THURSDAY
IL
MAY 7, 2015
TH
NEWS
TRA
IL
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
DA
Underwood going to the Dawgs
IL
TR A E
TH
Follow us online
1895 - 2015
IM ES
TRAIL T
INCLUDING G.S.T.
ES
CREEK NEW
S
TIM
105
TRA
Y IL
Vol. 120, Issue 71
$
E
Page 9
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Local NDP candidate optimistic after Alberta results BY SHERI REGNIER Trail Times
We always say most Canadians are NDP supporters, they just don't know it yet, claims Richard Cannings, the New Democrat candidate for the South Okanagan-West Kootenay (SOWK). With current NDP MP Alex Atamanenko in the Netherlands to observe the country's 70th anniversary of liberation, the Trail Times asked Cannings, who was in Trail Wednesday, for some insight about the NDP's historic toppling of the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta's provincial election. In the newly formed SOWK, the Okanagan region that Cannings hails from has been traditionally Conservative. Which leads to the question, could an orange wave wash through the West Kootenay and Okanagan region during October's federal election? “I think it (Alberta's election) bodes well for NDP across the country simply because it opens people's minds to realize we could have an NDP government,” he said. “They told us we couldn't win in Quebec, but we won in Quebec in the last federal election. They also told us we could never win Alberta and look what happened.” He said the NDP is positioned better than it ever has been to form the federal government, now being the official opposition with over 100 MPs in Parliament. “Again in Alberta, the NDP were way back in third place and Albertans realized they were the best choice for their government,” noted Cannings. “And I think that's really opened a lot of people's eyes.” Cannings, an Okanagan based biologist and ecologist, was knocking on doors in the Silver City Wednesday afternoon and meeting the riding's new constituents. “I am well known in the Okanagan where I grew up and have been spending a lot of time there,” he said, noting the region's Conservative history. “But I am confident we can break through.” He mentioned his run in the provincial election when the NDP increased party votes significantly, tying with the Liberals. “If we can repeat that performance, we have a very good chance of victory in the fall in this new riding,” Cannings continued. “But that also depends on getting our vote in the West Kootenay, which is a friendly part of the riding for the NDP. That's why I want to talk to ask many people as possible, so they can get to know me and will get out and vote come October.”
Annual sturgeon release has generational impact BY LIZ BEVAN Times Staff
There was some fishy business going on in Gyro Park on Tuesday afternoon as families and kids gathered to learn about, and release, over 300 young white sturgeon into the Columbia River. Just before the big release, the crowd got a quick fish history lesson about sturgeon, learning that the fish can't reproduce until they are at least 20 years old. The fish that were let go into the river are only 10 months old, but the species can live to be over 100. Their shape, habits and biology have remained practically unchanged since the era of the dinosaurs, with their spiny skin and bottom-feeding mouths. Angus Glass is from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program and an organizer of the event, and he says it is particularly important to get youth involved with the repopulation of white sturgeon in local waters. “The interesting thing about the species is that it is long-lived,” he said. “The females don't start reproducing until they are 25, and the males when they are 20. We adults aren't going to be around when that time comes. “It is going to be the kids who are going to be responsible for this stuff later on. Getting them informed early and young is important. “It is so much more powerful getting the kids to move this forward. And of course, the kids love seeing and holding the fish.” The species is not having a particularly successful go at maintaining a healthy population on their own, says Glass, making it all the more important for the sturgeon to get a little help from conservationists and programs like this. “There is virtually no natural recruitment going on in the Columbia River,” he said. “Very few fish are surviving through the egg stage and into the juvenile age. There has been nearly no natural reproduction for the last 40 years or so.” Along with the excitement of the fish release on the Gyro Park beach, there were educational and fun displays showing the different life stages of the white sturgeon, and even some
LIZ BEVAN PHOTO
Jojo Diploch, 9, gets familiar with a 10-month-old white sturgeon at Gyro Park beach on Tuesday before letting him go into the Columbia River. The release was part of the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, run by BC Hydro, to get more white sturgeon into local ecosystems. See more photos on Page 2. sturgeon shaped cookies to munch on. The Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program travels all over the Columbia Basin every year, adding more and more white sturgeon to the ecosystem. Earlier on Tuesday morning, the program stopped by Beaver Creek Park in Area A with grades 3, 4 and 5 students to release even more white
sturgeon into the wild in hopes they will grow to adulthood and reproduce. The team is on its way to Creston and Revelstoke next, on its mission to boost sturgeon populations and aid the natural ecosystem across the basin. For more information about the program, visit www.bchydro.com/ bcrp/.
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN866-897-0678 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242
Supporting our community West Kootenay Brain Injury Association Support for Survivors and their Caregivers in the community. Visit their store every Thursday at Waneta Plaza beside Crockett Books to view the artistic endeavours of their clients
Canada Post, Contract number 42068012
Free kids playroom and ball pit
www.wanetaplaza.com
5 min. east of Trail on Hwy 3B