Prince George Citizen May 10, 2019

BX Pub wins game of throne

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

The BX Pub was next in line for the throne.

The local bar and grill is now the proud owner of the city’s most famous chair and they have made it available to the public. Instead of warring and scheming to be ensconced upon some palatial iron cathedra, there is now an ornate wooden one that sits as the primary seat of any party at the pub.

“It looks great in here, with all the wooden interiors,” said Larry Johnson, who bought the wooden throne about 18 years ago from an antique fair at the Coast Inn of the North. It was a replica of a regal chair attributed to Sir Stamford Raffles, an early 19th century British colonial leader known for his pursuit of natural sciences and vehement anti-slavery views. The throne features an ornate, tall back and lions fronting both arm rests.

Johnson put it up for sale in the Prince George Citizen classifieds in 20013 for a one-time fee on an indefinite schedule.

A dozen years later, it finally sold.

“I’m going to be a little bit sad,” he said.

“There’s an empty space in my house, now. It was a conversation piece, just sitting there looking good.”

Many called him to make offers, but he had one price in mind and never wavered.

“I’d usually get two or three calls a year, but just in the last two weeks I had four calls. I always said I was firm on the price and if it didn’t sell, I’d get buried in it. But when the BX people called, they didn’t dicker with me at all. It was an easy deal to make.”

It never would have happened were it not for all those years in The Citizen classifieds, said BX Pub proprietors Julie and Justin Mousseau.

“We’ve talked about this throne with friends and family and customers, and we have a good sense of humour,” said Justin, who said it was about a year of regular conversations about buying the opulent chair.

“One day we were talking about it and Julie basically just said ‘enough’s enough, we should buy this thing and get it here, so it can be our birthday throne.’”

They hefted the big chair into their main floorspace and before they’d even posted their news on social media, customers were

Low B.C. snowpacks reduce flood risk, hike chance of droughts

The Canadian Press/Prince George Citizen

Snowpacks across British Columbia are below normal this year, reducing the likelihood of flooding but raising the spectre of dry conditions this summer.

The River Forecast Centre has released its latest Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin showing the average of all mountain snowpacks in B.C. is calculated at just 79 per cent of normal.

The Upper Fraser West stood at 98 per cent of normal, Upper Fraser East at 92 per cent and the Nechako at 87 per cent, according to the bulletin dated May 1.

“Close to normal seasonal flood risk is expected,” in the Upper Fraser.

The northwest, Vancouver Island, Nicola and Similkameen regions have snowpacks below 60 per cent of normal.

The Skagit, which lies along the United States border between Hope and Princeton, has a snowpack level of just 15 per cent of normal, while the report says no regions in B.C. have above normal snow levels.

Melting, especially at the low- to mid-level in the southern Interior, has been well ahead of schedule while the bulletin warns that limited runoff across Vancouver Island, the south coast and Lower Fraser regions could create low flow issues in rivers this summer.

It also flags the well-below normal snowpack in the northwest and Stikine regions as an

indication for the potential for low seasonal runoff.

Although the unseasonably early snowmelt pattern and skimpy overall snowpacks could affect river levels in July and August, the immediate forecast likely offers some relief to Okanagan and southern B.C. communities ravaged by floods last spring.

“At this stage in the season there is no elevated flood risk present in the current snowpack across the province,” the report states.

The peak freshet season is due to arrive in watersheds, including the Kettle River through Grand Forks, Mission Creek near Kelowna and the Similkameen River around Princeton, within the next week or two. The centre cautioned that usually wet conditions across B.C. in May and June could quickly

alter its predictions.

“Weather during the freshet season also plays a key role, and flooding is possible in years with near normal or low snowpack,” the report says. “In areas with low snowpack, key flood risks shift towards heavy precipitation events, either short-duration events or prolonged periods of wet weather.”

Heavy rains could extend the flood season in the Rockies and northeast into July, the report says, although it also notes that seasonal forecasts from Environment Canada are currently calling for a period of warmer weather across British Columbia.

The River Forecast Centre will issue another update on the flood risk forecast May 22.

— with files from Mark Nielsen

recognizing it from the paper and wanting to sit in it themselves.

“It was famous. People recognized it right away,” Justin said.

“The picture in the classifieds didn’t even really do it justice, it really is a beautiful throne, and I’m glad we got it and thought to do a (public service announcement) about it. I think it’s good for Prince George to know what happened to it and where they can come and finally see it in person. I think if it just disappeared from the paper it would drive people crazy. People really needed to know about this thing.”

Prince George Citizen classifieds supervisor Derek Springall said “the first call I got on Monday morning was someone asking me if the rumours were true, that someone had finally bought the wooden throne.” It was within the paper’s rights to cease running the ad, under the terms of advertising, but Springall said there was no reason to stop and the chair had become a public touchstone.

“We actually put a ‘sold’ sign on the ad, we’re going to run that a few times just to give people a chance to get used to the idea it’ll be gone,” Springall said.

“People have made it a talking point over the years, and I guarantee it wouldn’t have sold had it been advertised on social media. Our classifieds turned it into an inanimate celebrity.

“The classifieds in the local paper gave it a legitimacy and a special kind of buzz. I’ve gotten so many phone calls over the years, people just wanting to ask about it.”

Johnson agreed that it was the local classified ads that did the trick, since it was a particularly niche item that did not have a widespread market.

The Mousseaus also said it was the constant presence of the chair in the daily classifieds that nudged them towards this purchase and it is already paying off. They had a party booked the same day they got the chair into their special event room and people were lined up for selfies on the throne.

“We have a lot of milestone events, people book our place for parties and now we will have a booking process for the throne so we don’t end up double-booking it,” said Justin.

“We don’t want to disappoint people. We’ve already heard from our customers that this is a popular feature.”

UNBC offering early retirement packages

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

University of Northern British Columbia faculty members are being offered early retirement packages in a bid to lower costs at the university.

In a letter to faculty, UNBC president Daniel Weeks said the intent is to close the salary gap with comparator universities. The overall number of faculty will remain the same, he stressed.

“If 20 faculty members choose to take advantage of the proposal, 20 new faculty will replace them,” Weeks said.

Those interested in taking up the offer must be at least 55 years old and have been at UNBC at least 15 years as of the end of this year. They would receive a month’s pay for each year of service to a maximum of 18 months.

The UNBC Faculty Association has agreed to the arrangement. Weeks’ letter was issued March 2, just as bargaining began March 5 on a new contract with the UNBC Faculty Association. The current contract expires on June 30.

“The faculty association and university agree that this is as an opportunity for those who have made significant contributions to UNBC over their long, productive careers, while safeguarding those who plan to continue doing so in the future,” Weeks

said. “Moreover, the ERO (early retirement offer) will provide budget savings to be used exclusively to help close the salary gap through the new compensation framework agreement between the faculty association and the university.”

Faculty originally had until April 30 to apply, with the provost giving approval by May 10. But the deadlines have since been extended to May 15 and May 31.

Those who accept the package have the option of retiring on June 30 or Dec. 30 or no later than June 30, 2020, for those with extenuating circumstances, including program needs.

And, if the number of applications exceed one-third of tenured and continuing members in any department, retirement dates will be staggered to make sure no more than one-third of those positions are vacant at any one time.

As well, $4,000 will be added to the post-retirement fund for every offer that has been accepted.

A similar offer is also in place for the school of education. Referred to as a voluntary exit package, it has no limits on age and years of service and UNBC is committed to replacing each of those who leave within one year of departure.

The deadline to apply was April 30 and the deadline for provost approval is on Friday.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Larry Johnson has finally sold the throne that has been for sale in The Citizen classified section since February 2013. The BX Pub owners bought the chair.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

A bulldozer moves snow up the pile at the city snow dump at 17th Avenue and Foothills Boulevard in January.

OR for maternity patients opened at UHNBC

Citizen staff

With the help of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, an operating room dedicated solely to delivering complicated births was opened at University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.

More than 1,150 babies are born at UNHBC each year and about 20 per cent of their births are through emergency Caesarian sections while 60 per cent are high risk, premature, or multiple births.

It was with those numbers in mind, that Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation set out to raise $300,000 to

convert a storage room in the maternity ward into a full-fledged OR.

“We are extremely grateful to many supporters and events that have supported this initiative,” said Foundation CEO Judy Neiser.

“Contributors, such as The Copper Project, 2019 Duck Drop, PG Firefighters Harley Raffle, Punjabi Seniors Society, Costco Campaign for Kids, Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign, Enbridge, and many individual donors and supporters are really to be commended on how quickly this capital campaign was put together. “We are truly humbled by the

support received.” It raises the number of operating rooms at UHNBC to nine. It also means an OR is available at a moment’s notice for expectant mothers who need help and so, prevent cancellations and deferments of other surgeries due to an emergency birthing procedure.

“It is heartwarming to see Spirit of the North’s donors come together so quickly to respond to such a great need,” said Dr. Marijo Odulio, who was the physician lead on the campaign.

“Every contribution made a difference for children entering this world safely.”

RCMP issue 49 speeding tickets in one day

Citizen staff

Nearly 50 lead-footed drivers suffered consequences on Wednesday when Prince George and Vanderhoof RCMP conducted extra patrols along Highway 16.

In all, they issued 49 speeding tickets as well as five for vehicle-equipment violations, three for failing to slow down and move over for police vehicles, and one each for using a cellphone while driving, tailgating and crossing a doublesolid line.

