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VOL. 5 ISSUE 12 — ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA — $1.50 HOME DELIVERY (HST included); $2.00 RETAIL (HST included)

BUSINESS 13Rob Steele on cars,music and business

STYLE 21The return ofthe hula hoop

Negative perceptionsOttawa attitudes affecting province’s bottom line

Finance Minister Tom Marshallsays the federal Conservativegovernment sees equalization as

“welfare” and the controversial deal onthe Atlantic Accord as merely an“equalization add-on.”

Premier Danny Williams goes a stepfurther, saying negative perceptions ofNewfoundland and Labrador can befound in the federal bureaucracy and inthe Conservative party, which, in the

past, has branded the region as having aculture of defeat.

The premier also defends himselfagainst St. John’s South-Mount PearlMP Loyola Hearn’s accusations that he broke promises on Harbour Breton, Argentia and Stephenville,deflecting the blame to Hearn’s inaction.

In his recent budget, federal FinanceMinister Jim Flaherty offered theprovince a choice between the existingequalization formula and a new onethat imposes a cap on provincial earn-ings through equalization. The premierhas tagged that a betrayal.

“Basically, that’s the mainlandCanada view, that they look on theAccord as giving us the ability to on theone hand receive what they considerwelfare, and at the same time keep ouroil revenues,” Marshall tells TheIndependent.

The premier says he has encounteredthat attitude elsewhere.

“It’s an attitude that’s in the federalbureaucracy as well. We came upon itthe last time.”

Williams says the Conservative’s negative perceptions go back to Harper’s

Memoir of murderEditor’s note: the following is an excerpt from the book, Dance withthe Devil, A Memoir of Murder and Loss, by David Bagby.

Andrew had been trying for many months to peacefully end histwo-year romance with Shirley (Turner), but she kept wedg-ing her way back into his life. On Saturday, November 3,

2001, over lunch at the tiny Latrobe, Pennsylvania airport, he finallyconvinced her that their relationship was over. She boarded her flightand returned to her home in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Twenty-four hours later, on Sunday afternoon, Shirley took her .22calibre pistol, her cellphone, and some cash, and she headed east onInterstate 80. Early Monday morning, Andrew was getting ready forwork when she presented herself at the door of his apartment, locatedacross the street from his workplace, the Latrobe Area Hospital. Heallowed her into his apartment and left her there while he walkedacross the street and reported for work.

At his 7:30 morning report Andrew told his supervisor, Dr. ClarkSimpson, the chief resident in family practice medicine, about hisearly morning surprise visitor: “Guess who showed up on mydoorstep this morning?”

Clark, who already knew something of Andrew’s troubles in tryingto end the relationship, offered the only plausible guess: “Shirley?”

“Yup. That psychotic bitch was on my doorstep!”

YOUR TOWNCongratulations to the winners of our first annual

A M A T E U R P H O T O G R A P H Y C O N T E S T

‘SOB from Newfoundland’John Lundrigan on politics, politicians, and being sworn atBy Ivan MorganThe Independent

John Lundrigan sits by the wood-stove in his home in Upper Gullies,watching Legislative Assembly

proceedings from Alberta on satellitefeed. His firm handshake and clear blueeyes belie his current illness.

When Lundrigan speaks of his politi-cal career, impressions of the manygreat Canadians he met and workedwith, and current politics, you can still

hear the passion that drove Canada’smost revered prime minister, PierreTrudeau, to tell him to “F—k off” in theHouse of Commons Feb. 16, 1971.

Born and raised in Upper Gullies,Lundrigan was elected MP for Gander-Twillingate in 1968. He went to Ottawaas one of six Progressive ConservativeMPs from the province.

“It was an exciting period for usbecause it was the first time that theConservatives had any number of seatsin Ottawa,” Lundrigan says.

He says it was especially sweet, asthen-premier Joe Smallwood had prom-ised then-prime minister Trudeau hewould deliver seven Liberal MPs

“And six of them didn’t come in. As amatter of fact Don Jamieson (a Liberal),one of the great political figures in theprovince, barely got elected himself,”says Lundrigan.

He says the six Newfoundland Toriesin Ottawa at the time — Jim McGrath,Walter Carter, Frank Moores, Jack

See “Andrew are you sure?” page 11

QUOTE OF THE WEEK“St. John’s is extending their runway, Deer Lake is get-ting a customs office, Gander is going down the tubes.”

— Pat Dwyer, organizer of this weekend’s scheduled rally to save Gander airport. See pages 8-9.

Paper Trail . . . . . . . 10Voice from away . . . 12Gallery . . . . . . . . . . 18Noreen Golfman . . . 19Movie reviews. . . . . 19

See “We will plod on,” page 11

Bud Dalton, a piano tuner from St. John’s, is the winner of the first annual YourTown amateur photography contest. Dalton’s three entries were of scenesaround the capital city, including a mounted Royal NewfoundlandConstabulary officer outside the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, a building onFlavin Street, and a car parked outside The Rooms. See page 17 for the sec-ond- and third-place winners.

IVANMORGAN

See “He was gunning,” page 4

2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS MARCH 23, 2007

Poll positionRandy Simms questions how early election results can be prevented from making their way across Canada

When is a law not a law? How aboutwhen it can’t be enforced? Last weekthe Supreme Court of Canada ruled

that a law could be upheld and kept in place eventhough the ability to enforce the law is non-exis-tent. It seems to me the Supreme Court is a littleout to lunch.

On March 15, Paul Bryan of British Columbiawent before the nation’s top judges to argue thathis conviction for breaking Canada’s electionlaws should be overturned. During the generalelection of 2000, Bryan used his Internet site topost results from Atlantic Canada before thepolls closed in B.C. That’s a no-no. Bryan wascharged with violating article 329 of the nation-al elections act and fined $1,000.

Bryan went before the Supreme Court ofBritish Columbia in 2003 and got a much betterhearing. The conviction was overturned and inBritish Columbia the idea of broadcasting earlyelection returns from outside the local jurisdic-tion was suddenly allowed.

In the general election of 2004, media outletsacross the province reported on the outcome ineastern and central Canada before BritishColumbia voters had gone to the polls. B.C. vot-ers actually knew who had won before they evergot to vote. After that election things changedagain. The court of appeal overturned theprovince’s supreme court and the ban is back on.According to the B.C. court of appeal, such a banpromotes fairness in the electoral process andensures all voters receive equal treatment on vot-ing day.

This year, the case finally ran its course. TheSupreme Court of Canada, the nation’s finalarbitrator, voted five to four to uphold the ban onreleasing election results early. According to theruling, banning the early release of electionresults does not violate the Charter of Rights andFreedoms and argues that such a ban should bemaintained to ensure electoral fairness for allCanadians.

Let’s put it this way: how would New-foundlanders feel if the role were reversed andthe final people to vote in Canada came fromhere? Would we even bother to vote if we knewbefore going to the poll that the outcome hadalready been decided? Would voting strategieschange? If we knew that the Conservatives hadwon a majority government before we even castour ballots, would we be tempted to change a redvote to a blue one?

The court further ruled that the ban was oper-

ative for only a few hours on election night andwould only impact late voters. The court felt thiswas a reasonable measure to ensure the protec-tion of Canada’s electoral democracy.

I mentioned that the court voted five to four tomaintain the law. The four dissenting judges feltthat Bryan was correct in his view that technolo-gy had rendered the law obsolete and unenforce-able. Anyone in B.C. or anywhere else wantingto find results before the polls close in their localarea can do so with ease. Think in terms of theInternet, text messaging, instant messaging, cell-phones or a simple long-distance phone call. Itreally doesn’t matter what jurisdiction you are inwhen the vote starts to be counted. If you wantto know the results bad enough you can find outbefore you go to vote. From the perspective oflegal consequences, there seems to be little tonone.

I believe we should only make laws that canbe enforced. The only thing we do by upholdingthis ban is annoy national media outlets andInternet providers. They have to try and keepsuch information away from people on one endof the country while informing those on the otherend about the results. The whole thing is silly.

What is the best solution? I favour a 24-hourvoting window. Under such a plan, the pollscould open at say 9 a.m. in B.C. and open at 1:30p.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador. Theywould stay open for 24 hours. This has somebenefits. Employers would not have to give peo-ple up to four hours off with pay to go vote,especially when we know a lot of people don’tgo and vote anyway.

Political parties would have a much betterchance of getting all of their voters to the pollsby having a longer time to do it and that mighthelp voter turnout.

Best of all, when the polls closed inNewfoundland they would close in B.C. at thevery same time. Just like that, one more silly lawwould bite the dust.

Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s Open Lineradio program.

[email protected]

RANDY SIMMS talk

IMPORTANT NOTICETO OUR READERS AND ADVERTISERS

The advertising deadline for the April 6 paper (Easter weekend) is

Tuesday, April 3, 5 p.m.The Independent will

be distributed on Thursday, April 5.

The Independent offices will be closed April 6 and

will re-open for business as usual on Monday April 9.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

NEW VOICES

Two new Newfoundlanders — and members of the New Canadian Voices Choir — prepare to perform at The RoomsMarch 21. The choir was on hand to support the official launch of the province’s long-awaited immigration strate-gy, aimed at attracting and retaining more newcomers to the province. The initiative is budgeted at $6 million overthe next three years. Paul Daly/The Independent

A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia

The Globe and Mail really knowshow to get under aNewfoundlander’s skin. All

Canada’s national newspaper has to dois run a cartoon disrespectful of the sealfishery, one of our few remaining pre-cious ways of life. The cartoon, head-lined Landmarks O’ Science, ranSaturday, March 17, and consisted oftwo panels of the planet Mars, as seenfrom space.

The first caption read: “2007: Eurospace probe determines Martian southpolar ice cap is over 3 km thick.”

Read the second caption: “2025:Joint Innu/Newfoundland space shuttlelands on ice cap to conduct feasibilitystudy of clubbing to death young liveforms found there.”

As well, a voice rises from the Marssurface to say, “She’s some thick here,St. John’s … ’n’ Bardot-free d’Jeez.”

The cartoonist took some heat for thecartoon, to the point that the CBC ran astory on March 19, with the cartoonistdefending the controversial seal huntimage.

Tony Jenkins admitted he didn’tknow it’s Canada’s Inuit people (notInnu) who take part in the seal hunt, butsaid he stands by the rest of his cartoon.

“I respect people’s way of life andthe need to make a living, that’s all pos-itive,” Jenkins told the CBC. “But isthat worth balanced out — this stain onCanada, which is what it is.”

Is your blood boiling yet?Read on … Jenkins also told CBC

he believes the public relations cam-paign in defence of the seal hunt isn’tworking, if he, and the general publicare not aware of the true circumstancesand practices of the seal hunt.

If only they bothered to ask …

RUNWAY FASHIONAlso on March 19, two days after the

cartoon ran, The Globe went with aneditorial headlined, Save (just) theseals, defending the hunt as humaneand well managed. The writing wasquite graphic: “Animals are not skinnedalive; any occasional twitch is the resultof an after-death reflex.” (Which isgood to know.)

It’s the hypocrisy that’s so jarring,the editorial read, with the EuropeanCommission in Strasbourg, Francebeing pressured from European parlia-mentarians to impose an immediate 27-country ban on the importing of sealproducts, while at the same time sealfur has been the hit of the Europeanrunways this month.

The East Coast hunt is a profitable,unsubsidized one, providing employ-ment for the outports, the editorial con-tinued. “Meanwhile, those Europeanfashions for fall feature giganticsleeves, collars, hats and coats, cun-ningly trimmed with skins from otherdead animals. It is peculiar that theEuropean parliamentarians are opposedto a fur that is not harvested in theircommunities.”

Well said, Globe and Mail, but anychance you could stop with the mixedmessages?

HODDER FODDER Harvey Hodder,

embattled Speakerof the House ofAssembly, tellsThe Independenthe’s consideringretiring from poli-tics, and not run-ning in the nextprovincial electionfor the district ofWaterford Valley.The retired teacherhas most definitelyplugged in histime, with 14 yearsin the legislatureand, before that,four terms asMount Pearlmayor. I wonder ifanything has beenas hard to deal withas the ongoing spending scandal? Itwas only a few weeks ago PremierDanny Williams said he has faith in theSpeaker’s office — failing to mentionany faith in the Speaker himself.Hodder says he’s giving it somethought, consulting with family and thedistrict association.

Says Hodder, “It’s not a yes, it’s not ano. It’s a matter under review.”

He says he should make a decisionafter the spring session. That leaves thequestion of who runs if Hodder doesn’t.The obvious choice would be SteveKent, who replaced Hodder as mayor.

Says Kent (ever the politician): “If he(Hodder) runs, he has my full support.

If he announces that he is not seekingre-election, I anticipate that I wouldhave to make my intentions knownshortly thereafter.

“I’m now in my 10th year on council,and I am as passionate as ever aboutserving this community. We haveaccomplished a lot.

“Whatever happens in the monthsahead, I remain committed to repre-senting the people of Mount Pearl.”Kent’s all right in my books, what withthe Pink, White and Green wristband hewears …

DARE TO COMPAREHalifax’s Chronicle-Herald ran a

feature this week comparing the cost ofa university education at MemorialUniversity (one of the cheapest inCanada) verses King’s College.Memorial charges $2,250 for twosemesters, compared to $6,840 for twosemesters at King’s. MatthewSheppard, a Memorial student fromClarenville, had some friendly advicefor Nova Scotia university students.

“Come to Newfoundland,” he says.“You can either stay at home in NovaScotia and have the highest tuition ratesin the country, or you could just takethe ferry or take the plane ride toNewfoundland, which has the lowestrates in the country and still get a qual-ity education.”

Nova Scotians are apparently takinghim up on the offer — 725 studentsfrom Nova Scotia crossed the CabotStrait in September to attend Memorial— up from 540 the year before. Keep’em coming …

IMPRESSIVE FEETSpeaking of Memorial, Justin

Halleran of Trepassey, a fifth-yearguard with the Sea-Hawks’ basketballteam, was recently awarded the KenShields Award recognizing excellencein athletics, academics and communityinvolvement. Halleran, if you remem-ber, was in a Halifax training facilityearlier this year when he came across ayoung man missing a shoe (it’s awfulcold to walk barefoot in February).Halleran gave the young swimmer, whohappened to have Down syndrome, hisown shoes (five sizes too big, mindyou). Approached by the young man’sfather, Halleran wouldn’t consider tak-ing the shoes back. Well done, Mr.Halleran, well done …

BETTER OFF DEADFinally, the Mercury News of San

Jose, California reported this week onthe new book, Dance with the Devil, byDavid Bagby, father of Andrew Bagby,who was murdered in November 2001by Shirley Turner. Turner later killedherself and their 13-month-old son,Zachary, in the waters off ConceptionBay South. The Bagbys apparentlythought about killing themselves afterlearning their only son was dead.

“We couldn’t live without him,” KateBagby told the Mercury News. “Wedecided that on the plane.” The book isscheduled for release later this monthby Canadian publisher Key PorterBooks. It’s good to know some goodcan come from such heart-breakingtragedy …

[email protected]

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3

Russian sealers capture whitecoats and hold in cagesBy Mandy CookThe Independent

Russian sealers plan to capture10,000 pups over a period of twoweeks this spring, hold them in

open-air cages and kill the animals at alater date, a Russian news agency report-ed this week.

Interfax, reporting from the port townof Arkhangelsk off the northwest coastof Russia, says Greenland seals givebirth in the White Sea in late Februaryand early March. The spokesperson fromthe Beloye More farm says the pups willbe kept in cages until they grow up a bit,after which they will be slaughtered.

John Kearley, general manager of St.John’s-based seal processor CarinoCompany Ltd., says he first learned ofthe practice of farming seal pups to the25-day-old beater stage at a meeting afew years ago. He says it stems back tothe days of Communism when theRussian sealers did not have the sturdyboats used by Canadian sealers and usedhelicopters instead. Kearley saysRussians are now moving in the direc-

tion of the Canadian method of huntingseals by bullet.

“They are experimenting with thatnow as far as I know. There has not beena lot of seals from Russia for the last fewyears,” he says. “The cost of using heli-copters, it becomes very expensive … itdepends on where the seals are located:are they close to land or are they faroff?”

Kearley says the seals were tradition-ally carried off the birthing ground incargo nets and airlifted ashore wherethey would be kept in corrals. He says itis an easier method of hunting as thepups are easier to catch when newly-born, as they are fat and slow movingabout the ice. He says the mature beaterseal can swim and hunt in the water dur-ing the day and are not as easy prey asthe young pups. However, Kearley saysthe practice is not a common one.

“I don’t think there’s much of it goingon now because it has raised the eye-brows of some of the animal rightsgroups because it is not appealing orwhatever,” he says.

Frank Pinhorn, president of the

Canadian Sealers Association, says he’s“never heard tell of” the practice and islooking ahead to this year’s hunt on “thefront,” an area off Newfoundland’snortheast coast and southern Labrador.

The opening date and this year’s sealquota in Canada’s east coast seal hunthave yet to be announced. A spokesper-son for the Department of Fisheries andOceans says the announcement will bemade in “the coming days.”

Pinhorn says his association has indi-cated to the federal government theywish the current quota of 335,000 sealsto remain the same until there is anotherofficial count of the herd.

As for the market for seal pelts,Pinhorn says “all companies are going tobe buying.” He says the market is downsomewhat, but increased interest in theseal fat will keep earnings near lastyear’s prices.

According to Fisheries and Oceans,sealers earned $52 per pelt in 2005. A2004 survey pegs the northwest harp sealpopulation at an estimated 5.82 millionanimals.

[email protected]

SCRUNCHINS

A Greenpeace activist stands with a toy seal-calf as a Russian officer passes by duringa protest in central Moscow.

Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

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‘You can always learn’Fishermen’s union requests extension to safety course deadline

By Mandy CookThe Independent

Although Transport Canada insists crabfishermen like Sam Lee of Petty Harbourmust take a water safety course, Lee won’t

be donning a survival suit and jumping in a poolanytime soon — let alone by the April 1 deadline.

Transport Canada is currently considering anappeal by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers’union to extend the fast-approaching deadline tocertify the remaining estimated 2,000-3,000 fish-ermen who have as yet to complete the safetytraining.

Lee, a 57-year-old lifelong inshore fisherman,says he doesn’t believe in the marine emergencyduties training. He cites a heart condition and saysany safety protocol he is forced to comply withwill not help in case of a disaster at sea.

“I knew twice a year those survival suits wereon board — once when I put them in the boatwhen I started fishing and once when I took themout when I finished fishing,” he says.

“Other than that I never had occasion to look forthem, (they were) put away out of the way and thatwas it. Now if something should happen, youmight think on it (or) you might not.”

Because Lee fishes within 25 miles of shore,any training course he registers for does notrequire jumping in a pool at the Marine Institute,as it is does for those fishermen working furtherout to sea. But he is still resistant to the idea. Hesays he took a required radio course before butsays he now “knows nothing” about the radiosbecause he never uses them.

FFAW president Earl McCurdy says Lee’s feel-ings towards the safety course are not the normamongst the estimated 13,000 registered certifiedfishermen who have already completed the train-ing. He says the overwhelming majority of fisher-men contacting the organization looking forcourse information are receptive to the idea.

“We’ve had a tremendous number of calls onthe issue in the last three weeks and for the mostpart the nature of them is, ‘Look we don’t have aproblem with the training, it’s a good thing to havebut we just can’t get it done in time and we wantto have a crew to take on the water in a coupleweeks time to go fishing,’” McCurdy tells TheIndependent in a telephone interview fromMontreal.

McCurdy says a backlog of hopeful safetycourse participants coming up hard against theApril 1 deadline is due to human nature and a lackof communication. He says there was never a

direct mail out to vessel owners and license hold-ers to alert them safety training was mandatory.Many harvesters are now finding themselves with-out a slot in maxed out courses.

McCurdy is optimistic a deadline extension willbe granted by Transport Canada. He says a yearwould be sufficient to train the remaining people.A decision has not yet been announced, but aspokesperson for the department says the aim ofthe deadline is to not penalize anyone, but toincrease ocean safety. McCurdy says restrictingfishermen will cause undue economic hardship.

“You could actually have the perverse situationif there’s no changes made where skipper wouldhave no recourse but to let go of an experiencedhand in favour of a green horn because of safetyrequirements, which would be absurd,” McCurdysays.

As for Lee, he answers with confidence whenasked how safe he feels working out on the waterwithout a safety certificate.

“One hundred per cent, love, because if I didn’tI wouldn’t go out there.”

