As Nicola-Similkameen School District 58 (SD58) scrambles to save a declining financial situation, Merritt’s largest elementary school has found itself in the crosshairs of a potential closure.
Located near the heart of downtown and as the oldest school in the city, Merritt Central Elementary is being looked at to potentially close, as the school board has recently passed a motion to investigate the possible effects of doing so during a board meeting on Wednesday, May 14.
After years of declining enrollment within Merritt public schools, the school board has found themselves needing to make cost-cuts to avoid a financial deficit. For the next school year, they have passed a budget that removes $1.5 million in expenses.
“We don’t want to close any of our schools, we don’t want to lose any of our staff. But we’ve come to a point where we do have to look at what are different
CLOSURE FAR FROM FINALIZED, OTHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ALSO CONSIDERED
options going forward,” said SD58 superintendent Courtney Lawrance.
There have been multiple strategies presented to the board and how they can do so. The recommended strategy, that has been talked about for the last few weeks, involves the loss of multiple staff members, including five teachers who are retiring and won’t be replaced.
SD58 board chair Gordon Swan noted that the district believes they are in a better position than other districts who are also facing financial restraints. He said the school board has not had to make any layoffs to educational staff compared to Kamloops who have to cut over 25 teaching positions.
Most recently, the board has been recommended to research the effects of the potential closure of Central Elementary saving $400,000 to $600,000 in salaries and maintenance cost which could be put into effect as early as next year.
A potential school closure would not affect this year’s budget, but the next year’s instead.
The board said they received public feedback during their budget meetings that they should look into closing a school since most are not at capacity.
Swan said enrollment at Diamondvale Elementary and Collettville Elementary have gone down about 35 and 28 per cent respectively over the last few years. He stated that those schools are at around 40 per cent free capacity.
Swan said the money saved by a potential closure could be used towards educational staff instead if student enrollment continues to drop.
He said the amount saved would be equivalent to four to six teachers.
chosen because of declining enrollment,” Lawrance said. “It is solely on the age of the building.”
Before acting, the board said they will have to have “extensive consultation with the public” as well as a forecast into Merritt’s future population.
What public consultation will look like has not yet been decided. Swan said there will be open houses for the public.
He also said the school will have to be in contact with parent groups, rights holders and First Nations throughout the process, as outlined in Bill-40 or the School Amendment Act.
It was also mentioned that the school could be turned into another public service building for other local organizations resulting in what Swan calls a “win-win”.
Being an old building, Swan mentioned the school is a big part of Merritt’s culture, a fact that will be taken into consideration regarding a closure.
“It’s a cultural piece of the community. It’s called central school, it’s central to everything. It was that first school and lots of great things have happened there,” he said.
“At the end of the day, do you want to put the money into a building, or do you want to put it into student services?” he said. “If we can put an extra half-million dollars into staffing for students, to me, that’s a better decision.”
The province had previously invested $6 million in renovations for Central Elementary after the 2021 flood.
While Central Elementary was officially named as the school under potential closure, Swan and the board
noted that the conversation could switch to be about the closure of any of the three elementary schools of Diamondvale, Central or Collettville, depending on their findings.
He said the provincial government required the district to name a school in order for a motion to explore the possibility of a closure to be passed.
Central Elementary was chosen because of its age.
“It’s not like (the school) is being
The process of exploration into the closure is still in its beginning stages and no official decisions have been made.
“At the end of the day, we might say, ‘no, it’s not worth it. Or no, we don’t have to do it right now, but we have all the pieces in place,” Swan said. “Or we might say, ‘oh, actually, it’s not (Central Elementary), it’s another school.’ But until we go through that whole process, we wanted to make sure we (start), because it takes a full year.”
PHOTO/TY LIM
An empty playground at Merritt Central Elementary on May 15, 2025.
SD58 BUDGET FINALIZED, NO LAYOFFS TO INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF AS ENROLLMENT DIPS
TY LIM reporter@merrittherald.com
Nicola-Similkameen School District 58 (SD58) has finalized their budget for the next school year, seeing a loss of staff and programming in it.
May 14 marked the end of months of debate and number crunching as SD58 has found a way to stay within their 2025-26 budget of $42.2 million, as the board read and passed the budget during its monthly general meeting.
As school districts around the province, like Surrey and Kamloops, stare at budget deficits in the multi-millions of dollars, SD58 board chair Gordon Swan said they found themselves in a lucky situation.
Through reassignments of staff and teacher retirements, SD58 said they had not had to cut any instructional staff despite facing a budget deficit of over $1.5 million.
“We’re a smaller district, but being able to make sure that all our staff still have jobs in teaching is, I think, a good place to be,” said Swan, who has been chair since 2022. “There’s never a happy place when you’re looking at closing a school or you’re looking at laying off teachers in terms of a bad situation. I think we’re lucky that with retirements we’ve had, we’ve been able to cover that so no existing teachers on a continuing contract are losing their jobs.”
Swan said the district will also be keeping the previously threatened educational assistant positions, reposting 11 EA jobs next school year.
With cost-cutting measures, the school district will be heavily reducing bus services to Collettville Elementary from six bus routes down to one.
Within recent years, SD58 has relied on their dwindling financial reserves to fund staff and various projects. The reserve is now at around $1.3 million.
Swan stated the district can’t risk relying on the reserve much longer, saying, “we need to have those dollars in case something happens”. He stated last year, the district spent $500,000 more from their reserve
then they planned.
He said over the last few years, the board was drawing from this reserve “with intent”, at the same time they were lobbying the provincial government for more funding.
“At the same time we had decreasing enrollment. We didn’t decrease the teaching staff,” Swan said.
The board is calling on the provincial government to assist with funding educational assistants, based on an election promise the incumbent party made last October during their election campaign.
“It was one of the first things they withdrew as a government when they saw how tight things were fiscally,” Swan suggested. “We want you to honor that commitment.”
They are also calling on the province to fund whatever is negotiated in agreements between the provincial government and teachers’ unions. Swan stated a large amount - 80 to 84 per cent - of the teaching budget is in salaries and wages.
“We just want to make sure that you are funding, that we also need to make sure benefits are funded, benefits, the inflationary costs,” he said.
The budget SD58 is given is mainly based on enrolment. SD58 receives $9,000 per student according to Swan.
