Wednesday November 4, 2015 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST INcluded
Unexpected ingredient Eliyah Gerbrandt gets a scare after a fellow student pops out from underneath the table during a Halloween event at South Broadview Elementary on Friday, Oct. 30. Parents, volunteers and school staff put on a wide range of Halloweenthemed activities for the elementary students.
Evan BUhlEr/obServer
Dying man shackled by system Mistreatment: Former Salmon Arm resident spends final days in British detention centre. By Martha Wickett obServer STAFF
Alois dvorzak wanted desperately to see his estranged daughter Alenka before he died. He also planned to be buried next to his wife dana. He got neither. Instead, the frail, ill, 84-year-old former Salmon Arm man died in shackles, the last three weeks of his life spent shuttled between hospital and a bleak detention centre. His death has sparked calls for change to the british immigration system and for improved supports for citizens from the canadian government. According to british and canadian me-
dia reports, dvorzak arrived at Gatwick Airport, 30 miles south of central london, on Jan. 23, 2013. With $1,400 dollars, confused, no luggage and no travel documents, he was detained by immigration officials. He told officials he was trying to visit his daughter in Slovenia. reports from the inquest into his death state the canadian High commission suggested he be placed in a hotel, but officials in england thought he was not well enough to travel and should have minimal supervision. Social services couldn’t help so he spent that first night sleeping in chairs in the airport’s family room. At some point immigration personnel
This week A popular Shuswap truck stop burned to the ground on Monday morning. See details on A3. A record number of Salmon Arm runners will be heading to provincials. See more on A17.
were allegedly told by canadian officials that dvorzak had been taken to hospital in canada from a care home two days earlier after he appeared to be having a breakdown and assaulted a staff member. They were also told he was taking more than a dozen types of medication for ailments such as diabetes, acute coronary syndrome, anxiety and depression. A doctor who examined him in england is reported to have deemed him confused and vulnerable, but dvorzak was then sent for a hospital assessment where he was deemed fit to fly. See needs on page A2
WEB photo
Distinguished: Former resident
Alois Dvorzak operated an electrical repair business in Salmon Arm.
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Time Out................... A10 Life & Times ............. A12 Sports................A17-A20 Arts & Events ... A21-A24 Vol. 108, No. 44, 48 pages