[email protected]

Number of fishing fatalities in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2004: 3Number of fishing fatalities in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005: 9

Source: Transport Canada

Marshall, Ambrose Peddle, and himself — werecalled the “noisy six.” He says they were the mostvocal “by far” of any of the Conservative caucus.

“We pretty much took over the House ofCommons and the committee system in Ottawa. Wehad a very, very strong voice in Ottawa. We got lis-tened to quite a bit.”

Especially by Trudeau, who, he says, they lovedto bait. Lundrigan says he and his colleagues triedto “hang on him” as an Opposition party because hewas “very arrogant.”

Lundrigan says Trudeau had just returned fromSingapore and had asked his acting prime minister,Mitchell Sharp, for an update on the House. Hesays Sharp said everything was fine “except for thatSOB from Newfoundland, John Lundrigan.”

“So he was gunning for me. When he came intothe House that day I got on about the unemploy-ment problem and he couldn’t resist,” saysLundrigan.

“He told me to ‘F’ myself right there in theHouse.”

That day Trudeau stayed in the House muchlonger than he normally would.

“He sat there for an hour, and the media wereabuzz wanting to get at him,” he says. And whenthey did, Lundrigan says Trudeau managed to turnthe situation around, referring to his remark as“fuddle duddle” and making a “quotable quote.”

The remark started a minor national craze,launching T-shirts and a thousand jokes.

“I got something like 3,000 letters that weekfrom across Canada,” laughs Lundrigan. “Fifty percent said I was great, 50 per cent said I wasn’tworth a you-know-what.”

Lundrigan was defeated in the federal election in1974, but ran provincially and served in FrankMoores’ Progressive Conservative cabinet as min-ister of Industry and Rural Development.

He says there was a tremendous feeling of polit-ical oppression and fear in the province in the1960s. Frank Moores, Lundrigan says, brought areal air of refreshment to provincial politics.

“I always considered Frank Moores to be theleader of what became a grassroots revolutionarymovement in the province,” he says. “He broughtdemocracy to the province.”

In Ottawa, Lundrigan says he was coached byJohn Diefenbaker, for whom he had great affection.

His party affiliation has never wavered.“I am a Progressive Conservative. When it

comes to economic matters I am very conservative,when it comes to social matters I am very liberal.”

He says he felt “much more comfortable” beinga member of the Progressive Conservative partythan he does as a member of the Conservativeparty.

Lundrigan is still a keen observer of politics. Onthe current relationship between the province andOttawa, he says it’s a very difficult situation, and avery unhappy one for anybody who has been

around the Conservative party as long as he has —50 years.

“I really pray that this can be resolved so that weare all back together again because there is nothingworse than a civil war in a political party, and that’swhat we got right now.”

He says that’s what Williams and Harper are cur-rently engaged in, and “there is nothing worse thana civil war in a political party.”

Having said that, he says he thinks PremierDanny Williams is doing a magnificent job, and thepeople of Newfoundland are solidly behind him.

After politics, Lundrigan was a stockbroker, aconsultant, and for the last 10 years he has beeninvesting in the stock market.

“I’m a gambler, first and foremost.”Lundrigan suffers from a terminal lung disease

— “the same thing that Craig Dobbin had” — andhas had to curtail his activities as the disease pro-gresses. Reflecting on his political career, he choos-es understatement.

“It was an interesting period, for sure.”[email protected]

Fuddle duddleThoughts on the exchange that spawned thousands of jokes

“The question I raised to the Right HonourablePrime Minister of Canada was that the governmentshould introduce some new programs to lift theunemployment burden over and above what hasbeen announced since last March. The PrimeMinister interrupted me in a way that you wouldn’texpect on the street, by mouthing a four-letterobscenity …

“And I certainly didn’t expect this kind of behav-iour from my Prime Minister of Canada, having wor-shipped and really adored men like JohnDiefenbaker and Mr. Pearson and a lot of other peo-ple in the past. This to me is really inexcusable and,well I guess we’re just going to have to grin andbear it, along with the Lapalme workers.”

John Lundrigan, to the press outside the Houseof Commons, CBC TV, Feb. 16, 1971

“I moved my lips and I used my hands in a ges-ture of derision, yes. But I didn’t say anything. Ifthese guys want to read lips and they want to seesomething into it, you know that’s their problem. Ithink they’re very sensitive. They come in theHouse and they make all kinds of accusations, andbecause I smile at them in derision they comestomping out and what, go crying to Momma or totelevision that they’ve been insulted or something?

“What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen,when you say “fuddle duddle” or something likethat? God, you guys … !”

Pierre Trudeau, to the press outside the Houseof Commons, CBC TV Feb. 16, 1971

‘He was gunning for me’From page 1

John Lundrigan Paul Daly/The Independent

By Stephanie PorterThe Independent

The College of the North Atlantic campusin Qatar may be bringing more benefitsthis way than the original $500 million,

10-year contract between Newfoundland andLabrador and the small MiddleEastern nation.

According to BusinessMinister Kevin O’Brien, thesuccess of that distant campus isopening doors to a host of otherbusiness opportunities —including more jobs forNewfoundlanders andLabradorians — with thewealthy oil emirate.

O’Brien returned March 16from a 10-day trip to Qatar andJapan.

“It’s a huge advantagebecause (the college has) done acommendable job in the countryand they’re very well respectedin regards to the facility theyrun,” O’Brien tells The Independent. “Certainlywe wanted to capitalize on that.”

There are already dozens of Newfoundlandersand Labradorians working in Qatar, most on thecollege’s campus in Doha, the capital city.

While jobs in Qatar are “a part of” theprospects O’Brien is exploring, the minister alsopoints to construction and infrastructure opportu-nities on home soil.

Even more enticing, he says Qatar has a sub-stantial investment fund earmarked for foreignjurisdictions and “we want to make them awarethat Newfoundland and Labrador is an absolute-ly fabulous place to invest.”

O’Brien says searching for outside investors isthe “most critical part of the mandate of theDepartment of Business.”

The State of Qatar, bordered by Saudi Arabiaand the Persian Gulf, sits on the third-largest nat-ural gas field in the world. By 2008, reportsO’Brien, the total output of Qatargas and Rasgas— the two largest liquefied natural gas (LNG)facilities in the country — will be 47 milliontonnes a year. That’s about a third of the globalmarket.

Meantime, the population is growing at a rateof about nine per cent a year. Cranes clog the sky-line as the city races to expand fast enough.There’s a high standard of living in the countryand an extremely low level of taxation.Foreigners make up about 75 per cent of thestate’s population of one million — and growing.

All that wealth and natural resources, O’Briensays, “and they’re only supplying the infrastruc-ture for one city … I certainly respect that but Iaim to capitalize on that as well.”

O’Brien tries to put the wealth of Qatar in per-spective. According to their minister of Finance,O’Brien reports, “they have enough cash reserve

in the country that if somethinghappened and all (oil and gas)production stopped, the govern-ment would have enoughmoney in reserve to keep thecountry going for 18 monthswithout a glitch. No stoppingconstruction, no stopping any-thing … that’s a lot of dollars.”

Although Qatar has oil andgas reserves to take them wellinto the future, the country isworking to expand its reach inother sectors.

“You must remember, 10years ago, they pretty much hadmud streets,” he says. “Nowyou go in there and see howthey’ve progressed; it’s wonder-

ful.“They’re doing the same as us, they’re trying

to diversify their economy for the time whenthere is no gas.”

According to O’Brien, the government ofQatar recently bought a 20 per cent stake inAirbus, the Europe-based airline production con-sortium.

“We see opportunity here in the aerospaceindustry and various other sectors that we aim tokey on, growth industries and emerging marketswithin those industries,” he says. “They wouldcertainly be a great partner because they havegreat reserves in regards to money and they alsohave great knowledge in regards to the businessworld.”

O’Brien says the province’s location is attrac-tive to the Qatari leaders. There were discussionsabout a potential LNG terminal here, to helpthem reach the marketplace on the northeast coastof North America.

“When it comes to their foreign investmentfund, absolutely I’m interested,” says O’Brien.“Especially when it comes to the respect and theknowledge they have for Newfoundland andLabrador and understanding the opportunitiesthat are here.”

After five days in Qatar, O’Brien and three oth-ers from the department of Business flew toTokyo. There, they met with several representa-tives of the aquaculture, agrifoods, and oil andgas industries.


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‘A lot of dollars’College of North Atlantic-Qatar, plus the Arab nation’s extreme wealth, pave way for more Newfoundland opportunity

Construction in Dohar, Qatar Paul Daly/The Independent

“You must remember,10 years ago, they

pretty much had mudstreets. Now you go in

there and see howthey’ve progressed;

it’s wonderful.

Business Minister

Kevin O’Brien


Clarity act Excuse me for a moment, but I

have some business to attend tobefore unveiling my plan to save

Newfoundland and Labrador fromConfederation’s death grip.

A clarification is in order for a remarkI made in last week’s column,Byelections, baymen and Beelzebub, apiece about the 1,666 votes that werecast for the Tories in the recent LabradorWest byelection, more than enough forthe party to win the day, but somewhatdisturbing in that the Number of theBeast could be interpreted as a bad sign.

Looking back, the humour may havebeen a shade too dark.

Here’s what I wrote (try and guesswhat needs clarifying): “To be fair, thesteady stream of Progressive Conserv-ative cabinet ministers to the district dur-ing the byelection (all on the taxpayer’stab) — not to mention the cut in ferryrates announced the day before the vote(Labrador is “finally” getting its fairshare, thank you John Hickey for allthat) — may have saved the Tory day.”

The premier’s office took exception tothat sentence.

Try and guess why.Sorry, but no. The announcement of a

cut in ferry rates did, in fact, happen theday before the byelection. Hickey him-self announced the “good news” forLabrador during the supper-hour news,carried on both local stations. The cost ofa return trip from St. Barbe to BlancSablon will plummet by $17.50, to

$50.50 from $68. How wonderful is thatfor the good people of Labrador? Andwhat’s wrong with trumpeting the newsthe day before the residents of LabradorWest decide their next political represen-tative? Sure not a thing, to the Toriesespecially.

Guess again. How about the steady stream of cabi-

net ministers to the district? Sorry again,but no, the premier’s office didn’t have aproblem with that.

The list of ministers dropping byLabrador West over the course of thebyelection campaign is said to includeHickey, minister of Transportation andWorks; Trevor Taylor, minister ofIndustry, Trade and Rural Development;Tom Osborne, minister of Justice; TomMarshall, minister of Finance; JoanBurke, minister of Education; JackByrne, minister of Municipal Affairs;John Ottenheimer, minister ofIntergovernmental Affairs; and DannyWilliams, King of ministers. Tory MHAsPaul Shelley (Baie Verte) and TerryFrench (Conception Bay South) are alsosaid to have stopped by.

“Steady stream” sounds like a fairdescription, whereas “torrential Tory

downpour” or “PC parade” would bepushing it, which just isn’t me.

The problem the premier’s office has,if you’re ready for it, was with the com-ment, “all on the taxpayer’s tab.”

The premier’s office says that’s nottrue. Quote: “The taxpayers most cer-tainly did not pay for ministers who werecampaigning in Labrador West.” Aspokesperson acknowledged that Mar-shall, Burke and Hickey happened to bein Labrador West on government busi-ness, but “not one” of the ministersshowed their face at the campaign office.“Every other minister, MHA and the pre-mier were paid for by the party.”

The premier’s office said the implica-tion was made that taxpayers paid for thetravel and lodging of the cabinet minis-ters, which officials called misleading.

Fair enough, sorry about that, politi-cians have their own problems withoutme making them up.

But the point I was trying to make wasthis: how many of that torrent of ToryMHAs — not to mention NDP leaderLorraine Michael and the Liberal politi-cians who also took a shot up to the BigLand — continued to be paid by the tax-payer for the days they worked on thepolitical campaign?

Were they docked a cent for their timeoff the government clock?

I’m still waiting for an answer to thatparticular query. I may be darting out ona limb here, but my guess is they weren’tdeducted a dime.

Taxpayer’s tab sounds about right inthat context.

Our political culture of entitlementneeds a shakeup — as the ongoing policeprobe, auditor general investigation,official review of the political remunera-tion system, and generally scandal-rid-den House of Assembly can attest to.

The New Democratic Party may notqualify for official party status and allthe perks that go with it, but Danny hasseen fit to continue with a specialexemption until the October election. It’sonly fair, he says, and he’s probablyright, although if the electorate thoughtso they would have elected a few moreNDP MHAs to the legislature.

Got to watch that bending of the rulesthough, premier. Who knows where itwill end? Politicians haven’t made it tothe summit of the slippery slope just yet.On to the points I really wanted to makethis week …

POINT AND SHOOTEver since Danny pulled down the

Maple Leaf from the front of provincialgovernment buildings in late 2004, thequestion has been asked what’s his next“or else.” Now that the Stephen HarperConservatives have betrayed theprovince in terms of a better equalizationdeal, what’s the premier going to doabout it?

Separate? No sir, we can’t give up onCanada just yet, although the fightingNewfoundlander routine seems to be

getting old on the mainland stage.From all indications, the federal

equalization program — the AtlanticAccord even — is seen by much of thecountry as yet another welfare cheque.

Fair enough … let’s move on. Forgivethe latest cross to Newfoundland andLabrador. That should freak the mainlan-ders out — Danny turning his cheek.

The Harper Conservatives seem to beall about helping provinces help them-selves. Fair enough, Danny should goback to the negotiating table and demandOttawa allow us the means to turn oureconomy around, to seize our own des-tiny — control of the fisheries, fallow-field legislation to force the oil compa-nies back to the bargaining table, redresson the upper Churchill contract, a powercorridor through Quebec for lowerChurchill development, the right to pur-chase (notice I didn’t say give us)Ottawa’s 8.5 per cent stake in Hibernia.

The smart move now, at this point,would be for the premier to change tack.Not bow to a decision of theGovernment of Canada, not bend to themainland will like so many of ourdefeated MPs.

But give this country a chance toprove its loyalty to Newfoundland andLabrador.

If that doesn’t work, we turn our backson the Maple Leaf and strike out on ourown.

[email protected]

Dear editor,Curiosity aroused by your March 16

front-page “wink-and-nod” photo ofthe premier as a masked St. Patrick’sDay celebrant, I read on. He has justreturned from a “successful” visit toIreland. One can quite easily under-stand his personal delight in his visit,but what’s in it for us? He says we,here in Newfoundland and Labrador,can be like them. I am left at a loss —they secured “independence” versusour “confederation.” In addition, theireventual “confederation” was with theEU (European Union). Equal move?

And the St. Patrick’s Day premierreminds us of the importance of roadsand the like, assuring us that these willbe kept in shape, indeed improved, allthe while we suffer a diminishingdemography. Oh, the delight of theself-deception of wishful thinking.

Then on a would-be realistic task,our St. Pat’s Day premier stresses theneed for research into our condition— as though that has been passed by.All masks off, Premier DannyWilliams apparently is unaware of therather exceptional scale of research —including issues he prioritized —

undertaken by Memorial University.Maybe for his own peace of mind“Danny b’y” should keep wearing theSt. Pat’s mask. But then where doesthat leave us … we (some of us) whothought we had a leader in touch withrealities?

Robert Paine,St. John’s

Maybe Danny should leave his mask on

RYAN CLEARYFightingNewfoundlander

YOURVOICEIs Danny a real nationalist?Dear editor,

I believe that we never should havejoined Canada in 1949. I’ll believe thatuntil the day I die. Please rememberthat when you read the following …the Conservative commitment to ourprovince on equalization has beenhonoured. We have our Accord with-out a cap, plus the option to exclude100 per cent of our non-renewableresource revenue. Promise kept …time to move on.

The noble principles of Newfound-land nationalism — provincial rightsand decentralization among them —are in danger of being abused by ourprovincial government. As usual, theopposition ignores what it doesn’tunderstand. Premier Danny Williamsremains the most talented of our lead-ers. He secured our offshore deal, buthis actions are not those of a national-ist.

Make tough calls. There’s no pointcomplaining about debt servicecharges, as Williams did on March 19when his cabinet attended the 2006Tory convention in Gander andopposed my resolution for a legislatedplan to slay that debt. There’s no pointin complaining about post-Accordequalization caps when the premierscuttled the option of having billions inHebron revenue during the no-capperiod.

Williams can’t claim to be seriousabout empowering Newfoundland aslong as he won’t pursue the federalTory promise of joint fisheries man-agement. Most of us want that empow-erment. Real nationalists don’t mindpaying their own way to get it.

Liam O’Brien,Corner Brook

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Grimes: Premier doing a great job so far? Dear editor,

I appreciate the views expressed byKevin Heffernan in a March 16 letter tothe editor (‘Blah, blah, blah’) eventhough his views are not based uponfactual information.

The facts are as follows. Theprovince’s population was growinguntil the federal Tories — not provin-cial Liberals — imposed the moratori-um on the cod fishery in 1992.Provincial Liberal governments that Iwas part of implemented a strategiceconomic plan to cope with some of theout-migration and started providing

new opportunities in the areas of aqua-culture, tourism, and the oil and gassector.

During my time as premier, with thedevelopment of the White Rose projectoffshore and the Voisey’s Bay miningand processing project onshore, out-migration had actually come to a halt.Just prior to the 2003 election, StatisticsCanada reported an in-migration of 300people — the first growth in theprovince’s population in over a decade.

As well, the commonly referencedCRA polls showed that 60 per cent ofthe people approved of the government

I led. The public felt Danny could dobetter and he was elected to run theprovince.

Rather than taking three years “to fixmistakes and blunders of the Liberalsbefore them,” Danny has taken an in-migration of 300 and turned it into anout-migration of over 7,000.

And Mr. Heffernan wants us to“leave him alone and let him run theprovince like we elected him to do!”

He’s doing a great job so far, eh?

Roger Grimes,St. John’s

‘Stop this anti-everything approach’Dear editor,

I take great exception of PatrickO’Flaherty’s column (‘Turn signals onthe cheeks of their arses’, March 16 edi-tion), criticizing the need for addedsports facilities in the St. John’s area. Irealize that Gordie Howe became agreat hockey player by skating on anoutdoor pond. I, too, have seen St.

Bon’s senior hockey team practice onQuidi Vidi in 1950. The reason for thesetwo events was because there wasnowhere else to practice. Today a greatnumber of our young people are obeseand when people like John Breenattempt to start a project to get kidsaway from the video games and televi-sion he should not be shot down in such

a manner as Mr. O’Flaherty has done.We should stop this anti-everythingapproach and get behind our locals forthe good of our children and communi-ty. Indoor soccer would be great for thisarea. Go John Breen go.

Ed Abbott, St. John’s

Editor’s note: the following letter wasmailed this week to federal FisheriesMinister Loyola Hearn, and copied toFabian Manning, Norm Doyle, JimFlaherty, Stephen Harper and DannyWilliams.

I am 55 years old and except for onetime in my younger radical years whenI voted NDP I have always supportedthe Conservative party. After watchingthe federal budget and seeing the uttercontempt shown towardsNewfoundland and Labrador andSaskatchewan on non-renewableresources you have received the lastvotes for the Conservatives from me,my wife and daughter. I was alwaystaught that a person’s word is sacredand to renege on that promise is tanta-mount to a betrayal. Stephen Harper’s

refusal to honour his word has con-firmed to me, once and for all, thatNewfoundland and Labrador plays nopart in a confederated Canada, nor willwe ever be treated as an equal partner. Itis incumbent upon you as our federalmember to show your support for ourprovince and resign. Please do not spinthe old line that “you can do more forNewfoundland and Labrador inside thecabinet than outside.” I’ve heard thatbefore and it’s a crock.

Do your province proud and resign.Your chances of getting re-elected in thenext federal election are slim to noneanyway. Look what happened to poorJohn Efford after his stand on theAtlantic Accord. Newfoundlanders andLabradorians will not forget and we willnot accept second-rate status in thisConfederation any longer. You, sir, as

our cabinet representative, are dutybound to show your disgust at the treat-ment afforded this province and do thehonourable thing. Your federal col-leagues on the government side (Fabianand Norm) are also duty bound toexpress their displeasure by eitherspeaking out or resigning. I alwaysbelieved in Canada and would neverconsider separation as an option butafter the latest budget I’m consideringpurchasing and flying the Pink, Whiteand Green and will consider anyprocess to pull this province out of theConfederation.

Can we do any worse? It seems thesedays that the words “separation” and“increased federal dollars” go hand-in-hand.