The stepped-up patrols are part of a month-long campaign to clamp down on speeding and other forms of aggressive driving across the province.

“We want to ensure all travellers get to their destinations safely,” said Prince George RCMP Sgt. Matt LaBelle.

Norman’s pending return raises thorny question for brass

Lee BERTHIAUME The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman’s stated desire to return to active duty after the breachof-trust case against him was dropped this week is raising a thorny question for the military’s top brass: Where can he go?

The federal Conservatives are demanding Norman be reinstated as Canada’s vice-chief of defence staff, the military’s second-in-command, the position he took over in August 2016 before being suspended and later replaced because of the case against him.

At a news conference on Thursday, in which he accused the Liberal government of interfering in Norman’s case, Conservative foreign-affairs critic Erin O’Toole called for Norman to be “restored to the position he never should have been taken from.”

But that seat is taken now by Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk, who got the job officially last July.

While the Tories say they would be content with Norman being given a position of equal stature, the reality is that there is no such job. The chief of the defence staff is at the top of the Canadian Forces hierarchy, the vice-chief is second, and neither position has a peer.

Before his last promotion Norman was head of the Royal Canadian Navy, so for him, even commanding an entire service branch would be a lesser post. The decision on where to put Norman ultimately rests with defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance, not the government, and Vance is expected to meet with Norman in the coming days to discuss next steps.

Several retired military officers told The Canadian Press Vance will face a real challenge when it comes to moving either Norman or Wynnyk to a new position.

“The situation is unprecedented,” said retired colonel Brett Boudreau, who previously served in senior public-affairs positions at National Defence Headquarters and NATO.

“Certainly the challenge for (Vance) and ViceAdmiral Norman is obviously to come to terms with an arrangement that makes sense for everybody. Both for the two personalities involved and for the institution.”

Norman has not explicitly said whether he wants to return as second-in-command, and instead insisted shortly after his case was dropped that the military is “bigger than any one person.”

For his part, Vance issued a statement saying he looked forward to welcoming Norman “back to work as soon as possible.”

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan initially appeared to pour cold water on the prospects of Norman returning to his old job, saying Wednesday shortly after Crown prosecutors stayed their case against Norman that Wynnyk would “remain in place.”

The minister later walked back those comments, saying only that Vance and Norman would meet to talk about next steps.

Not that there aren’t options, said retired colonel Michel Drapeau, who is now an expert on military law. Vance, for example, could make Norman or Wynnyk an adviser in his office or have either serve as a military attache in a foreign country.

Dr. Marijo Odulio, physician lead for obstetrics and gynecology, stands out side the Dedicated Maternal Operating Room at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. during the official opening Thursday.

Slough used to showcase city’s stormwater system

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

A clean stormwater system makes for a healthy Hudson’s Bay slough.

That was one of the messages city environmental assistant Andrea Byrne stressed when hosting an open house Thursday as part of B.C. Water Week at one of the city’s most-treasured natural features.

The city manages three water systems – one for drinking water, one for sewage and one to handle storm water. Of the three, Byrne said the storm water system is often the most under appreciated and least understood.

Its main purpose is to direct water away from buildings, roads and other spots where it’s not welcome and into places like the slough which can be reached through a pull-off at 2232 Queensway St.

It’s a little-known fact that in addition to providing a roadway for motorists, cyclists and walkers, Queensway acts as a dike. And where the slough meets

Queensway, there is a floodgate to prevent any backwash once the water gets into the slough.

“We also have a pump there that regulates the water within the wetlands so that if it gets too high on this end, we can pump it into the river,” Byrne said.

While the city’s drinking water and wastewater go through special treatments, the city relies on features like the slough to filter stormwater before it goes back into the Fraser and Nechako rivers. Byrne, who spent the afternoon giving tours to curious locals, emphasized the need to keep the stormwater as clean as possible.

“Wetlands provide a great natural service, however they can get overloaded,” Byrne said. “Things like garbage, things like oils, things that aren’t naturally in the environment, the wetland can’t handle.”

Although a reasonably-healthy home for ducks, birds and beavers, a couple of garbage cans could be seen poking through the surface in the middle of the water. Plenty of litter also finds its way

Passengers of whale-watching boat rescued off U.S. coast

OAK HARBOR, Wash. (CP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says dozens of passengers have been rescued from a British Columbia whale-watching boat off the coast of Washington state. The coast guard says the vessel operators reported on Thursday that they had purposely grounded the boat on Smith Island after taking on water for an unknown reason.

Spokeswoman Amanda Norcross says the coast guard, several other agencies and Good Samaritans responded to help the boat with 45 people on board. She says initially 30 passengers were placed on a Coast Guard vessel, 11 others were transferred to a Canadian tour company vessel, and other boats were sent to help the remaining passengers.

into the slough, Byrne said.

“When people overflow their garbage cans, overflow their recycling, it usually gets into the stormwater system,” Byrne said. “When the wind blows, people think it’s just going down the road, it doesn’t matter but it will eventually end up in the creek. When a rain storm happens, the cigarette butts go down into the catch basin and into our creeks, our rivers and the wetland.”

There are screens to block the larger pieces from getting in, “but they break down and they get through.”

Other pieces of advice to keep unwanted items out of the slough include using commercial car washes, where wastewater is treated, cleaning up after your pets, and preventing fuel leaks from vehicles and other gas-powered machines.

In all, the system consists of 1,087 kilometres of open ditch or drainage channels, 412 kilometres of below-ground piping, 5,528 catch basins, 4,046 manholes, more than 800 culverts, 186 inlet structures, 24 storage basins (detention and retention ponds) and six lift stations.

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — A measles scare in British Columbia has promoted a 106-per-cent increase in vaccinations for school-aged children compared with a year ago.

Health Minister Adrian Dix provided the update on a catch-up program launched April 1 after more than two dozen cases of the highly infectious disease were diagnosed in the province this spring.

Dix says the ministry sent over 550,000 letters to families with children, held 129 in-school clinics and dispensed over 3,800 measles vaccines.

Health authorities focused on reviewing all students’ immunization records after an outbreak that began earlier this year.

The catch-up program is the first step in the government’s two-phase plan to educate people about the importance of immunization and to help them become aware of their own vaccination status.

Nearly 600 more in-school clinics are planned for May and June to help prevent the disease that can spread through the air when an infected person breaths, coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms include cough, fever, runny nose, inflamed eyes and a distinctive red rash on the face.

While it’s considered a rare disease in Canada, measles is still common in other parts of the world and some cases linked to B.C.’s outbreak have been imported by travellers.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The City of Prince George held an Open House on Thursday afternoon at Hudson’s Bay Wetland. The open house

showcased the city’s storm water system and how it connects to local watersheds as part of B.C. Water Week.

Framing starts

Framing of the Parkhouse condominium development is underway in downtown Prince George. The project includes a new parkade and is being built beside city hall at the end of George Street.

Poor customer service a killer for business

One of the first signs of a business headed for decline, is poor customer service.

When we fail to deliver to our customers, their expectations around our product or service, they generally start to leave us for other options.

As business owners, we should always keep a close finger on the pulse of our customer service. For the three decades that I had my service-related businesses, I was constantly aware of what customers were feeling. I would often deal with customer complaints personally so that I clearly understood what the problems with my business were. It’s true that I couldn’t fix every complaint, however our business grew as a result of phenomenal customer service

from my team. This week, I approached a business asking about better rates than what I had been paying for some of their products and services in the past. I stopped by one of their business locations where I was told that they could only help me if I was interested in some of their other services. I left frustrated. I decided to look at other ways to contact them. I went on their web page and someone started the chat with me. After about 10 minutes of online chat, they told me that I needed to call them at a particular number. I phoned and was told that due to high call volumes there would be a 20 minute wait. There was no option to leave my number for them to call me back so I stayed on hold for 45 minutes and was told consistently that my call was important. At the end of

that time, a fellow came on who, after a 15-minute discussion, told me that I would have to phone another number the next day.

Apparently, this company experiences a higher volume of calls all the time, every day. I am not sure if this is a result of scheduling problems or planned annoyance, however, this time I was on hold for 54 minutes. Every two minutes a recording told me that my business was appreciated. I often swore back at the recording in disbelief.

After wasting hours of my life and several conversations with

their operators in foreign lands, I made the decision that I was not a valued customer as they continued to say and decided to take my business elsewhere.

I am sure that at one time, the company did put customers first but some companies no longer feel that customer satisfaction and retention are valued.

History has repeatedly shown that when there is little competition, those providing goods or services in such marketplaces often take advantage of their situation to the detriment of the customers. My guess is that as long as the current marketplace limits the options of consumers, some companies will continue to focus on trying to attract new customers rather than to satisfy their current customers, unless share prices drop as a result of lost revenue.

I went with a different vendor and was greeted with a smiling face and excellent customer service. Not only did my representative make it easy for me, taking care of all the details, the store manager went over and beyond what was expected.

Customer service is usually the result of a cultural dynamic within an organization that starts at the top. When we fail to value customer service and take for granted that our customers have time and money constraints, we become doomed to failure.

Our customers will eventually tire of us and source out alternative options.

Dave Fuller, MBA is an award winning business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Email him at dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.

Paediatric society calls for access to free contraceptives for young people

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The Canadian Paediatric Society is recommending that everyone under 25 should get confidential access to free birth control.

In a position statement released Thursday, the society says access to contraception is a basic human right, and the direct costs of unintended youth pregnancies probably exceed $125 million a year.