According to enrolment statistics provided by SD58, Merritt has lost 112 students since the 2018-19 school year over all elementary and secondary schools.
Also adding to student services, SD58 will be adding more counsellors next year, saying they feel as if the recommended ratio isn’t enough.
Swan said that the recent wildfires, flood and COVID has left trauma on the student population.
“We actually think you actually need to be looking at each particular district and going, Oh, maybe it’s not that number. Maybe in this community, there’s other things happening, whether it’s socio economic or crime, social media pieces, mental health pieces,” he said.
CANNABIS STORE
RCMP WAITS FOR FORENSICS FOLLOWING RAID OF MERRITT HOUSE
Police are awaiting the results of DNA and forensics testing on a number of items seized last month after heavily armed officers raided a home in Merritt where a couple was being held captive and “tortured,” a judge has been told.
Mounties descended on Merritt on April 9 and raided a home in the 2000-block of Clapperton Avenue. According to prosecutors, the victim and his fiancee showed up at the house in the early-morning hours of April 8 after agreeing to drive someone there from Kamloops in exchange for $200 and a small amount of crack cocaine.
The man told police their phones were taken away when they arrived, and a woman pulled a gun and demanded wallets, keys and passcodes.
“He says that they were coerced to give them their bank cards and PIN numbers for their bank cards, as well as the location of their RV in Kamloops and the location of a motor vehicle that they have,” Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan said in court on Wednesday.
The man said he was pistolwhipped, punched, struck with a hatchet and briefly suffocated with a plastic bag. He also said he was threatened with decapitation and had items thrown at him.
“He described to police that he did not think he was going to get out of there alive,” Duncan said.
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The man told police he escaped through a bathroom window. He ran to a nearby grocery store and police were called, leading to the raid. He said he did not know the attackers, but heard one woman say her name out loud when she dialled in to a court appearance from the house.
Court heard Mounties seized dozens of items from the home, including machetes, swords, pellet guns, real handguns and what was described as a semi-automatic submachine gun, as well as about 40 items described as being “related to drug trafficking.”
Duncan said police are awaiting testing on the firearms and the apparent drug paraphernalia.
“If these allegations are true, these are extremely serious — essentially confining, torturing and threatening to kill individuals for a period of 24 hours for reasons unknown to these individuals,” he said.
Kristal Lynn Poirier, 40, is facing two counts each of unlawful confinement, uttering threats, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. She is also charged with assault in connection with an unrelated allegation stemming from an altercation outside a Merritt bar on Halloween last year.
Court heard Poirier was arrested shortly after police arrived at the Clapperton Avenue scene on April 9 and she’s been in custody since. Poirier was due back in court on May 22.
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Kristen Lynn Poirier was arrested after police arrived at her residence on April 9, 2025.
NICOLA VALLEY VIEWPOINT
ARE YOU EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY?: UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS
BONNIE DIXON
Healthy Conversations
“ Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.” — Unknown
L istening is simple, beautiful, and risk-free. Yet in our fast-paced, noisy world, it has become a rare gift. We often think communication is about talking—sharing our thoughts, ideas, and opinions. But the true heart of connection lies in listening. Healthy listening isn’t about waiting for your turn to speak; it’s about slowing down enough to let another person truly feel heard. Imagine being so present that you could hear a pin drop. That kind of presence transforms relationships.
W hen we listen this way, we reduce stress. We prevent misunderstandings. We stop making assumptions. Instead, we create space for what is truly needed and wanted to emerge. People feel safe, valued, and respected when they are genuinely heard.
L istening is an act of love. It requires patience, curiosity, and a willingness to put ego aside. Healthy listening isn’t about fixing or advising—it’s about witnessing. And in doing so, we build trust, deepen bonds, and create the foundation for honest, meaningful communication.
Start at home—with our parents, children, siblings—and let that ripple out to everyone we encounter: the grocery store clerk, the postal carrier, the bank teller. Everyone longs to be heard.
I’ve often jumped into conversations, eager to help or solve a problem. It’s taken me years to learn that unsolicited advice is often neither wanted nor needed. Sometimes, the greatest gift we can offer is our presence.
Next time you’re in conversation, slow down. Listen not just with your ears, but with your heart. Notice the energy between you and the other person. You may be surprised by how powerful your quiet presence can be.
Healthy listening is free, yet its impact is priceless. In today’s world, it is a healing balm. What could be more important than that?
SE7EN: A SERIAL KILLER AND RELIGION IN MODERN AMERICA
I’ve never been religious, but I’ve always found the concept of God and belief intriguing, especially when it involves morality and fanaticism. The film, Se7en (1995) explores these themes in depth, as one of the feature films of the late David Fincher’s career. The film is carried mostly throughout by the two leads, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt - in what in my opinion is their finest acting - as two detectives on the opposite ends of their career.
Se7en wastes no time getting into the meat of the story, as Freeman and Pitt meet in the opening scene and instantly butt heads. The dynamic between these two with Freeman as the disillusioned veteran, and Pitt as the overzealous
maverick is the core of the film, as the two explore their morals and nihilistic beliefs about society as they hunt a serial killer who murders his victims in accordance to the seven deadly sins within Christian teachings.
As you get into the movie, you discover Fincher is not only casting a spotlight on the grizzly activities of his antagonist, whose mysterious nature raises unanswered questions of his origins, but of modern society itself and its nihilistic nature.
Despite being set in an urban sprawl, every scene feels tight, capturing the claustrophobia of living in a big city. The script almost exclusively follows Freeman and Pitt, capturing their personalities in detail and the personalities of those close to them as well. Every other character in the movie does not get that same attention, deliberately so. Extras and characters that appear once all seem to be crude, stereotypes of people who are
at each moment partaking in a vice.
The colouring itself is grey and drab. In the original screenplay, the opening scenes would emphasise the movie’s nihilism as characters would see gruesome crimes in the street and refuse to bat an eye. The victims of the serial killer’s crimes barely have relationships that are explored in the film, some of the victims are not even shown. You are not meant to care.
Fincher creates a perfect environment for judgement. As the viewer you are encouraged to be disgusted by not only the actions of its antagonist but of its everyday people.
As you think about the film, you ride along the same train of thought that the detectives and the killer are faced with. It is the moral dilemma of the movie; will you stand by idly as the world declines, or will you do something about it?