Brian Mallard,Mount Pearl

‘We will not accept second-rate status in this Confederation any longer’

Premier Danny Williams


YOURVOICE

Dear editor,In The Independent of March 9, Ivan

Morgan wished he could live in thecountry and take the train into StJohn’s, reading as he went (Dreamingof an electric train). He said that ifpublic transport were available hewould move further away from town. Iwas disappointed that no one in theMarch 16 edition took up the juicyissues he waved in front of us, i.e. thelink between where new housing areasare developed, and public transportversus car-dependency.

Sorry to say the urge to live joyfullyin very low-density suburbs or sprawls(a dream I have shared) is incompati-ble with the yearning for safe, pleasur-able, healthy, economical, public trans-port into the city with its jobs, socialservices and shops. This is why manyrural residents are isolated, being tooold, too young or too poor to drive.

With regard to new development,architect Jack Diamond in the Globe ofAug. 5, 2006 says, “most new …growth occurs on the perimeter ofurban centres and does so at densitiesthat render residents of those areasautomobile-dependent — such lowdensities make public transport uneco-nomic.”

“Most significantly,” saysDiamond, “the cost of servicing such(suburban) areas exceeds the tax rev-enue derived from low-density devel-opment.” The “cost of servicing”includes highway construction, theprovision of trunk sewers, water sup-ply and other services, which Diamondnames as, “what amounts to subsidiesthat land speculators and low-densitydevelopers receive from provincial andfederal governments.” He also notes,“the burden of this cost is not borne bythe beneficiaries, but by all taxpayers.”

The days of low-cost fossil fuels arein the past, and Diamond asserts thatthis alone will make “suburban devel-opment as we know it obsolete.”

He sees full-cost pricing as firstamong solutions. Each new housingarea would bear the full unit cost ofservices. The market forces would then“exert their logic,” resulting in moreaffordable housing and densities thatwould make public transport viable.

These issues, under the guise of theRoad Pricing Policy, are under discus-sion beyond our borders. Maybe weshould be getting our heads aroundthem too.

Joan Scott,St. John’s

Everyone agrees education isimportant, but the irony of thepush for a better-educated popu-

lace is trying to decide what an “educa-tion” is.

Is a person with a computer sciencedegree who knows nothing about art,history, science, geography or politicseducated? Is a person who takes a two-year accounting course, but cannotname a former prime minister ofCanada educated? Is a four-year gener-al arts degree as “useless” as manythink it is?

Before I get into this let me state thatany education is better than no educa-tion — having that computer science oraccounting background is great. Myquestion: is it enough?

I don’t think so. To me, being educated means having

a well-rounded, comprehensive under-standing of the world and one’s place init. It means a foundation in the social,historical, artistic, spiritual, legal andscientific knowledge of our times. Itmeans knowing a little bit about a lot ofstuff — especially the workings of oursociety, which in turn allow us to know

a little about ourselves. To me it alsomeans having the curiosity and themotivation to continually pursue thesegoals.

When I was in first-year university, Imet a clever fellow who told me thepoint of a university education was toshow me how little I really know. Ittook me four more years to understandthat. Show me an arrogant educatedperson and I’ll show you someone whohasn’t learned much at all.

A lot of what people call educationthese days is really training. And whiletraining is essential — we all need tomake a living — I also think a solidbackground in the basic sciences andhumanities is essential. People need notto just be skilled workers and avid con-sumers. They need to be citizens.

Too many young people today seeeducation as a commodity. At the prices

we charge, it’s easy to see why. Whowants to pile up a $40,000 debt for theprivilege of reading and discussingTennyson’s poems? Hopefully some-one does, because it is important.

Education — learning — is theessence of what it means to be a func-tioning member of society. Training is acommodity. Education is a vital humanquality.

Let me make a case in point. I thinka lot of what is wrong with our politicalsystem stems from the fact peopledon’t truly understand it. Would a bet-ter-educated populace have stood forthe House of Assembly barring theauditor general from reviewing itsfinances back in 2000? Would the dis-astrous upper Churchill deal have beensigned? Would half the politicians wehave suffered under been elected?

Education is the only real salvationfor this province, not jobs, not naturalresources or royalties. Joe Smallwoodknew this, and was a huge proponent ofeducation, spending millions makingus who we are today. (Ironically it wasthe first generation of Newfound-landers and Labradorians educated at

the new university who tossed himfrom government.)

How much potential do we have?The island nation of Japan has few nat-ural resources and 128,085,000 peopleliving in an area of 377,873 squarekilometres. Our province has vast natu-ral resources and 505,469 people livingin an area of 405,212 square kilome-tres. Japan’s GDP is $5.76 trillion(Canadian). We have a GDP of $ 21.5billion. What’s the difference? Takeyour time.

We need to improve our educationsystems. Grade 12 is not enough any-more. A BA today is the high schooldiploma of 50 years ago.

Quebec, generally light years aheadof the rest of us in social programs, hasthe CEGEP program, offering pre-uni-versity (two-year) and technical educa-tion (three-year) for young people outof high school (Grade 11) who wish tofurther their education.

It gives them a solid background,two more years to mature, and chanceto learn more about who they are aspeople, and as Quebecois. Sadly, manyof our young people learn a flight to

Fort McMurray at the end of highschool is who we, as Newfoundlandersand Labradorians, are.

A lifetime of believing in socialismhas made me realize this is not a prob-lem government can fix. Education is avalue that must be instilled by family.Literacy, critical thinking and curiosityabout the world begin at home. Howwe encourage more of this I haveabsolutely no idea, but it must happen.In the past our much-vaunted local cul-ture has not placed enough emphasis oneducation. This must change.

I have been in homes where the onlybook I could find was a phonebook.That has to change. Children will readif their parents read. Children will becurious if their parents are curious.Children will do what their parents do.

I remember visiting a home oneevening after supper. Both parents weresitting on their couch in front of theirTV, yelling at their son to go study, andcomplaining to me about his poormarks and lack of motivation.According to them, all he wanted to doafter supper was watch TV …

[email protected]

Critical thinking begins at homeIVAN MORGANRant & Reason

FINAL ARGUMENTSSuburbia and public transport

Final arguments are expected to take place early next week at Supreme Court in Gander in the case of Nelson Hart, the central Newfoundlandman being tried on two counts of first-degree murder involving the drowning death of his twin daughters, Krista and Karen, in August 2002 atGander Lake. Paul Daly/The Independent

Will Newfoundland caribou survive the coyotes?Dear editor,

Ivan Morgan’s recent interview withEric Patey about coyotes killing cari-bou was very interesting. As the authorof The Newfoundland Coyote, I wasglad to see The Independent cover theissue.

Research carried out by the wildlifedivision proves coyotes are killinglarge numbers of caribou — bothcalves and adults. Radio-collar studiesof three herds showed zero per centrecruitment, i.e. zero calves surviving

to the fall from spring. Similarly, coy-ote stomach content analysis by gradu-ate student Kim Bridger showed a highpercentage of caribou and moose incoyote diets.

The main problem is that the easterncoyote’s principal prey — the whitetailed deer — is not found inNewfoundland.

There is little research into the over-lapping of woodland caribou and east-ern coyote. One jurisdiction where thetwo species co-exist is in Gaspesie

National Park. In the late 1980s thepark’s small struggling herd was foundto have little calf recruitment due toblack bear and coyote predation. Apredator cull program decreased thebears and brush wolves and calf recruit-ment increased. There is a lesson in thisfor Newfoundland.

The notion has been raised that coy-otes and caribou will reach a “balance,”but I think such thinking is naive. Thefacts are that we don’t have white-tailed deer, coyotes are preying on both

caribou calves and pregnant does, andthere is little hard evidence of the twospecies co-existing on the same range.The evidence from Gaspe paints ableak picture for Newfoundland cari-bou.

Thinking that coyotes and caribouwill reach a balance is utopian and doesnot seem to account for the fact thatNewfoundland’s natural balance hasbeen significantly altered by humanactivity. Caribou range has been clear-cut and logging roads and mineral

exploration have opened the country-side. Only an estimated eight per centof the provincial land mass is protectedin wilderness reserves.

In 2001, there were 7,730 cariboulicences issued on the island portion ofthe province. That dropped to 4,635 lastyear. Both resident and non-residenthunters are losing access to caribou,which will continue to hurt the provin-cial economy.

Darrin McGrath, St. John’s

Dear editor, Snowmobiling is a grand sport, open-

ing the joys of winter to people of allages. All the same, I am well pleasedwith Environment Minister ClydeJackman’s determination to protect ourthree wilderness areas. A glance at themap will show that all three together —Bay du Nord, Middle Ridge, and Avalon— hardly comprise five per cent of ourisland. The Avalon wilderness is aboutone-seventh the area of the peninsulaand is surrounded on all sides by widecorridors of open country. So morepower to Minister Jackman. And I wishhe had gone further.

Lately, some people — and I hopethey include at least a few of your read-ers — have expressed interest in theidea of an engine-free zone in each ofour provincial wilderness areas.Regulations now governing these areasallow the use of aircraft or small out-board engines, as well as snowmobiles

in a large part of Bay du Nord. In anengine-free zone no form of mecha-nized transport would be permitted.With certain strictly defined exceptionsof dams or power lines, all travel in thiszone would be by foot, canoe, kayak, orski, etc.

I have done an informal telephonesurvey of various provincial govern-ments and tourist agencies acrossCanada. It appears that only twoprovinces, British Columbia andAlberta, have anything like an engine-free zone, and in their cases it’s limitedto relatively small areas of a few remoteparks. Nevertheless, I found widespreadinterest in the concept and appreciationof its potential appeal to the growingclientele for ecotourism.

Our planet is getting smaller andmore crowded every year. Ten years agoyou could ski from Roddickton toHawke’s Bay and see only two or threesnowmobiles. Now there is a well-trav-

eled winter road. We need to keep a fewwild places.

John Lewis,St. John’s

Dear editor,Well, well, well, Rick Mercer is now

the poster boy of “principled conser-vatism.” How ironic.

During the Liberal years, Mercer hadactually been annoying the hell out ofConservatives with these same childish,hissy fits. These days, however, it seemsthat Mercer spends his time labelingCanadian University professors as the“crackpot element.” He has even man-aged to stir up threats towards a femaleprofessor in this country. Congrat-ulations, Rick! Who really needs theTaliban in Canada when we have you?

The sad reality is that Noreen Golfmanpursued a higher education, and nowuses her knowledge to better the lives ofNewfoundlanders in her role as an educa-tor. Mercer, on the other hand, is a highschool dropout who schmoozes at fancyparties amongst the same political elitethat he is supposedly there to satirize.

I may not agree with a single word that

Golfman has or has not said, but as aCanadian who believes that freedom ofspeech and expression is part of whatactually makes this country great, I amagain appalled at Mercer’s antics regard-less of what side of the political fence Imay sit on.

Similar to his counterpart, Jon Stewart,in the U.S.A., I would like to communi-cate this message to Rick. Rick, youshould pinch yourself because, in fact,you are dreaming. You are neither a realpolitician nor a real journalist. Youshould count yourself as extremely luckyto be living in a country that is soobsessed with its own celebrities as tofeel that they can do no wrong (unlikeuniversity English professors in thiscountry.) In short, you are a comedianwho is rapidly becoming a bit of a joke.Canadians deserve better than this fromtheir public broadcaster.

Rob Miller,Halifax, N.S.

Rick Mercer should pinch himselfKeep wilderness areas wild and free

Environment Minister Clyde Jackman

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTNEWS • 98 • INDEPENDENTNEWS MARCH 23, 2007

The Gander airport has long been central to the town’s history and well being.No longer an international transportation hub, the facility is quiet these days,with only military flights and a few Air Canada stops to keep it going. Pictureeditor Paul Daly spent an afternoon looking around the facility. Seniorreporter Ivan Morgan speaks to a local activist planning a rally to saveGander airport — and the town itself.

By Ivan MorganThe Independent

The man at the helm of a suc-cessful public campaign tobring the weather office back

to Gander is planning a public rally torescue Gander airport. But at least twokey players in the negotiations to savethe airport say they won’t be there.

Pat Dwyer, president of a groupthat’s “very concerned” about thefuture of Gander Airport, says heexpects hundreds of people to showfor the event, including members ofthe airport authority, local MHAs, the

council, and mayors from the region.The rally is scheduled for March 25,2-4 p.m., at the Hotel Gander.

“At that rally we’re going to beturning it up,” Dwyer tells TheIndependent. “I would expect to seethese people there because the peopleare asking those leaders to be there.”

The Gander Airport Authority is infinancial trouble, and recently turneddown an offer from the federal gov-ernment of $5.9 million over twoyears, saying it was not enough. Theauthority has made a counter-offer toOttawa for a one-time payment of $10million or annual payments of $2.5

million for five years. The operationof Gander airport is guaranteed underthe province’s Terms of Union withCanada.

Some say the solution to the air-port’s woes would be to allow the air-port to charge landing fees to militaryaircraft. Under a NATO agreement,military flights cannot be charged alanding fee, resulting in lost revenuesto the airport.

Were the federal government to liftthose restrictions, Dwyer says, thefacility would thrive. Hundreds ofmilitary aircraft land at Gander airportevery year.

Gary Vey, the authority’s CEO, andGander Mayor Claude Elliott say theydon’t plan to attend.

Vey says he will be out of theprovince on Sunday, but adds hewould attend as a private citizen — notas a representative of the authority.

He says the board of directors of theGander Airport Authority believes therally is a community initiative, and itwould not be appropriate for the boardto become formally involved.

“We’re not going to be a politicalgroup, that’s not our intention,” saysVey. “We work with the federal gov-ernment or anybody else to fix the

problems here, but we are not going toforce them by marching down theroad.

“It’s not that we’re against what Patis doing. I kind of support what Pat isdoing from a community perspec-tive.”

The mayor of Gander also says hewon’t be attending the rally. Elliottsays the Gander town council made adecision when the airport authorityturned down the federal government’slast offer to “take their direction fromthe airport authority.”

He says the council does not want tojeopardize current negotiations.

“We have to see if this can beworked out, and showing up at rallies,I don’t think, is in the best interest ofcouncil right now. That’s the only rea-son. We’re not against the committee… they can do some good things. Butwe’re saying we are going to lay lowuntil we are told otherwise, and let theprocess take its place.

“There are times that we can helpthat committee and they can help us,but the rally is not one of them.”

But Dwyer says he’s been talking topeople in Ottawa who are telling himto pull the town together and show thecommunity is serious.

“St. John’s is extending their run-way, Deer Lake is getting a customsoffice, Gander is going down thetubes,” says Dwyer.

“Now is the time to make somenoise, now is the time to turn up theheat, now is the time to let the provin-cial and the federal government knowwe will take this to the election.”

Dwyer says their motto is “Save ourairport — save our region.”

He says he has heard GanderAirport is to be downsized to a region-al airport, which will mean the closureof the fire hall and other facilities.

“It appears to me that Gander

Airport is designed to fail by the gov-ernment, based on information that’sbeen provided to us.”

Dwyer says a recent study showsthe airport generates $536 million ineconomic output for the region,including $67 million in salaries, $20million in federal taxes and $10.8 mil-lion in provincial taxes. This econom-ic output, he says, sustains 2,138direct and indirect jobs.

He says he formed the committeebecause “nobody’s speaking.” Byforming a group and having a rally,says Dwyer, they hope to show thefederal government that the people of

the region are concerned.“Everybody else is taking a wait-

and-see, or trying to dodge around,don’t want to piss off the govern-ment,” says Dwyer.

He says their goal is to get a meet-ing with the province’s Conservativecabinet minister, Loyola Hearn, andfederal minister of Transport,Lawrence Cannon, together with allthe local stakeholders.

Dwyer says the meeting would helprelieve the “tremendous stress” peopleare feeling about the uncertainty oftheir future.

“Take the cloud away from us and

the stress that is on the employees andon the community and see where wecan go from there,” says Dwyer. “I amsure there are solutions there becausewe have solutions, but you can’t offersolutions if you’re not talking.

“I am like the rest ofNewfoundlanders. I don’t want mygrandchildren in Fort McMurraybecause I’ll never get to see them. SoI’m working my ass off trying to savethe airport and build a community sothere are a few jobs left here for ourchildren and the future.”

[email protected]

INCAMERA

Save our airport

Dear editor,I see Anna Thistle (Liberal MHA, Grand

Falls-Buchans) has announced her departurefrom politics. Now we will see if all thatranting and roaring by Roger Grimes dur-ing the past couple of months means he isgoing to attempt re-election. I, for one,would love to see him defeated again. Iguess Anna could not face defeat in the nextelection.

I say good riddance. She contributednothing in her 11 years in politics, except tostand in the House everyday and whineabout what the government should be doing.

For the first time in our history we have aleader in Premier Danny Williams who isrunning this province as it should be, eventhough Roger Grimes says “you can’t rungovernment like a business.” Guess whatAnna and Roger — the premier is doing itand it’s working. Good bye, and good rid-dance to you both.

Don Lester,Conception Bay South

Editor’s note: Contacted this week by TheIndependent, Roger Grimes says he’s notinterested in re-entering the political ring.

AROUND THE WORLDBotanists assert that the Great SmokyMountains comprised the cradle for allvegetation in North America.

— The Newfoundlander, St. John’s, March, 1954

AROUND THE BAYThe Board of Works hereby give noticethat the Light House at Dodding Head,on Great Burin Island was put in requisi-tion the third instant, and the Light willbe exhibited every night from Sunset toSunrise. The light is revolving, cato-dioptric, of the second order, producing abrilliant White Light every minute, withintermediate flashes, and internals of 20seconds, burning at an elevation of 410feet above the level of the sea, and infavourable weather can be seen 30 miles.

— The Morning Post and

Shipping Gazette, March 8, 1859

YEARS PASTAdmiration for Newfoundland man-power contribution was recentlyexpressed by Rear Admiral Sir ArthurBromley to Newfoundland TradeCommissioner D. James Davies when they inspected troops of a Newfoundland Field Regiment. Mr.Davies in presenting cigarettes com-mented on the record of the Regimentin Tunisia and Italy and said theNewfoundland boys had the reputationof being the best mannered troopsentering Britain.

— Observer’s Weekly, St. John’s,March 21, 1944

EDITORIAL STANDThe infrequent visitor, reaching St.John’s after the long and painful ordealof a journey on the NewfoundlandRailway, will, doubtless, be inclined topraise us for the economy we practice intrains and train-equipment, figuring thatwe have eschewed the convenience of

frequent trains and the luxuries of up-to-date train service as a measure ofwartime self-denial. The drawbacks weendure now are not self-inflicted. We areself-denying in this respect purely andsimply of necessity. So are somewartime romances dispelled when the

bald truth is told about things.— St. John’s Daily Star, March 7, 1918

LETTER TO THE EDITORDear Sir – You would oblige by publish-ing the enclosed resolutions whichexplain themselves. Very large contribu-

tions for the relief of the destitute in theIsland are being daily received in St.John’s, and almost the whole amountexpended there. We think it is high timethat the people of the Outports were upand doing. We believe, we voice the sen-timents of the people of this town whenwe request our proportion of such relief.We are yours very truly, E. B.Thompson, D.J. Green, Charles Butler.

— The Harbour Grace Standard,March 1, 1895

QUOTE OF THE WEEKPremier Smallwood helped arrange hisown kidnapping in a scheme with fourMemorial University students to raise$250 for the Newfoundland Red CrossSociety. The students took the premierin a car and hid him in a room at the uni-versity. They then called the LiberalParty and asked for $250 ransom. Thepremier phoned a St. John’s radio sta-tion to confirm he had been “kidnapped”and asked that the party pay the money.

— The Labrador Informer, Happy Valley, April 20, 1963


St. John’s Daily Star, March 11, 1918

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YOURVOICE

When voters are reduced to zombiesDear editor,

A political phrase floating aroundtoday is “on the government side” or“you need a member on the govern-ment side.” Articulated during recentbyelections, it’s a disturbing beliefwhen promoted by government and itssupporters.

When a candidate tells a community,“You need a member on the govern-ment,” a trace of bribery is sensed,implying a termination of services ifthe government candidate is not elect-ed.

“On the government side” shouldnever be used during any election cam-paign. But we are likely to be bombard-

ed by these words during the Octoberelection. Pressuring voters to electsomeone to government benchesdefeats democracy, destroys choice ofcandidates, makes a mockery of free-thinking and decisions based on cre-dentials, character, education, andexperience.

Taken to the extreme, the next elec-tion would elect no opposition if “onthe government side” is applied across48 districts. We would create anabsolute dictatorship of mindless zom-bies.

If a road needs repair, or a townrequires a new water main, or a schoolroof leaks, should services be rendered

based on where a member sits? A citi-zen bleeding by the side of the roadshould receive medical care no matteron which side of the road he lies. Youcheck his vital signs, not his politicalaffiliation.

