST SPLASH AND TOOK HOME THE COVETED MARK ODDY GOLDEN PADDLE. // BOB COVEY

Proposed Icefields Trail draws criticism Parks Canada has revealed new details about plans to build a 107 km paved hiking and biking trail connecting Jasper to the Columbia Icefields.

Before the federal budget was released, particulars about a $66 million trail in Jasper National Park could only be speculated upon. Since then, it has emerged that the Icefields Trail is being proposed as a multi-use recreational trail which will connect a variety of existing attractions, trails and accommodations in Jasper National Park.

The agency is targeting “families and youth who wish to leave their cars and explore the park by bike, on foot or inline skates and, in winter, by cross country ski, fat bike and snowshoe,” according to a media release.

But the Jasper Environmental Association, together with a coalition of environmental groups, has called the plan a waste of money and criticized the agency for its lack of wildlife population data in that area of the park.

“The thing that concerns me is this parallel roads idea, which cuts out all of the habitat in between,” said the JEA’s Jill Seaton.

Parks Canada has said investments in visitor infrastructure such as trails allow more Canadians to experience the outdoors and learn about the environment.

Seaton is shocked at the cost. “Who asked for this?” she said.

Parks Canada has said they are committed to a full environmental assessment. The targeted completion for the project is March 2019. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 76 // friday, july 1, 2016

editorial //

Local Vocal Jasper is trending!

First, the original Science Guy, Bill Nye, was announced as the marquee presenter at this year’s Dark Sky Festival; next The Amazing Race put the entire Athabasca Valley into two million Canadian living rooms; and then Trekkie golden boy, George Takei, was announced as another Dark Sky darling for October. Hashtag MyJasper!

Are we missing anything? Oh right, a local musician’s YouTube video garnered more than 25,000 views and received 500 comments in less than a week for denying the holocaust.

Wait, what?

Monika Schaefer has used these pages to express alternative points of view in the past, but recently she left Jasperites’ jaws agape after she starred in a video which not only asked people to consider an alternate history of World War II but suggested that the Nazi death camps were no such thing and that six million Jews were not in fact murdered.

As you can imagine, the backlash on local social media channels has been severe. As you might not be able to imagine, the comments below the video are largely in support of her “speaking up.” It is a frightening glimpse into a community imbued with anti-Semitism and hate.

The Jasper Local struggled with how to deal with this “issue.” We certainly wouldn’t have touched it had it not been on the lips of everyone in town. The spike of interest wasn’t for the ideas, of course, but rather the shocking way in which they were broadcast. Why would someone record such a thing? How could one not consider the hurt they would cause wartime survivors and their relations? Why would one want to subject one’s self to the public scorn which will so clearly stem from such a project?

We posed these questions to the YouTuber herself, and Schaefer’s response was quizzical. She said her whole life she’s spoken for justice and since she’s discovered the “truth,” this was no different. The only difference, she said, is the reaction from the people she shares the community with. She’s scared she’ll go to prison. She’s scared she’s in physical danger.

“My life has changed forever,” she said from the train station in Toronto. “I dread arriving home.”

Many Jasperites, including those of us at this newspaper, consider the views expressed in Schaefer’s video repulsive. But as strong as that feeling is, we feel even stronger that people should have a right to express their opinions, no matter how strange, sick or sad.

On Canada Day, we’re encouraged to celebrate diversity.

Divergent view points, particularly those which make us uncomfortable, will challenge our ability to do that.

However, let’s remember that we don’t need to embrace the views themselves to be grateful for Canadians’ right to express them.

Like the anthem says: the true north is strong. More importantly, however, it’s free. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Dear Editor, Jasper has always been home in the heart for me, whether skiing at Marmot as a child, working at the Lodge (which my grandfather helped build) in my teens, or hiking or biking on a weekend. Now after working in childcare for two years in town, I find myself saying farewell to this wonderful community. Not long ago a friend and I hiked up Old Man to take in the amazing view, and I recalled the poem I wrote in 1997, inspired by my favourite mountain. It meant the world to me to be on top of the peak, in the sun beside the mountain goats, appreciating what we are all so lucky to have around us.

