WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 23, 2015
Santa on tour Greatest Bennett goal scorer in Kimberley and Cranbrook looks back in Nitros’ on 2015 Christmas Eve history Page 2
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Know It All Listings: Find out what’s Happening Page 22
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Cranbrook group preparing for refugee arrival FOR THE TOWNSMAN
With the first wave of Syrian refugees beginning to arrive in Canada, the co-chair of the Cranbrook Hub for Refugees (CHR) says he looks forward to the day when the first refugee family arrives in Cranbrook. But that happy day is likely a few months away and the family that arrives will not necessarily be Syrian, says Gerry Warner. “CHR’s position from the beginning is that we would welcome any refugee family that has been screened by UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) and IRCC (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada) because no matter where the refugees come from their desperate lives will be vastly improved by coming to Canada.” Warner says Cranbrook residents are already responding generously to the plight of the refugees with close to $6,000 donated so far towards the
$15,000 needed for CHR’s sponsorship agreement to be approved by the IRCC. “Anyone wanting to donate now can write a cheque to Christ Church Anglican indicating it goes to the CHR account and drop it off at 46 – 13th Avenue South near downtown during church office hours Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to noon except for Wednesday,” Warner says. By doing that, people will have made a much-appreciated contribution for the Christmas season and also earn themselves a charitable tax receipt for the 2015 taxation year, he says. The Anglican Church Diocese of Kootenay is an official Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) with IRCC which allows CHR the right to sponsor refugees as a constituent group of the church.
See CHR, Page 3
Urban deer translocation trial set for this winter FOR THE TOWNSMAN
After extensive planning and discussions, a trial project to translocate urban mule deer from four communities in the East Kootenay will begin later this winter. Mule deer will be live-captured in Elkford, Cranbrook, Kimberley and Invermere, and transported to winter range areas in the East Kootenay where natural non-urban mule deer populations have been in decline for several years. This trial project, which has received wide-spread support, is a response to the desire of many to find a non-lethal option to reduce urban deer populations. While the hope is that translocation will prove to be a reliable management tool, the current project is designed to scientifically test if translocation of urban deer is humane and effective. Humane treatment of deer is the primary focus throughout the process. “The objective of this project is to
test how urban mule deer respond once they’ve been moved to natural environments,” says Ian Adams, the lead project biologist with Cranbrook-based VAST Resource Solutions. “For the project to prove successful, translocated deer must not return to either their home community or any other urban area. From the outset we’ve been clear that deer moved from one community are not to become a nuisance elsewhere.” Another question is how deer cope with predators. “A concern of many is that urban deer have become naïve to predators,” say Adams. “These are animals that are now accustomed to staring down perceived threats from people and pets, particularly dogs. Whether deer retain some innate memory of predators can only be tested by moving deer from urban areas to natural areas.”
See URBAN DEER, Page 3
BARRY COULTER PHOTO
Jani Parsons from Cranbrook and Timothy Steeves from Strathmore, Alberta, are pictured preparing for a duo recital at Knox Presbyterian Church Sunday, Dec. 20. Parsons and Steeves are members of the Chicago-based New Chamber Ensemble Latitude 49, but were doing a little mini-tour as a duo while back home for Christmas.