The next time you hear a party urgingyou to vote for its candidate for no rea-son other than he/she will be on thegovernment side, please note that yourintelligence is not only being insulted,it is being questioned, and the voterreduced to a zombie. Intelligent peopleshould reject such insanity.

Jim Combden,Badger’s Quay

Dear editor,I was away at sea when my good

friend Joseph Gibbons of ElmcliffStreet in St. John’s passed away sud-denly on Feb. 12. Since I was unableto attend his funeral, I want to expresspublicly through your newspaper mysorrow over his passing, extend con-dolences to his familyand pay tribute to Joe.

I met Joe in GooseBay in 1970 as I beganmy aviation career withLabrador Airways. Joewas a few years my sen-ior and already a sea-soned bush pilot, hav-ing gained much of hisexperience flying forEastern ProvincialAirways prior to theirbush line becomingLabrador Airways.

Joe was a true pioneer in his field,contributing immensely to thisprovince’s aviation and transportationindustries, particularly in Labradorwhere airstrips and highways werepractically non-existent at the time.He retired from aviation in the late1990s after serving a decade withGovernment Air Services out of St.John’s.

To me, Joe was a close friend, agentleman, a mentor and a great sto-ryteller. We both loved hunting, fish-ing, aviation and a good cabin party.

He clued me in on many of the goodfishing spots in Labrador back inthose early days. In later years, Joeand I spent many a weekend up at mycabin near Lethbridge snaring rabbitsduring the hunting season. Joe waswithout a doubt the best rabbit catch-er I have ever known. He often made

fun of me for being theworst.

My son, Adam, saidthat Joe made the bestrabbit stew he ever tast-ed. My daughter, Lori,once said that Joewould tell her storiesabout me when I wasyounger. I worked hardat keeping them apart.My wife, Marion, saidshe will always remem-ber Joe’s one-verse ver-

sion of Me and Bobby McGee. Hewould sing it religiously at the week-ly house parties in Goose Bay in the’70s.

I could go on and on describing thelife and times of Joe Gibbons, but thisnewspaper’s editor may not be appre-ciative. I will end this tribute by say-ing that Joe will be greatly missed andforever remembered by all who knewhim, especially by his many friendsand colleagues in Newfoundland andLabrador’s colourful aviation industry.

Jed Sampson,Port au Port

Dear editor,The Independent recently published a

column by Ryan Cleary (Dare to differ,March 9 edition) in which he came to thedefence of his colleague NoreenGolfman’s point of view (Blowing in thewind …, Jan. 12 edition).

Cleary also used his privileged plat-form to continue the attack on RickMercer’s response to Golfman’s position(Fighting words, Jan. 26 edition).

One of the difficulties I am havingwith both of these articles — Golfman’sand Cleary’s — is that they both areseemingly strengthened by the ability topersonally attack the participants, ratherthan the issues.

Golfman did not attack the govern-ment that has sent them into harm’s way.She did not question the values of thecountry that would have their soldiersfight on foreign lands. She attacked thevery people whose beliefs would have

them lay down their lives in order to pro-tect the freedoms you take advantage ofeach and every day, and to ensure thereis a future for our families and yours.

If, as Cleary says in his column,Mercer and the approximately 64,000military members, 27,500 reserve mem-bers, their families, friends, etc. havemissed the point, than I would suggestthat Golfman take a writing course! Tohave confused such a large audience isnot, in my opinion, indicative of strongwriting skills.

Cleary, let me state it clearly for you, Ido not consider the media my con-science, my thought process, or my intel-lect.

In case you have not surmised by thispoint, I am a serving Canadian Forcesofficer. I am, however, completely apo-litical. I don’t write letters to the editor,nor do I typically comment on whatother people say. So what makes this sit-

uation different? It’s funny actually. Tothink that a political satirist who isfriendly to the Canadian Forces, willingto see them as people risking their livesfor the betterment of local or global soci-ety, could get under the skin of such “outof our league” intellectual philosopherssuch as Cleary and his colleague islaughable. I can see your method: if youlack the courage to attack the organiza-tion, go after its people. When they aredefended, attack the defenders. Have wenot learned anything from Vietnam?Please continue to attempt to chip awayat our resolve and beliefs. I think youwill find that we are a much heartier peo-ple than you give us credit. People likeRick Mercer already know this, and aretrying to bring this information to thepublic.

Capt M. P. Ricard,Canadian Forces Member

Serving abroad

‘Joe was a true pioneer’

To me, Joe was a close friend, a gentleman,

a mentor and agreat storyteller.

The media is not my conscience

‘I say good riddance’

MHA Anna Thistle

“So what did you do?”“I let her in.”Clarke tried to convey his concern

about Shirley’s erratic behaviour:“Andrew, are you sure about this?”

“Oh yeah. Everything’s fine.”Andrew finished his morning duties at

the main hospital, drove twenty milesnorth on Route 981, and reported for theafternoon shift at the satellite clinic inSaltsburg, a neighbouring town. In aquick chat late in the afternoon, Clarkthought Andrew said that he was plan-ning to meet Shirley after work in a“bar” and send her on her way again.

Clarke offered to go with him, just tohelp keep things cool, but Andrew onceagain assured him that all was well.They agreed that, after Andrew finishedsending Shirley home again, he wouldpick up a six-pack of beer and go to

Clark’s apartment for the evening.A little before 5 p.m. Andrew left the

Saltsburg clinic, picked up a six-pack atthe convenience store, and went to meetShirley. Unfortunately, the meeting tookplace in an isolated park, not in a bar, asClark had remembered Andrew saying.

From the parking lot of Keystone StatePark, just off of Route 981, Andrew usedhis cellphone to call Shirley’s cellphone.

A witness later reported seeing a lonecar in the parking lot at around 5:30p.m., “dark blue or black.” The descrip-tion was consistent with Andrew’s blackToyota Corolla.

Another witness reported walkingthrough the parking lot a few minutesafter 6 p.m. and passing two cars side-by-side, “a small dark colored car and anunknown color sport utility vehicle.”The descriptions of both vehicles wereconsistent with Andrew’s Corolla andShirley’s Toyota RAV4.

Forensic analysis later disclosed thesequence of wounds to Andrew’s body.The first two slugs in quick sequence,entered the left side of his chest and hisleft cheek. The second slug exited behindhis left ear. He spun halfway around andfell on his face in the gravel, shouldershunched forward. Shirley carefullyaimed the next two shots at his rectum.Then she stepped forward, bent slightly,and placed a final round in the back ofhis head — an execution shot closeenough to singe the hair. The gun wasempty, so she kicked him in the head.

She returned to her car and headedback to Iowa. The relationship was defi-nitely over.

The same witness who reported see-ing side-by-side cars on Mondayevening was up well before dawnTuesday morning, walking through thetrees near the parking lot. He saw

“the small dark colored car parked in

the same location as the night before butthe SUV was gone.” He shined a flash-light at the car, noticed nothing unusual,and kept walking.

Just before 6:00 a.m. a man searchingfor aluminum cans in the park dumpsterfound Andrew’s corpse, covered in a thinlayer of frost, face down on the blood-soaked gravel.

Published by Key Porter Books($24.95). In August 2003, ShirleyTurner killed 13-month old Zachary(whom she had with Andrew Bagby) andthen herself.


‘Andrew, are you sure about this?’David and Kate Bagby at the Victims of Homicide annual vgil at the confederation building in St. John’s Paul Daly/The Independent

From page 1

Dear editor,Having read the somewhat simplistic

justification for barring our public fromtraversing the Avalon Wilderness Areaon snowmobiles, I am astounded by theirony of it all.

Here we have a so-called wildernessarea on the doorstep of the Irish peopleof the Southern Shore whose ancestorscame here to get clear of the cruelBritish encumbrances on their landback in Ireland. In fact, those ancestorsfought a war over it.

Prosperity must have indeed dulledthe blade. Imagine the arrant effronteryof the interests who put forward thevery idea that we Newfoundlandersmust purchase a permit or license tosnowshoe, ski, hike or canoe throughthe wilderness. The wonders of camp-ing and trouting seem to have been leftoff the list. Lord help me if I shouldmention prospecting. Maybe environ-mentalists are trying to hide what manyfriends of mine in the mining businessalready know — “there is gold in themthar hills.” Keeping the people out ofthat area has nothing to do with cari-bou. It has more to do with the fearenvironmentalists have that miningprosperity might come to the area.

How can we keep electing these rub-ber-kneed popinjays who would denyus our rights to our own land becausethey cannot crack open the little depart-mental empires within government?How can we keep electing govern-ments that keep insulting us by sug-gesting we cannot police our actionsand therefore lose access to our land?

I fear neither government nor its pat-sies, the environmentalists. What I fearis that our people have lost the desirefor the freedoms that our ancestorsbrought to this country. And that is farmore important than a few sick cari-bou and the empires built by a fewover-blown egotistical civil servants.

David Murphy,Topsail

Blade dulledby prosperity

Harper’s statement in 2002 thatAtlantic Canadians have a “culture ofdefeat.”

“So we’re always seen as the fightingNewfoundlander down here, and theytry and portray us as that, as just beingisolated, as being over the top, andthat’s unfair,” he says.

“You know the prairie farmers didn’thave to fight for their billion dollars —they got it.”

Marshall echoes the premier’s senti-ments.

“We don’t object when Quebec isgiven $3.2 billion — we applaud that.We don’t object when Ontario receivesmoney to bail out its auto industry, wedon’t object when Ontario gets $1 bil-lion for public transit. We don’t objectwhen the West gets $1 billion for farm-ers,” says Marshall

“They shouldn’t object when

Newfoundland is given a benefit tohelp it grow its industry and to help …us get to self-reliance. It’s giving us aleg up — a hand up not a handout.They don’t see it that way, and that’sunfortunate.”

Williams says negative attitudes andhalf-truths can be found closer to hometoo. He says federal minister LoyolaHearn’s recent comments on promisesthe premier allegedly broke ring hol-low.

Hearn says Williams broke his prom-ise to Harbour Breton and the future ofthe fish plant there.

“But you know fish quotas are con-trolled by the federal Fisheries minis-ter,” says Williams. “So if he reallywants to give Harbour Breton a leg up,he can turn around this afternoon andgive them a significant quota alloca-tion.”

He says Hearn accused him of aban-doning Argentia as a site for the Incoprocessing plant for Voisey’s Bay ore.

He says his government wrote the fed-eral government on Argentia and askedthem for an indemnity against environ-mental concerns on the site. The feder-al government said no.

“That is why the facility went toLong Harbour. So he was in a positionto correct that.”

Williams says on Stephenville thegovernment “stepped up to the tune of$150 million and the union decidedthey didn’t want to do a deal with thecompany and that’s completely out ofmy hands.”

Marshall says the latest equalizationset-back is just that. He says theprovince’s economy is strong and willcontinue to grow.

“We’re going to get there. We won’tget there as quickly, but make no mis-take about it, this province will moveforward,” says Marshall.

The premier is also optimistic,despite all the negativism from the fed-eral government.

“We’re going to plod on, we’re goingto persevere, and we will turn it aroundwith or without them.”

He says that is not a separatist com-ment.

“When we’re standing tall and we’re

self-sufficient and we’re contributing,we’re not taking from equalization,we’ll be able to look them straight inthe eye and say we did it without you.

“And that’s fine with me.”[email protected]

‘We will plod on’From page 1

Minister of Finance Tom Marshall views the federal budget. Paul Daly/The Independent

YOURVOICE

By Amanda HancockFor The Independent

The drive from Cape Town Inter-national Airport was my first tasteof the disparity that seems to be a

fact of life in South Africa. The first signof housing after leaving airport groundswas what seemed like a never-endingfield of slums. It was like something outof a World Vision commercial — chil-dren without shoes, houses made frompacking crates, outdoor bathrooms,houseflies, the whole bit.

I asked the driver what it was, and hereplied that it was a township. Township.The word sounded familiar, but I was notexactly sure what life was like inside ofthese informal living arrangements. Idropped the subject and within five min-utes we were in downtown Cape Town.The beautiful waterfront, posh restau-rants and classy nightclubs made it easyto forget the living conditions so near theairport.

Early in the first week, I met the proj-ect co-ordinators and the 30 others in myinternational volunteering group. Themajority of participants are fromGermany, and others come from Canada,Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Austriaand the U.S. Our ages range from 18-31,and our length of stay varies from four to12 weeks.

I felt at ease in the introductory ses-sions on the dos and don’ts of our stay.The “we’re all in this together attitude”led to fast friendships and an instantsense of belonging.

I now know each of the internationalcontingent by name and project.Everyone is having a similar — yetunique — experience and conversationcomes easily when we meet for weekendexcursions.

In my first week, I played tourist. Ivisited Robben Island, where NelsonMandela was imprisoned during theApartheid. Apartheid was an official pol-icy of racial segregation that was imple-mented by South African governmentfrom 1948 until 1994. The signs of thisracial struggle are ever-present in manyaspects of South African life.

I drove along the breathtaking coast-line of the Cape Point Peninsula, whereendless beaches guide you to the mostsouthwesterly point in Africa. I hiked upTable Mountain, an iconic landmarkhere in Cape Town. I patronized thefamous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront— a vibrant place any night of the weekfilled with restaurants, local buskers andsouvenir shops.

I attended a traditional South Africanbraai (barbecue), and took a lesson on atraditional South African drum. I wenton a tour of two of beautiful vineyards— tasting included! Throughout theweek of sightseeing, I encounteredbaboons, wildebeests, zebras, ostriches,cheetahs, antelope and penguin.

One of the most interesting things inthe first week was the township tour,which took us through the townships ofLanga and Khayelitsha, stopping to see atraditional African Sangoma, or healer, acommunity employment centre, and alocal pub along the way.

Townships are suburban dwellings inwhich living arrangements range fromfalling down shacks (slums) to redevel-opment project houses (four-wall match-box structures built to replace shacks), to

villas or bungalows (middle-class hous-ing).

It’s estimated that there are approxi-mately 1.5 million people in these infor-mal settlements surrounding Cape Town.The South African government is work-ing to replace the shacks with permanenthousing.

During this tour I remembered where Ihad first heard the word. The applicationfor this volunteer internship programasked for my regional preference —urban, rural, or township. After the firstseven days of being a tourist, each of the30 volunteers were shipped to variousclinics, hospitals, preschools, primaryschools, high schools and crisis centresaround Cape Town. I must have tickedall three boxes on the applicationbecause my eight-week volunteer place-ment ended up being in a township.

Kayamandi Township is largely madeup of informal housing, but my hostfamily lives in a nice bungalow with twoguesthouses out back and it’s known as amansion to other inhabitants.

Kayamandi is situated just outsideStellenbosch, South Africa’s oldestEuropean settlement, 60 km outside ofCape Town. The city shows residualeffects of Apartheid, as the city centre ispredominantly white and skin colourbecomes noticeably darker as one movesfurther from the city centre.

My eight-week volunteer placement isin Zenzele Creche, a preschool for chil-dren aged six months to six years old.Zenzele is Xhosa for “do it yourself” —fitting, since the toddlers are more inde-pendent than any I’ve ever seen. Thereare 50 kids, four permanent workers, andthree other volunteers from various partsof Europe.

The kids come from underprivilegedconditions. A certain percentage of themare HIV-positive and, worse, none of thefamilies have come forth to advise thattheir children have the disease. Perhapsthe child hasn’t been tested; perhaps heor she has, but the family doesn’t want toadvertise a positive result; or, most like-ly, HIV and AIDS are simply taboo sub-

jects. Fully equipped with a kitchen and toi-

lets, Zenzele Creche is one of the richestin the area. Though short on some basicsupplies like washing cloths, flooring,and at times toilet paper, the workerstruly care and do give the children a fairstart.

Besides my work in the preschool, themost interesting experience has beenplaying with the girls’ soccer team. TheKayamandi Hot Spurs is the only organ-ized female team in the township; theypractise every Monday throughThursday on a field laden with brokenglass. Some of the girls play withoutshoes and the coaches often use rocks forpylons.

One of the most heart-wrenchingthings I’ve seen since arriving was oneof the players removing one of her shoesto share with her left-footed friend —they both completed the practice withone shoe each. The coaches have askedme to help them write a letter to ask forsome sponsorship money from local

businesses.As one of 10 white people in the town-

ship, I am conscious of safety and rarelywalk alone, go out after dark, or use pub-lic transport. So far everyone I’veencountered has been extremely friend-ly. I’ve even found a few locals to runwith in the mornings as I prepare for theupcoming Two Oceans marathon onEaster weekend.

I’m not even a third of the waythrough my journey. My time here is tooshort to accomplish everything thatneeds fixing in the KayamandiTownship, but I will do what I can.

My main goal is to improve ZenzeleCreche in the areas of hygiene and edu-cation. I also hope to help theKayamandi Hot Spurs find some supportso that in the very near future the girlswill practise and play in proper footwear,with proper balls and proper pylons.

Do you know a Newfoundlander orLabradorian living away? Please [email protected].


Life in Kayamandi townshipAmanda Hancock on her first three weeks as a volunteer in South Africa

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Equalization: new and improved?The federal government’s new plan may cost province a couple hundred million a year

So, Prime Minister Harper, it’s theexclusion of 50 per cent ofresource revenues plus a cap that

prevents the fiscal capacities of equal-ization-receiving provinces likeNewfoundland and Labrador from ris-ing above that of Ontario. That’s yourgovernment’s best offer, eh?

Oh, right — either that or, if we wantto protect the Atlantic Accord, we canopt to stick with the status quo, theequalization program with the limitationof a five-province standard that you’vebeen trying to fix this last year or more.(Anyone get the feeling they’re holdingthe accord against us?)

Either way, forgive us if we fail to seewhere you’ve fulfilled your prior com-mitment. Remember? The one in yourelection platform, the one you’ve saidwould be kept, to “work to achieve withthe provinces permanent changes to the

equalization formula which wouldensure that non-renewable naturalresource revenue is removed from theequalization formula.”

So much for that. Even with theenrichment to equalization of close to$40 billion in additional money pledgedover the next seven years, the federalgovernment really hasn’t done any bigfavours for Newfoundland and Labrador— or Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia andothers for that matter. Quebec, perhaps— that province (which is closing in onits own elections, not coincidentally)will get roughly $1.5 billion extra in

equalization money slated for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

“Mr. Speaker, the long, tiring, unpro-ductive era of bickering between theprovincial and federal governments isover,” Finance Minister Jim Flahertysaid in Ottawa as he brought down thelatest federal budget. He spoke too soon.Way too soon.

Minister Flaherty hadn’t evenwrapped up his budget speech beforePremier Danny Williams and PremierLorne Calvert of Saskatchewan decriedthe “new and improved” equalizationprogram.

They both knew the commitment toensure full exclusion of non-renewablenatural resource revenue from the for-mula wasn’t part of the new deal. The argument for removing non-renew-able resource revenues is based on therationale that these resources are incor-

rectly accounted for as income, whenthey should be treated as capital assets.When a non-renewable resource isdeveloped and depleted, the asset is con-verted to cash, resulting in no net fiscalgain to the province. When it is devel-oped it is essentially liquidated. Oncethe oil is gone, it’s gone for good, unlikeother sources of revenue that are con-stant.

The federal government’s measure ofcapping fiscal capacity at the level ofthat of the lowest non-receivingprovince (which happens to be Ontario)makes things even more problematic forprovinces receiving equalization. Thisprovision was in line with the recom-mendations made last year by theO’Brien expert panel on equalization.The federal government’s justificationfor the cap is that it is unfair for so-called “have-not” provinces to reach a

greater fiscal capacity than provincesthat don’t receive payments. It might sound reasonable. However,what does it mean when your “fiscalcapacity” rises, largely due to revenuesgenerated from developing a non-renewable resource?

If Newfoundland and Labrador reach-es the fiscal capacity of Ontario, surelyit doesn’t automatically mean the gapbetween the levels of public servicesand infrastructure provided in those twoprovinces — and the levels at whichtheir respective residents are taxed — issuddenly eliminated.

Heck no. The gap still exists and it isstill very wide. We are still grapplingwith a much higher tax burden thanOntario. Our treasury isn’t nearly as richand our service and infrastructure levels

See “Ontario cap,” page 15

INDEPENDENTBUSINESSFRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — PAGE 13

The art of the SteeleRobert Steele combines his passions for cars, music and deal-making to carve out a successful career

By Kathryn Harley Haynes

Robert Steele has twofavourite things: cars andmusic. And as chairman of

the Steele Auto Group and presi-dent and CEO of NewfoundlandCapital Corp., he has succeeded incombining both interests in hisbusiness life.