I thought I would share the poem with Jasper, as a thanks to Mother Nature, and everyone. I feel the poem resonates even more now as I remember my loving father who has now passed. - Christine Brisson , Jasper, AB Old Man inhaling barren wind heaving almost sunset dusk rests on eyelids purple crow’s feet cling mountain goats

pounding on temples duck tail grey thunderstorm clap arm fold pine soul like mist in rain… shifting stone, age

reclined blue sky sight turns to jade cloud duvet until sunrise warm kiss on the face.

The Jasper Local //

Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

Bob Covey.................................................................................... bob@thejasperlocal.com Art Director

Nicole Gaboury.................................................................. nicole@thejasperlocal.com Advertising + sales

Rachel Bailey........................................................................rachel@thejasperlocal.com cartoonist

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Local community //

friday, july 1, 2016 // issue 76 // the jasper local// page A3

THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUMS // MACKENZIE AND MATRICIA BROWN OF WARRIOR WOMEN PICKED UP THE SLACK AT NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY AFTER THE HOST NATION FAILED TO BRING DRUMMERS AND DANCERS AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED. // M MCFARLANE/PARKS CANADA

Will ATCO plans jolt Jasper views?

As ATCO Electric unrolls plans to connect Jasper to the provincial power grid, one local resident is taking issue with how the new transmission lines will adversely affect Jasper’s famous vistas.

Brian Wilson says overhead power lines are visual pollutants that will surely impact the way people enjoy the park.

“For once the national park should say ‘do this right,’” Wilson said.

In May, ATCO Electric representatives were in Jasper apprising the community of their solution for replacing the Palisades Power Plant, which is nearing the end of its life.

ATCO has said that connecting Jasper to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System is the most cost-efficient way of providing Jasper’s future power needs. Part of that solution, the company says, includes 45 km of new 69-kilovolt transmission line strung between 15 metre high poles at the east end of the park.

Wilson recently got back from Ontario, where he said once-beautiful vistas have been spoiled by unsightly transmission lines.

“I kept thinking ‘wouldn’t it be nice if those power lines weren’t there?’” he said.

In the east part of Jasper National Park, they aren’t. Not yet, anyway. Barring no major delays in the approval process, construction will start next summer. Wilson wondered why the lines couldn’t go underground.

“This is a time to think out of the box,” Wilson said.

Chris Clark, VP of Planning and Operations with ATCO Electric’s transmission division, said while it is technically possible to place transmission lines underground, the economics of the materials, plus the actual installation into the earth, make the option unfeasible. Moreover, the environmental disturbance would be greater, she said.

“There are also some reliability concerns.

Although issues on underground cables are rare, when they do occur, finding them is extremely difficult.”

Jasperites would be hard pressed to imagine electricity being less reliable than it is now. On June 3, outlying commercial accommodations south of Hwy 16, including the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, were without power for hours. And every summer the community experiences several supply failures as the distribution’s system is overloaded (Canada Day reminder: carry cash).

ATCO anticipates no forthcoming changes to Jasper’s distribution system, and Clark said that the new transmission lines will “mitigate nuisance events,” such as lightning.

She also said that ATCO will place the majority of the line adjacent to existing infrastructure, but Wilson’s not appeased.

“What’s the difference if it’s on [the right-ofway]? It’s a shame if nobody bats an eye.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 76 // friday, july 1, 2016

Local education //

School’s out for the summer, school’s out forever Raymond and Paulette Blanchette-Dubé have been guiding students along various paths of learning for more than 20 years in Jasper. A few weeks before the couple’s retirement, the husband and wife sat down with The Jasper Local to talk about teaching—and being taught by—a generation of young people.

three years in St. Albert. Eventually, in 1992, they had a chance to come to Jasper. Five years after travelling around the division in another music specialist position, Raymond shifted into a dual teacher-administrative role. As the Jasper Elementary School’s educational leader for the past 19 years, he has shown that a principal need not subscribe to the image of an intimidating, authoritative figure. Instead, he’s known for greeting the students by name every morning and inspiring an affinity for neck ties in Grade Ones.

