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Syrian crisis divides views ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
unfamiliar of the Alberni Valley’s terrain. He advises the public to always prepare for the worst weather and geographical conditions that could arise on a trek. “If you come to a new place to hike you really need to get yourself familiar with the area, the conditions and the possible dangers that might be in that particular geography,” Shipley said. “We live on an Island surrounded by sea with big mountains, so anything can happen very quickly.” Poulsen believes the hikers were misled by a publication describing a route in the area that only works during the winter. The students had tried to take the Main Gully (or Snow Gully) to the Judges Route. “There’s some literature out there that states that you can take that trail and go up this route,” Poulsen said. “That is only possible in the winter when there is a snowpack there and you can ice climb it.”
The conflicts in Iraq and Syria are on the other side of the world, but when Alberni Valley residents head to the polls on Oct. 19 they take part in determining Canada’s role in the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. As expressed by written responses sent to the Alberni Valley Times, candidates in the Courtenay-Alberni riding have taken diverse stances on how the government should attend to a civil war that has killed more 200,000 people and displaced millions across international borders. By joining the United States in its airstrikes, Canada has taken aim at the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a wide-reaching fundamentalist legion that has rapidly spread to control large areas of Iraq and Syria in recent years. ISIL has joined rebel groups in Syria who have fought against Bashar al-Assad’s government for the last four years. Despite reports of mass executions by ISIL, NDP candidate Gord Johns argues that Canada’s military approach has not been the answer. “I don’t believe that Canada should be dropping bombs on either Syria or Iraq in our struggle against violent extremism,” said Johns, adding that bombing could easily kill civilians. He pointed to United Nations’ resolutions to cut off ISIL’s influx of finances and personnel, rather than military action against the group. The federal government recently announced plans take in 10,000 Syrian refugees by September 2016, but Johns said an NDP government would take in this amount by the end of the year. “Iraqi and Syrian children have frozen to death in refugee camps and are now dying as they flee in search of safe havens,” he said. Conservative candidate John Duncan contends that Canada has made a significant contribution to the humanitarian crisis, including helping to feed two million people in Iraq.
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A member of the Alberni Valley Rescue Squad scales Mount Arrowsmith Sunday during an operation to save hikers from a dangerous part of the mountain. [FACEBOOK]
Students rescued near peak University of Victoria group stranded near summit on Sunday ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
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group of students from the University of Victoria were stranded on Mount Arrowsmith Sunday, resulting in one of the largest ground operations for the Alberni Valley Rescue Squad over its 59-year history. Twenty members of the U of Vic’s Outdoor Club found themselves caught on the mountain near its 1,818-metre summit Sunday afternoon. A call was sent to the Port Alberni RCMP, who alerted the Rescue Squad shortly before 2 p.m. The hikers had spit into two groups when they alerted police. Eight trekkers were caught in a spot close to Arrowsmith’s peak, a situation that required a rope team. Rescue Squad president Dave Poulsen said he had an idea where the students were stuck when the call came in, and a rope team was sent by a contracted helicopter to locate the group. Seven hikers were in an unstable crevasse, while one
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had made it to the top of this hazardous section when the rescuers arrived. “We pulled two people out of there in July,” said Poulsen. “It’s a very, very dangerous route to take in these conditions. There’s lots of loose rocks, it’s very steep and it’s very tight quarters in there.” Poulsen noted that the rope team were forced to descend a considerable distance from above where the hikers were stuck.
“They had to rappel about 200 feet to get to them, and they had to lower them approximately 400 feet to a point where they were on safe solid ground and were able to hike out,” he said. With 22 Rescue Squad members on the mountain – comprising half of the Alberni organization’s volunteers – the stranded hikers were safely led down the mountain in small groups. After a 10-hour operation all of the hikers were back on level ground, ready to return to Victoria after midnight. “There was a couple bumps and bruises but no major injuries,” Poulsen said. “They got a little bit cold towards the end of the night,” said the Rescue Squad’s search manager Neil Shipley. “Apart from that they were in good spirits.” Although the operation went efficiently and safely, unpredictable changes in the weather were a concern at Arrowsmith’s higher elevations. Shipley said the hikers, many of whom were foreign students, were
Group seeks to sponsor refugees from Syria
Bulldogs having ‘growing pains,’ says team coach
A group of Port Alberni residents is determined to help a family escape the war-torn Middle East.
The Alberni junior team beat the Grizzlies again at the Multiplex on Friday, but the Bulldogs have yet to win on the road.
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