Just as well.When you ask the 45-year-old

about his work week, he says firsthe doesn’t really consider it work-ing. And second: “I work all thetime. I get up early and I wake upthinking about business.”

But as he points out, “businesstakes time, if you’re going to besuccessful. You have to have pas-

sion for what you do.”We’re talking in the large board-

room at NewCap headquarters onWindmill Road in Dartmouth, itswall of windows offering a primeview of Bedford Basin. Steeleprojects an image of hip-edgedbusiness — the elegant pinstripedsuit combined with the collar-rak-ing hair.

He talks with enthusiasm aboutthe upcoming trip to the SXSW(South by Southwest) MusicConference in Austin, Tex., wheretens of thousands of members ofthe music industry have the oppor-tunity to listen to an array of musi-cians running all the way from TheWho’s Pete Townshend to IggyPop to Kings of Leon and

Mastodon.For Steele, a conference like

SXSW is one of the benefits ofheading a corporation that ownsscores of radio stations with theirneed for hours of music.

Steele, the second of three sonsof noted businessman Harry Steeleand his wife Catherine, says he gothis initial insights into deal makingsitting around the family diningroom table as a youth in Gander.

The first of those deals was theacquisition by Catherine of a localhotel. That was back at the begin-ning of the 1970s, when Harry, acareer naval officer before heturned to business, was Gander’sbase commander.

Within a couple of years he had

retired from the navy and foundedNewCap, launching a careerwhose achievements have beencrowned by induction into theOrder of Canada and theNewfoundland and LabradorBusiness Hall of Fame, amongother honours.

Robert clearly had lots of busi-ness inspiration close to hand. So,armed with a bachelor of artsdegree from Memorial University— along with a quick realizationthat a love of music doesn’t easilytranslate into a living wage — itwas business he turned to. Theopportunity he found was an AutoTrader franchise.

“I’d always loved Auto Trader,”he says. “When I was a kid, when-

ever we went to Florida, I’d pick itup and read it cover to cover.”

Within a couple of years of thatsuccessful venture, Steele wasready to move to a more challeng-ing enterprise, and bought a part-nership in what was then CollinsChrysler, a Halifax dealershipestablished in 1990. At first it wasno picnic.

Indeed, Steele says, “the firstyear was awful. I was brand new tothe business and it was a baptismby fire.”

One of the issues was the struc-ture. “There were three equal part-ners,” he says, “so there was nodeciding voice.”

CATHYBENNETT

Board of Trade

See “Business takes time,” page 14

Robert Steele, chairman of the Steele Auto Group and president and CEO of Newfoundland Capital Corp. Reprinted with permission from the Halifax Herald Ltd.

14 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS MARCH 23, 2007

Steele solved that by buying out thebusiness. As sole owner of the re-named Steele Chrysler, he not onlyforged a success for the dealership butalso laid the foundation for whatbecame the Steele Auto Group.

“By 1997 the business was goingwell,” he says. “I was getting itchy andlooking to expand.”

He explains that the car franchisecircle is “tight.” As the owner of a suc-cessful franchise, he was well knownin that circle and when he went lookingfor more opportunities, they soonbegan to turn up.

Today, as well as Chrysler, the SteeleAuto Group includes Ford, Jaguar,Land Rover, Volvo, Volkswagen,Hyundai, Mazda, Kia and Porsche

dealerships. There are also two SteeleCollision Centres and an in-house leas-ing department, Dynamic Leasing.

In 2001, Steele’s business lifechanged again when he succeeded hisfather as president of NewCap, withthe senior Steele remaining as chair-man.

“When I first went to NewCap,”says Steele, “it had transportation,printing, publishing, some radio andsome high-tech. I wanted to keep whatwas profitable and get rid of thosebusinesses that didn’t have goodpotential.”

The result has seen NewCap focuson broadcasting. Indeed, as early as2002 NewCap became a radio-onlycompany, with the sale of OptimediaInc., its publishing and printing divi-sion. And by June 2004, Steele was

telling Toronto financial analysts thatNewCap’s aim was to be a consolidat-ing force in what he called the “veryfragmented” Canadian radio business.

Today, NewCap’s website describesthe company as “one of Canada’s lead-ing small and medium market radiobroadcasters.”

NUMBERS JUMPEDSince Steele became president,

NewCap’s broadcast licences havejumped from 14 to 76. Most of the sta-tions are in Western or AtlanticCanada, including St. John’s stationsK-Rock 97.5, VOCM and 99.1 HITSFM. The company also has an increas-ing Ontario presence, with stations inKitchener, Ottawa, Sudbury andThunder Bay. It’s a presence Steelewould like to grow, not least becausehe’d like to close some of the gaps inthe current wide geographic spread.

Certainly NewCap, publicly tradedon the Toronto Stock Exchange underthe symbols NCC.A and NCC.B,appears to be thriving under the presi-dency of Steele and the chairmanshipof his father.

In 2004, the Financial Post quoted afinancial analyst as saying: “I think it’sa great little company, they have agood management team. Radio is agreat business to be in, in terms of thepure cash flow associated with theassets, and capital expenditures on anannual basis are extremely low.”

A NewCap release last month an-nouncing its fourth-quarter earningsreported a 17 per cent increase in year-over-year revenue, up to $93.9 million,and credited station growth, acquisi-tions and investment earnings for therise.

Whether it’s car dealerships or radiostations, Steele says: “You’re not goodat everything. The day-to-day manage-ment skill set is very different thandoing deals and building a network.”

So Steele, who describes his man-agement style as casual, makes sure hehas the right team around to him tohandle operations, while he focuses onwhat he likes best — the skill he start-ed learning as a boy in Newfoundland— the art of the deal.

“Business takes time, if you’regoing to be successful. You have tohave passion for what you do.”

Freelance writer Kathryn HarleyHaynes lives in West Porters Lake, N.S.This article originally appeared in theHalifax ChronicleHerald. Reprintedwith permission.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONSFOR MEMBERSHIP ON THE MINISTER’S

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION

The Advisory Committee on Accessible Transportation (ACAT)advises the federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure andCommunities. Its membership includes seniors, persons withdisabilities, and representatives of the passenger transportationindustry under federal jurisdiction. A maximum of nine volunteerpositions from the public are currently available for a term ofthree years.

What is the role of ACAT?This committee:• identifies obstacles and emerging issues in the national

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• advises on accessible transportation issues and initiatives as requested by the Minister.

Who can apply?Persons with disabilities who are 18 years of age or older andsenior citizens who are 65 years of age or older are invited toapply. Individuals with specialized knowledge of disability issuesare also invited.

How can I get more information and apply for membership?Details on the responsibilities of members, meetings of thecommittee and applications are available on TransportCanada’s website at www.tc.gc.ca or by calling 1-800-665-6478.All information is available in alternate formats. TTY service isavailable at 1-800-823-3823.

Applications must be received by April 13, 2007.

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

PROGRAM AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST(TEMPORARY)

Strategic Planning Division, Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Building, St. John’s, NL

DUTIES: Develop, lead and coordinate processes for the development, implementation and monitoring of strategic and operational plans for the department and its associated agencies; Coordinate and manage processes for the preparation of the department’s Annual Perfor-mance and Accountability Report and prepare the Report based on input received; Represent the department, coordinate departmental responses, implement a process and provide for ongoing monitoring of various internal government initiatives including the Red Tape Reduction exercise, strategic human resource development, access to information and protection of privacy and the Commitments Database; Provide lead direction in managing and implementing processes relating to departmental cross-cutting policy issues, prepare briefing material, reports and presentations relating thereto; and Lead intradepartmental teams on specific projects associated with the above.

QUALIFICATIONS: Knowledge of Government’s strategic planning and policy development processes, key issues in the various resource sectors within the Department of Natural Resources, briefing note preparation and format and project management are required. The successful candidate must have the ability to work independently as well as in a team environment and demonstrate initiative together with strong oral and written communications, computer, organizational, research, analytical, presentation and interpersonal skills. The above qualifications would normally have åbeen acquired and demonstrated through gradua-tion from a recognized university with a Degree in Public Administration, Political Science, Commerce or other relevant field supplemented by thorough responsible experience in planning, policy development, research and project management.

SALARY: $50,045 - $65,058 (HL-21)COMPETITION NUMBER: NR.PPDS(T).060156CLOSING DATE: APRIL 13, 2007

INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS:

Applications should be forwarded to:

MAIL: Garfield DartManager of Strategic Staffing

Public Service Commissionc/o Department of Natural Resources

P. O. Box 8700 Natural Resources Building 50 Elizabeth Avenue

St. John’s, NF A1B 4J6 FAX: 709-729-1860 Email: [email protected]

Please note - the competition number MUST be indicated on your application / resume / subject line of e-mail. Applications should be received before the close of business on the closing date either by mail, fax or e-mail. (If forwarding by fax or e-mail, an original copy is not required). Late applications with explanation may be considered.

For additional information on this position, please call 709-729-5082.

PUBLICEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

DRAFTING TECHNICIAN III

One (1) Temporary position of Drafting Technician III with the Highway Design Division of the Department of Transportation and Works located at St. John’s.

DUTIES: This position involves advanced drafting work to prepare engineering drawings for new construction and rehabilitation projects on highways, marine facilities, airstrips, buildings, bridges, causeways, drainage and retaining structures using AutoCAD 2006 or later, computer software; makes complex engineering calculations; interprets preliminary field and geotechnical survey data for the preparation of preliminary project plans; applies standard formulas and tables in making design determinations and recognizing possible design anomalies; develops quantity estimates of projects, attends meetings in regard to assigned projects and regularly consults with design engineer(s) on assigned projects; maintains and participates in management of the file storage system for engineering plans and related tender documents; maintains associated files of assigned responsibili-ties; liaises with regional and associated division staff to co-ordinate project drawings and mapping to ensure drafting standards are consistent with department practices; assists in the maintenance and revision of the Department of Transportation and Works Specifi-cations Book. Performs related work as required.

QUALIFICATIONS: Considerable drafting experience in architectural and engineering design work and experience working with AutoCAD 2000 or later. The successful candi-date must demonstrate good planning, analytical and communication skills, as well as the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships. The successful candi-date will also be required to demonstrate their ability to work within a team environment as well as working independently and meeting deadlines. Qualifications for this position would normally be acquired through graduation from a recognized college with a program in Engineering or Drafting Technology, supplemented by responsible related work experi-ence.

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COMPETITION NO: HO/DTIII/HD/2006-294

CLOSING DATE: April 2, 2007

INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS:

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P.O. Box 8700St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6

Fax: (709) 729-6463 Email: [email protected]

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‘Business takes time’From page 13

YOURVOICE

‘John Risley has won’Dear editor,

I find the recent news and theresponse from the provincial govern-ment concerning the sale of FPI to bevery alarming. When FPI was set upin 1983 with a great infusion of pub-lic dollars, it was in response to thefinancial collapse of the Monroegroup of companies. At the time itwas said that the cyclical nature of thefishery and fish stocks needed to beprotected and nurtured. The formationof FPI was seen as the safeguard thatwould protect fish and fishery work-ers in this province from the vagariesof nature and the marketplace. It washighly successful, so successful thatother players in the fish market wereeager to share in the “good times”profits enjoyed by the government-legislated company. The newlyformed Fishery Products InternationalLtd. operated as a Crown corporationuntil it was privatized in 1987.

This was the beginning of the fish-ery’s other cycle — from governmenthandout to corporate abandonment.

FPI was restructured and in anattempt to preserve local interests andprevent private control of a govern-ment-funded company, the provincialgovernment passed the FisheryProducts International Limited Act,restricting FPI’s share ownership to15 per cent. The act stated no share-holder could own more than 15 percent of the shares of the parent com-pany FPI Ltd., nor could they com-bine resources to acquire control ofFPI.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s,FPI faced ongoing struggles. Overtime, FPI responded to these resourceissues by sourcing fish international-ly, by adding more value to its cod-based products and by moving awayfrom cod towards other types ofseafood such as shrimp. The 1989purchase of Clouston Foods CanadaLtd., a Montreal seafood brokerage,was an example of this shift in strate-gy, as was the company’s 1992 pur-chase of Halifax-based National SeaProducts’ U.S. food service operationto use as a shrimp plant. The creationof an American secondary processingand marketing arm in Danvers, Mass.opened the American markets toproduct.

Since 2003 FPI has been in themidst of a hostile take over orches-trated by John Risley of Clearwater

Foods. Risley’s plan has been clearfrom the beginning. What he wants isthe lucrative Ports of the World labeland marketing arm in the UnitedStates. He is aware that the plants andfishing fleet require large injections ofinvestment and he will cut these looseas lost leaders. He has already soldtwo of FPI’s recent additions to itsfleet at over $1 million a piece. JohnRisley has won. Government admitsthey see no solution other than to sellthe company, and they do not feel thatthe company should have to operateunder the FPI Act.

It is time we realized that the fish-ery is the backbone and the lifebloodof rural Newfoundland. When weattempted to privatize NewfoundlandHydro there was a hew and cry. As aCrown corporation and regulated,publicly traded company, FPI provid-ed for the vagaries of the marketplaceand industry by allowing for modestprofit for shareholders while invest-ing in infrastructure that continued totie the fishery to the communitiesdependent on it. Once it is sold andthose regulations are removed it willonly be a matter of time before theindustry will have to be bailed outagain with public funds.

Save rural Newfoundland and stopthe privatization of the fishing indus-try.

Rick Boland,St. John’s

John Risley

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15

2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the first graduates from the bachelor of commerce undergraduate degree. Join us as we celebrate this milestone and the successes of

our friends in the business community who have helped make Memorial's Faculty of Business Administration a leader in management education.

This year, we will highlight the accomplishments of: 2006 Alumni Honour Award recipient

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23rdAnnual Partners Dinnerpale in comparison to Ontario’s. Isn’t that why equalization was creat-

ed? Under the constitution, the aim ofproviding equalization payments is to“ensure that provincial governmentshave sufficient revenues to provide rea-sonably comparable public services atreasonably comparable levels of taxa-tion.”

It’s also why it is critical we maximizethe benefits from our finite oil and gasresources while we still have them.

And, that’s where the logic of the“Ontario cap” doesn’t pass muster.

All these arguments boil down to onefundamental point: a commitment wasmade but wasn’t kept by the federal gov-ernment.

It may not break us, but it’ll cost us acouple hundred million dollars or so ayear.

Cathy Bennett is the president of the St.John’s Board of Trade. Her columnreturns April 6.

‘Ontario cap’

Dear editor,The Independent’s Feb. 23 story on the little known

Atlantica initiative (Atlantica, Battle lines forming over neweconomic proposal for Atlantic region, by Ivan Morgan)was timely and alarming. (My response is less timelybecause things happen more than half an hour later on themainland, including my weekly Independent fix.)

As your article noted, the Atlantica scheme would drawNewfoundland — apparently minus Labrador — into adubious economic and political integration with theMaritimes, the Gaspé Peninsula and the northeastern U.S.states. The concept is being vigorously promoted by theright-wing Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and theAtlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce. But there’s agreat deal more to the Atlantica story that I hope TheIndependent will explore.

Atlantica’s big corporate sponsors owe no allegiance toNewfoundland and Labrador or to the Maritimes; theironly allegiance is to their own vested interests. Their planswould reduce wages, expose our health and social servicesto for-profit privatization, intensify the concentration ofeconomic activity around the biggest urban markets, and“harmonize” labour and environmental regulations to thelowest common denominator. The purported benefitswould flow — not to the people of the region — but to thebiggest companies, the biggest ports, the biggest offshorefreezer trawlers, to the Clearwaters, the Irvings and Wal-Marts.

FLASHY PROPAGANDAProponents like to point out the many commonalities

Newfoundlanders and Maritimers share with the people ofthe Boston states. But the Atlantica plan isn’t about peopleand communities sharing and co-operating. It’s about richand powerful companies getting free rein to pursue theirglobal interests. Most of the flashy Atlantica propagandadoesn’t even deign to mention fishing, farming or forestry.Their grand scheme would ignore smaller communitiesand rural areas and leave them further devastated.

Last June, Atlantica’s corporate backers held a confer-ence in Saint John, N.B. to advance their plans. Heavilysponsored by the Bank of Montreal, Irving Oil and other bigbusiness interests, the conference was entitled ReachingAtlantica: Business Without Boundaries.

Sound familiar? Vested interests have been pushing con-tinental integration schemes for a long time, and Atlantica ismore of the same. The big boys of Bay Street and WallStreet haven’t yet quite gained the complete control theyseek, the total freedom to do as they please. So they’re try-ing a different tack, starting piece by piece with populationsthat are relatively small, and, too often, desperate for somepromise of economic salvation.

The next Atlantica conference, focusing on energy,defence and corridors is to be held this June in Halifax, acity whose expansion to mega-port status under Atlanticawould supposedly enable it to reap the questionable bene-fits of the proposed corridor. In an approaching future ofclimate change and post-peak oil, this “corridor” visionmight be more accurately described as tunnel vision.

In any case, Atlantica gives real cause for concern forcitizens of Newfoundland and Labrador and of the otherprovinces affected. Yes indeed, let’s connect with eachother across borders, and share the many strengths wehave, but let’s do so as people and communities, not assheep being led to the slaughter in the interests of richCEOs and distant shareholders.

The Atlantica scheme demands public attention, thekind of courageous and intelligent investigative reporting thatThe Independent is known for. I hope you will follow up.

Helen Forsey,Ompah, Ont. and Biscayan Cove, Newfoundland

From page 13

‘The height of nitwittery’Dear editor,

Perhaps you will allow me a little space to reply to the pres-ident of the St. John’s Board of Trade on the subject of AirCanada’s service to and from our city (Use it or lose it, March9 edition, by Cathy Bennett). As an Air Canada employee, Iknow that bashing the airline is a time-honoured tradition andI also know that not all the bashing is groundless.

On the subject of the Heathrow service, I will say that I wasas disappointed as anyone to hear of the cancellation, andwhile not privy to the decision-making process of upper man-agement, I think I have a reasonable idea of why the decisionwas taken.

The problem lay in trying to fill a 230-seat Boeing 767from two cities (Halifax and St. John’s). Often bad weatherwould preclude a landing at one or the other and changes insecurity and customs regulations presented further problems.When it came to choosing one city over the other, Halifax’slarger size was the deciding factor.

FLIGHT RETURNINGAnyway, the good news is we have our flight back. (This

little omission by the good president was, I have no doubt, themerest of oversights.) Starting around the end of March, anAir Canada A319 will leave St. John’s for Heathrow threetimes a week, increasing to daily later in the summer. Theflight is due to finish in late fall but that will depend on book-ings. As Ms. Bennett says: use it or lose it. To those who willcomplain that the A319 is smaller than the B767, see above.It’s roughly the same size as the B737 used by Astraeus and Iwould be willing to bet that the Halifax-Heathrow servicewill eventually see an A319 as well.

As for convenience, I will leave it to the individual travellerto decide whether they would rather go to Heathrow orGatwick.

On the subject of Air Canada service here in general, incomparison to similarly sized and larger Canadian cities itseems St. John’s does rather well. Ms. Bennett refers to theloss of the B767 service as a “slap in the collective face.” Shemay be interested to know that the new A319 service involvesa number of expensive measures by Air Canada: No. 1,expensive modifications to a number of A319s to meetETOPS (Extended range Overwater Planning) requirements;No. 2, the procurement of an expensive landing slot atHeathrow; and No. 3, expensive training for roughly 150pilots (also for ETOPS requirements). Did I mention that con-siderable expense was involved? No doubt Ms. Bennett willpronounce these measures a “caress on the collective cheek.”

As a businesswoman I’m sure Ms. Bennett will assess thetwo new flights on a dispassionate basis and this is all I ask.Well, not quite all. I would also ask her to consider the 100 orso Air Canada employees who live here, pay their taxes hereand spend their paychecks here. When this issue first arose,some people who should know better advocated a boycott ofAir Canada, the height of nitwittery in my opinion.

David Paddon,St. John’s

Atlantica proposal‘cause for concern’

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16 • INDEPENDENTBUSINESS MARCH 23, 2007

INDEPENDENTLIFEFRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — PAGE 17

Shelley Bryant’slaw practice has gone to the dogs — and to the kids

“I hate mom. I hate dad. Dad hatesmom. Mom hates dad. It simply makesyou want to be so sad.”

— Kurt Cobain

Ever since Shelley Bryant startedpractising family law, she’s beentrying to ensure the children of

this province won’t be in whatever placenine-year-old Kurt Cobain was when hewrote those words on his bedroom wall.