It says contraception should be funded through provincial, territorial and federal health plans, and that private insurers should cover the full cost of birth control.

It also says insurers should be required to protect confidentiality by not reporting contraceptive purchases to the primary policy holder – usually a parent.

The society’s paper does not set out a minimum age for access to contraceptives, but a spokesperson pointed to the organization’s “mature minor doctrine,” which refers to rules about treating adolescents who understand the consequences of medical care and can legally consent to it.

The paper says unintended pregnancies may derail life plans, especially for young people, and ensuring women can make choices around having children gives them greater control over their bodies and future.

“Adolescent parenting is associated with lower lifetime educational achievement, lower income, and increased reliance on social support programs. Apart from the personal costs, unintended pregnancies are a costly burden for Canada’s health and

social service systems,” write the paper’s authors, Giuseppina Di Meglio and Elisabeth Yorke.

The paper says more than a quarter of youth who do not want to be pregnant do not use contraceptives consistently or at all. And it says because pharmaceutical companies report purchases to the primary policy holder, youths often pay for birth control themselves to preserve confidentiality. In a statement provided to The Canadian Press, Di Meglio says they don’t encourage youth to hide information from their parents, but adds many young people do not feel comfortable and safe speaking with their families about sexual and reproductive health, and the society doesn’t want that to be a barrier to access.

“All provinces recognize the legal right of an adolescent to confidential care, provided she or he has the capacity to comprehend and consent to their care (and is over age 14 if living in Quebec). Ensuring confidentiality – when a youth desires it – is critical to providing competent, compassionate care,” she said.

The society’s statement notes both the Canadian Medical Association and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada have proposed that government health-care plans cover the full costs of all contraceptives for all women. The estimated $157-million cost of such a program would far outweigh the $320 million saved in direct medical costs from unintended pregnancies, the pediatric society says.

Billions laundered through B.C. real estate in 2018

Dirk MEISSNER The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — A report that estimates $5 billion was laundered through British Columbia’s real estate market last year also lifts the lid on the extent of illegal cash moving across Canada.

Some $7.4 billion overall was laundered in B.C. in 2018, out of an estimated total of $47 billion in Canada, concluded the report by an expert panel led by former B.C. deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney.

The report is one of two released Thursday and says B.C. ranks fourth for money laundering among a division of six regions in Canada, behind Alberta, Ontario and the Prairies – collectively Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The report says the higher estimates of money laundering in Alberta and the Prairies may be “surprising,” but crime rates are rising in those provinces and illegal cash finds homes in jurisdictions where real estate is more affordable than B.C.

“What this report makes clear is this is not an issue simply for B.C.,” Finance Minister Carole James said at a news conference.

“This is an issue for all of Canada. This is an issue for all jurisdictions.”

B.C. tabled legislation last month aimed at preventing tax evasion and money laundering by shining a spotlight on anonymous real estate owners hiding behind shell and numbered companies.

“The key here is we’re not waiting,” said James. “Yes, we need to work with the other provinces. Yes, we need to work with the federal government.”

Attorney General David Eby said money laundering is a national crisis and until recently the federal government was not paying proper attention. Eby and Federal Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair have met in recent months to discuss strategies to fight money laundering.

“Wealthy criminals and those attempting to evade taxes have had the run of our province for too long, to the point that they are now distorting our economy, hurting families looking for housing, and impacting those who have lost loved ones due to the opioid overdose (crisis),” Eby said.

“The party is over,” he added.

The provincial government commissioned two reports last September to shed light on money laundering by organized crime in the province’s expensive real estate market, following last June’s report on dirty money in casinos by former deputy RCMP commissioner Peter German.

German was then tasked to write a second

report on real estate, and he says in the document that the infusion of illicit money into the B.C. economy led to a frenzy of buying in real estate. Maloney’s report estimated that illegal cash in the market last year hiked the cost of buying a home in the province by five per cent.

There are thousands of specific properties worth billions at high risk for potential money laundering, German’s report says.

“His findings are stark evidence of the consequences of an absence of oversight, the weakness of data collection, and the total indifference of governments until now to this malignant cancer on our economy and our society,” Eby said of German’s report.

Eby took aim at the former B.C. Liberal government for allegedly turning a blind eye to the crisis.

Michael Lee, Opposition Liberal critic for the attorney general, issued a statement Thursday saying the government now needs to turn its attention to action.

“The BC Liberals are calling on John Horgan and the NDP to carefully consider the reports and move quickly to engage with the federal government and take action to

ensure that those who break the law are prosecuted and ultimately convicted.”

Eby said he was under no illusions the problems the province faces are unique.

He said B.C.’s cabinet is currently deciding whether to call a public inquiry. Green Leader Andrew Weaver said German’s report lays out a “direct rationale” for such an inquiry.

“Namely, that it would improve public awareness, play a crucial role in fault finding, and would help to develop full recommendations,” Weaver said in a statement.

Maloney’s report makes 29 recommendations, including calling for B.C. to launch a financial investigations unit.

Portions of German’s latest report were previously released, including on the limited police resources dedicated to fighting money laundering in B.C. and links to luxury vehicle sales and horse racing.

Eby said earlier this week he was shocked to hear some criminals laundering money through B.C.’s luxury car sector were getting provincial sales tax rebates when they sent the car out of the province.

The attorney general said the government

Refugee who lost fingers to frostbite pleads with MPs not to pass new asylum law

Teresa WRIGHT

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — A refugee from Ghana who lost all his fingers to frostbite crossing irregularly into Canada made an impassioned plea to MPs on Thursday to scrap proposed new asylum-seeker rules the Liberals want to turn into law.

Seidu Mohammed’s story of crossing a snow-covered field between North Dakota and Manitoba focused attention on the border in December 2016 – a reason he was asked to testify before the House of Commons finance committee as it studied the proposal in the Liberals’ budget bill.

He avoided official border checkpoints in order to make a refugee claim in Canada after being denied in the United States.

The Liberals want to change refugee laws to prevent asylum-seekers from making claims in Canada if they have made claims in certain

countries, including the United States – a move Border Security Minister Bill Blair says is meant to prevent “asylum-shopping.”

Mohammed said the rules would likely have barred his ultimately successful application if they had been in place two-and-a-half years ago. He told the committee he likely would been sent back to the United States where he would have been locked up and possibly sent back his home country.

“Deporting me back to Ghana would destroy my life. I would be imprisoned or tortured to death,” he told the committee. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody.”

The Liberals’ budget bill, as worded, would put more people at risk and shouldn’t be passed, he said.

“I’m pleading with you guys this bill should not be passed.”

The new rules introduced last month in the government’s omnibus budget bill have become

a political lightening rod for the Liberals as they face pressure from the Conservatives to better manage the border, calls from New Democrats to drop the asylumseeker changes and charges from lawyers and advocates who decry the rules as a devastating attack on refugee rights in Canada.

As multiple House of Commons committee hold hearings on the proposed rules, the government is also facing politically-charged requests from the country’s most populous province for more federal money. Many of the more than 42,000 asylum-seekers have crossed into Canada “irregularly” through unofficial paths along the CanadaU.S. border since early 2017 have found their way to Toronto, Ottawa and other parts of Ontario to await the outcomes of their refugee claims, which could take up to two years due to a growing backlog of cases.

will move to plug tax loopholes to prevent the rebate that cost the province almost $85-million dollars since 2013.

Several regulatory and professional agencies anticipated the findings of the reports and put anti-money-laundering policies in place last month.

The B.C. Real Estate Council said it would be partnering with the federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC, to identify and deter money laundering and terrorist financing in the industry.

The B.C. Real Estate Association, the body that serves 23,000 realtors in B.C., said in April that it would join with four other agencies to keep the proceeds of crime out of real estate. The other participating organizations include the Appraisal Institute of Canada, BC Notaries Association, Canada Mortgage Brokers Association and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Each organization has committed to sharing information and accepting only verified funds. They also recommended making anti-money laundering education mandatory for all real estate professionals.

CP PHOTO

Peter German talks about the recent report on money laundering as Minister of Finance Carole James and Attorney General

David Eby and chair of the expert panel Maureen Maloney look on during a press conference in Victoria on Thursday.

Hey, b’y, love the accent

News item: A poll says Canadians have the 13th sexiest accent in the world.

She nuzzled my ear: “say ‘Roll up the rim to win.’” I shook her off. “Charlize, baby, I told you it’s over.”

She kept going.

“Now do the Friendly Giant: ‘I’ll call Rusty.’”

“I’ll call the cops,” I replied, peeling her hand off my knee.

Really, it was like trying to get rid of cling wrap.

We have all been there, of course.

One minute you’re minding your own business in the Seattle airport, trying to convince the bartender that Canadian Tire money is legal tender, and next thing you know you’re being pawed like it’s feeding time at the SPCA.

Even a South African like her – secondsexiest accent on the planet, BTW – couldn’t resist the tundra-and-timber timbre of the typical Canuck.

This was confirmed this week by the release of that survey. Tourism site Big 7 Travel conducted the poll, hearing from 8,500 people from 60 countries after giving them a list of 100 accents from which to rank their favourite accents.

SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN

JACK KNOX

For the record, New Zealanders were deemed to have the sexiest voices, followed by Charlize’s Afrikaans, the Irish, Italians, Aussies and Scots.

The U.S. Southern drawl was the top ’Merican accent, in ninth place. Canadian was sandwiched between 12th-place standard English – the “clear, clipped, posh” Queen’s English – and 14th-best Hungarian. Thirteenth out of 100. Not bad, eh?

