FRIDAY
URGENT!!
< Tantalizing new thriller Shelby Cain’s ‘Mountain Girl’ | Page 14
JUNE 24, 2016
The World to our rink >
Kootenay Ice pick first in CHL Import Draft | Page 8
Townsman
CLOSING 80
Cranbrook
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1946
Vol. 70, Issue 103
%
NG UP OSIN LO CL TO
1
32-9TH AVE S, CRANBROOK • 250-417-0892
$ 10
INCLUDES G.S.T.
www.cranbrooktownsman.com
The Year of Putting Up Walls, or Taking Them Down Premier Christy Clark on Brexit, Donald Trump and the U.S. Election, and the future BARRY COULTER
The mundane details of our daily lives go on, but these days, international events that could have a profound impact
on all of us are on everybody’s minds. Thursday, June 23, was an historic day, as the citizens of the United Kingdom voted
whether or not Britain should leave the European Union. Although as of press time, the results of the “Brexit” referendum were still pending, B.C.
Premier Christy Clark — in Cranbrook for a cabinet retreat — voiced her thoughts on Brexit and other matters ongoing in this tumultuous
year of 2016. “I’m a believer in free trade, and I’m a believer in taking down walls, not putting them up,” she said. “I used to live in Britain, so I understand how attached people are to the pound and the pint and the monarchy and the way of life there. But Britain is better, wealthier because it is in the European Union. Just as Canada is wealthier because
it is in NAFTA Just like we will be wealthier if we find our way into the TPP. “If Britain leaves Europe, I think it will be terrible for the British economy, for jobs, it think it will be very shortsighted, I think it would be bad for the world.”
See BREXIT, Page 4
Special COTR nursing announcement, Page 3
BC NDP sees an opportunity in local ridings TRE VOR CR AWLEY
STAN SALIKEN PHOTO
MEN’S NIGHT Tuesdays after 1pm
GOLF, CART, PRIZEaysS Wednesd after 4pm
olf ay G Leagu nd
Mo
INNER ,P T, D R AR
dies Night La
1PR/IC2E
e
IEW
ES IZ
INING D K C DE
AV WITH
GOL F, C
One of the signature events of Sam Steele Days is the Fitness Inc. Strongman Classic. Competitors from far and wide took part in the Truck Pull, Press Medley, the “Hercules Hold,” the “Power Stairs” and the “Atlas Stones,” followed by a final Medley which was made up of a Super Yolk walk, Sled Drag and Tire Flip” before an engaged crowd of hundreds on Saturday, June 18, on 10th Avenue beside Rotary Park. When the dust had settled, the top six were determined. Pictured here with newly-crowned Youth Ambassadors Brianna McWhirter and Jelena Jensen are (back row, left to right): Colby Henderson (second place), Ben Collins (fifth place), Chris Majkut (sixth place) and (front row, left to right) Mike DeBoer (first place), Nick McMorrow (fourth place) and Derrek Cox (third place). This year’s competition also featured a women’s category. See more, Page 18.
Cart 9 Holes withfor after 5pm 5 under $2
With the announcement of Bill Bennett’s pending retirement from provincial politics, the B.C. Liberals will be needing a new Kootenay East candidate for the election in the spring of 2017. No one has declared their intent to run for the nomination, however, Bennett has indicated he knows of a few people who would be likely be interested. While the B.C. Liberals await to see who emerges from the nomination race in the Kootenay East riding, the B.C. New Democratic Party already has a candidate declared — former Fernie mayor Randal Macnair.
Macnair is the only candidate to announce his intent to run for the NDP in the riding, but that could change moving into the summer, according to Craig Keating, the president of the BC NDP. “As party president, I’m trying to attract candidates who have high local profile and I think Randal certainly does that, who bring a lot to the table,” Keating said. “It’s a privilege to run for a political party. If you’re successful, you’ll earn over $100,000 and certainly, I think we want to have the very best possible people with some deep roots in the community as candidates of our party.”
See NDP, Page 5