LETTERS to the Editor
CANADA MUST SUPPORT FUNDS TO END POVERTY
Dear Editor,
As Alberta prepares to host the G7 next month, the focus is likely to be on increased cooperation on trade. At the same time, these meetings are traditionally ones where Canada puts care of the world front and centre.
In view of the pullbacks by the U.S. and others, we need to step up to end extreme poverty. As the line goes, its sucks that its us! Canada must continue to ambitiously support the Global Fund, nutrition, education, efforts to end TB, all saving millions of lives!
– Randy Rudolph Calgary, Alberta
FIRST NATIONS MUST RIGOUROUSLY REVIEW BILL 15
Dear Editor,
This week the province of B.C. rushed to table Bill 15, titled Infrastructure Projects Act. They may as well have called it the “Fast Tracking Projects Act” or the “Expeditious Infrastructure Project Act” as they use that word repeatedly in the legislation.
In B.C.’s rush to table this legislation they did not take time to consult and collaborate, leading to the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations to ensure Bill 15 was consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and their own law, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
NTC asks, “Does B.C. think they can run roughshod over First Nations rights, title and territories for the sake of ‘expediency’?” NTC also asks, “Does B.C. think they can set aside DRIPA and UNDRIP to fast track infrastructure projects in response to Trump’s tariffs?”
NTC further asks, “Does B.C. think they can rush legislation through that has potential to have major impact on First Nation lands, waters and resources without consultation and collaboration leading to free prior and informed consent? NTC has so many questions on this piece of legislation and no answers.
President Judith Sayers said, “B.C. knows how to put in place legislation that is Indigenous co-developed, as they are doing so with the Heritage Conservation Act. Why not this Act? Things done in a rush will backfire on provincial government-First Nation relationships, reconciliation and all the work done to date on UNDRIP. They cannot pick and choose when to engage meaningfully with First Nations and when they won’t, as they have now adopted a high standard for adopting legislation.”
Vice-President Les Doiron added, “Bill 15 grants the B.C. cabinet sweeping powers to bypass First Nations jurisdiction, environmental assessment, municipal authorities and existing laws and regulationsin order to fast track public and private sector projects in their discretion that can jump the regulatoryqueue. This is not acceptable.”
Judith Sayers further commented that Bill 15 mostly empowers the government to intervene as it seesfit on behalf of “provincially significant projects,” public as well as private. They can take conditions that are stopping a project and re-write the conditions to solve the problem the way they want to without consulting and collaborating leading the consent of First Nations. To placate First Nations, they put in a section which isn’t clear as to what it actually means. Is it that an order or regulation cannot be about engagement? Or is it the definition of Indigenous Peoples in their Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA)?
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council stands with the First Nations Leadership Council and other FirstNations in demanding B.C. put Bill 15 through rigorous review by First Nations - and amended to protect and respect the rights and title, to consult and collaborate leading to free prior and informed consent.
NTC also demands that this be done in the spirit and intent of UNDRIP, DRIPA and Reconciliation.
– Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
LAST WEEK’S QUESTION
LOOK BACK
From the Herald archives
MAY 26, 1965
STILL NO TRACE OF MISSING WARE CHILD
In spite of the efforts of searchers, no trace has yet been found of Little Terry Ware.
The two year old girl has been missing since about 3 p.m., Monday, May 17, and It is believed she iwas swept away by the flooding Nicola River.
The R.CM.P. are still maintaining ithelr patrols ailong the river.
MAY 15, 1996
SCHOOL BOARD DECLINES RENTING OUT OF OLD SCHOOL
Reprasentatives of Local 6523 of the United Steel workers were on hand at last Wednesday’s meeting of the School Board to hear a negative decision on their application to rent the old school at Lower Nicola as a headquarters in the event of a strike against Craigmont this summer. They had asked for the building on a 24-hour a day basis for an indefinite period.
The building has been turned over to the Lower Nicola Community Club for use in community activities, but when approached by the Union, the Community Club felt the decision should be made by the Board.
•
legislation
Engage withCity CouncilandStaff. LearnaboutCityProjects. Getanswers to yourquestions.Shareyourfeedback.
•Alignment with TNRD’s Regional Grow th Strategy
T IM EL IN EF OR CH AN GE S:
•Incorporationofthe City’s 20 -yearhousing needsas identified in the2024Housing NeedsA ssessment
• WINTER 2024/2025: Background Research &Project Scoping
• SPRING 2025: Public Engagement
• SUMMER 2025: DraftingofAmendment s
• FALL 2025: CouncilConsiderationand Adoption
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OLD VISITOR CENTRE DEMOLISHED
TY LIM reporter@merrittherald.com
A piece of Merritt’s history has officially been laid to rest as the city’s old visitor centre has been torn down.
The week of May 8, construction crews descended on the historic visitor centre, dismantling the building to make way for an upcoming commercial development run by Merritt’s five First Nations, Gateway 286.
The visitor centre in question was shut down in the beginning of 2018 as the aging structure no longer met building codes. Due to the cost of repairs and difficulty of receiving permits from Interior Health Authority to expand its septic system, the building was abandoned.
Since then, Baillie House - now dubbed the visitor information house - became the de facto spot for tourists looking for town activities.
Since the demolition job, the project has gone under more scrutiny from the online public who are worried that the building, and therefore its materials, have gone to waste.
Previously, the project developer Troika Developments CEO Renee Merrifield, told the Herald they were working with NVIT to repurpose the logs, potentially reconstructing the building on NVIT’s campus.
Speaking to the Herald in a recent interview, Merrifield stated that upon demolition, many of the logs were unsalvageable and broke as the building came down.
“We were using a forklift and really trying to preserve as many of them as we possibly could. Some of them just shattered when the building was coming down,” she said. Merrifield still stated it is one of their goals is to preserve as much of the building as they can.
BLUES STAR TO TOUR IN MERRITT
YASHVIKA GROVER Contributor
Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour is hosting Colin Linden, a Canadian music artist on May 23.
Colin Linden is a guitarist, songwriter and record producer, popular for his country blues and ragtime fingerpicking. He has had an extensive career and has been a touring musician for 50 years. He has worked with Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Greg Allman and more. He has won nine Juno awards and been nominated for 25. He won a Grammy in 2020 for producing Keb Mo’s “Oklahoma”, winner for Best Americana Album.