But wait.

What exactly did they mean by “Canadian accent?”

It’s not as though we have just one – or one language, for that matter.

I decided to try an experiment, give her my best bilingual Montreal Canadiens rinkside announcer: “Mesdames et Messieurs, ladies and gentlemen, la première étoile, the first star, Doug Risebrough!”

She appeared uncertain for a second, then pressed on.

“Say tuque,” she urged, throatily. “Twofour. T4 slip. Skookum. Block heater cord.

Ian Hanomansing. Seven o’clock Eastern, 7:30 in Newfoundland.”

Right, Newfoundland. There’s another variation, b’y, and a charming one at that.

When it comes to the cheerfully acerbic, pomposity-pricking smartarsery of Rick Mercer or Mary Walsh, it’s a toss-up whether the accent accents the wit or the wit makes the accent that much more attractive.

Still, it wasn’t clear whether that was what the Big 7 Travel survey had in mind. Probably they were thinking of Rachel McAdams or Ryan Reynolds or Ryan Gosling or one of our many, many other Ryans. Or maybe the world is still going googlyeyed over Justin Trudeau – though his speaking voice is hardly his greatest asset. Our prime minister may be hotter than the August long weekend, but if there were a drinking game where you knocked back a Lucky every time he punctuated a sentence with the word “uh,” we’d all be like Stalingrad, bombed around the clock.

Also, consider this: more than one-fifth of all Canadians were born outside Canada. That they don’t all sound like Peter Mansbridge or Wendy Mesley doesn’t make them any less Canadian.

Also, it’s not as though all those who are native-born speak the same, either. More

YOUR LETTERS

Losing good medical professionals on a technicality

We have lost a valued member and professional of our community.

Dr. Cecilia Siegling is forced to leave in order to secure employment for her husband Rudi who was trying to secure his doctors residency in Prince George.

The arm of the B.C. College Of Family Physicians, which controls residency placements for doctors, gives priority to those outside the local area and beyond to fill the local placements.

Many doctors choose to start their careers in the North to get their foot in the door then move on after their initial contract is up. We hear all the time how hard

it is to retain doctors in the North.

This is a case of professionals wanting to stay in the North but are forced to leave in order to secure their careers.

This is unfortunate, as Dr. Siegling contributes countless hours to our community on a volunteer basis and won the My Family Doctor Award in 2017. This award acknowledges the doctor-patient relationship she has worked so hard to develop and maintain.

Dr. Siegling came to Prince George in 2006. She, along with her entire family, are very active in our community. She just recently purchased her own building to house and grow her practice in Prince George. This is all for naught as her husband cannot practice here because he is not a priority placement.

Dr. Siegling does not want to

Take a tour through local history with Raiding the Archives, every Thursday in the Citizen’s 97/16

leave our city but her hand has been forced. Her practice will close on the last day of May. Her family home and newly renovated medical building have been sold.

In true caring for her patients, Dr. Siegling found replacement doctors for all her patients so that no one was left without a family physician.

The Sieglings will leave Prince George and head to Saskatchewan to start a new life and practice for both of them. Prince George’s loss is definitely Saskatchewan’s gain.

In my opinion, the College of Physicians must look at all competencies when it comes to hiring and retaining physicians in the North.

If not, we will continue to lose good people in the future.

Bill Leslie Prince George

LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen. ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

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than a century ago, visiting English poet Rupert Brooke wrote of being smitten with “the rather lovely sound of the soft Canadian accent in the streets.” Apparently Brooke didn’t walk down the same streets as Don Cherry. Also, accents change over time. Some linguists say that we have, for the past quarter century, been going through what they call the Canadian Vowel Shift. Words are changing, sounds coming from higher and farther back in the mouth. “God” sounds like gawd, “think” like thenk. That doesn’t necessarily mean we sound more American. Our accents still differ, just in different ways than they did before. Canadian Mary Pickford was able to pass herself off as America’s Sweetheart in the silent movies but ran into trouble when required to say her lines out loud: “The dialogue director had cautioned me so much about my Canadian ‘R’s’ that I was terrified every time I said the word ‘garden,’” she said. Today, it’s words like “pasta” and “been,” pronounced pawsta and bin in the U.S., that are coached out of Canadian actors.

“Or,” I told her, “perhaps I’m getting too worked up about an online poll that might not have been subjected to the kind of rigorous scrutiny as, say, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.” Her nostrils flared.

“Now say ‘double double.’”

When in doubt, bring up the Nazis

Godwin’s Law covers all online discussion, but it can extend to the B.C. legislature as well.

The dictum was invented by author Mike Godwin in 1990, during the infancy of the internet. It held that: “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”

In slightly plainer language, it means the longer an argument runs, the greater the likelihood someone will compare their opponent to the Nazis.

B.C. Liberal MLA Rich Coleman fulfilled the dictum last week, while heatedly discussing amendments to the Agricultural Land Reserve, of all things.

It isn’t the first time it has happened to a B.C. politician, and it likely won’t be the last.

To his credit, he apologized Monday.

“I drew an analogy that offended some people. I unreservedly apologize for that. It was not the intent of any kind... I withdraw any remarks.”

The reference he made was veiled, but unmistakable.

It revolved around the pitched rhetorical battle that has been underway for a few weeks about a change that strips property owners’ rights to apply to the land commission to exclude their land from the reserve.

It subsided for a while due to the legislature agenda, but sprang back to life last Thursday, which happened to be Holocaust Memorial Day.

Coleman said at the outset: “I find it difficult to talk to this bill, because I have been here for 23 years and have never seen a more bigoted piece of legislation.”

He should have succumbed to the difficulty right then and sat down. But he pressed on.

“Particularly on a day like today when we witnessed people whose rights were taken apart and away from them in the 1940s.”

He apologized a few hours later online. Notable in the fallout was the reaction of B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who slapped him down in short order, even after Coleman’s apology.

He posted on social media: “Drawing parallels between discriminatory legislation and the Holocaust is absolutely inappropriate and on behalf of the B.C. Liberal caucus we reject any comparisons.”

It was the right thing to do and

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IN THE FAST LEYNE LES

an attempt to put out a bonfire before it spread. It was also probably the strongest public rebuff that Coleman, once a powerful figure in the Liberal cabinet, has ever had from a leader.

Coleman isn’t the only Opposition critic who has become a little unhinged over the legislative change.

“It’s an ill-conceived, misguided, malignant, offensive piece of legislation that attacks, demonizes and dehumanizes tens of thousands of farmers in B.C,” pronounced Liberal critic Mike de Jong.

His historical reference of choice was the Komagata Maru incident, in which 400 Punjabi people were denied entry to Canada in 1914.

“Camouflaged discrimination” was the link, in de Jong’s mind. That was a month ago, which suggests the opposition is building up a full head of steam.

It’s apparently being driven by a big wave of resentment. Coleman and de Jong both come from agricultural ridings and have stories of farmers who are seriously upset by the implications.

The specific objection is to a change dealing with attempts to exclude land from the ALR. Property owners used to require local government approval to make such applications.

That has changed so that local governments must make the applications on their behalf. The impact is disguised by a sneaky semantic manoeuvre that changes the definition of “person.”

A person can still apply, but the definition of person applies only to municipalities and other government bodies.

It’s so arcane that it took a while to sink in. But the shorthand conclusion that farmers aren’t persons any more is fully realized now and it isn’t going over well.

The bill was introduced March 7 and sat dormant for a month until a day of debate. It didn’t make it back on the agenda for another few weeks. That was partly due to spring break, but it’s an open question whether the government is pondering some changes.

The bill will come up for clauseby-clause debate in the next two weeks. It should be quite a show, even without any further unfortunate historical references.

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LEYNE

MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA (CP) — These

indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Thursday. Quotations in Canadian funds.

Uber goes public today

Faiz SIDDIQUI, Greg BENSINGER

The Washington Post

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber, the ride-hailing pioneer, is set to go public on Friday with a valuation of around $86 billion, in the most highly-valued stock introduction in years. But Uber says its real strength isn’t in being a taxi alternative. Instead, it is its ability to apply its vast data trove and routing software to rewrite how goods and people move from one place to another, using computer algorithms to remove what tech sees as inefficiencies in the world.

Uber’s biggest competitor isn’t rival ride-hailing service Lyft, analysts say, but Amazon, which moves goods all over the world.

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — North American markets drifted up and down again Thursday with every presidential tweet and comment ahead of a possible escalation in the U.S.-China trade war. Markets have been volatile all week since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs Sunday ahead of the resumption of negotiations. They dropped heavily the morning after Trump held a Florida rally where he vowed not to back down on raising tariffs to 25 per cent unless China “stops cheating our workers” and accused the Chinese of reneging on their commitments.

Stock markets partially rebounded later in the day after the president said that a trade deal was still possible after he received a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping. But Trump sent further mixed messages by saying that tariffs are an excellent alternative to an agreement.

“So the markets are very vulnerable to the news and trading very wildly and gyrating wildly between those comments,” said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager for Fiera Capital.

The S&P/TSX composite index partially recovered from deep losses to close down 75.65 points to 16,321.75, after dipping to a low of 16,258.92 in intraday trading.

U.S. markets underwent similar moves. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell by as much as 449.94 points but closed down 138.97 points at 25,828.36. The S&P 500 index was down 8.70 points at 2,870.72, while the Nasdaq composite was down 32.73 points at 7,910.59 after earlier dipping 1.9 per cent lower.

