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Candidates field questions from voters at Trail forum BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
A steady queue of questions, one outburst and polite applause accompanied the rather civil all candidates forum in Trail Tuesday night. About 200 people gathered for the two-hour event, which was hosted by the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Catherine Adair from Teck Trail Operations. Granted the audience learned a bit of personal background from each of the five candidates in the South Okanagan-West Kootenay (SOWK) riding, there were no standout revelations. The night mostly centred around reiteration of the four respective party platforms as well as the politics of Independent Brian Gray. First up in the public question period, was a query about Bill C-51, aerial surveillance of Canada, the U.S. involvement in the country's airspace, and chemtrails, all directed at New Democrat Richard Cannings. Cannings, an Okanagan-based biologist and ecologist, assured the crowd his party would repeal the bill, saying adequate antiterrorist legislation has been in place since 9/11. As to the latter part of the question, he addressed the theory behind contrails (white lines left behind high flying aircraft) mentioning there is no evidence of
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A crowd of about 200 people were at the Cominco Gym on Tuesday night to hear from the candidates running for election in the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding. atmospheric chemicals in the contrails behind commercial airlines. From there, candidates were queried about health care,
environmental issues such as climate change, campaign spending promises, the long gun registry, and proportional representation or the fairness of the current vot-
ing system. Many of the night's questions were aimed at Conservative Marshall Neufeld, though other candidates took advantage of a
“wild card” to chime in a response reflective of their party platform. One question that had only Neufeld in the hot seat, came from the most vocal audience member, who asked, “Why should we trust you?” The question was preceded by impassioned statements about Stephen Harper's accumulation of power in the Prime Minister's office, and the PM's lack of responsibility in Conservative scandals, involving Dean Del Mastro, Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau and Nigel Wright. Neufeld addressed the person's clear emotion, saying as a Conservative and Canadian, he resented the behaviour of said individuals and they do not represent the majority of party representatives. “They are facing the penalties for their actions,” said Neufeld. “What I resent even more is we as Canadians have no opportunity to kick them out (of senate). We need to have an elected senate, if we are going to have a senate at all, so people who act as they did, have to go back and face the music.” Green Party candidate Samantha Troy, last to join the SOWK campaign trail, seized the opportunity to express a concise point. “The Green Party and myself need to protect the fundamental See CANDIDATES, Page 3
Rossland nurse preparing for another Red Cross mission BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
Rossland native Patrice Gordon remembers that feeling of fear, when she looked down 800 metres into the Trisuli River as her driver navigated on the edge of a steep, narrow road in Dunche, Nepal. It’s been months now since Gordon left her post as a team leader for a Canadian Red Cross Emergency Response Unit. The nurse practitioner is back at home on Horn Lake in the Chilcotin area but on a disaster alert list awaiting her next call to provide care to refugees in Greece.
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“It gives you that sense of vulnerability,” she said. “You kind of realize that the earth is capable of doing stuff and we have no control, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Nothing but accept it and move on. That’s what the Nepalese did when a quake measuring 7.8 struck April 25, followed by a powerful 7.3 tremor on May 12. Gordon wasn’t sure what she was in for when she headed over three months after the quakes for a four-week stint. She relives her time away, finally giv-
ing it proper reflection when she visits with her vast patient group at home. Back in Nepal, the pounding monsoon rain was soothing at night when she finally clocked out of an 18-hour workday. Her sound sleep broke when a landslide set off in the distance, and she began to count the time from the beginning to the end, 12 seconds marking a record. Her wake-up call would get her out of bed in the middle of the night to check emails from Ottawa. The team leader was among 16 people delivering primary care for the Nepalese out of a field hospital,
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treating respiratory infections, diarrhea illnesses, skin diseases and even a few snake bites. As monsoon season picked up, mud washed into drinking water and at times the water managed to sweep through isolated toilet areas, causing contamination. The team’s work stretched beyond the hospital’s walls. The group set out to tent cities to connect with the people and see firsthand what they needed in hopes of preventing the spread of sickness in poor living conditions. See GORDON, Page 2
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