Cobain’s parents were divorcing, andalthough his pain may have ultimatelybeen Nirvana’s gain — and ours — manystudies show divorce can be harder onchildren than growing up in an intacthousehold with parents who hate eachother’s … everything.

The Canadian divorce rate is about 40per cent, and Newfoundland andLabrador is on par with the national aver-age. Over a thousand couples go throughSt. John’s Unified Family Court everyyear seeking to split. And more than athousand children suddenly find them-selves in a no-man’s land between twoangry, vengeful — or at least stressed out— individuals who used to be theirparental unit.

Since last August, family court hasbeen offering free mediation services todivorcing couples in an attempt to mini-mize the damage to those children.Mediators include counsellors for boththe psyche and the pocketbook; issuestackled include child support, parentalresponsibilities (custody and access) andspousal support.

On March 1, those services becamemandatory.

Bryant, a St. John’s lawyer, has been amajor player in changing the face ofprovincial family law. Bryant was amember of the Department of Justicesteering committee that brought inmandatory mediation, and also the firstlawyer in Newfoundland to practise col-laborative family law — “no-court”divorce.

No-court divorces, which allow clientsto find their own solutions to unshack-ling, range from $2,500 to $5,000 and aresettled within two months to a year. Aconventional divorce costs $15,000 (andup), and may take four years.

Divorce has traditionally been anadversarial game, often debilitating toone or both sides, and almost always tothe children. When Bryant opened herlaw practice in 2005, Newfoundlanderswere the only Canadians without accessto a saner alternative.

Bryant came to Newfoundland fromNova Scotia in the ’80s to do a master’sdegree in psychobiology (animal behav-iour) at Memorial, after completing anundergraduate degree in psychology. Herpre-law background undoubtedlyaccounts for the “greeter” I encounter themoment I walk into the office at 4 BatesHill: Sally the golden Lab (mostly), oneof Bryant’s three dogs.

Sally is part of an ambience that makesBryant’s law office feel like anything but.Earth colours, candles, art from Tibet, around table made of blond wood: itseems like a dining room, especiallywhen the tea is poured and Bryant and Isettle down for a talk that ambles wellpast the scheduled hour. (Sally, whoseeyes are decidedly non-lupine, settlesdown too, after some initial head-nod-ding, tail-wagging braggadocio over thestuffed lion in her mouth.)

“I’ve had a lot of clients comment onhow comfortable the space feels, and Itry hard to keep it that way,” Bryant says.“I enjoy having a dog here at the officewith me, and the clients like it very muchas well. I’ll see people, especially ifthey’re really stressed, absentmindedlyreaching down and petting the dog.”

Sally and Annie (Bryant’s black Lab,Sally’s mother) are registered therapydogs who visit local nursing homes andpsychiatric facilities with their owner.But they do some of their best work atthe office. Bryant tells me about the timean elderly client who was dying of cancercame to sign his will. Annie walked overto him, put her head on his lap and left itthere for the entire session. “She neverdid it before, and she’s never done itsince.”

It turns out Bryant is a “métis,” like me— the daughter of a Newfoundlandfather and a Nova Scotian mother. Weboth grew up in Halifax, and even playedin the same graveyard, a bit of country inthe city — big chestnut climbing trees, abrook, lilies of the valley running awayfrom the plots they were grief-sown in.

SUSAN RENDELLScreed & Coke

Photography from Goose Bay, pic-tures from the south coast andSouthern Shore … shots of Town

and the Great Northern Peninsula andall points in between. The response toThe Independent’s first annual amateurphotography contest — Your Town —was overwhelming, with more than1,000 entries received from the lengthand breadth of the province.

“I was thoroughly impressed with thesubmissions,” says Paul Daly, TheIndependent’s photo editor who organ-

ized the competition. “I’m glad I wasn’tone of the judges.”

First place went to Bud Dalton, apiano tuner from St. John’s for his shotsof the capital city (see this week’s frontpage). Second place went to Joe Chase,a salesman from Paradise, for his seriesof three shots of fireworks on New

Year’s Eve over St. John’s, fishing boatson a wharf in Quidi Vidi village, andCape Spear.

Third place went to RCMP Const.Tony Seaward for his photographs ofBonavista, where he’s stationed. Hisshots included Bonavista harbour, a“drafty door,” and fences.

Ray Fennelly, a photography instruc-tor with the graphic arts program at theCollege of the North Altantic’s PrincePhilip Drive campus, praised the workof first-place winner, Bud Dalton. “I canhonestly say I would put his work up inany competition. I think he’s a fellowcompetitor,” says Fennelly, who judgedthe competition along with Ned Pratt, aSt. John’s-based commercial photogra-pher.

YOUR TOWN

Joe Chase photos

Tony Seaward photos

See “Popularity,” page 20

See “Champion,” page 17

(Bryant was bolder than I was, though:she and her friends held séances there atnight.)

Bryant worked as a wildlife biologistfor the provincial government whilecompleting her master’s. She wasresponsible for the seabird ecologicalreserves, and drafted the first manage-ment plans for Cape St. Mary’s andWitless Bay.

“I also had a craft business, Salt WaterMoon Designs … hand painted clothingand ceramic jewelry, and I also starteddoing environmental consulting work.My halcyon days … I got to use bothparts of my brain, the creative side andthe academic.”

I ask her what she thought of New-foundland when she first arrived. “I fellin love with it,” she says. “I still havefond memories of Halifax, but this is myheart’s home.”

I second that one.After completing the degree that

brought her to the province, Bryant start-ed doing local and national environmen-tal work. This led to two things: “a com-bination of being intrigued by how thelaw can help protect the environment …and also, quite frankly, I became burntout.” Bryant says defending the environ-ment is arduous and often fruitless work.She assures me, however, that law wasn’ta second choice. “A lot of environmentalwork is about the law. And that’s wheremy initial interest came from.”

Bryant returned to Halifax in the late’90s, long enough to obtain a law degreefrom Dalhousie.

“Even though I had the environmentalwork in mind, I knew that once I startedlaw school that there would be otheraspects that would be attractive to me. Idid the family law course, and then I

worked at Dal Legal Aid. “I started to realize how incredibly

adversarial and litigious family mattersare. I had done a lot of mediation trainingwhen I was doing the environmental con-sulting work … I had a really stronginterest in that.” In trying to put yourselfand your fellow lawyers out of business?I ask.

“There will always be a place for liti-gation,” Bryant says. (Her laugh lifts offlightly, like one of the storm petrels shecalls “fabulous little birds.”) “But it’s avery blunt instrument for dealing withfamily issues. The courtroom is not theplace for looking at the subtle but impor-tant gives and takes that may have exist-ed within a relationship. You’re not ableto get that before the court in a way thatis satisfying to clients.”

Not every splitting couple is a candi-date for the collaborative process, Bryantsays. She believes, however, that “by farand away the majority of couples havethe ability, innate and inherent, to cometo a resolution themselves. But in timesof emotional and financial stress — andwith the fear of losing children — theyneed guidance.”

Bryant tells her clients, most of whomhave children, that an adversarialapproach “is not going to help. It’s justgoing to fuel animosity, and the child isin the middle of it … They absolutelyhave to be kept in mind, first and fore-most.”

Bryant says non-adversarial law isbecoming popular in areas other thanfamily law. “Lawyers are trained in theadversarial model, and it truly is a para-digm shift,” she says. “It’s very forward-looking, and litigation is very backwardlooking. Collaborative law is snow-balling globally.”

I ask Bryant what she likes to do in herspare time. “Hike and snowshoe and

read. And play scrabble with Bernard.”Bernard is Bernard Martin, the crab fish-erman and award-winning environmentaladvocate with whom she has lived for 11years. Bryant spent a season fishing withhim before she opened her law practice.

“I needed to do something physical toblow the cobwebs out of my hair.”(Twenty-two-hour days on a crab boatsounds like a holocaust solution for haircobwebs to me — but she says not evenAveda’s new line of conditioners workfor her.)

Bryant and Martin live in Maddox

Cove, in a house Bryant designed. A saltbox with interior (salvaged) stained-glasswindows, she says it’s “a new house builtfrom old materials, R-2000 and quasi-passive-solar … really energy efficient.”

The couple’s 100-year-old pine floorscome from Bishop Spencer School forGirls, which was destroyed by fire in1999. I figure they must have had somesanding job on their hands — all thatwood marked by scuffing generations ofAnglican girls in Oxford shoes.

Bryant’s next project is to get the wordout about collaborative family law. She

and other local lawyers who practise it(and for whom she arranged the training)plan to strafe doctors’ offices and otherpublic areas with brochures outlining thebenefits of the process.

On my way home, I think how muchtelevision will suffer if non-adversariallaw becomes the norm. And how manynon-traumatized, snot-nosed Newfound-land children will be boring themselvessilly watching it, thanks to ShelleyBryant, champion of all creatures greatand small.

[email protected]

18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE MARCH 23, 2007

GALLERYPROFILE

‘Champion of all creatures great and small’From page 17

Shelley Bryant Paul Daly/The Independent

Elena Popova, one of Red OchreGallery’s core artists, says partici-pating in The Colour of Spring

show at the downtown St. John’s artgallery evokes, appropriately enough, “abouquet of feelings.”

The group show is a spring collectionof colour-inspired works from RedOchre’s repertoire of 12 visual artists.Slated to open just before Easter, theshow is now in its fourth year of gentlycoaxing local art-lovers to believe winterwill cease and spring will return to ourfrigid shores. Brenda McClellan, RedOchre’s curator, says the timing of aspring-themed show is only natural.

“The emphasis is on a lot of colourbecause I think we’re all starved for a bitof colour at this time of year,” she says.

Popova, a visual artist living and work-ing in Flat Rock, is in the process of whit-

tling down the numerous works she hasproduced for the show. She says artallows us to “bring inside our homeswhat’s out.” She says the best compli-ment she’s ever received was from awoman who banished her winter blues bygazing upon her work.

Flower Study in Blue, a still-life floralarrangement by Popova, is a passionateblast of colour. Heat pulsates from redroses arranged in the cool blue vessel,while the frame is bordered with seed-like spots of black and white.

The show encompasses numerousstyles and mediums, ranging from

Popova’s monotypes to etchings to watercolours to silk paintings. Although mostimages are based on spring flowers —many germinating from last year’s sketch-es or even from store-bought arrange-ments during the long winter months —the artists are free to submit other spring-themed subjects, such as vivid landscapes.

Calypso, by west coast artist UrveManuel, is one of the pieces the stainedand fused glass artist will be showing inher first group show at Red Ochre. Theberry-stained wild orchid is simultane-ously delicate and full-bodied in lucidglass. The finely rendered flower wouldbrighten any window, filtering streamingdaylight into a bustling kitchen or quietstudy. Manuel says she found the blos-som on one of the many treks she makesin her hilly home.

“I found it in a secret bog,” she says, “in

one of my secret little caches and stashes.”Manuel says she is entranced with the

varying quality of light, and how hermedium of choice reflects it. She says it’sanother way to appreciate and interpretscenes of natural beauty.

“Sometimes you have to look at apainting for a long time to get it.“Depending on the time of day and theweather … glass changes. It’s very alive— the way light hits it and refracts it.”

Sylvia Bendzsa, a longtime painterand resident of St. John’s, submitted twopieces to this year’s show, one of whichis entitled Just Thinking of You. It’s asun-warmed, meandering view ofislands off the coast of Tors Cove. Thedisappearing ribbon of road curls arounda thick stand of trees, echoing the curveof the harbour formed by the islands.The sky is traced in circular tufts of

white cloud.“I just like people to look at it and

enjoy it,” Bendzsa says about the piece.“I try to do something that really strikesmy soul … I like listening to jazz whenI’m painting. Working out the formulahow elements go together.”

As Popova puts it, spring, in all its life-affirming beauty, is a continuous sourceof inspiration for anyone who hasendured the harsh months of winter.

“The light is changing, buds on the treesare starting to appear, life is starting tomanifest in all its forms all around us. It’san absolutely beautiful moment in life, thecycle of life that’s so fascinating.”

[email protected]

The Colour of Spring opens March 23and continues until April 18 at Red OchreGallery, 96 Duckworth St., St. John’s.

The colour of spring

Flower study in blue, Elena Popova Rainy Day at Rose Garden, Natalia Charapova Calypso, Urve Manuel

Just Thinking of You, Sylvia Bendzsa Iris and Fruit, Ilsa Hughes

The world naturally divides between those who listento CBC Radio and those who don’t. Listeners stickto their preferred broadcaster with the loyalty of

hockey fans. Viewers of television range openly over the channels

with anarchic disregard for any particular network, lightingon whatever distraction suits them in the moment. Listenersof radio fix themselves in one place and tend to stay there,like doves, swans and bald eagles who mate for life.

Every radio in my life is tuned permanently to CBC andhas been for all of my adult life. I turn on the car; I’malready home with the CBC family. During the week I wakeup in the morning to CBC radio and weather reports. On theweekend I indulge more leisurely in informed interviewsand arts reports. The only energy I might expend in thedirection of my listening pleasure is whether I switch fromRadio One to Radio Two or vice versa.

I don’t necessarily like all the programming or the hostsand reporters whose voices I could identify through a noisytraffic jam, but like millions of other Canadians I remainfiercely committed to the public broadcaster. There is sim-ply no alternative in commercial radio to the quality —depth and breadth — of CBC Radio programming.

CBC Radio has long been a unifying and an orderingforce in this country. When I lived and taught in the state ofMaine for a year, I was horrified to realize I might as wellhave been in Timbuktu, not a mere few hundred kilometresfrom the Canadian border.

In the dark age before the Internet, I had to rely on ashortwave radio to hear any news of Canadian politics.Even National Hockey League news wasn’t easy to comeby in those days. My sense of order was shaken and myconnection with Canada strained. I tried to naturalizemyself to the smart voices on the National Public Radioband, but I never did fully warm to their Boston-centricityor their smarmy earnestness. I wore a Habs sweater tosocial events and chided my American colleagues that theywouldn’t know good radio programming if they heard it.

And so it is no surprise that dedicated listeners are freak-ing out as CBC Radio is dramatically overhauling its pro-gramming this week. Forcing a change in people’s listeninghabits is dangerous and, many would argue, reckless.Whenever CBC Radio shakes itself up there are cries ofindignation from the loyal listening base, many of whomfeel like blindsided victims of irrational decision-makers.Radio Two, where some might argue the fans are most ded-icated, is undergoing the biggest changes, and the com-plaints were rising well before the switch date.

It would be a fascinating study to trace the changes toCBC Radio over the last two decades, in the interest ofmeasuring the degree to which the broadcaster’s improve-ments have enhanced or dumbed down the network.Consensus would probably favour the latter interpretation.

The program mavens seem intent on building new, youth-ful audiences, thereby alienating the seasoned adults whohave always comprised the bulk of the listening audience.Most listeners would argue that you come to an apprecia-tion of CBC by degrees, like acquiring a taste for asparagusor brie.

The core of CBC Radio Two has long been classicalmusic. Almost any time of day you knew you could tune into the FM channel and hear opera, a full orchestra, or a sin-gle guitarist filling your car or living room. But apparentlythings really do change. Now when you tune in between 6p.m. and 6 a.m. you might hear anything from “jazz, con-temporary and live music from a wide range of genres,” asthe Radio Two website boasts.

Broadening the scope of offerings does not necessarilymean dumbing down the network, but it does signal signif-icant change of audience. The old audience believes it ain’tbroke and so why is anyone trying to fix it? Especiallyaggravating many long-time listeners like me is the loss ofthe late evening jazz program, After Hours, hosted by AndyShepherd. The substitute is an eclectic, non-genre specificdisc-spinning mix, the success of which remains to beheard.

Radio Three, which has been available to listeners viasatellite and podcast, has been steadily building a youngeraudience through its alternative music programming, butmuch of that indie material, all Canadian, will now be car-ried over into the Radio Two lineup. Perhaps it will work,and listeners will carry themselves over to Radio Two, aswell. At this moment, call me skeptical.

In keeping with the trend to youth, the newscasts will beshortened or removed altogether, so that listeners who wishto be informed of the World at Six will have to change toRadio One. They might never come back once they leave,who knows? The implication is that younger audiences donot want to have their ears pierced by talk of war or crises.Is there an insult or a shrewd programming strategy in theworks here?

Personally, I am willing to give the broadcaster a chance.If I end up being more informed about contemporaryCanadian music then all the better. But if I don’t like thatmusic or the new voices who will be introducing me to itthen I am not sure what I’ll do. Retire to my private disccollection? I doubt it.

For better or worse, CBC is an addiction I am not willingto be cured of.

Noreen Golfman is a professor of women’s studies and literature at Memorial University. Her column returns April 6.

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19

Don’t touchthat dial …Will upcoming CBC changes attract a new radio audience or merely alienate the old?

NOREEN GOLFMANStanding Room Only Welcome to life in the town of

Willard in the 1950s, a placeand time that seems incom-

plete without Wally and “the Beav,”where young Timmy Robinson has got-ten himself into a bit of trouble.

Picked on by a couple of bullies atschool, he’s gotten his shirt all dirty.Fortunately, his embarrassed mother isquick to solve the problem — a kiss onthe cheek, instructions to change hisshirt immediately, and he could forget

all about those bullies.Mrs. Robinson, herself, is skating on

thin ice, for she’s gone against her hus-band’s wishes and procured the latestfashionable addition to domesticdomains: a zombie. Everyone else onthe block has one, and the new neigh-bours have at least a half-dozen. Whatwas the poor woman to do?

In a way, Fido picks up where Shaunof the Dead left off, although the come-dy is a little less sophisticated. The gagsare directed more towards lampooningthe culture of American entertainment inthe 1950s, so the result comes acrosslike a spoof of Lassie Come Home, withzombies.

So the story goes, the Earth haspassed through a cloud of cosmic dust,which has brought the dead back to life.A company called ZomCon has devisedan electronic collar that pacifies and

The zombie-Canadaconnection

TIM CONWAYFilm Score

FidoStarring Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly

1/2 (out of four)

Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss) dances with Fido (Billy Connolly). See “300,” page 20

20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE MARCH 23, 2007

Peter Gardner General & Artistic Director Principal Conductor Marc David

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[email protected]

By Kyla BruffFor The Independent

One of a the very few countrybands on the downtown St.John’s music scene, over the

past two years the members of TexasChainsaw have been attracting all kindsof crowds to their late-night lounge acts.

Whether it’s an old man waiting in theback of the club to hear a Tom Waitscover or girls dancing the night away inthe front row, the five members of TexasChainsaw have a reputation for alwaysentertaining their audience.

With an easy-going attitude and amixture of unique musical stylings, the“Chainsaw boys,” as they’re fondlyreferred to, are setting themselves apartother young local indie bands.

Texas Chainsaw’s beginnings stemfrom Johnny Lonesome, a cowboy frontman Adrian Collins met while inOntario. Taking Johnny’s name, attitudeand style back to St. John’s with him,Collins founded the group with drum-mer Alex Cornick and guitarist DavidBanoub.

“The thing about Johnny is that henever made it famous but he alwaysplayed rock and roll,” says Collins. “Tothis day he still plays rock and rollbecause he just loves the music. That’sthe attitude that I think a lot of us have.”

With the addition of a bass player anda backup vocalist, Texas Chainsawplayed its first show in March 2005.

As it celebrate the two-year anniver-sary, Texas Chainsaw is happy to contin-ue playing, though the band’s lineup isever changing.

Daniel Banoub has replaced olderbrother David, who moved to Ontario,on lead guitar. Known to turn a two-minute song into a nine-minute epic, theyounger Banoub’s solos have character-

ized him as a top guitarist on the localscene.

On bass is Lee Hanlon, former gui-tarist with another local band, TheNordic Beat. Hanlon brings a newdynamic to the group — along with hisgirlfriend Mara Pellerin, on back-up

vocals.Although there’s plenty of kidding

around and light-hearted rivalries withother local acts, the members of TexasChainsaw assure their audience they’renot a “joke.”

To the average listener, Texas

Chainsaw might get away with a simplelabel of country. However, when askedto describe their style, terms such as“rock and rollabilly” and “bluntry”come up. It’s rock and roll, rockabilly,blues and country all at once.

Collins lists The Band and Pearl Jam

among the group’s influences, sayingTexas Chainsaw’s songs are like “theblues played with Pearl Jam’s amps.”According to the band members, theyaren’t talented enough to play true coun-try, yet they say they have the boom-chicka guitar rhythm down pat and lovewhat they’re doing.