The risk-off day saw investors move to defensive sectors like consumer staples and utilities. They were the only two of 11 major sectors to gain on the TSX. Health care fell the most on the day, followed by consumer discretionary, materials and financials.

The June crude contract was down 42 cents at US$61.70 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down 1.5 cents at US$2.60 per mmBTU. Conversely, the June gold contract was up US$3.80 at US$1,285.20 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 0.3 cents at US$2.77 a pound.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 74.17 cents US compared with an average of 74.26 cents US on Wednesday.

It has budding businesses such as freight forwarding, food delivery and even package delivery. And that’s why it could be worth more than twice as much as Ford Motor Company, or nearly four times as much as Fiat Chrysler, on Uber’s first day of trading. Uber said late Thursday that it plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange at $45 per share, giving the company a valuation at the low end of its anticipated $80 to $90 billion range.

But there are questions about whether Uber can execute on its vision. For one thing, it hasn’t yet been able to solve the problem of food arriving cold upon delivery.

Uber uses data gathered from Uber Eats, its food delivery service, to help predict food preparation time for its routes and provide food and restaurant recommendations for customers, the company has said. But the business has run into a litany of real-world issues – food not being ready on time for pickup, a lack of parking for drivers who run in to pick up orders, often resulting in parking tickets, and food that arrives to the customer late or cold.

“We are still barely scratching the surface when it comes to huge industries like food and logistics, and how the future of urban mobility will reshape cities for the better,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter that is part of the company’s filing to go public. Like many tech companies, Uber frequently refers to itself as a “platform,” to convey the idea of a foundation upon which other

things are built.

“They’re thinking about moving things around more broadly – including humans,” said Gene Munster, founder of venture capital firm Loup Ventures. Beyond Eats, which took in $1.46 billion in revenue last year, Munster pointed to shipping under Uber Freight, which lines truckers up with loads to ship to destinations around the country.

“Just how well they can maximize the routes is critical,” he said.

Just as critical will be Uber’s ability to spin large new businesses out of its data and routing savvy. UberEats, for instance, only accounted for 13 per cent of Uber’s revenue last year. Now the company is weighing a revamp of the division as part of a broader effort called Eats 2020, according to a document reviewed by The Washington Post. In Uber’s vision, regular customers, who today average 1 1/2 orders per week on Uber Eats, could be compelled to order 19 1/2 meals weekly, suggesting nearly every meal would be prepared and delivered to them.

Uber declined to comment, citing a mandated quiet period before its IPO.

Some of the most successful

Silicon Valley companies have had ambitions that far surpassed what they were trading in day-today. Facebook, more than a social network, is a database of personal information on more than 2 billion people. Before it trained its technology on facilitating the movement of goods throughout the world, Amazon was a small online bookseller run out of a garage. (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Uber is “solving some of the most difficult problems at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds,” Khosrowshahi wrote.

It has turned from a black car service into a ride-hailing juggernaut that collected $11.3 billion in revenue last year, with its eyes on trillions of dollars worth of potential business. Its paperwork made clear last month it sees a global market for its services worth up to $12.3 trillion, the amount of revenue potential in all the fields it wants to tackle.

Among its ambitions are convincing consumers to stop buying cars altogether in favor of Uber as their chauffeur, not to mention eliminating infrastructure like urban parking garages and multi-

lane byways that service people’s autos. It wants to use scooters and electric bikes to fill smaller mobility gaps.

Uber “views itself as the Amazon of transportation,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.

It also loses billions of dollars, and there’s no guarantee that it can achieve its goal of overhauling transportation with software. It lost $3 billion last year on its operations and $4.1 billion in 2017 and has indicated it could unprofitable indefinitely. By comparison, Amazon lost $3 billion combined in its first 8 years of operations and has been profitable in nearly every year since it first went into the black in 2003, including $10 billion in profits in 2018. Lyft, which operates more narrowly in ride-hailing, with some side interests in scooters and bikes, has seen its shares tumble about 25 per cent since its stock market listing less than two months ago. That company is currently valued at about $15 billion. It is pursuing a plan to develop autonomous vehicles in order to reduce its dependency on human drivers-a technology Uber is also chasing.

Senate looks to amend environmental review bill

Mia RABSON The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — A controversial Liberal bill overhauling the environmental-review process for new energy and transportation projects is undergoing major reconstruction at a Senate committee.

More than 130 changes to the legislation are proposed by Conservative, independent and Liberal senators, a week after Alberta Premier Jason Kenney warned them the bill in its current form is stoking the fires of Alberta separatism.

“I think it is crystal-clear that amendments are desired to this flawed bill,” said Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson, following a three-hour meeting of the Senate’s energy committee Thursday.

“There doesn’t seem to be anybody who thinks the bill is OK as it is.”

Kenney and energy-industry leaders have said the amendments they believe are needed to improve the bill must be all be made together, because just changing one or two of the elements will not be enough.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says she is open to some changes and her spokeswoman said Thursday the government is reviewing the list put forward in the Senate. She would not say what amendments the government will accept.

The government is trying to balance environmental protections with economic interests in environmental reviews, a delicate exercise that means trying to ap-

pease environment groups that supported them in the last election and address boiling anger in Alberta that its oil cannot find more ways to market.

The Liberals campaigned on a promise to overhaul the review process, saying the existing system, introduced by the former Conservative government in 2012, was fraught with problems and was making money for lawyers rather than building pipelines.

Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, sets new timelines and parameters for reviews, including adding health and social impacts, as well as climate change, to the things to be considered. It also lifts restrictions set by the Conservatives on who can participate in the review process.

It also creates the new Impact Assessment Agency, replacing the existing Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, to oversee the review process for most projects. It relegates the National Energy Board to overseeing the industry, with no role to play in determining what new projects get approved.

Critics of the bill didn’t like the

Call 250-562-

discretion given to the environment minister to force projects into the review process even if it wouldn’t normally apply. The minister would also have discretion to deny a project a review at all, or to suspend a review mid-stream.

Nor do they like the fact regulators like the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, have a reduced role to play in the assessment process, because many of the members of those groups are experts in their respective industries.

There are also concerns raised that the bill puts almost no limits on who can ask for standing to be heard during the review process, rather than limiting that right to people directly affected by a project.

The amendments proposed by the senators address all those concerns, including taking discretionary powers away from the environment minister and giving them to the Impact Assessment Agency.

“The point of setting up an independent Impact Assessment Agency is to have an independent

Impact Assessment Agency,” said Sen. Yuen Pau Woo of British Columbia, the head of the Independent Senators Group. In three hours of discussions Thursday, the senators managed to go through fewer than two dozen of the proposed amendments. The clock is ticking, with just five weeks left before Parliament rises for the summer. If the bill isn’t passed before then, it will die when the federal election is called in the fall.

Alberta Liberal Sen. Grant Mitchell, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said he is behind many of the suggested changes but isn’t a fan of a proposal to implement strict timelines, which would kill projects that weren’t fully reviewed by set deadlines. He is also not sure the minister should lose the power to order a project into the review process. The proposed list of projects that would normally require reviews was finally released last week and includes pipelines, interprovincial electricity grids, national highways, offshore wind farms and new hydroelectric dams.

AP PHOTO

Uber driver Inder Parmar sits in his vehicle in New York on May 3. Uber is scheduled to become a publicly-traded company today.

Beyak suspended from Senate over racist letter

BRYDEN The Canadian Press

Joan

OTTAWA — Lynn Beyak cast herself as a defender of free speech and a victim of political correctness moments before senators voted summarily Thursday to suspend her without pay from the Senate for refusing to delete derogatory letters about Indigenous people from her website.

The suspension applies only to the remainder of the current session of Parliament; she’ll be able to resume sitting as a senator when a new session begins following the Oct. 21 federal election.

However, if Beyak continues to refuse to comply with remedial measures recommended by the Senate’s ethics committee, the upper chamber could consider further action against her in the future.

In a report last month, the committee recommended that Beyak be suspended, that she complete, at her own expense, “educational programs related to racism” towards Indigenous people; apologize in writing to the Senate; and delete the offending letters from her website. It also recommended the Senate administration remove the offending letters if Beyak doesn’t do so herself.

In a speech just prior to the vote on the committee’s report, an emotional Beyak pleaded for just one of her fellow senators to ask that the matter be adjourned until next week to give her colleagues time to consider it more carefully. No one stepped up and a voice vote to adopt the report was taken immediately without further debate.

Conservative Sen. Don Plett asked that the vote be “on division,” meaning some senators were opposed but would not insist on

standing up one by one for a recorded vote.

Beyak, appointed to the Senate in 2013 by former prime minister Stephen Harper, was kicked out of the Conservative caucus last year over her refusal to remove the letters from her website. In her speech, Beyak doubled down on

her contention that there was nothing racist in the letters. She said her only sin is refusing to censor the free expression of Canadians and she called the proposed penalty “totalitarian” and unworthy of a free country like Canada.

“This is a critical day. Either senators are

free to speak without fear of reprisal or we are not,” she told the Senate.

“The only conduct or action that is condemned is my refusal to censor Canadians and shut down debate about sensitive issues on which Canadians have expressed various opinions.”

The letters were posted in response to a 2018 speech in which Beyak argued that Indian residential schools did a lot of good for Indigenous children, although many suffered physical and sexual abuse and thousands died of disease and malnutrition.

The Senate’s ethics officer, Pierre Legault, concluded in March that five of the letters contained racist content, suggesting that Indigenous people are lazy, chronic whiners who are milking the residential-schools issue to get government handouts.

