School’s back
Students, teachers return to class amid labour talks Page A3
NEWS: Amalgamation group launches petition /A5 ARTS: Peter n’ Chris are back on home turf /A12 SPORTS: Mann Cup madness for Shamrocks /A15
VICTORIANEWS Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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RARE FIND
Feds award $1.67M in arts funding Mary Ellen Green
25-million-year-old bird fossil discovered by amateur paleontologist
News staff
Daniel Palmer News staff
Steve Suntok likes to spend his weekends in search of buried treasure. Armed with a four-pound hammer and concrete chisel, the Langford father of three wanders the intertidal areas northwest of Sooke, his trained eye methodically scanning for curious colours, shapes and textures embedded in the wet rock. “My kids wanted to find fossils, so we joined the local paleo society and I’ve been hunting ever since,” says the criminal defence lawyer, standing in the Royal B.C. Museum’s palaeontology lab beside daughters, Leah, 13, and Reese, 5. Suntok is causing a stir amongst the museum’s experts for salvaging a 25-million-year-old bone, only the second of its kind ever discovered from the Carmanah Group rocks off Vancouver Island. The 15-centimetre shinbone may not inspire awe in the layperson, but it’s the rarity of the find that has people like Gary Kaiser, Royal B.C. Museum research associate and fossil bird expert, singing Suntok’s praises. “Right away, I can tell it’s a shinbone because they have this peculiar shape at the end,” Kaiser says, pointing out the tear-drop ankle of the now-extinct bird. The robust bulb of bone at its base suggests it was a strong swimmer, most likely a cormorant, he says. “The closest bird we have is the Brandt’s cormorant,” he says, holding up a comparable bone from the museum’s
Daniel Palmer/News staff
Steve Suntok with daughters, Reese, 5, and Leah, 13, inside the Royal B.C. Museum’s palaeontology lab. Suntok discovered a rare bird fossil, estimated to be nearly 25 million years old, off the coast of Vancouver Island in August. vast archives. “We have three species of cormorants in B.C. today.” Kaiser drags a wheeled cart from the corner of the lab with what looks like an egg-shaped slab of concrete covered in seashells, a sample of the rich paleontological fields that stretch from Sooke north to the Brooks peninsula. “People actually dig these up in big blocks and chip away at it for the winter
months, hoping they’re going to find a shark’s tooth or something,” Kaiser says. It’s a practice that can destroy precious evidence of both provincial and global heritage, says Richard Hebda, curator of botany and earth history at RBCM. PlEASE SEE: More specimens, Page A10
Arts and culture groups on Vancouver Island will see continued support from various federal government programs with a welcome $1.67 million funding injection. Thirty-four arts, culture and official language organizations will benefit from the funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, including the Belfry Theatre, where the announcement was made Friday. Other local organizations to benefit include the Dance Victoria Society, the Victoria Symphony Society, the Victoria International Chalk Art Society, the Victoria Foundation, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, La Societe des Francophones de Victoria, Theatre SKAM Association, the Victoria Film Festival and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. The federal government has provided $1,673,338 through various programs of the Department of Canadian Heritage; including the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program ($68,500), the Canada Arts Presentation Fund ($285,000), the Canada Arts Training Fund ($600,000), the Endowment Incentives component of the Canada Cultural Investment Fund ($328,418), the Cooperation with the Community Sector component of the Development of Official Language Communities Program ($268,220) and the Museums Assistance Program ($60,000). Oak Bay’s Canadian College of Performing Arts will receive a $600,000 injection over two years under the Canada Arts Training Fund, which represents an approximately 30 per cent increase in funding. John Duncan, minister of state, chief government whip and Member of Parliament for Vancouver Island North was on hand to make the announcement on behalf of Canadian Heritage Minister Shelly Glover. arts@mondaymag.com
Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke
presents
“Can’t Get Enough” • “Feel Like Makin’ Love” • “Bad Company”
nn A th
with
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ou T y
r
a vi er
40
3 0 9 8 -Nanaimo St. Victoria
outdoor concert at Bullen Park Tickets: McPherson Box Office:
www.rmts.bc.ca