As a kid, Paulette Dubé never dreamed about being a teacher, let alone one who worked with junior high students. But a double major in French and English literature wasn’t going to pay the bills—at least not right away—and so she tacked on an education degree and got a job in Fort McMurray. What she discovered, she said, was that teaching was thrilling.

“My pride was walking into class and the students saying ‘yay, it’s math!’” he laughed.

“The last thing I ever wanted to be in my life was a teacher, but I liked these kids so much,” she said.

“They could do anything.”

It was 1986. Raymond Blanchette had arrived in Fort McMurray three years prior, straight out of university, which he had attended straight out of high school. One story has the couple meeting over the last tub of ice cream in the seldom-stocked grocery store. Another has Raymond mistaking Paulette for a student in the library before summer began.

“He was trying to boss me around,” Paulette laughed.

However it happened, they grew together as colleagues, and eventually, as partners. Back then, Fort McMurray’s teacher population was incredibly young, and its student population was extremely diverse.

“Kids came from all over the world because of Suncore and Syncrude,” Raymond said.

That divergent demographic taught the BlanchetteDubés a lot. Raymond, the music specialist for the entire division, taught math to kids whose parents worked the traplines of Fort Chip and music to the children of engineers from Europe.

“It was a great place to get a first taste of teaching,” he said.

After they married, Raymond and Paulette spent

Paulette knows something about making connections with students. The social studies, English and French teacher is known for being able to create meaningful relationships with young people. Mme. Paulette (known affectionately as Madame by students) said part of forging those relationships is instinct—reading kids’ body

language, being a good listener and otherwise anticipating communication cues. But another part is creating a welcoming environment in which kids feel safe, supported and curious. She’d regularly smudge her classroom with sage to cleanse the room for learning or have scented candles burning as a welcome for students.

“Curriculum can change, vocabulary changes, some years there’s an emphasis on math or reading…but however it swings, to me it’s like ‘ what about the kid?’”

High school student Reed Eady just finished his Grade 11 school year. He is excited for the freedom of the summer, where the avid outdoorsman will explore Jasper’s wilderness with nary a thought about homework or exams. However, while his studies will be far from his mind, his former teacher will be in his thoughts regularly. His connection to nature took on a a whole new dimension after it was nurtured by Mme Paulette in junior high, he said.

within the natural world—and to establish a connection with her students—Mme Paulette would regularly gift her pupils with a unique stone. She encouraged them to place the stones in moving water and make a wish; it was a gesture first taught to her by one of her heroes, Canadian novelist Timothy Findley. “[Findley] showed me the black rocks with a white crown are the ones you make a wish on,” she winked.

Dubé, too, is an author, having penned five books and garnered several Canadian awards, but these days she doesn’t limit herself to the print medium— she has too much fun in the web-based, social space. Her musings from the trail—mini haikus or thoughtful observations on nature accompanied by straight forward yet powerful photos—create gratitude-filled antidotes to Facebook’s narcissistic news feed. And not only does the exercise help her document the small details which she can later recall for her next book project, it eliminates the

need to bring those treasures home—something her husband appreciates.

“All that stuff on the trail—dead birds, big pieces of wood—is much better photographed,” Raymond laughed.

While Paulette’s penchant on the trail is to scan for details, Raymond’s more likely to have his eye on the horizon. A distance athlete, cyclist and occasional ultramarathon runner, his way of purging his mind of clutter typically means setting a fast pace up a steep hill. And now that retirement is no longer on the horizon, but right under their feet, there’s no place they’d rather retire than Jasper.

“We’re staying here,” he said. “We love this place.”

Like most teachers, the Blanchette-Dubés are looking forward to savouring the delicious sounds, smells and sights of summer. But come September, for the first time since they were in kindergarten, when that first bell rings, they won’t be due in class.

“That’s going to be weird,” Paulette admits. “We’ll still get that feeling in our stomachs, we’ll still get that head jerk towards the school.

“I can go outside for a walk and I’m always going to be thinking about Madame,” he said. “Madame teaches you to go out into nature and enjoy everything around you, whether it’s birds, trees, plants or rocks.”

“But after we get over that, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be fun.”