Beyak refused to accept Legault’s order that she delete the letters and apologize to the Senate, which prompted the upper house’s ethics committee and finally the Senate as a whole to subsequently take up the matter.

In her speech Thursday, Beyak cited a letter of support she received last week from a retired Manitoba judge who wrote that her “crime was refusing to go along with the politically correct version of the prevailing orthodoxy pertaining to Indigenous issues.”

But Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett tweeted that the issue “was never about political correctness – it’s about racism that hurts people.”

In a post on Twitter, Bennett thanked the Senate for “denouncing racism and for moving to take down the hateful letters” on Beyak’s website.

A picture of Senator Lynn Beyak accompanies other senators’ official portraits on a display outside the Senate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The Senate voted to suspend her without pay on Thursday.

Sports

Stinky gear and Gorilla Glue bonds Kings’ training staff

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

After three seasons as the Prince George Spruce Kings athletic trainer Rick Brown is retiring.

During that time Brown has provided the glue that, literally, holds those players together whenever they spring a leak. His doctoring skills, his ability to hone the cutting edge on pair of skates and the indispensable sage advice he offers the boys on the bus is part and parcel of a Spruce Kings’ team that’s reached a higher plain than any other edition.

They’ve won their way into the national junior A hockey championship and even if they don’t win a game at the five-team tournament that starts Saturday in Brooks, Alta., the Kings already have two championship trophies under their belts. They’ll get their chance to play for a third starting Sunday when they play their first game against the Oakville Blades.

Brown and assistant equipment manager Jim Harder put in another long day’s work Thursday that didn’t end until late afternoon after they’d spent three hours washing the stink out the players’ equipment Thursday afternoon after a 90-minute practice at WinSport Arena in Calgary. The good news for Brown and Harder is they no longer have to deal much with rancid gear. Laundry service is one of the perks of getting to the national tournament.

“There’s a nickname everybody calls me – Laundry Boy,” chuckled the 64-yearold Brown. “This trip is pretty exciting. It’s gravy for all you’re hard work and everything in the season. In the spirit of hockey and the Prince George hockey team, people have to just love this. It’s pretty fun.

“I’ve been a season-ticket holder ever since I got into town in 1979 and I’ve always enjoyed Spruce Kings hockey, league-wise and the playoffs. I remember going to game and we broke Penticton winning steak. (That Kings’ win March 2012 snapped the Vees’ streak at 42 games).”

At the time, the retired firefighter was just about to begin a four-year stint as a hockey trainer with the Cariboo Cougars midget team and he made the switch to the junior ranks when he joined the Kings in 2016. “He’s very personable, he gets along with everybody and him and I have a lot of fun,” said Harder. “He’s good with the kids. He’ll snap at them and then just laugh because he didn’t mean it. It’s more of a joke than anything.”

The grind of playing 23 playoff games over the past two months takes a toll and players require joints to be taped up before games and practices. Brown is the guy for that job and the players line up in the same order each time for the daily taping ritual. He doesn’t use a needle and thread to repair facial cuts.

“Glue works just as good as stitches,” said Brown. “It’s $125 a bottle and the bottle isn’t any bigger than my thumb. I’ll glue a player so he can get back on the ice and it only takes five minutes. We take them to the hospital after the game to get stitches and a lot of the doctors go, “No, he’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

For Brown and Harder, their volunteer shifts for a typical road game start at 7:30 or 8 a.m., when they hang the players’ gear in each stall for the pre-game skate.

Then comes laundry duties and a new cycle begins to get the equipment ready for the game. By the time they are done for the day it’s close to midnight.

Brown has had help from another ex-firefighter, Steve Oslund, who shares the work load, sometimes helping both teams on game days at home. Brown and equipment manager Bill Baldridge (when the Kings are playing at home) sharpens the skates. Harder can do it, but only when he has to.

“I would be kind of scared to do it,” said Harder. “I did it last year because Bill was gone and I had to do (defenceman) Dylan Anhorn’s because he lost an edge and I was

sweating bullets the whole third period but he never fell, and he told me later they were awesome.”

Harder’s son Greg played 4 1/2 seasons for the Spruce Kings as a defenceman from 1993-98 and Brown used to be his minor soccer coach in Prince George.

Greg now lives in Rossland and made sure to ask his dad to bring him an updated Kings hat to wear around the town and when he goes to Trail Smoke Eaters games.

He played on the Kings team that won the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League title in 1996, the last time before this year the team clinched a championship trophy.

Harder started helping out behind the scenes when Malcolm Poburan was the equipment manager.

Poburan died of cancer last year and Baldridge assumed his duties, with help from Harder. Harder didn’t travel with the team until the last regular season road trip and has been there for all the playoff road games except for the first three games of the Doyle Cup series in Brooks, when he was away visiting his son.

“I have a pretty good winning record on

UNBC recruit Shittu loves to jam

Ted CLARKE Citizen staff

tclarke@pgcitizen.ca

For the UNBC Timberwolves men’s basketball squad, the decision to offer Fareed Shittu a spot on the team was a slam-dunk. Anybody who has seen his highlight video will understand why. The six-foot-five product of Harry Ainlay High School in Edmonton already has a height advantage over most opponents. It’s that leaping ability that sets him apart from the rest. The kid can dunk, and his long limbs are going to look awfully good in UNBC green and gold to head coach Todd Jordan when Shittu (pronounced “shee too”) arrives in August to start working out with his new team.

“Fareed is an explosive player that has the ability to make plays above the rim,” said Jordan, in a UNBC release. “He only began playing late in his high school career, and because of this we think he’s only scratched the surface of his potential. Our coaching staff is excited about the opportunity to help him grow as a player and a person over the next five years as he pursues his university education.”

Shiitu grew up majoring in soccer as a kid in Edmonton. He didn’t get serious about basketball until last season when he started finding the basket with regularity as a forward.

“I actually didn’t play basketball until Grade 11,” Shittu said. “I am just in Grade 12, so that is not a

very long time. Ever since then I just fell in love with the game, and I have been wanting to improve myself, and improve my game to play at the next level.

“I am very excited. This is a new

the road, 12 wins and one loss, I guess that’s why they keep me around, I’m a good-luck guy,” quipped Harder. “I’ve really enjoyed it, of all the years I’ve been doing it this tops it off. I’ve never really gone on the road and it’s lots of fun, I enjoy it.”

Aside from the Kings’ win-loss record, which in the playoffs has reached an astounding 20-3, what makes this year’s team so unique is how together they are in everything they do.

“They’re all going for one goal and they’re all each other’s best friends,” said Harder. “It’s not very often someone gets mad at each other. I’ve been with them six years now and this is the best group that gets along with each other.”

A few players stand out as Brown’s favourites. Jay Keranen is one of them.

“Jay’s a pretty cool dude, he’s always funny,” said Brown. “I like Lucas Vanroboys, he’s a boy right off the farm (in Ontario) and he works the farm all summer. I think Max (Coyle) is probably the strongest player.

“One thing about these guys is they’re focused like crazy before the game, they’re not cracking jokes or anything like that, and then after the game it’s like a whole weight has been lifted off them. It’s just really cool being around them, these guys are quite inspiring to all of the staff and you bend over backwards for them because they’re doing everything they can to win.”

Their success on the ice is a product of the hard of coaching staff Adam Maglio and Alex Evin. Brown and Harder are continually impressed with the effort Maglio puts in behind the scenes to make the team better.

“He puts in a lot of hours just going over things he wants to do in practice, everything is for the players,” said Harder. Brown found it hard to hold back the tears when the Kings hoisted the Doyle Cup Saturday after they beat the Brooks Bandits, while a sellout crowd of 2,100 Kings fans joined in the celebration.

“Since I’ve been in hockey I’ve never been on a team like this, where they don’t even think about the wins and losses, they just play,” said Brown. “They’re so focused and it’s great to watch. We’ve got an pretty unbelievable team and I cant tell you how proud I am of these guys.”

Brown knows his two grandchildren love seeing “gramps” on the Kings’ bench at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena but wants to spend more time with them and the Kings travel schedule takes him away from that too often during hockey season. That’s why he’s packing in after the national tournament. The Kings are currently seeking his replacement.

“There is no worst thing about being a trainer, you’re just helping people,” said Brown. “I’ve been on the team three years and I can’t think of one bad moment. It’s just a lot of fun and I think it keeps you young.”

beginning for me. This is a new door for me, and I am just happy to see where it takes me.

“The pace is a little bit faster. The guys don’t hesitate, they just make split-second decisions. In a lot of those, you just need to stay on your toes to get into the right spot. It’s going to take some getting used to.”

Shittu’s family roots are in Nigeria.

He decided on UNBC following a March visit to the campus on Cranbrook Hill, choosing the T-wolves over several other offers.

“I would rather go to a school that has a lot of interest in me, so they can help me improve my game and give me more opportunities to focus on the details,”he said. “It is very open. I like that

you can talk to someone if you need to. If you need some help with school, if you need some help with basketball, they are always there for you.”

His high school team won the Edmonton city championship in 2018 and were runners-up this year. The 17 year old plans to study business and is also interested in engineering.

“I have to get a good education first, and improve my basketball game,” Shittu said.

“The fast motion, the passes, the dunks, my teammates scoring, the high-fives running back to the bench. The support and the love from your team just makes it feel like a second home. Like a second family.”

