Comics take on The Interview
CANADA TOPS SWEDEN IN WORLD JUNIOR TUNEUP PAGE B1
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, DEC. 22, 2014
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Service dog helping vet with PTSD
RUSSIAN NEW YEAR’S PARTY
BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF Things just didn’t seem right for Terry Haakman after he returned to Canada in 2010 after four years in Bosnia-Herzegovina, working as a civilian contractor for NATO. Before that, Haakman, 38, had also seen army duty in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a member of the Canadian Forces peace support mission. He served nine years in the military, from 1996 to 2005. In the army — he joined when he as 19 — he was a signals operator, and then with NATO, specializing in digital communications. He won’t talk about the work he did because he said it is confidential. On his return, he found a job in Red Deer — he now works in Information Technology. Haakman lives in the city with his wife who he met in Bosnia. He was struggling to reintegrate, trying to find the right fit, trying to get used to ordinary life back in Canada. At first, Haakman, who is originally from Ottawa, thought it was just the transition, but then he found himself being really cold toward others. “I was sort of a jerk. I had low tolerance of people, a short temper, and I wasn’t like that before.”
Please see PTSD on Page A2
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Grandfather Frost looks over a Christmas Tree during the seventh annual Russian Children’s New Year’s Party at the Red Deer Public Library’s Snell Auditorium. Children were invited to take part in the interactive play and help save Grandfather Frost’s presents on the darkest day of the year. The play was performed entirely in Russian.
Cirillo and Vincent named Newsmaker of the Year BY THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — Two Canadians killed in cold blood on home soil for simply wearing a soldier’s uniform have been selected the country’s Newsmaker of the Year for 2014. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, whose senseless murders in October shook the country, were the top choice of editors and news directors surveyed by The Canadian Press. “It’s very sad but very deserved,” Vincent’s eldest sister Louise Vincent said in her first interview since his funeral. “First it was a family death and after that we realized that his death was not only ours.” Indeed, the two unsuspecting and unarmed soldiers quickly became household names for reasons Canadians could barely fathom. Vincent, 53, described as a quiet, determined person who was always looking to help others, died Oct. 20 after a “radicalized” Martin Rouleau, 25, deliberately ran him down in a parking lot in Saint-Jeansur-Richelieu, Que. Two days later, with the country struggling to process Vincent’s death, terror gripped the nation’s capital when Michael Zehaf Bibeau shot Cirillo, 24, in the back before storming Parliament Hill and dying in a hail of bullets. The photogenic, dog-loving reservist had been quietly standing ceremonial guard with an unloaded weapon at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier when he was attacked without warning. Once again, Canadians were dismayed and saddened at the prospect of a soldier killed on home
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kathy Cirillo is comforted in front of the coffin of her son Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at his regimental funeral service in Hamilton, Ontario, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, two Canadians killed in cold blood on home soil for simply wearing a soldier’s uniform, have been selected the country’s Newsmaker of the Year for 2014. soil — this time someone who might have looked like a “big tough man” but was, as a cousin said, “such a kid at heart.” Photographs of Cirillo’s dogs poking their heads
from beneath the fence of the family home in Hamilton only added to the palpable grief. Even before his state-like funeral, Canadians learned of the valiant efforts to save and comfort the dying father of a five-year-old boy. “You are so loved,” lawyer Barbara Winters said she repeatedly told him. In scenes not seen since the repatriation of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, thousands of Canadians lined the “Highway of Heroes” to show support for the two men. “These two men did not ask to be in the news,” said Fred Hutton, news director with VOCM in St. John’s. “They were random victims who were thrust into the spotlight by deranged individuals who made us all question our own safety.” Michel Lorrain, general director with Cogeco nouvelles in Montreal, noted in his survey comments how rare it is in Canadian history for soldiers to be killed outside of a combat mission. Their deaths, said Murray Guy, managing editor of the Times and Transcript in Moncton, N.B., symbolized Canada’s “sudden loss of innocence in a world where we thought we were all detached from the dark threat of terror that has plagued so many seemingly so far away.” In all, Cirillo and Vincent picked up 23 of the 85 votes cast to be named 2014 Newsmaker. Cirillo’s still-grieving family refused to comment but Louise Vincent called the result a show of respect for the depths of their sacrifice.
Please see NEWSMAKER on Page A2
Red Deer Food Bank still short for 2015 budget BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF The cupboards are well stocked at the Red Deer Food Bank, but the piggy bank needs plenty more coins, dollars and cheques. Executive director Fred Scaife said the agency has raised about $200,000 towards its $550,000 budget for 2015 and is still shy about $300,000 to keep the lights and the heat on and staff paid at the food bank. “Although I’m concerned about the situation financially right now, I have faith in our community. I have faith in the people that live here. How can I not. Eighteen years doing this and every time I’ve said — oh, oh — this community has responded in spades,” Scaife said on Friday. The food bank takes in about 70 to 75 per cent of
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cash donations in its fourth quarter. Thankfully, food donations have been strong, he said. “We might be doing this with our coats on with flashlights because we can’t afford the heat or the lights, but as long as we have food, we’re going to feed people some way, somehow.” He said donors don’t seem to be giving less money. There just seems to be fewer donors and the food bank is in that transitional period between losing donors and getting new donors. He said the bulk of money that comes in are $25, $50, $100 donations. Large amounts only make up about 25 per cent of donations. The food bank may have to apply for things like government grants when it has always prided itself in being able to avoid that, he said. The food bank may also put its barbecue crew to
work at more events next year to raise money, and possibly organizing a larger fundraising event, like a ‘mac and cheese’ luncheon. In the meantime, the food bank is bracing for another busy winter when people face larger utility bills. People can save money by buying food on sale, but there is never a sale when it comes to utilities, Scaife said. “February is our busiest month of the year. In the shortest month of the year, we will feed more people than in any other month.” He hopes sinking oil prices won’t hit people as hard as during the last recession that struck in and around 2008. “We know there is a storm on the horizon.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
NY Cop killer had long criminal history The gunman who fatally ambushed two police officers in their squad car had a long criminal record and mental instability. Story on PAGE D3
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