Yes, the rocks. To encourage that sense of mystery

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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feature //

Fort Mac fire seared lasting impression on local crew Two months after the Fort McMurray wildfire forced the evacuation of the city’s 85,000 residents, Jasper National Park staff who were called into help fight the flames are still astonished by what they saw.

Beau Michaud is Parks Canada’s initial attack fire crew leader. He, along with Jasper’s three other initial attack members—Sean Buckle, Dane Olinkin and Clay Prail, as well as strike leader Brett Haug—joined a 20-person sustained action firefighting crew comprised of Parks Canada staff. Although Michaud has been on some large fires all over the country, nothing he’s seen in his career compared to what he witnessed in Northern Alberta this spring.

“It was by far the biggest operation I’ve ever seen,” Michaud said. “The briefing package we receive is usually one page. In this case, we got a book.”

Everything scaled out from there: Michaud said when the crew arrived at the massive Incident Command Point (ICP) outside of town, there were hundreds of bulldozers on the ground, dozens of helicopters flying back and forth and thousands of firefighters being distributed to various spots along the 600,000 hectare fire (for reference, the Excelsior/Maligne Valley fire that burned in Jasper National Park last summer was 1,000 ha).

“It was a giant, buzzing beehive,” he said.

But even before the group got to the ICP they were shocked at what they saw.

The mood was eerie, too, Michaud said, not only because entire blocks were burned out, but because residents had not yet been allowed back into town.

Firefighters and other emergency officials were required to flash a bracelet and use a code word to get through security checkpoints. Authorities were on high alert for looters and for people who hadn’t evacuated and were instead hiding out in the abandoned communities.

“There were police on every corner,” Michaud said. “It was like you’d imagine a zombie apocalypse.”

After the Jasper IA crew got their marching orders, they, along with the rest of their 20-pack, moved out to the airport where Alberta ESRD had set up a base.

Pumpers, hoses, hand tools and other firefighting equipment were laid out in familiar fashion, again, except for the scale. Every kind of helicopter the crew had ever seen alternatively flew in and out of the base, and although poor weather meant they were grounded on that day, a fleet of firefighting aircraft indicated that nearly every air tanker in Western Canada had been rounded up to join the cause.

The surreal imagery didn’t stop there. Besides the burnt out buildings and abandoned cars, entire parking lots were peppered with spruce needles, suggesting the power of the wind and the fury of the fire. And after the crew got to their staging area, they got a glimpse at how efficient the operation’s facility protection strategy had been: officials demolished some homes to save entire neighbourhoods.

WHILE WEARING HIS OTHER FIRE-RELATED HAT, THAT OF A VOLUNTEER WITH THE JASPER FIRE BRIGADE, BEAU MICHAUD TOOK CURIOUS KIDS FOR A RIDE IN THE NEW RIG..// BOB COVEY

FIVE JNP INITIAL ATTACK CREW MEMBERS JOINED A 20-PERSON UNIT OF PARKS CANADA FIRE FIGHTERS IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE FORT MCMURRAY FIRE LAST MONTH.// SUPPLIED

“That fire must have been going flat out,” Michaud said. “You could see where they caught it just in the nick of time.”

As the Jasper crew’s assignment unfolded, the hot, dry weather started to break. Eventually the skies poured down, depositing more rain in half an hour than Michaud thought possible, while other parts of the massive fire didn’t see a drop.

Although rain puts out low-intensity fire, it doesn’t completely extinguish ground fire. As such, Michaud’s unit searched for hot spots created after two weeks of solid burning. The task was monotonous, interminable and extremely soggy. But their directive was to put the fire out completely, and as such, they spent 12 days walking through the boreal forest, searching for fire in high spots, squirrel middens and spruce trees. Everywhere else they stepped was bog.

“My feet were wet from the day we started until the day we left,” he recalled.

After two weeks, when they finally did head home, Michaud said three things stuck with him from his experience in Fort McMurray: the incredible fact that, considering the destruction he witnessed, no one was hurt; the wealth of firefighting resources available in Alberta; and the idea that this could happen in his community.