Raiders’ playoff success creating community in small-town Saskatchewan

Gemma KARSTENS-SMITH

The Canadian Press

When the Prince Albert Raiders return to Saskatchewan this weekend, they’ll either be carrying a trophy or have a chance to win one in front of an adoring home crowd. Either way, mayor Greg Dionne is sure they’ll be greeted at the airport by hundreds of fans.

The junior hockey club has been a source of pride for the city’s 35,000 residents this season, cruising first to the top of the Western Hockey League standings and now to the league finals, where they led the Giants 3-1 heading into Game 5 on Friday in Vancouver.

“Our community is just so excited,” Dionne said in a phone interview on Thursday. “We’re all in economic slowdown – the whole country, not just us – and (the Raiders) have now given us a positive thing to

grasp onto and feel good about.”

The Raiders are now one game away from winning a league championship for the first time since 1985 – a full 13 years before the current team’s oldest player was born. A win would send the club to the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax later this month.

Signs of support blanket the town, located about 140 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. City flags have temporarily been replaced with Raiders flags and people have taken to wearing green on Fridays.

Dionne even had a flag pole added to the trailer hitch on his truck so he can proudly fly a Raiders flag everywhere he goes.

The team’s success has had an economic impact, too, with hockey fans from around the province pouring into the city to be part of the excitement, the mayor said.

“It’s done so much for our community,” Dionne said.

“I’m so proud of them. It’s lifted up our

community.”

When tickets for home playoff games go on sale, tents are pitched outside the arena as early as 8 p.m. the night before.

Every game has sold out in less than an hour. The local Boston Pizza started showing the games on the big screen after people came in saying that they couldn’t get a seat in the stands, said manager Chad Mogg.

Fans wear their Raiders best, including jerseys, hats and retro T-shirts celebrating the 1985 championship win.

“Everyone in town has been really supportive of the team,” Mogg said.

“Everywhere you go in business windows there are ‘Go Raiders Go!’ signs, people have it on their vehicles. It’s quite the excitement in the air around town.”

Hockey is one thing that binds Prince Albert together, said Raiders coach Marc Habscheid.

“And you know, it’s created the enthusi-

asm in town and it’s a bonding factor and it’s created a lot of excitement around here,” he said in a recent interview.

“And we’re happy for that because it’s been a long time coming.”

Prince Albert wasn’t expected to dominate this season, especially after the team finished last year with a dismal 21-44-7 record, third last in the WHL and a first-round exit from the playoffs. But the Raiders went on an early 19-game win streak in October, en route to a leaguebest regular season record of 54-10-2. The group always knew they could achieve something great, said right-winger Brett Leason.

“We had lots of adversity and a few pivotal Game 5s in the playoffs here,” the 20-year-old told reporters Wednesday after Prince Albert posted a 1-0 Game 4 win over the Giants.

“But we’ve been battling through it to get to this point and we’ve got to keep going.”

HANDOUT PHOTO

Spruce Kings trainer Rick Brown, left, and assistant equipment manager Jim Harder, return to their hotel in downtown Calgary Thursday afternoon. The Kings will leave Calgary today to make the two-hour drive to Brooks, where they begin play in the five-team national junior hockey championship on Sunday.

SHITTU

Bruins blow Hurricanes away in last period

Jimmy GOLEN

The Associated Press

BOSTON — Marcus Johansson and Patrice Bergeron scored power-play goals 28 seconds apart, and Boston scored four times in the third period to rally from a one-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots for Boston, which trailed 2-1 before capitalizing on back-toback power plays. With about three minutes left, Brandon Carlo deflected a slow-rolling puck into the empty net to make it 4-2, and then 11 seconds later Chris Wagner skated in on Petr Mrazek to clinch it.

Steven Kampfer, starting for suspended defenceman Charlie McAvoy, also scored for Boston – his first career post-season goal – with about three minutes gone in the game. Back in the net for the first time since Game 2 of the secondround series against the Islanders, Mrazek made 23 saves for the Hurricanes. Curtis McElhinney finished off New York, but coach Rod Brind’Amour went back to Mrazek when he was clear by doctors after the five-day break between series.

Sebastian Aho and Greg McKegg scored for Carolina.

It was still 2-1 when Jordan Staal was sent off for roughing in the opening minute of the third period. Johansson slammed home a rebound of Brad Marchand’s shot to tie it, and just 15 seconds later the Bruins were back on the power play when Dougie Hamilton was given two minutes for roughing.

Boston set up in the Hurricane’s zone, Jake DeBrusk sent the puck across the ice to Marchand, who

tipped it back into the slot for Bergeron, and he slid it through Mrazek’s pads to make it 3-1.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour called his timeout to settle things down, but Hamilton picked up another penalty less than three minutes later.

The Bruins failed to score.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara took a wrist shot from Aho off the right foot late in the first period and left for the locker room, but he was back in the second.

The shot hit Chara on the outside of his right foot and the 6-foot-9 defenceman buckled over and went to the ice. He struggled to make it to the bench, and once he got there he was in obvious pain. He missed the rest of the first period but returned for the start of the second.

Boston was already without Chara’s defence partner, Charlie McAvoy, who was suspended one game for a shoulder to the head of Columbus forward Josh Anderson.

McAvoy was averaging a teamhigh 24:26 ice time, and Chara was third.

Aho led the Hurricanes with 38 goals and 83 assists in the regular season, but he was even better against Boston. In three games, he had four goals and three assists.

In his first career playoffs, Aho now has five goals and 10 points in 12 games.

McKegg scored when he shot the puck off Rask’s shoulder and then barrelled into the goalie as the

puck bounced behind him and into the net. A review confirmed that the puck crossed the line before McKegg ran into Rask.

Notes: The franchises met in the playoffs for the fifth time, with two of those coming before the Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh in 1997. Boston is 3-1... The Hurricanes reassigned forward Patrick Brown and defenceman Jake Bean to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.

Up next: Game 2 is Sunday at

Sixers even semifinal series against Raptors

Lori EWING The Canadian Press

PHILADELPHIA — The Toronto Raptors’ big dreams of a long playoff run have come down to just one game.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points while Ben Simmons had 21 and the Philadelphia 76ers rolled over the Raptors 112-101 on Thursday. Now the series heads back to Toronto for a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday. Kawhi Leonard had 29 points and 12 rebounds to top the Raptors, but went 0-for-4 from the three-point line. Pascal Siakam added 21 points, while Kyle Lowry had 13. But reminiscent of Games 2 and 3, no other Raptor scored in double figures. Serge Ibaka had nine points before fouling out with just under four minutes to play.

Seemingly over the illness that plagued him in Game 5, Joel Embiid – announced last in the pregame introductions while a video of his airplane celebration was shown on the Jumbotron – had 17 points to go with 12 rebounds.

The Raptors had arrived in Philly on the heels of a 125-89 thrashing of the Sixers in Toronto – the largest post-season margin of victory in franchise history, and a win so dominant they’d led by 40 points.

But the Raptors expected to face a hungry Sixers squad that was buoyed by the team’s noisy fans back home at an ear-splitting Wells Fargo Arena.

“They’ll come out hard,” Leonard had said of Philly at the morning shootaround. “Nobody wants to go home, obviously both of us is one game away from winning or losing.”

Added Lowry: “They’re going to come out swinging and playing hard but we have to play more desperate than them.”

The Sixers dominated most of the night, leading for all but about a minute of the first quarter, and stretching their advantage to 19 points in a first half that featured wild momentum shifts.

Philly took an 87-67 lead into the fourth quarter and never let up. Trailing by 24 points, a Lowry three-pointer capped a mini Raptors run that pulled Toronto to within 19 points with 6:55 to play, but Toronto couldn’t sustain the momentum and a three-pointer by JJ Redick with 4:23 to play had Philly back up by 22. Raptors coach Nick Nurse subbed off his starters with 3:33 to play.

The Raptors couldn’t buy a basket for most of the night, shooting a horrible 9-for-36 from threepoint range, many of them wide open looks.

While Wells Fargo was an inhospitable environment, the Raptors had clinched playoff series on the road the past two seasons, in the opening round in Milwaukee in 2017 and in Washington last year.

The Raptors, who rebuilt last summer and at the trade deadline specifically with the goal of an NBA finals appearance, have only once played in the conference finals – in 2016 versus Cleveland.

The Sixers kept them from the 2001 conference finals when a Vince Carter jumper at the buzzer in Game 7 bounced off the rim.

In every game of this series, the leader after the first quarter has

gone on to win the game. The Sixers raced out to an early eightpoint lead, the Raptors responded with an 8-0 run, and Philly replied with a 10-0 to take a 29-21 lead into the second quarter.

The 76ers kept the momentum through the start of the second, using a 19-8 run that straddled both quarters to go up by 19 points. The Raptors responded again, pulling to within seven points on a running dunk by Leonard. But the Sixers outscored Toronto 16-8 to end the half. And when Butler stole the ball from Leonard for an easy layup with 0.4 seconds left, it sent Philly into the halftime break with a 58-43 lead – and prompted chants of “Ji-mmy But-ler!”

The Milwaukee Bucks, who dispatched Boston 4-1 in their semifinal series, await the winner.

Boston Bruins’ Marcus Johansson (90) beats Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) for a goal in Game 1 of the NHL hockey

Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Boston on Thursday.

Mama Mia musical hits Kelly Road stage

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Here we go again. My my, how can audiences resist?