‘BEST B-BAND AROUND’Calling themselves “the best B-Band

around” — meaning they’re a perpetualopening act — Texas Chainsaw bandmembers are happy with where theystand in comparison to other groups.

“We’re all just buddies, we have fun,and we just like having a good time,”Collins says. “We don’t take it too seri-ously cause everybody in this townseems to take it way too seriously …nobody in this band wants to be famousand make like $9 million.”

“In the end, we’re just trying to breakeven,” adds Banoub.

Texas Chainsaw is ready for the nextstep, and will be recording a full-lengthalbum of originals this summer. In themeantime, the band continues to playaround town, including showing up at avariety of benefit shows for the causesthey support.

Although there has been talk ofHanlon moving to Germany, andBanoub going to the States for studies,the band has no intentions of stopping.

Cornick says the slow rotation inmembers only serves to add a newdynamic to their songs. As a line fromone of their original songs says: “Don’tkeep complainin’ if you’re not intochangin’.”myspace.com/texaschainsawband

Kyla Bruff is a level three student atHoly Heart of Mary in St. John’s.

[email protected]

For the love of ‘bluntry’Texas Chainsaw has been bringing their version of country to St.John’s listeners for two years

domesticates zombies, allowing them to be con-trolled and used for menial chores, the latest labour-saving device. Of course there are occasional prob-lems, but ZomCon seems to be able to jump on themquickly, and with a tight control of the media, dam-age control isn’t a very big challenge.

This is a meticulous production, featuring win-ning performances especially from Moss, as themother, and Connolly, as the zombie Fido. Thegleaming cars and bright colours help resurrect ourimpressions of Everytown, America in the ’50s, andthe dead resurrect themselves in a not very scaryway.

Hot on the heels of Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Fido isanother made in Canada feature film with commer-cial potential. Unfortunately, landing not too farbehind Shaun of the Dead, this one seems a little lessclever, and not as funny. It is consistently amusing,and it does have a certain charm to it, making Fido apicture that rises slightly above the average comedy.

Continuing the zombie-Canada connection is amotion picture filmed primarily in Montreal anddirected by Zack Snyder, who made a name for him-self with Dawn of the Dead a few years ago.

This time around, Snyder takes on one of history’smost famous military stand-offs, when 300 Spartanwarriors attempted to hold off the advancing Persianarmy at Thermopylae, in the 5th century BC.

While the Spartans were trained, accomplishedsoldiers, capable of dispatching forces more numer-ous than themselves, they were significantly out-numbered in this instance. Counts seem to range

between the hundreds of thousands to the millions indescribing the size of the invading army.

Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller (SinCity), 300 is more attuned to the task of adapting thebook to the big screen than a meticulous re-enact-ment of the Battle of Thermopylae. Miller’s fiction-alized account, further interpreted for the medium ofcommercial film, is not intended to be a history les-son, so leave your notebooks at home and yourbrains in the charger.

Gerard Butler, whose breakthrough role was thetitular character in Attila (as in the Hun), and whorecently assumed the role of Beowulf, in Beowulfand Grendel, is an obvious choice for KingLeonidas, the King of Sparta.

Ripped poster boy for testosterone overload,Butler brings the heroic figure to life with all of thebravado and bawling one rarely finds outside thearena of professional wrestling.

A pure visual spectacle, 300 owes much to com-puter graphics and the sprawling epics of the lastdecade as it does to Frank Miller or ancient Greekwarriors. There’s hardly a frame of the film thatcouldn’t be enlarged into a catchy comic book coveror cool poster.

The characters’ lines are almost always shortenough to capture within a cartoon speech balloon,and few of them, properly punctuated, would endwith anything other than an exclamation mark.

Sure, the story could have been more accuratelytold, with more attention to politics and characters,offering a more insightful portrayal of Spartan cul-ture. It’s a compelling tale, and hopefully that betterpicture will be made a few years down the road. Fornow, and for pure entertainment, 300 holds its own.

Tim Conway operates Capitol Video in Rawlin’sCross. His column returns April 6.

A wounded Leonidas (Gerard Butler) roars his defiance at the Persian invaders

From page 19

Given the tremendous response and quality ofentries, The Independent will run a weekly featurestarting next week called Your Town, showcasing aselection of some of the best photographs submittedto the contest. “I encourage any amateur photogra-phers who would like to present their work and theirtowns to submit pictures to The Independent,” saysDaly. “Here’s an opportunity to show Independentreaders why they should drop by your town.”

Contest brought to you by The Independent andPhotoTec.

Ned Pratt

Ray Fennelly

From page 17

Popularity of contest leads to new section in The Independent

300Starring Gerard Butler (out of four)

300 is pure visual spectacle

Daniel Banoub, Adrian Collins, Lee Hanlon, Alex Cornick, Mara Pellerin are Texas Chainsaw. Paul Daly/The Independent

INDEPENDENTSTYLEFRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — PAGE 21

By Mandy CookThe Independent

Ever since Wham-O patented it backin 1958, the hula hoop has been astaple of backyard childhood fun.

Which means unless you’re younger than12 — or practise rhythmic gymnastics —gyrating your hips to keep an undulatinghoop about your waist is not somethingyou’ve done lately.

Not only does 23-year-old AllisonCollins, a professional St. John’s “hooper,”hula hoop all the time, she is encouraginganybody of any age to sample the joys ofone or multiple hoops, maybe even twirlinga hoop set on fire. She says spinning hoopsis highly entertaining and easy to learn.

“It’s really, really fun … once you learnthe basic movements. The hoop tells youwhat it wants to do. It’s so fun and reward-ing and you can come up with your owntricks and styles. And there’s no competi-tion.”

Collins’ classes will start up the firstweek of April and she says interest is at anall-time high. Unlike the hula hoops youcan buy at toy stores, Collins’ are larger,allowing the user more time to perform

tricks as the hoop revolves more slowlyaround the body. Once someone nails thebasic rotation, the hoop can travel from thewaist to the chest to the neck, arms andlegs.

Ryan Davis, a dedicated hooping fan,gets together with a group of fellow hulahoopers every Monday night at what theyterm a hoop jam. It’s an opportunity forenthusiasts to socialize, move to music andhave fun. He says it’s been a great way to

while away the winter, indulging in creativemovement that, to him, is almost “addic-tive.

“I find moving your body freely withvery little thought without any inhibitions— it’s a really thrilling thing to do. A natu-ral high almost comes from doing it … it’svery freeing.”

Davis says it doesn’t take long to movefrom the basic waist spin to behind-the-back grabs to high tosses. He says he’s onlybeen practising since last summer but waspart of a trio of hoopers in this year’s SantaClaus parade — complete with red andgreen striped hoops.

Like Collins, Davis encourages everyone

Retro kids toy re-emerges as giddy activity for grown-ups

See “It’s infectious,” page 22

H O O P L AProfessional “hooper” Allison Collins Paul Daly/The Independent

For most people, croutons are the dry,hard-as-rocks lumps of bread sittingsolemnly atop poorly made Caesar sal-

ads hoping beyond hope that some dressingwill fall atop of them and turn them into softmushy messes.

I think differently. I think of croutons ascrunchy, but delicate, morsels that can accom-pany anything from soups to starters andbeyond.

Auguste Escoffier, who brought cooking outof the palaces of France and into the streets,liked croutons. Escoffier also penned some 300original recipes, all of which are part of thefoundation of modern cookery.

Croutons elevate the dish in both functionand elegance, raising it above the plate and giv-ing us crusty little bread bits to mop up sauce.Before you think of croutons like those men-tioned above, think of big, round, fluffy,crunchy discs full of flavour and exceptionallydelicious.

Bored with basic appetizers for a fancymeal? Give your guests fancy mushrooms onbaked croutons. This is a simple dish usingthings easily accessible in the kitchen.

There are lots of different kinds of mush-rooms on sale in the supermarkets these days.Choose a variety for texture and taste.

Button mushrooms: basic white mushrooms.Portabella: large brown mushrooms, some-

times more than 10 centimetres across. Thickand meaty, these can be grilled and served like

a vegetarian steak.Crimini: small brown button mushrooms.

Crimini are actually Portabella mushroomswhich have not fully developed.

For this dish I use four slices of basic whitebread.

With a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter — orif you don’t have that, a round water glassworks wonders too (just be careful not to breakthe glass) — cut the centres out of the bread sothat you have a round disc. Do this with all fourslices, one at a time.

Butter both sides of each disc of bread, heatup a sauté pan, and brown both sides of thecrouton. You can, if you have to, do these inbatches. Set aside on a baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 425C.Clean the mushrooms if needed, but do not

wash them because they are like little spongesand will release all their natural flavours as eas-ily as they absorb new ones. Use a dry piece ofpaper towel to gently rub off any dirt.

Then cut or tear up the mushrooms intopieces. They don’t have to be even, and for this

look, rustic looks great.Take a look around the kitchen. What do you

have? Maybe some onion, garlic and tomato?Cut or mince the garlic and do the same withthe onion. Dice the tomato.

Look for liquid for the base of the sauce.How about that last little drop of brandy sittingin the bottle or the last bit of a bottle of wine?For a thickener you can use tomato paste orpesto if you have some.

Place the pan with the croutons in the oven tobrown. It should only take five or six minutes.

Preheat the pan to cook the mushrooms. Adda teaspoon of olive oil.

Heat oil. Toss in garlic, onions and tomatoesto hear a sizzle. Stir around for one minute.

Add the torn mushrooms. Sauté for two min-utes until they start to soften and cook down.

Add a bit of the tomato paste or pesto and stirit into the mixture. Cook for another minute.

Take the pan off the heat and add the liquidand then back onto the heat to cook for onemore minute.

Season to taste and turn off the heat.Take croutons out of the oven. Place one in

the centre of each plate.Put one spoonful of mushrooms on each

crouton, and do not allow it to drip onto theplate.

If there is any liquid left, take up the juicesand sprinkle in a circle of drops in a counter-clockwise pattern around the crouton and makesure there is enough for each one.

Remember: just because it looks like a driedbit of bread doesn’t mean it is a dried up bit ofbread.

Nicholas Gardner is a freelance writer anderstwhile chef living in St. John’s.

[email protected]

22 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE MARCH 23, 2007

Croutons: not just for garnish

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to give his new pastime “a whirl” and although he doesn’t golooking for a workout per se, he says he always works up asweat.

Collins will travel to Europe this summer to participate incircus workshops and to develop her fire hoop techniques,but will be in the province to offer outdoor classes in localparks, an increasingly common phenomenon in many NorthAmerican cities.

She says the world hooping community has seen muchgrowth in the five years she’s been practising and perfectingher craft — there are magazines dedicated to it and videopostings of performances are now commonly found on theweb.

But it is the fun and foolishness that keep the hooperscoming back for more. Both Collins and Davis say it’s nor-mal for those involved to sport a silly grin the entire timethey’re playing and practising.

Collins describes the phenomenon simply: “It’s infec-tious!”

[email protected]

‘It’s infectious!’From page 21

NICHOLASGARDNEROff the Eating Path

Crimini mushrooms

By Jennifer BainTorstar wire service

Life is so crazy busy, I gravitate to quickrecipes. Some deliver a flavour punch,other are refeshingly simple.

MUSTARD-ROASTED POTATOES

“Roasting potatoes at high heat makes themcrisp on the outside and tender inside,” reportsIna Garten in Barefoot Contessa At Home:Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and OverAgain (2006, $45).

• 2 1/2 lb (1 1/4 kg) small red or white potatoes, halved or quartered

• 2 large onions, halved, thinly sliced• 3 tbsp each: extra-virgin olive oil,

whole-grain mustard• 2 tsp kosher salt• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

In mixing bowl, toss potatoes, onions, oil,mustard, salt and pepper. Spread in single layeron baking sheet.

Bake, tossing potatoes occasionally withmetal spatula, in preheated 425F oven 45 min-utes to an hour, until potatoes are browned out-side and tender inside. (Reduce heat if onionsstart to burn.)

Transfer to serving bowl. Toss with parsley.Makes six side servings.

VIDALIA ONION FRITTATA

A superb showcase for sweet onions. Youcan easily double or triple this recipe. Oneonion should yield six thick slices. FromBrunch: 100 Recipes from Five PointsRestaurant (2005) by New York restaura-teur/chef Marc Meyer and writer PeterMeehan.

• 2 slices vidalia onion (each about 1/2-inch thick)

• Olive oil for drizzling + 2 tsp• Salt + freshly ground pepper to taste• 3 large eggs• Chopped parsley (optional garnish)• Grated parmesan cheese

Lay onion slices on baking sheet or pie plate.

Drizzle each side with oil. Generously sprinkleeach with salt and pepper. Bake in preheated350F oven 30 minutes or until golden,browned in spots and tender.

Preheat broiler.In small bowl, beat eggs with salt and pep-

per.Heat two teaspoons oil in small, seven-inch,

heatproof skillet over medium-high. Add eggs.Reduce heat to low. Let eggs cook, undis-turbed, until set on bottom. Use spatula orwooden spoon to pull eggs away from rim ofpan; let uncooked eggs run underneath. Topeggs with onion slices. Transfer to oven. Cookthree to four inches from broiling element forone minute.

Garnish with parsley and parmesan (ifusing).

Makes one to two servings.

Roasted delights

It’s a small,smaller worldWhat does ‘size 00’ mean exactly? And why aresizes getting smaller as people are getting bigger?

By Erin KobayashiTorstar wire service

There is a myth that MarilynMonroe wore a size 16.Measurements from her dress-

maker reveal Monroe was actually 35-22-35 and wore a size 8 pant.

Today, she would fit size 2 jeans atthe Gap. Some things should never becarved in stone — particularly women’sclothing sizes.

A quick survey of my old pantsproves why. But first, I have to comeout of the closet: I am a size 00.

Now, you should know that one yearago, I was a size 0. Three years ago, Iwas buying size 2. Five years ago, Ialternated between sizes 3 and 4.Recently, I found a pair of size 6 shortsI wore when I was prepubescent. Icould barely squeeze into them, despitedropping six pant sizes.

Nobody has noticed that I am theincredible shrinking woman — becauseI’m not. My real size hasn’t changedsince high school.

Give or take half an inch, I’ve had 33-inch hips and a 24-inch waist all thattime.

These days, not only do brands mat-ter to consumers, size matters, too.

Now, retailers are zeroing in onwomen’s desire to be thin by churning

out clothing in absurd sizes such as“double zero” and “extra, extra small,”contributing to a manufacturing phe-nomenon dubbed vanity sizing.Although the waistlines of Canadiansare expanding, sizes on labels continueto shrink at a rapid pace, creating a shiftin all sizes and ultimately leaving shop-pers baffled.

More and more, the clothes are doingthe work for wearers. Instead of losingweight through healthy eating and exer-cising, shoppers can drop dress sizesjust by buying.

Toronto-born Ilora Foyer, founderand president of Shapely Shadows, aCalifornia-based company that makesfit forms for the Gap, says the shift insizing within the past two years hasadded a complicated dimension to herbusiness.

“Vanity sizing was put into place bythe retailers to get more clients and tomake the women feel good.”

Or bemused. I noticed that one inde-pendent retailer has a size chart thatreads: 0 = 3/4.

“If you look from the marketplace’spoint of view, if people raised a fuss, itwould change” says Bob Kirke, execu-tive director of the Canadian ApparelFederation. “But at this stage, we are ina disaggregated market ... maybe to theextreme, like this double zero phenom-

enon.”At the Eaton’s Centre, Marie Eve

Lauzon, 19, looks through a rack ofskinny blue jeans at American EagleOutfitters. Skinny jeans, any teenagedgirl will tell you, look better on tooth-pick legs.

Lauzon doesn’t like being worked byclothing manufacturers and retailers. “Iused to be a size 0 but around two yearsago, I developed hips,” says Lauzon.Though in fact her body has changedvery little, now she’s a size 6. “It says alot about the society we live in. Howmuch smaller can you get?”

It’s hard to say how much furtherdownsizing can go when 00 marks thelowest point.

Carla Rice, a women’s studies profes-sor at Trent University, is troubled bythe language used to describe thisdownsizing trend.

“The word vanity sounds reallysuperficial and makes the woman soundnarcissistic,” she says.

“It’s not about vanity, it’s about want-ing to fit and feeling afraid of fat. Thesize indicates that you are actually safe,that it’s OK; you are not fat. It reflectswomen’s fears as much as theirdesires.”

Rice thinks the message retailers aresending out is, “No size is thin enough;no weight is low enough.”

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MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTSTYLE • 23

DRINK

For his upcoming 10th birth-day, my son asked for a BBgun and a copy of the

movie Borat. I agreed with thegun — every bay boy needs one— but Borat is a definite no-no.

His protests fell on deaf ears.“Mom knows best,” I told him.

I have a confession to make.My kid wasn’t born in New-foundland. He was conceived in aprovincial park outside Ottawa,and born at Trillium HealthCentre in our then hometown ofMississauga.

Realizing I was to have a childthat wouldn’t be born a New-foundlander was difficult at thetime — as I imagine it is for oth-ers who live off The Rock. Myfamily decided to come be withme since I couldn’t go to them.

I was due March 17. One sisterflew down from Alberta with herbaby, another left her near-bylive-in to stand vigil at my side.My mother flew up fromNewfoundland. All arrived aweek before I was due “just incase” I went early, and my fathercame on my due date.

My mother didn’t want him inthe way, but no one wanted himto miss the blessed event. Myfamily put the finishing toucheson a Christening party I had beenorganizing at the local Anglicanchurch. The event was booked forMarch 30, Easter Sunday.

To prepare myself for labour, Ihad been working hard to stay intip-top shape. I planned to refuseall drugs and filled out a “drugfree” labour plan at the hospital. Iattended yoga classes thatfocused on pregnancy and child-birth and I was ready to birth withpeaceful mental images to get methrough the worst of the labourpains.

My sister, who had delivered18 months prior, mocked me.“Peaceful mental images?” shescoffed. “Trust me … you will goblind with this kind of pain.”

Besides yoga and the standardLamaze classes, I also workedout at a gym. I was planning todeliver in a squat position —some book or another had told methis was the “easiest” and “mostnatural” way to go. While itlooked bizarre, the gravity of thething made sense, so that’s what Iwanted. I had calves of steel andthighs that would make MaryBrown envious.

The morning of March 17, Iwas ready to go, but the babywasn’t. The day passed withoutso much as a gas pain. We tried tokeep busy, but for the most part,everyone just looked at me andwaited.

A week later, enough wasenough. This kid had to come. Iwas admitted and induced, notonce, not twice, but twice a dayfor six consecutive days. We allwaited for a labour that refused tostart.

By the 28th, we had to concedethat the Christening wasn’t goingto happen. Even if the kid didcome, “it” and I would still be inthe hospital. My family made thecalls and cancelled the celebra-tion.

The next morning I was nolonger fit. I had spent so muchtime in a hospital bed beingexamined for dilation that“spreadin’ ’em” had became anautomatic response wheneversomeone entered my room. Apoor fella wandered in wearingwhat I thought was a lab coat, soI yanked my blanket up over myknees and got into position.

“I’m getting used to this now,”I sighed. “Give me some goodnews, tell me I’m finally ready.”

The man hesitated, enteredsheepishly, picked up my waste-basket, shook his head and said,“I’d like to help you luv, but I’monly here for the garbage.”

Flashing the janitorial staff wasthe last straw. I had dilated a totalof two centimetres, and I neededto get to 10.

Besides being frustrated andexhausted, I wasn’t actually in

any pain. When they broke mywater, things changed. My sisterwas right. This sucked.

My plans for a drug-free labourflew out the window and Iscreamed for meds — whateverthey had. I was still in pain, but atleast I felt happier about it. Myfather had to fly home the morn-ing of the 31st and when he cameto say good-bye he found me insuch a state that he left withoutsaying much of anything.

That night was a bad one. Myhusband couldn’t do anythingright, my sister was convinced shewould never get home again (shewasn’t leaving, she said, till thiskid came), my mother had toleave in 24 hours and my fatherwas already gone. What a disaster.

“You never did like to followthe rules, Pamela,” my motherteased. “Looks like you’re havinga kid who will be just like you.”

True to my nature of not listen-ing, I was breaking into Easterchocolate I had stashed in myhospital bag when no one waslooking. The mix of drugs andmilk chocolate finally took its tolland I became ill. It was time toget this kid out.

At 5 a.m. I was rolled into theoperating room and, with myexhausted husband standing nearand what was left of my familywaiting outside the operatingroom doors, the little bugger wasdelivered.

All 10 pounds, nine-and-a-halfounces of him.