As a firefighter, Jasper’s vulnerability to wildfire has always occurred to Michaud, but what he saw convinced him to spread the word: always be prepared for the worst.

“This could happen in any forest community,” he said. “And if it does I won’t be waiting for anyone to tell us to leave.” Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 76 // friday, july 1, 2016

LOCAL FEATURE // STORY BY BOB COVEY

GRAVEL GRINDING BRAKES AND SHU SCENES OF SUFFERING ON T

AS JASPER’S CHRIS PEEL PEDALLED OVER KANANASKIS COUNTRY’S H LOOKING FOR A RESUPPLY. HE WAS OUT OF WATER AND HE ONLY HAD In two-and-a-half days since leaving Hinton, the start of the first ever Alberta Rockies 700 bike packing event, Peel had pedalled more than 590 kilometres and climbed thousands of vertical metres along the province’s forestry trunk road. He had rested for a couple of hour-long spurts along the side of the gravel road until he woke from shivering, but basically he had not slept. His feet were so swollen he had taken to dunking them in creeks and as a result of the constant pressure on his hands, the ulnar nerve on his right side was fried; he could barely shift. To make matters worse, somewhere along the way he lost his chamois cream, so even though he had biked the last 50 km standing on his pedals, his ass was killing him.

Staneland and a former work buddy from Ontario decided to do the Alberta Rockies 700 in four days.

Although they were still putting in close to 200 km per day, they approached the ride as a tour, pitching camp at 8 p.m. while Peel and a significant portion of the pack were entering their personal pain caves.

As such, when Peel limped his bike into the general store that he knew would be his place of refuge and instead discovered that the shop was closed, he nearly wept.

“I seriously considered breaking the window,” he said. “I had the rock picked out.”

His better judgement prevailed, however. With a little more than 110 km to go, he got back on his bike and suffered through.

“There were a lot of swear words when I realized my mistake,” said the province’s top MS fundraiser. “And there was no one around to hear them.”

Meanwhile, somewhere near where the Red Deer River flows underneath Highway 40, fellow racer Matt Staneland was eating a cheeseburger and slurping down a coke.

“It was a blast,” Staneland said of his 700 km, four day tour across the east slopes of the Rockies. “It was a bit of a man-cation.”

“It was a good pace, we were tired but we weren’t completely smashed at the end of each day,” Staneland said.

Greg Van Tighem had a…different take. Jasper’s fire chief had to work on the morning of the event’s group start, which may have had something to do with his 80 km off-route detour near Robb, mere hours into the journey.

After he did a U-turn, Van Tighem pushed hard to make up lost time, biking well into the night and not setting up camp until 1:30 a.m. Unfortunately, the sandwich he scarfed earlier was also making a U-turn. He woke up at dawn, shivering from the frost and watching the world spin. Not long after he mounted his bike for day two’s sadistic climbs and hair-raising descents, he was leaning over his handlebars, getting sick.

“It was a long, hard day,” he said. “I pushed my bike up the steep hills.”

So did a lot of the group. Of more than 40 people who started the event, a little more than half finished.

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feature //

G, BURNT-OUT UTTERED SHOPS THE ALBERTA ROCKIES 700

HIGHWOOD PASS ON JUNE 20, THE LONG DISTANCE CYCLIST WAS D EIGHT ENERGY GELS LEFT IN HIS EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY. Two Jasper cyclists were among those dealing with long distance tribulations. By Nordegg, Derek Anderson had worn out his bike’s brake pads and decided proceeding any further would be unsafe, while Jeff Bartlett’s ankle started acting up; after riding more than half the route, each pedal stroke was causing excruciating pain.

“It went from a nagging ache to an extremely swollen mess over the last few hours yesterday,” he said on June 21. “A night of ice and rest increased swelling and pain rather than decreased it, so my hand is forced.”