The Kelly Road Secondary School Drama department is one of the city’s most storied high school theatre programs in the district. After a year as the program’s teacher, Steve Graboski is unveiling the latest production for the teen thespians in his senior class, the wildly popular ABBA singalong musical Mamma Mia.

“We spend a lot of time as a group deciding which kind of play to do,” said Graboski. “Once we do that, we set them loose in the computer lab.”

After a set of selections was offered up by the aspiring performers and technicians, it came down to a shortlist and Mamma Mia won out in a class vote.

“It’s a proven success, and it’s mostly group singing so everyone is really involved,” said Graboski. And he means really involved. He’s guiding the production, but has key students in the positions of dramaturgical leadership.

Ellie Prendergast sings with the District 57 Tapestry Singers and dances with Excalibur Theatre Arts, so Graboski approached her about being the director. Her voice and choreography experience is supporting a higher level of quality in those areas than most high school musicals can supply.

Darcy MacDonald, one of the dedicated veterans of the KRSS Drama program, was approached to be the producer/stage manager. She is used to being on stage, but in this case she is applying her focus to the sets and other physical effects of the show.

Both were eager to elevate their experiences to include these tactical jobs.

“Grubs – I call him Grubs – knew I wanted to direct,” said Prendergast. “I saw so much potential last time (a previous play she was involved with) that didn’t come to fruition, I was mad about it, and we talked that out last time, so he wanted to give me that chance.”

She felt more confident taking

on the director’s role because the class had a large contingent of Grade 12 students who have that extra year of theatre experience and life-growth to help lead the cast and crew (22 and eight in number, respectively) by example.

She and MacDonald both raved about the tech crew for their skills and patience to get the effects and stage conditions correct.

“They have made so many things so easy for me, I love them, they are just as much a part of where the play is at as I am or the actors,” said MacDonald. “Nobody is above anybody else, they are all a community, and everyone is equal in a community.”

Like Prendergast, MacDonald is in Grade 11 and already well versed in the rarified world of theatre. She is looking forward already to how to maximize her final year next year, where she hopes to have a double block of drama work into which she

can sink her fingers, mental and literal.

“Getting this position has, I think, given me a lot of different experiences with people, how to take on different situations with my actions and my words, and handle different things that come up that aren’t expected, or don’t follow your original plans,” MacDonald said, admitting she hopes to one day be a drama teacher herself.

For that she applauds Graboski for showing her the way.

“He’s an amazing teacher,” she said. “He’s friendly but not your friend. You need that from your teacher, especially when it’s something like drama where you have a lot of people depending on each other to do their part under stressful conditions.”

One of the techniques Graboski used to mitigate the drama of drama was to insist each student actor audition for at least three roles and swear an oath that what-

Toronto animator on being embroiled in The Good Fight CBS censorship clash

Adina BRESGE

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Canadian animator Steve Angel recognizes the irony that his cartoon about censorship was, itself, censored.

The co-owner of Toronto-based studio Head Gear Animation produces interstitial musical shorts for The Good Fight, a ripped-fromthe-headlines legal drama on the U.S. streaming service CBS All Access.

The show, which is a spinoff of The Good Wife and airs on the W Network in Canada, centres on a left-leaning Chicago law firm arguing cases about the issues of the day against the political backdrop of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The Good Fight is often broken up by Schoolhouse Rock!-style segments with satirical songs written and performed by American musician Jonathan Coulton. Angel and his team animate Coulton’s music with provocative cartoons, which in the past have included a Nazi-uniformed frog, a reptilian caricature of Hillary Clinton and a scene of the presidential bedroom. But on a recent episode of the show, a segment criticizing censorship in China was replaced with an eight-second placard reading, “CBS has censored this content.”

In a statement, a CBS All Access spokesperson said after raising concerns about the animated short’s subject matter, it had reached this “creative solution” with the show’s producers.

“I was disappointed, but I understand,” Angel said in a phone interview, as a CBS publicist listened on the other end of the line. “There’s the obvious irony of it, but at the same time, I think because it’s pretty incendiary material, it wasn’t a gigantic surprise.”

Angel said he couldn’t comment on the content of the segment, but The New Yorker reports the animation alludes to several subjects that have been banned online in China, including Winnie-thePooh, as the character was used in memes as a way to poke fun at Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The magazine reports the clip featured the leader dressed as the cartoon bear, shaking his exposed bottom.

While Angel said showrunners Robert and Michelle King have encouraged him not to shy away from provocation, he admitted he felt nervous while drawing the cartoon given Canada’s current tensions with China.

Sino-Canadian diplomatic relations are at a new low after RCMP detained Chinese executive Meng

Wanzhou in December at the request of Chinese authorities. Nine days after Meng’s arrest, two other Canadians – ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor – were detained in China on allegations they had violated China’s national security.

“When you’re drawing, you’re kind of in your own head and it’s you and a pencil and paper, and it’s a very internal world,” said Angel. “Something that goes from kind of an intimate, personal practice to a highly public venture is a big leap, and it has perils.”

Angel said he decided to set aside his concerns about the internationally charged content in the Good Fight short because he supports the show’s broader mission.

“If everything blows up as a result of this, it’s a good way to go down,” he said.

Still, Angel said the pulled segment was his favourite of the season, and he hopes it will eventually see the light of day.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of this big, hurly-burly moment, and everyone is freaked out together,” said Angel.

“Despite the madness of this event, I think it will pass and it will get back to normal, but at the same time, not stop challenging authority and holding up a mirror to power.”

ever part they received would be accepted with grace. He rewarded their positive response by double-casting nearly every part so more students could get maximum engagement from

the play, and the cast had the built-in assurance that should something happen (one student came down with tonsillitis and another injured a knee), the character could be performed nonetheless.

There is still room for growth and new experiences within the program, said young actor Jewel Paul, who is also a veteran though only in Grade 11.

“I definitely want to do drama again next year,”she said. “It’s another chance to win the vote. I wanted to do a dramatic play this year. We’ve done a lot of musicals and I want to try something different.”

She has hopes of going into the makeup artistry profession, but thinks that is helped by understanding performance on a practical level and perhaps even doing some acting in between brush strokes.

Mamma Mia brings to life all the singing, dancing, makeup, sets, effects, and other collaborative elements of performing a play when the show happens on the KRSS stage Saturday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. then again Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Admission to all shows is by donation.

KRSS also invites the public to enjoy their Fine Arts Night on May 29 at 6 p.m.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY ALLISON ADAMS

Kelly Road Secondary School students Chealynn Niessen (left) plays Donna and Lexie Larose (right) plays Sam in their production of Mamma Mia opening Saturday.

We are so sad to announce the passing of our family patriarch, John Cain on May 3, 2019 at 84 years of age. John is survived by his wife; Dorrie, Sons; Brian (Rina), Terry (Amy), daughter; Brenda (Greg), Grandchildren; Kyla (Wes), Chris (LaSondra), Adam, Katie (Jon), Melissa (Ben), Ashlee, Ayla-Jo, Great Grandchildren; Austin, Haylee, Oliver, Sophie and Hazel Rose. Also survived by brother; Harold, sisters; Cathy, Marylyn; and sister in law; Temple. John was always “silently there”, supporting and giving to others. He spent his life caring for and spending time with his extended family, when not tending to his beloved garden and making wooden toys. We will miss his gentle and kind ways and his never ending patience and love. Many thanks to the Hospice House nurses and care aids and the doctors who supported his peaceful passing. A service of Remembrance to be held at St. Michael’s Anglican Church on Sunday, July 7th 2019 at 2pm. Donations in memory of John can be made to the charity of your choice. No flowers please.

Arlett Harold Dale, at the age of 84, passed away on May 4, 2019 from pulmonary fibrosis at University Hospital of Northern BC. He is survived by his wife, Wae Hing (Winnie) Chan, two sisters, Verlie Arnet and Myrna Green (Al) his children Lori Needham (Jamie) and Tom Dale (Lesley); his stepchildren Louise (Norrie), Denise (Roger), Greg (Betty), and Wayne Chong (Julia); and grandchildren Mallory, Brodie, Claire, Hayden, Jenna, Leah, Jonathan, Jade, Kai, Carolina and Georgia; and was predeceased by his first wife, Penny Lane and his stepson, Chris Chong (Johanne).

Born in Marwayne, Alberta, Arlett was four or five when his parents moved to Pitt Meadows and bought a dairy farm. Besides riding horses and doing his share of milking cows, he used his four siblings as punching bags on his way to becoming the first Canadian Golden Gloves champion in the 100 lb category in 1950. In 1952, Arlett began a 45-year career as a railroader, starting as a fireman with the CPR, then joining BC Rail as a locomotive engineer until his retirement in 1997. In his retirement years, he travelled far and wide with Wae Hing, including extended visits with her children and their children, one of whom said, “I will always appreciate the example he set for us in how to treat others.” Close to home, Arlett loved his neighbours and they loved him. His favourite lure when fishing at Francois Lake was the ‘red wedding ring’; many a goose or duck that he bagged hunting hung to dry in the garage; his favourite cars were ones five to ten years old. Arlett was loved because of his zest, nonjudgemental character and his good-natured joking. He saw the lives of us all as stories. His son Tom says that if more people were like his dad, the world would be a better place. On Saturday, May 4, in the hospital, Arlett, ever sporting, waited to cross his own finish line. He and Lori watched the running of the Kentucky Derby together. In respect of Arlett’s wishes, there will be no funeral.

Friends are invited to stop by 1100 McGregor Avenue after 4 pm on Monday, May 13, 2019 to reminisce.

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