He is playing in many rural communities apart from Merritt, such as Salmon Arm, Penticton and Chilliwack.
“I love British Columbia so much, I have family there, I love the wine from the Okanagan region especially and I’ve always had a wonderful time up North. The show in Merritt is the first show in this leg of the tour, so I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
He recalled being mentored by many great early blues artists in the middle of the 20th century, a standout being Howlin’ Wolf.
She also said the demolition was difficult for her and her team to watch, given the building’s historic symbolism to the community.
“We knew that we all have this emotional connection (to the building), those of us that have been driving that highway or living nearby for the course of decades,” she said. Merrifield is connected to the Southern Interior of B.C., being the former conservative MLA of the Kelowna-Mission riding from 2020 to 2024.
“I’ve written emails to a number of the different leaders within the community, just to signal like, ‘hey, this is a hard one for all of us,’ and just to make sure that everyone knew that it was coming down.”
Merrifield said information pieces will be placed around the completed Gateway 286 and will feature storyboards with historical facts about the old building.
“A part of the building will be reconstructed in a very small way, and then have the picture of the building and the story behind it,” she said.
As for the logs that survived the demolition, Merrifield stated their goal is to reuse.
She said Troika is looking at incorporating some of the logs into Gateway 286’s design. Logs will also be distributed into the Nicola Valley community to individuals or different groups.
“We’ve got some interest from some individuals who would like to build a bench in their backyard, or who wanted to see those logs repurposed, and have a piece of the history for themselves,” Merrifield said.
She also said Troika has received interest from some of the First Nations bands.
The tear-down of the old visitor centre marks the start of Gateway 286’s construction phase, which will see earthworks going on through the summer.
Merritt is the 10th show of his “Ride On” tour celebrating his next 50 years as a travelling musician performer.
He appreciates playing in smaller communities and said, “They come out to the shows, you feel like you get to know them, and there’s something about it that’s really personal and I really do appreciate that. After a long time, especially, you find that you have more in common with people who go and hear music and you love music, you actually find that you have a lot in common with the people who come and hear you and it is a great feeling.”
He expressed feeling “honoured” by being hosted at the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour in Merritt.
“They entrusted so much of their hearts and insight to me and I feel like whenever I play, I’m carrying their spirits with me, and I hope I can pass that along in some kind of positive way,” Linden said.
While having achieved many things in his career, he highlighted his 42-year-old marriage as his greatest personal accomplishment.
He ended with imparting a message to the younger generation that might stumble upon his music.
“Hopefully [they can take away] the sense of imagination, and something that is heartfelt and honest and will be inspiring.”
He looks forward to performing in Merritt soon and hopes to see people come out and enjoy his music.
Tickets can be found at colinlinden.net
CANADA POST STRIKE ONCE AGAIN
CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS
The Canadian Press
Canada Post says it has received strike notices from the union representing some 55,000 postal workers, with operations poised to shut down by the end of the week.
The Crown corporation says the union informed it that employees plan to hit the picket line starting Friday morning at midnight.
A work stoppage would affect millions of residents and businesses who typically receive more than two billion letters and roughly 300 million parcels a year via the service.
Canada Post says the disruption would deepen the company’s grave financial
situation and both sides should focus on hammering out a deal.
Earlier on Monday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in an email it was “still in the process of trying to negotiate collective agreements” for its members, including nearly 23,000 mail carriers.
On Friday, a report on Canada Post highlighted its flagging business model and recommended foundational changes, including phasing out daily door-to-door letter mail delivery for individual residences.
CLAYBANKS RV RETURNS
YASHVIKA GROVER
Contributor
The long awaited local RV park has finally opened up for the summer.
Claybanks RV park, located at 1302 Vought St., has been out of operation since the heavy damages from the flood in 2021.
David Zakall, Director of Community Services, recently updated Merritt’s city council as of the recent activity of the newly re-opened park.
First day of online bookings opened on May 5th at 4:30 p.m., resulting in six online bookings raising a total of $1460.97 for the day.
The park reopened for the season on May 1 and will remain open until Oct. 31 of 2025 under the care of the MIM management group.
Previously, Mayor Mike Goetz
expressed his opinion regarding the ownership of the park.
“I’m going to be very honest here with you. I’ve been very clear since 2016 that I think this should come back into city operation,” he said.
While it was concluded by popular opinion in the council that ownership may be transferred back to the city, MIM management has retained operation of the park.
The first customer for the year was a local contractor who will be using one of the six contractor sites available to contractors working in the Nicola Valley.
The new online booking system is called “Let’s Camp”. It allows booking, reporting and provides a platform for the RV sites.
PHOTO/TY LIM
Brandy GozdaSekhon (right) with her husband, Sonny Sekhon (left) at her McDonalds in Merritt.
PHOTO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada Post vehicles are seen parked at a delivery depot, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.
BC HYDRO ELECTRICAL DEMAND
BRENNA OWEN
The Canadian Press
British Columbia’s power utility is facing transformational challenges of drought, rising costs and a trade war with the United States as it works to meet electricity demand that’s surging after two decades of relative stability.
An expected demand increase of 15 per cent by 2030 is sparking questions about whether BC Hydro is ready, with one former B.C. environment minister saying the province faces a power gap.
The Crown utility says it imported a net 13,600 gigawatt hours of power in the 2024 fiscal year, a figure representing about 22 per cent of all supply sources according to a service plan forecast issued last February.
But the utility says it has been a net exporter for eight of the past 15 years, and its outgoing CEO is unequivocal: “We have enough power.”
Customers “should feel confident that (BC Hydro) will be able to meet their needs in a range of circumstances over time,” Chris O’Reily said in an interview after addressing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Thursday.
O’Reily told the board tariffs on Canadian goods launched by U.S. President Donald Trump have been “weighing on everyone’s minds.”
But Canada’s trade challenges are also an opportunity to strengthen energy security, expand clean power and drive long-term prosperity, he said.
“By fostering homegrown solutions, by reinforcing regional collaboration, we can reduce our reliance on foreign markets and boost B.C.’s economy and create well-paying jobs in the renewable power sector,” said O’Reily, who retires this year.