As the youngest Jasper rider, the longest distance that 26-year-old Josh Blomfield had ever ridden was 120 km. The UK-born cyclist said he was

Peel might have felt bad, but when Van Tighem got into Coleman, he was downright disappointed. Not because there was no fanfare awaiting him and not because his finishing time (3.5 days) was slower than

preoccupied with not only making the correct turns along the route, but ensuring he was consuming enough calories, rationing his water until the next creek crossing and keeping his pace as he switched layers when the weather turned. At one point his layering system was somewhat unorthodox: he’d cut his emergency blanket so he could wear it as leggings and was sitting in his extra jersey to retain heat. The coldest Blomfield got, however, was after he’d finished the race. After 68 hours of biking and getting into Coleman at 2:30 a.m. he texted Peel, who had finished only two hours beforehand. Peel told him he’d be right over. Unfortunately, after binging on 7-Eleven “food” and smashing a beer, Peel promptly fell asleep.

“He was shivering when I eventually picked him up,” Peel said. “I felt bad.”

he’d hoped. He was choked because the one thing he was looking forward to after finishing was tipping back an IPA at the local watering hole. A final spate of bad luck meant he got to the bar five minutes after last call.

“ It went from a nagging ache to an extremely swollen mess over the last few hours yesterday”

“My headlamp had died and I had to take the last eight kilometres of downhill really slow,” he said.

“This was going to be the best beer of my life, and when I went to try the door it was locked.”

Staneland, meanwhile, was by that time sound asleep, having shown up in Coleman eight hours earlier with lots of time for celebratory refreshments.

“What a slacker,” Peel said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 76 // friday, july 1, 2016

Making the cut in Jasper: Oilers prospects on ice During hockey’s offseason, the most talented young players in the country are doing their best to get noticed

by National Hockey League top brass.

It’s their chance to show coaches, scouts and teammates they’ve got the stuff for the big leagues.

This week, Jasperites will be privy to those young guns trying to make the cut as the Edmonton Oilers’ Prospects Camp rolls into town.

On July 2-7, the Jasper Arena will welcome the Edmonton Oilers hockey club’s Prospects Camp.

The six-day camp will be open to the public and culminate in an intersquad challenge, the Billy Moores Cup. Moores is a highlysuccessful former hockey player, coach and junior high teacher.

He is also the former head of the Oilers’ player development.

Along with the chance to watch young players develop their star potential, Jasperites will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with players at a charity golf game, as well as at the Jasper Brew Pub following the Billy Moores Cup. To help Oilers fans get to know some of the players who could someday be wearing copper and blue, by using the greatest scout, the internet, The Jasper Local has compiled a short list of players who will be visiting Jasper this week. - Bob Covey

Ethan Bear Position: Defenseman Last team: Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) Drafted: Fifth round, 124th overall, 2015 Height: 5’11” Weight: 197 lbs Shoots: Right Age: 19 Hometown: Ochapowache, SK Bear has been lighting it up in the dub. The 19-year-old had 19 goals and 26 assists in 2015/16. Pretty darn good for a d-man. He was stellar in the Thunderbirds’ final two months, averaging a point-per-game.

Jesse Puljujarvi Position: Right Wing Last team: Karpat (Europe) Drafted: First round, fourth overall, 2016 Height: 6’2” Weight: 232 lbs Shoots: Right Age: 18 Hometown: Alvkarleby, Sweden (plays internationally for Finland) Jesse Puljujarvi put up an incredible 17 points at this year’s World Junior Championships, helping lead Finland to the Gold Medal and being named MVP. Hockey writer Ben Kerr says that

although Puljujarvi is not a huge hitter, he has all the skills to be a top power forward and goal scorer and all the assets to be a first line, franchisedefining winger in the NHL. Kerr adds it would not be shocking to see Puljujarvi take the step to the NHL in 2016/17.

Last team: North Dakota Drafted: Undrafted Height: 5’10” Weight: 185 lbs Shoots: Left Age: 22 Hometown: Mississauga, ON Drake Caggiula Position: Left Wing Caleb Jones Position: Defenseman Last team: Portland Winterhawks Drafted: Fourth round, 117th overall, 2015 Height: 6’1” Weight: 192 lbs Shoots: Left Age: 19 Hometown: Frisco, Texas

Drake Caggiula, having signed with the Oilers as a free agent, is an excellent skater with a knack for highlight reel goals.