He pointed to additional capacity coming online with the Site C dam in northern B.C. as well as 10 renewable energy projects selected through BC Hydro’s call for power in 2024 and another call set to launch this year.
O’Reily also highlighted BC Hydro’s capital plan released in January. It allocates $36 billion over 10 years to replace aging infrastructure, expand distribution capacity and connect new electricity sources to the grid, he said.
Barry Penner, who served as B.C.’s environment minister between 2005 and 2010, is skeptical about the utility’s readiness. He said the province isn’t generating enough electricity on its own, particularly given threats from south of the border.
“We’re importing electricity on a net basis, meaning, yes, there are still brief periods where we’re selling electricity, but we’re importing a lot more than we’re selling.”
B.C. is on track to be a net importer again this year, buying most from the United States,
said Penner, who chairs the Energy Futures Institute.
“Is there a guarantee we’ll be able to buy that electricity tomorrow, or next year? Can you promise that President Trump won’t curtail electricity sales?” Penner said.
“I hope he won’t. But he’s been demonstrated to be rather unpredictable and not necessarily a reliable ally to Canada.”
Penner said drought has been the driver behind imports, forcing BC Hydro to hold back water in reservoirs to ensure supply during peak demand.
In an application to the B.C. Utilities Commission in March, the utility said “persistent drought conditions and low snowpack since the fall of 2022” had required higher-than-planned electricity import costs amounting to $1.5 billion.
O’Reily said that’s partly why customers saw a rate increase of 3.75 per cent on April 1, with the same bump set to kick in next year. Each increase amounts to about $3.75 per month for the average residential customer, he said.
In addition to drought, BC Hydro’s submission to the B.C. Utilities Commission said it faced “extraordinary inflation and market escalation,” through it had benefited from higher-than-expected energy trading income.
O’Reily said the latest rate increases also reflect an “offset” provided by profits from Powerex, BC Hydro’s electricity trading business. Over the last five years, he said the average annual profit from Powerex has been about $550 million.
“All of that gets put back to our customers and it reduces rates. So it reduces rates by about nine per cent,” he said, and B.C. maintains some of the lowest rates in North America.
A report from Clean Energy Canada in February said B.C. imported 16 per cent more power than it exported between January 2019 and November 2024, but the value of exports was 35 per cent higher than the cost of the imports.
Still, Penner said it’s the recent trend that’s concerning.
He said drought was the subject of a December 2023 letter sent by the CEO of Powerex to the governing body of the Western Energy Imbalance Market that facilitates cross-border and interstate energy transfers between utilities.
The letter from Tom Bechard, who has since retired, said B.C. had been experiencing a “prolonged, widespread and severe drought” requiring “large volumes of ongoing net imports” from Powerex.
In 2023, Powerex had been a net importer for about 10,000 gigawatt hours, “greatly exceeding the previous annual net import ENERGY: continued on page 14
Adopta Pet
FAMILY OF MMIWG2S+ VICTIM SPEAK
TY LIM reporter@merrittherald.com
As we head away from Red Dress Day, a time when thousands of people spread across B.C. and Canada gathered to honour the fallen and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited individuals, the family of one of those girls has spoken out.
May 19 may not hold much significance for most people. But for the family of the young Monica Rose Jack, the day holds meaning as they celebrate her life and reflect on her passing.
Monica was 12 when she was tragically abducted while riding a bike to her home on Quilchena Reserve on May 6, 1978. She had only picked out the bike that same day as it was a much wanted birthday gift from her father. Soon after her disappearance, her bike was found discarded near a pullout at Nicola Lake. Police and Monica’s family would begin to search for her. She had been taken close to her home, just over a hill away.
Monica was considered missing for 17 years, creating a case that shocked communities locally and internationally.
“It didn’t only affect our family, it affected the whole community. Because prior to that, I think we all lived with rose-coloured glasses. No one thought anything like that could ever happen here in Merritt,” said Carol Michell, Monica’s oldest sister.
To this day effects of her disappearance and murder can be seen in the Nicola Valley. Locals who grew-up listening to the case on the news still talk about it.
For some, her case and its legacy inspired local movements advocating for justice and remembrance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls,
like Carole Basil from Lower Nicola Indian Band, who organized this year’s MMIWG2S+ march in Lower Nicola.
To this day, Indigenous women are subject to the highest rates of violence and homicide in Canada according to A 2023 Statistics Canada study, making up five to seven per cent of all homicide victims from 2009 to 2021.
One area in B.C. remains notoriously dangerous for Indigenous women. This place is a stretch of highway spanning over 700km over Highways 16, and later expanded to include police cases on highways 5, 24 and 97. Hitchhikers are recommended not to travel on this route.
RCMP officially recognize 18 cases of murder and disappearances from 1969 to 2006 along the Highway of Tears in accordance with project E-Pana. Chronologically, Monica’s case is the eighth official investigation.
Today, 47 years after Monica’s disappearance, five of her remaining relatives gathered at the home of her aunt to discuss not only the trauma of her death, but of their blissful memories of Monica as well.
With the family spread out across B.C., for some of them, it is the first time they are getting together to talk about Monica. Her family said that everyone around her remembered Monica as a kind-hearted girl always looking to help people.
In the time before she disappeared, she was starting to find her artistic personality as well.
“She had the kindest heart. She had the kindest spirit,” Debbie John, Monica’s cousin, said.
“She was a very helpful girl. (She) helped everybody she could in school, helping all the students that needed help. I think
MONICA: continued on page 13
MONICA ROSE JACK: A LEGACY OF HAPPINESS AND GOOD HEART
FAMILY: continued from page 12
that’s why (her teacher) liked her,” said Monica’s aunt Maggie Shuter. “She was good at sports, she was good at everything and she was starting art. And she was proud of it.”
Monica was an adventurous soul who explored the outdoors with her siblings and cousins. She was one who always saw the beauty in things. Her family talked about one of her pieces of art she was making before her disappearance.
Around that time, Monica was getting into carving. She started cutting into a log she found floating in Nicola Lake near her home, carving a beaver head into the piece of wood. The family still has it in its unfinished state to this day.
Adventurous with a passion for the outdoors, her family recalls stories of Monica getting into all sorts of trouble with animals.