Jones brings decent size and an uptempo offensive punch to a sound defensive game. Scouts have praised his work ethic and willingness to bang around the corners. He led the WHL in scoring by rookie d-men and his play at multiple levels of hockey suggest a potentially bright future in pro hockey.

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friday, july 1, 2016 // issue 76 // the jasper local// page B6

Local nutrition //

Try switching your meats to organic, pasture-raised meat, by doing this you will be switching from a diet high in omega 6s to a diet high in omega 3s.

Pasture-raised beef is eating fresh grass which gives the meat a high omega 3 content, big industry beef is being fed genetically-modified grains and antibiotics, giving the meat a high omega 6 content.

FAT: Friend or Foe? Fats have received a bad rap from the health community and as a result a plethora of low fat diets and diet products have streamed into the media and onto the grocery store shelves. But is fat really this bad for us?

What are some benefits of incorporating more fat in my diet?

FAT CHANCE // ENDURANCE ATHLETES, TAKE NOTE: WHEN YOU TRAIN YOUR BODY TO BURN FAT AS FUEL IT IS THE MOST EFFICIENT SOURCE OF ENERGY // SUPPLIED

How fats are used in the body Our brains are made up of 75 per cent cholesterol, aka fat. We must continue to feed our brains good fat to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, Dementia and other cognitive imbalances. Secondly, fat is crucial for the production of our sex hormones—estrogen, progesterone and testosterone—as well as our adrenal hormones, such as cortisol. Fat also makes up every single cell membrane in our body; this is how our cells communicate. Furthermore, when our bodies break down fat we actually get more of our bodies’ energy currency, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) than glucose (sugar)!

Finally, endurance athletes, take note: when you train your body to burn fat as fuel it is the most efficient source of energy for the body.

Fat will also help you help you lose fat. It seems counter-intuitive, but fat suppresses a hormone called ghrelin—the same hormone which is released to stimulate appetite. Fat also stimulates CCK, a hormone that signals your gall bladder to contract and also lets your hypothalamus know that you are satiated. Still hungry after meals? You could be missing fats in your diet.

Good fats vs bad fats Yes, there are good fats and bad fats.

Avocados, coconut oil, hemp hearts, cold

pressed flax oil and olive oil, salmon, grassfed butter, ghee (clarified butter), grass-fed meats and pasture-raised eggs are all examples of foods which contain good fats. Canola oil, margarine, peanut oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, big industry meat, bacon and eggs, etc. are all examples of bad fats.

What is the difference?

The good fats are high in omega 3s which contribute to an anti-inflammatory pathway in the body. Bad fats are high omega 6s which will actually cause inflammation in the body, and can contribute to heart disease.

How do I incorporate more good fats into my diet?

It is important to introduce fats slowly into your nutritional regime. Fat can be difficult to digest, especially if you have not been eating much of it. Start by adding good fats into your salad dressings, cooking with good grass-fed butter, coconut oil, ghee and pouring olive oil or flax oil over your steamed veggies.

Make sure to eat your egg yolks! They are the most nutritious part of the egg, they are full of antioxidants, B vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins. Consider eating cold water fish twice a week, as these fish are high in omega 3s.

Fat in your diet actually increases your absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and leads to a healthy gall bladder.

Vitamin D can only be synthesized if you have enough cholesterol (fat) in your diet. Having adequate fat in your diet will help with hormone production, cognitive function and blood sugar balance.

Which fats can I cook with?

The best oils to cook with are the ones that are solid at room temperature: Grass-fed butter, ghee and coconut oil. Olive oil, flax oil, almond oil, pumpkin seed oil and avocado oil should all be cold pressed and sprinkled on food after cooking to avoid rancidity.

Do you have questions about how fats work and how to work them into your diet? Email Jenna at jennajackson08@gmail.com Jenna completed a 3-year program of Holistic Nutrition at Pacific Rim College, an industryrenowned school of Complimentary and Integrative Medicine.

There she developed a strong understanding of Diet Therapy, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and some Western Herbal Medicine. She works with clients to find a permanent and sustainable fix to their health concerns using natural approaches that take into consideration each person’s bioindividuality. Find her at alpenglownutrition.ca

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