“All the kids, we’d always be doing something,” said Debbie. She recalled the various animals their father used to keep around their house; chickens, pigs or geese. She retold a story involving Monica and a stray squirrel that they saved. Debbie joked about how Monica used to let the squirrel sit on her shoulder and bring it around with her. Her younger sister, Heather Hemphill, remembered a story involving Monica and a horse at a campsite near Spences Bridge.
“We stopped at a campsite while traveling on Highway 8. Monica was so excited, she took off running through the campsite. She ran down a short hill and she found a horse tied up. No one was around, so she came back with it and she asked mom if she could keep it,” Heather joked, sparking laughter from all her family.
“(That) was the first time I had ever seen her cry, because she wasn’t able to take that horse home. She was going to ride it home!” Maggie joked.
Other stories of Monica included her and Debbie skating on and falling into frozen lakes. Or times when she would turn mundane chores, like gathering water when their pipes would freeze into fun for her as she would swing her buckets around in circles to make her family laugh.
“She got home with half a bucket of water, but she had a good time doing it, and it made us all happy and laugh,” Carol said.
Topping great memories of her, Carol remembers one thing about Monica that triumphed all others; her singing. She remembered when she and Monica were kids, they
would enjoy music and sing songs together in their shared room. They would jump on their beds, dancing while pretending their hair brushes were microphones.
She then remembered how years later, on the night of Carol’s wedding, Monica would sing Going to the Chapel by the Crystals with her hairbrush in her hand.
“That’s just the kind of kid she was, that years later, she remembered it. It was important enough to her, and she sang it at the (wedding) reception,” Carol said.
For many of her relatives, Monica was the heart of their family. It made losing her all that more difficult.
“I always prayed she would come back, or be one of those ones that got sold to a rich family, and she had this awesome life,” said Debbie. “I prayed for that. I prayed for that movie, but it wasn’t (reality).”
After her disappearance, Monica’s family spent countless hours looking for her.
“We went looking for her and asking her friends, phoning around. We looked for days, but we always looked towards Kamloops. We didn’t go towards Merritt. She was heading to Quilchena, so we didn’t look towards Merritt,” Maggie said.
Years later, Monica’s remains were found by forestry workers next to a ravine near a logging road on Swakum Mountain.
“A constable agreed to take us to (where Monica’s body was found) around 10 a.m. The whole field was full of cars of people who wanted to come up with us,” Carol said. “We all finally arrived then had to climb a mountain. As you crest the mountain, there’s this large ravine. And down at the other end (of the ravine), you can see the hills that are on the other side of Merritt. And (Monica) was down there, under a tree, a big ponderosa pine. And she must have seen that mountain and knew it was Merritt. She must have run down that ravine.”
Finding the body was the final confirmation of Monica’s fate. For Carol, the finality didn’t give her comfort.
“We didn’t know if she was dead or alive from 1978 until 1994 and I always thought it would be so much easier if I just knew what happened to her, if she was dead or alive, but it wasn’t (easier),” she said.
Carol often dreamed about Monica coming
HURTS: continued on page 14
‘IT STILL HURTS, I DON’T THINK IT WILL STOP’
home and that she was found safe on Swakum Mountain. After they found her body, the dreams didn’t stop haunting her.
“I never allowed myself to grieve for my sister because I never gave up hope that she was gonna come home someday,” she said. “I would think, ‘Monica’s going to be 15 this year, she’s going to come home. Monica’s going to be 18 this year and she’s going to come home. Monica is going to be 24 this year, for sure she’s going to come home.”
In 2014, RCMP ran an undercover operation targeting Garry Handlen, one of the earliest suspects of the murder. After some time, Handlen confessed to strangling Monica to death. Right before police would announce the arrest at a press conference in Vancouver, Carol said she had dreamed about Monica once again.
“I dreamed about her again, that she had come home. When I woke up, I realized she was still the same age. She had never aged. And it was I woke up knowing, finally, deep in my heart, she was never coming home.”
In 2019, Handlen’s case went to trial. Monica’s relatives attended as much as they could. Carol said she sat behind Handlen in the courtroom everyday.
“I thought he must be some kind of monster. I had to be ready for court because he’s probably a monster, and I didn’t want to be afraid of him. So every morning when I got in the courtroom, I went and sat behind him, and they brought him in, and he sat down, and I looked at him, and I told him, ‘I’m here. I’m right here behind you’ to let him know
he didn’t scare me,” she said.
During the trial, Carol said the defence played a video everyday - one minute of it at a time - of Handlen confessing to what he did to Monica, then discussed it.
“It was like torture,” she said. “When (Handlen) said, ‘I lost it, I lost it and I strangled her,’
That told me, right there, that she fought for her life right up until the end, otherwise why would he have lost it?”
Carol also thanked the jurors of Handlen’s trial. She commended them for paying close attention to the case, and the important decision they made of his verdict.
“I was getting scared every day that went by. I was like, Oh my God, (the jury) is gonna find him not guilty. I was really scared, but they came back and (Handlen) was guilty,” she said.
Handlen was sentenced to life in prison with no opportunity for parole for the first 15 years.
Handlen later attempted to overturn the decision, but the appeal was denied in 2022. His arrest makes Monica’s case the only one of the 18 official Highway of Tears victims to receive a conviction for a suspect.
As Monica’s case was finalized, her family had to find ways to heal from the trauma.
Carol had moved back to the Nicola Valley right after the case ended in 2019.
“I moved back home because I still had a lot of trauma to work through. So I came home to heal,” she said.
Since then she has started art therapy, and has made multiple pieces in the
honour of her late sister.
Heather said that talking about Monica has helped her heal. As Monica’s youngest sister, much of Heather’s memory of her sister has faded, partly due to time and partly due to her trauma blocking those memories out.
After the trial, she got a tattoo on her left-shoulder in Monica’s memory; a bouquet of roses signifying in honour of Monica’s middle name; Rose.
Maggie has found peace through meditation.
“After we finished court, I took it very hard. And I went to the water that helped. I put my hands and feet in the sand. That’s what the old people used to say, ‘put your hands and feet in the sand and do prayer,” she said.
While it helped her heal, she mentions the memory of her niece is still painful to recall.
“It still hurts, I don’t think it will stop.”
For Debbie, she has loved to remember Monica through things her cousin had passed down. One such curio is a buckskin dress that Monica wore in a parade years ago. Recently, she’s seen her daughter wear that dress during a traditional special in Vancouver that she won.
Debbie has continued her love and mastery of beading as well. As the family gathered at their house, she had started beading another piece. When she started she didn’t know what it would be.
Eventually she decided it would become a red dress.
ENERGY EXPANDED
DEMAND: continued from page 11
record,” the letter said.
Another former member of the province’s Environment Ministry, however, said B.C. appears to be in “reasonably good shape” to meet growing demand for power.
Mark Zacharias, who served as deputy minister between 2017 and 2020, said the Site C dam and the 10 renewable energy projects selected through the call for power last year are expected to boost B.C.’s capacity by 16 per cent.
The province has announced BC Hydro is planning another call for power this year with the goal of adding another eight per cent capacity, he said.
At the same time, B.C. is becoming more efficient in using electricity, said Zacharias, now a special adviser with Clean Energy Canada.
“There are a lot of technological improvements happening very rapidly around us … that are also going to contribute to future grid stability and basically help offset whatever might be happening with climate change and reservoir levels,” he said.
BC Hydro has projected its energy efficiency plan could result in up to 2,000 gigawatt hours of savings by 2030, equivalent to powering 200,000 homes.
Penner, meanwhile, said electricity from the 10 projects selected in the last call for power — nine wind and one solar — may take five years or more to hit the grid, and BC Hydro itself has acknowledged a risk.
“This risk may materialize as projects failing to reach commercial operation, delivering less energy than anticipated, or delivering the expected energy at a later date,” it told the utilities commission in February.
The earliest guaranteed commercial operation date among the projects is 2031, though the submission said the province is working to accelerate timelines.
Where O’Reily, Penner and Zacharias agree, though, is on the need to reduce reliance on the United States, in part by strengthening ties with the rest of Canada.
B.C. and Canada should be “energy and electricity sovereign,” Zacharias said.
“We need to look east-west across Canada, particularly when the (United States) is no longer a stable trading partner.”
O’Reily, too, said BC Hydro is interested in strengthening ties with Alberta and the rest of Canada, moving away from the traditional north-south linkages.
“More independence from the United States, I think, is a pretty reasonable thing to do given events,” he said.
“But we are going to remain connected. We generate significant revenue from that interconnection … It’s part of how we keep rates down here.”
Five of Monica Rose Jack’s family from left to right, Carol Michell, Heather Hemphill, Charmaine Frazier, Debbie John, Maggie Shuter.
MONICA: continued from page 13
NICOLA VALLEY SPORTS
SPEEDWAY STARTS ITS ENGINES SEASON OF GROWTH FOR THE MISFITS
YASHVIKA GROVER Contributor
Local volleyball club Merritt Misfits completed a challenging season after competing in a provincial competition.
The team competed in division four of the seven divisions in the provincials held at Abbotsford in April.
While the team ended with two wins and four losses by the end of the tournament, Coach Gian Cavaliere is optimistic about the team’s abilities, highlighting their wins.
“I told the girls, don’t let the provincials dictate how the season went. We won a tournament in Vancouver. We won the tier 2 regional tournament. We placed the wall when we hosted our own super spike tournament. We had a good season,” said Cavaliere.
While the result was disappointing for the team, they recognized their inconsistencies during the season, taking away lessons and learning from their mistakes. The tournament was at a bigger scale, with 19 courts. It seemed daunting to the
girls at first but helped them grow. They were keen on wanting to take on competitions at an even larger scale after the initial shock.
One of the team’s core values is “family,” a sense of community and belonging. Cavaliere started recruiting kids for the volleyball team with the idea in mind to be able to sway the kids in the right direction and also keeping club costs low, making it accessible for as many families as possible. He thanks his sponsors throughout the way.
“I used to be a vice principal at the high school, and we had so many kids just in the wrong places in this town. So, this program was built to help keep kids at least want to be a part of something special,” he said.
The team gained recognition after their win in the tournament early March. With interest growing, the club expanded to three teams instead of two this season.
Teams range from U12 to U14.
Coach Cavaliere is keen on expanding the club even further into four or five
teams next season, if possible.
“We had about 85 girls try out for three teams, and we’ve had over 100 kids come to either a camp or a development session that we offer every Sunday,” he said. The name “Merritt Misfits” was a unique wordplay by the coach himself, an idea to shed light on the negative connotations that the word “misfits” might entail.
“We’re always looked at as being different [being from a small town]. I got tired of that reputation and wanted to do things our own way, play by our own rules,” he said.
While the name was met with a lot of resistance from the volleyball community, even being banned by most places at first, Cavaliere made sure to let the purpose of the name be vocalized.
“Often parents will come up to us and say, ‘you guys have the best jerseys, you guys seem like having so much fun out there. You’re just so cute.’ It was nicer at the beginning,” he said, “I told the girls, ‘We’re on the brink of winning this regional tournament for our tier 2 division. I’m really tired of being called cute. I’m really tired of people liking our jerseys. Can we get out there and just win?’ and the girls were just jacked after that, so it was a close one, but they pulled it off.”
The club is currently accepting applicants from grades 3 to 12 for the volleyball camp in Merritt running from July 21 to 23.
PHOTO/LAÍSA CONDÉ Merritt Misfits U14 Volleyball team playing in a local tournament earlier this year.
PHOTO/TY LIM Merritt Speedway races on May 17. More photos available at merrittherald.com
BASS COAST PLANS FOR A BIG 2025
YASHVIKA GROVER Contributor
The highly anticipated art and music festival, “Bass Coast,” is gearing up for its arrival in Merritt.
Presented at the council meeting on Tuesday, May 13, three representatives from Bass Coast discussed more about the festival and what they are planning to bring to Merritt this year, from July 11 to 14.
Bass Coast is a music and art festival that takes place annually, featuring: 120 performers, 50 art installations, 60 workshops and four stages over a four-day period. The festival has amassed a global audience, 2025 being their 12th year in Merritt.
This year, they plan on bringing some new things to the festival.
A popular opinion from the audience was wanting to see the Cantina stage at night. The production team decided to make this change with the Cantina stage now running from 10 a.m. till late at night.
“After years of hosting main stage and the old barn building, we’re blending two of our favourite stage environments. We are moving the cantina stage into the main stage dancing area,” said Anna Hilliar, production manager.
The theme this year is “Wild Things”. The tagline for this theme is “Wild Things: Where Creativity Roams.”
“Part of the reason we chose wild things is because we knew people would have lots of animal print already and they could just buy one or two things, hopefully locally or from the vendors to spruce it up a bit,” said Liz Thomson, co-founder and art director.
Art headliner
Callen Shaub, a Canadian artist from Montreal, is the art headliner for the festival. With six million followers on TikTok, Shaub went viral for his aerial paintings. The festival is going to be his first time doing his art in an
outdoor and public setting.
Sustainability practices
A survey sent to the Bass Coast customers post festival in 2024, filled out by 20 per cent of the attendees, concluded that $4.1 million dollars were raised impacting the Merritt economy. This number includes money spent on gas, accommodations, camping supplies, food, etc.
The production team values sustainability and the local environment. Last year, they cut down waste to 8 per cent and diverted 61 per cent cardboard toward recycling. River keepers are employed on site to prevent littering the river.
They also focus on educational campaigns beforehand, partnering with the Lower Nicola Indian Band this year to provide more education about the local rivers and salmon. They are offering tickets to them, while simultaneously working on an art grant and re-establishing a program that has not been able to take place since the floods, hosting a local Indigenous artisans booth.
The local Indigenous artisans booth is a part of the vendor program held by the Bass Coast team in the forest, featuring pieces from Indigenous artists.
More information about their sustainability practices can be found on the Bass Coast website.
The money raised from recycling and environmental passes is put to donations towards the food bank, friendship centre, local Indian bands, the Merritt arts walk, mountain biking association, west coast environmental law and many others.
If you want to get involved in the festival by volunteering, working or providing equipment or accommodations, you can apply to the Bass Coast website. The town walkthrough is on Thursday, July 10.
■ Approved mini-storage
■ On-siterentals
■ Secured
■ SaleofNew&Used storagecontainers
1750HillStreet ■ Phone:250-315-3000
THE CHURCHES OF MERRITT WELCOME YOU
Crossroads Community Church
2990 Voght St. • 250-378-2911
Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m.
Merritt Baptist Church
2499 Coutlee Avenue (at Orme)
Sunday service 10 am, Phone (250)378-2464
Merritt Lutheran Fellowship in St. Michael's Anglican Hall • 250-378-9899
Service Time: 3rd Sunday each month 1:30 p.m.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church Corner of Jackson & Blair • 250-378-2919
Mass Time: Sundays 9:00 a.m.
St. Michael’s Anglican Church
1990 Chapman St. • 250-378-3772
Service Times: 2nd and 4th Sundays only - 10:00 a.m.
Trinity United Church Corner of Quilchena & Chapman • 250-378-5735
Service Time every Sunday - 10 am
Somang Mission Community Church (SMC) 1755 Coldwater Ave. (The Cadet Hall) Sunday Service Time: 4:00 pm • 250-280-1268
Nicola Valley Evangelical Free Church 1950 Maxwell St. • 250-378-9502
Service Times: Sunday 10 am
PHOTO/BASS COAST Bass Coast festival in 2023. This year’s Bass Coast will be headlined by music producer and DJ G Jones.
CLASSIFIEDS
MERRITT &DISTRICT HOSPICE SOCIETY
Listening,openness and lovewillgiveyou the words tomakemostofyour precious timewith a dying person.
Take notice that we, Reach Hydrogen, from Vancouver, BC have applied to the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS), Thompson-Okanagan region for an Investigative Wind Power tenure situated on Provincial Crown land located northwest of the WLRS invites comments on this application. The Lands File is 3413975. Written comments concerning this application should be directed to the Senior Land Officer, ThompsonOkanagan region, WLRS, at 441 Columbia Street, Kamloops, BC V2C 2T3. Comments will be received by WLRS up to June 23, 2025. WLRS may not be able to consider comments received after this date. Please visit the Applications, Comments and Reasons for Decision Database website at http://comment.nrs.gov.bc.ca/ for more information. Be advised that any response to this advertisement will be considered part of the public record. Access to these records requires the submission of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Visit http://www.gov.bc.ca/freedomofinformation to learn more about FOI submissions.
The members of Merritt Elks Lodge #441 were proud to host a sold-out event on April 26, 2025, with all proceeds going toward the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of our building. These funds help us continue to offer not only our regular Bingo events, but also hall rentals for community gatherings and special occasions.
Guests enjoyed a delicious Baron of Beef dinner with all the fixings and dessert, followed by amazing entertainment from Mr. Jackson – Magician & Hypnotist, who had the crowd laughing and in awe all evening long. Our 50/50 draws, door prizes, raffle, and loonie auction helped us reach our fundraising goal.
We extend a heartfelt thank you to the many volunteers, including non-members from the community, who gave their time and energy to make this event a success— from preparing and serving the meal to decorating, selling tickets, and more. Your support made a huge impact.
We would also like to sincerely thank the local businesses that generously donated items for our raffle table, door prizes, and loonie auction:
• A&W
• Bamboo Panda
• Best Value Glass
• Black’s Pharmacy
• Boston Pizza
• Breathe Bikes
• Bumper to Bumper
• Canada Café
• CoCo’s Restaurant
• Coldwater Café
• DCS Auto
• Etched
• Fields
• Fountain Tire
• Game On Pub
• Grand Bar and Grill
• Hello Pharmacy
• Home Hardware
• Kruze n Style Hair Salon
• Merritt Bowling
• Miss Vickey’s Floral
• Mongo’s Grill
• Mr. Mikes Steakhouse
• Napa Auto Pro
• Nicola Chainsaw Rentals
• Nicola Plumbing
• Snake Oil Enterprize
• Starz Hair Salon
• Supershine Car Wash
• Tibar Construction
• Valley Graze Box
• Vision Quest Novelty
• Work n Play
• Marg Honeywell
• Superior Pizza
• Columbia Fuels
• Nicola Valley Meats
• Pharmasave
• Planet Nails
• Purity Feed
• Bar FX Ranch
• Double D Bakery.
• Save-On-Foods
If we missed anyone, please accept our sincere apologies—and our gratitude!