My mother flew home laterthat day. My sister lingered fortwo more weeks. She would have

stuck around longer, but the babywas colicky and she couldn’tstand the screaming — his ormine.

We wondered if he was protest-ing his mainland birth with allthat bawling and bellowing.Perhaps holding on long enoughto miss his Ontario baptism washis way of sending us a messagethat “up along” would never behome.

To appease him, the HolyWater that eventually crossed hiscrooked forehead came from anIsland font, and our lad was bap-tized in the Newfoundlandchurch hubby and I were marriedin. Shortly after setting paws onhomeland soil, the colic disap-peared and our kid became lik-able.

We moved back to Newfound-land for good when he was fiveand he embraced outport lifeimmediately, never once longingfor the land of his birth.

I have one more confession.We almost named our son

“Oliver.” Oliver was a great namefor a mainland fella, but mymother urged us to reconsider.Remember your roots, shewarned, you might return to themsome day.

“So?” I said, wondering whatthat had to do with anything.

“H’awl-liver,” was all sheneeded to say.

We named him Brody instead.See, mothers are always right.

Pam Pardy Ghent lives inHarbour Mille on the BurinPeninsula.

Labour painsThe adventures of giving birth on the mainland and other mild matters of judgment

Southern charmsWhile waiting for the local stores to bring in new varieties of product, Nicholas Gardner celebrates the gift of bourbon

By Nicholas GardnerFor The Independent

The meet happened in the kitchenof my parent’s house. “You gotthe stuff?” I asked.

“It was expensive.”“I don’t really care. Let me see it

first.”The words came out like a script

from some badly written cop show —the buy was going down.

It came to me in a plastic bag. Thelettering on the outside proved it wasn’tfrom here but it was instantly some-thing I recognized — a bag from theLCBO or Liquor Control Board ofOntario — my order had arrived.

I sometimes ask people travelling outof the province to bring me back wineor spirits that I can’t find here. Sincemy sister was coming for a visit I askedfor a treat or two from her local LCBO.

I like Scotches, single malts mostly. Ilike the changing complexity of thedrink as it moves from region to region.

The local NLC is really trying todevelop the depth of product on theshelves. This is clearly evident in therange of Scotch as you can go from $27to more than $250 a bottle, with adecent selection in between. Where Ithink they should go next is towardsbourbon — a little southern bourbon ifyou please.

So what is bourbon anyway? Well,bourbons are whiskey, but not allwhiskies are bourbon. Bourbon is oneof the five major types of whiskey(bourbon, Irish, Scotch, Canadian, andTennessee). A whiskey becomes bour-bon with the use of 51 per cent corn inthe mash before distilling. As well, it

must spend a minimum of two years innew oak barrels for aging.

My visitor had presented me with twodifferent bottles: Knob Creek Bourbonand Maker’s Mark Kentucky Bourbon.

Nine-year-old Knob Creek (LCBO$45.15) is a rich amber coloured drink.It is fairly strong but also slightly sweetwith honey and vanilla overtones flick-ing across the tongue.

It is a fairly long finish, as is expectedwith a beverage with an alcohol contenttipping 50 per cent by volume.

This is a drink for those who like tolinger over their beverage for sometime. One good drink is enough as thetaste lingers for a long time, giving avery warm and satisfied feeling until theglass runs dry.

The six-year-old Maker’s Mark(LCBO $44.40) is a little different. It’snot as potent as the Knob Creek andslightly less refined in the palate. It’scertainly a good start for someone whohas not tried a bourbon whiskey before.

It could be compared to a blendedScotch whiskey. It has multiple layers offlavours, all of which are equally good,but it fails to beat the unified flavour ofa single malt. While light, it has a spici-ness magnified slightly with the hint oftoasted oak — the remnants of its sixyear interment in fresh barrels beforebottling.

While these are certainly not beginnerprices, I found them to be reasonable forthe quality of the product.

Perhaps over time, these will beadded to our choices in our local stores,so those of us who like new things don’thave to wait for pigeon post to give it atry.

[email protected]

PAMPARDY GHENT

Seven-day talk

24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE MARCH 23, 2007

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EVENTSMARCH 23• Buddy Wasisname and the OtherFellas, Gander Arts and Culture Centre, 8p.m. Continues until March 25.• Viva Lost Elvis, a dinner and comedicmusical tribute to the late great ElvisPresley, Majestic Theatre, DuckworthStreet, 7 p.m., 579-3023.

• Téâtro presents Le Petit Prince byAntoine de Ste. Exupéry at the Centre desGrands-Vents, 65 Ridge Road, March 23and 27-30 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., 579-0932.• The Colour of Spring, featuring work byElena Popova, Julia Pickard, NataliaCharapova, Ilse Hughes, Terrence Howell,Sylvia Bendzsa, Ying Tian, VeselinaTomova, Jennifer Morgan, Urve Manueland Brenda McClellan. Exhibition openingat Red Ochre Gallery, Duckworth Street, 5-8 p.m. • Lizband, Roxxy’s Club, George Street,11 p.m. • 24-hour music marathon begins at noonat MUN School of Music’s Petro-CanadaHall, Admission by donation to theCanadian Cancer Society, music continuesuntil noon, March 24.• Gothic Vibrations concert series contin-ues, 8 p.m., Anglican Cathedral, St. John’s,726-5677.

MARCH 24• Morgan Brothers (gospel music) in con-cert, 7:30 p.m., St. James United Church,7:30 p.m., 722-1881.• Overeaters Anonymous public informa-tion meeting, 11 a.m., St. Thomas’

Anglican Church Hall, Military Road.

MARCH 25• Avalon Unitarian Fellowship service,Gower Street United Church Lecture Hall,7 p.m. • Annual Sharing Our Cultures/À ladécouverte de nos cultures fair featuringChinese lion dancers, Aboriginal drum-mers and games from more than 25 cul-tures from around the world, 2-4 p.m.,Delta Hotel, St. John’s, 727-2372.• Music at Memorial presents the MUNOpera workshop, 7:30 p.m., D. F. CookRecital Hall, School of Music.

MARCH 27• Shanneyganock begin a provincial tour,St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.• Buddy Wasisname and the OtherFellas, Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts,Grand Falls-Windsor, 8 p.m. Continuesuntil March 31.

MARCH 28• Rising Tide presents Kevin Major’s NoMan’s Land, Gander Arts and CultureCentre, 8 p.m.• Vince Collins, with Glen Collins andRick West at Folk Night, the Ship Pub,9:30 p.m.• 2006 Winterset Award readings byfinalists Ken Babstock (Airstream LandYacht), Kenneth J. Harvey (Inside), andRussell Wangersky (The Hour of BadDecisions), 4 p.m., Masonic Temple,Cathedral Street. Reception to follow.

• Shanneyganock in concert, LabradorWest Arts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.• Live presentation of An InconvenientTruth with Peter Corbyn, Inco InnovationCentre, Memorial University, 7:30 p.m.,737-2637.

MARCH 29• MUN Cinema series presents SnowCake, Studio 12, Avalon Mall, 7 p.m. Moreinformation about this film and the sea-son’s schedule is at www.mun.ca/cinema.• The St. John’s public lectures inphilosophy continue withRestorative Justice: Shape-Shifting the AdversarialProcess, a talk by Dr.Scott Kenney, 8:30p.m., Ship Pub.

A scene from Feel The Earth Move: The Gros Morne project, directed by Anne Troake airs on CBC-TV’s Opening Night March 29.

By Kate RobertsonTorstar wire service

Chances are, if you crashed the MadHatter’s tea party with Alice or were invit-ed to afternoon tea with the Queen of

England, you would be served black tea andoffered a spot of milk and one lump or two.

But these days, a cup of tea is looked at forhealth benefits more than a softener for cookies.

All kinds of tea-based beverages exist, from theIndian spicy chai to the Asian creation, bubble tea— even Starbucks has a green tea frappuccino.

Though the concoctions seem limitless, theyare most often made from one of the three mainvarieties of tea: black, green and oolong. Themajor difference among the three is the process-ing methods used.

The Tea Association of Canada explains thatblack tea is harvested, withered, rolled and set tooxidize or ferment. The length of time depends of

the variety of leaf. The tea is then heated to dehy-drate and is then ready to drink or ship.

Oolong is produced the same way but oxidizedfor a shorter period of time. Green tea is not oxi-dized at all.

“Green tea is unfermented, so it is almost in itsmost natural form,” Marisha Golla, owner ofHouse of Tea in Toronto, explains. “It has moreantioxidants, flavonoids, catechin and chlorophyllthan black tea.”

In turn, there are two main processes used toprepare green tea, depending on the region. TheChinese, for example, pan roast it while theJapanese steam their green tea. These methodsgive “a huge differences in character,” says Golla.

There are other teas, of course. White tea,which has been a specialty tea in Asia for hun-dreds of years, has in the last few become popularin Canada because it is high in antioxidants —higher than green tea.

However, because the leaf is harvested just

once a year, it is much more expensive.The price of tea you choose to steep depends on

the region where it is grown, how often it is har-vested and whether it is loose leaf or bagged.

Ceylon tea, for example, is harvested yearround, so it costs less, says Golla, who enjoys arobust Assam tea with milk. Darjeeling tea, on theother hand, is harvested only from March toOctober, so the price is higher.

Quality wise, loose-leaf tea is best. “Rip open atea bag and have a look. With loose tea, the leaf inwhole, not in the bag.”

The abundance of antioxidants that scientificstudies focus on show us that tea, the second mostpopular beverage in the world (water is No. 1)may be the health drink of the future.

Studies of green tea extracts reveal that theymay reduce the risk of heart disease and strokeand cut the risk of some cancers, could preventAlzheimer’s-like brain damage, as well as boostexercise endurance.

• Exhibition by The Open Window StudioGroup, Leyton Gallery of Fine Art, until March 31.• Michele Stamp Portraits, 32 works in graphite onpaper, RCA Gallery, LSPU Hall, 753-4531.• Kinetic Portraits of 12 Canadian Writers byPeter Wilkins, The Rooms.• Michael Young (NS), Let me tell you and KimWaldron (QC) The Dad Tapes/The MomPhotographs, Eastern Edge Gallery.• Aleks Rdest, new body of free floating colourforms in luminous colours, at the Flower Studio124 Military Road, until April 7.• Fish by Janet Davis and Finding my Place, byStephanie Jayce Stoker, at the Craft CouncilGallery, Devon House, until April 27.

CRAFT AND ART CLASSESPrintmaking, knitting, felting, quilting and more:the Anna Templeton Centre has a host of classes foryoung artists and adults starting soon. Call the cen-tre for details, 739-7623.

GALLERIES Today, even tea drinkers are going green

What’s new in the automotive industryMARCH 23-29, 2007

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There’s a change in theair — I can feel it. Apregnant pause like

something spectacular is aboutto happen. Used cars will soonreturn to spawn on the lots ofcar dealers all over the place,ensuring a thriving populationof new vehicles for all to enjoy.

Salespersons are crouchedbehind their desks with sharp-ened pencils, hungry after ashort but intense winter andeager to process credit applica-tions. They’ve all got quotas tofill while prosecuting the inland vehicle harvestand hoping this year will be better than the last.Protesters could possibly put a damper on things,especially if Heather Mills shows up, decrying thesenseless slaughter of used cars, or “beaters” asthey’re known. I’d love to see her and DannyWilliams debate on television again, although withWilliam Shatner moderating this time.

Mills: “There’s oil all over the shop floor, someof these cars are still running when they’re disas-sembled. It’s brutal.”

Williams: “Heather, you’re going to get dirtyworking on cars, that’s just a fact of life. They’reshut off before they’re salvaged … it’s safer thatway.”

Shatner: “Ms. Mills. You’ll never understandcommon people, will you?”

Mills: “Rubbish. It’s all rubbish.”Williams: “These cars are a lot like seals,

Heather. At these prices they can’t be beat.”Mills endures yet another public humiliation,

while Shatner and Williams share a joke off cam-era, something about an ass-kicking contest. Ateary-eyed Shatner offers the premier a guestappearance on the Boston Legal television dramabut he politely declines, citing an overwhelmingsense of personal satisfaction.

It could happen — Mills really is that stunnedand Shatner would do anything for a buck and alaugh. My main man Dan loves cars and apparent-ly fears no man, let alone misinformed celebrities.

One thing’s for sure. There will be an unprece-dented tide of used cars being traded in very soon.Dirty big banks of winter are carted off in thesnow-suckin’ fog and sideways glances are cast onthe old reliable family vehicle. They’ve survivedanother winter but look a little worse for wear —chips of paint off the fenders and dings in the rock-er panels from scrunching over icy banks. The sus-pension’s softened up from road ruts and potholes,maybe even a crack in the windshield that creepsacross your conscience.

You could put another $1,000 in the old machineand make it go around for another year until youremember that those studded tires have to come offbefore the end of April. The price of another set oftires may be just enough to tip the balance infavour of another car — if the wife will let you.

It’s all right to admit it, everybody knows thisand we’re perfectly fine with it. But this time, do itright. Technically, shopping for a new car isn’t anight on the town, unless you incorporate it withsome other reliable wooing tactics. Try taking herout to lunch first and casually drive by the dealer-ship where there just happens to be a convertibleavailable for a test drive. This will only happen ifyou phone ahead and make an appointment withthe salesperson (car harvester?) who will act sur-prised when you show up. Pretend to introduceyourself, get the keys and go for a spin.

Your wife will naturally be entertained with anice cruise after lunch and even if you’re not goingto buy the convertible, consider it a starting point.Work your way down to what you’d like to buy andyou’ll always remember the day you had lunch anda cruise.

Maybe you’re considering a second vehicle. Thiswould be an excellent time to pick out somethingeconomical for zipping out for groceries. Grabyourself a little red number with a sunroof, there’llbe lots to choose from. I guarantee it. Let me put itthis way: it’s a spring cleanup but instead of guttingthe basement, people will be cleaning out theirdriveways. Everybody’s going to be upgradingtheir fleet and there’ll be cars going everywhere. Ikid you not. If you don’t even have a single car toyour name, now’s your chance. You wouldn’tbelieve the table scraps and drippings availablefrom the industry this time of year. Step up to theplate and buy yourself some wheels. Damn the pro-testers, full speed ahead. Tell ’em Woody sent youand ask for the discount.

Mark Wood of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s obvious-ly knows nothing about wooing.

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With Michael Schumacher retired,and two-time world championFernando Alonso switching

teams in an effort to maintain his motiva-tion, the 2007 Formula One season, whichopened March 18 in Australia, isshaping up to be one of the mostinteresting ever, the experts say.

Or is it? Will it be wide open, as some

say, or just another year of sameold, same old (as in, a dominantFerrari team challenged on occa-sion by whoever’s in secondplace — McLaren some weeksand Renault the others)?

To find out — and to sublimatemy own opinions, which are usu-ally wrong anyway — I called upthree people willing to offer anopinion: Vic Rauter, host ofTSN’s Formula One broadcasts; three-timeCanadian driving champion and three-timeF1 Canadian Grand Prix driver, Bill Brack;and one of two Canadian drivers to com-pete in the first F1 Grand Prix of Canada40 years ago at Mosport, Eppie Wietzes,who also won a couple of national drivingtitles.

Rauter says hosting the F1 shows ismore than a job; he freely admits to beinga motorhead.

“My dad used to take me to the stock carraces down at the CNE back in the ’60s,”he says. “And when I got old enough todrive, my idea of the perfect first date wasto take a girl up to Pinecrest Speedway forthe evening.”

Rauter says the TSN pre-Grand Prixprograms will again include overseasreports from Canadian F1 expert GeraldDonaldson.

Says Rauter about F1 in 2007: “WithMichael gone, I think the season will be aswide open as we’ve ever had. I like the factthat the engines are evenly matched (natu-rally aspirated V8 engines with 2.4 liters ofdisplacement) and having just one tiremanufacturer (Bridgestone) is a goodthing, too.

“Some of the drivers have reported someproblems with the tires — the cars get a lit-tle twitchy — but I find that interestingbecause it puts a little of the human ele-ment back into the racing.”

Rauter wonders how Alonso’s going todo with his new team (the champion com-mitted to McLaren while he still had a yearleft on his contract with Renault; Renaultwon the manufacturers championship

while McLaren didn’t win arace last year).

“McLaren struggled last yearand are rebuilding, so it’s goingto be interesting to see if he’llbe as quick. But the thing aboutFormula One is that it’s sotough to catch up if you’re notquick right out of the box.

“From looking at the pre-sea-son, Ferrari looks like they’vegot it together, which is prettyspectacular consideringMichael is gone, as is RossBrawn (technical director on aleave of absence). Toyota looks

good but Honda, not so good. In fact, theymight even have to bring out a whole newcar in time for the second race.

“Toyota, I think, made a huge mistakeby signing the two drivers they have —Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli. Theyseem to have the car, but I don’t think thedrivers are up to it. Ralf, for instance, justdoesn’t have the killer instinct that hisbrother had.”

Rauter worries despite the promise of anexciting season (so far as the championshipis concerned), F1’s “processional” racingmight be a turn-off.

“You know, they could improve thingstremendously if they eliminated the carbonfibre brakes and went back to steel pads.That way, the braking distance would be200 feet instead of the two feet it is now. Itwould take instinct and guts to make apass, but it would be possible and the raceswould be more exciting.”

The TSN host has a surprise pick for thechampionship.

“I think Felipe Massa will win the title,”he said, and then it’ll be a toss-up betweenAlonso and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) forthe runner-up position. I don’t think any-body else has much of a chance of being upthere.

“It’ll be fun to watch the new guys,though, and see how they make out.They’ve got a couple of great looking kidsin Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) and Lewis

Hamilton (McLaren).”In August, 1967, the cream of the

world’s racing crop came to Mosport forthe inaugural F1 Grand Prix of Canada.Jimmy Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart,Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, DanGurney, Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren,Jochen Rindt — the legendary list went onand on.

In the mix were two Canadians —Wietzes, now a Toyota dealer in Thornhill,in a spare Team Lotus 49 assigned to Clarkand Toronto commercial artist Al Pease, inan old Eagle-Climax he bought fromGurney.

During his career, Wietzes won in justabout every category of racing car heentered, whether it was a sports car or asingle-seater. He won back-to-backFormula Atlantic championships in 1969and ’70, drove in Formu8la 5000 and theoriginal Can-Am series, and won theTrans-Am championship.

Wietzes agrees it should be an excitingF1 season.

“Before, when the new guys would seeSchumacher coming, they’d move over.He’s gone, so they won’t feel as intimidat-ed.”

He doesn’t think Alsonso will have aseasy a time at McLaren as some peoplehave suggested.

“The Mercedes engine hasn’t per-formed well for them in the recent past,”he said. “So that’s something to thinkabout. And I don’t expect much out of thenew fellows immediately because youreally have to understand the technologybefore you can really race a modern F1car.”

But when it comes right down to it,Wietzes thinks the championship will bebetween Alonso and Raikkonen.

Brack is the only driver to win threeCanadian Driving Championships and hedid it three years straight — 1973, ’74 and’75. To win those titles, he had to beatfuture stars like F1’s Keke Rosberg, Indychampion Bobby Rahal and the legendaryGilles Villeneuve.

In 1968, as proprietor of Sports CarUnlimited in Clarkson, he was the importerof Lotus Brack, who went on to driveBRM F1 cars in Canadian GPs in 1970 and’71 (he finished seventh in the ’70 event),disagrees with Rauter and Wietzes, so faras this season of F1 racing is concerned.

“No, I don’t think it’s going to be all thatexciting,” he said.

“All the good guys — the stars — haveretired. Michael’s gone and Montoya’sgone and who else has their flair?

“Montoya was a bit like Villeneueve(both Gilles and Jacques) in that he couldput a show on for you. He’d charge in thereand make things interesting. The otherdrivers don’t do that.”

When pressed, however, Brack finallysaid:

“Well, I guess it will come down toeither Alonso or Kimi. Who else is there?”

OK. I can’t resist.I say Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault

will win the world championship this year,with Massa second and Alonso third.

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Renault Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy signs autographs for fans as he arrives at the pits for the second day practice sessionin Melbourne, Australia, March 17, 2007. Mark Horsburgh/Reuters

NORRISMCDONALD

TRACKTALK

New bloodTHE 2007 FORMULA ONE SEASON REVVED UPLAST WEEKEND. HERE ARE SOME PICKS FORTHE MONTHS AHEAD

By Mark RichardsonTorstar wire servce

If you’re a really bad driver, and youdon’t mind the whole countryknowing about it, then Andrew

Younghusband wants to hear from you.He’s the writer and host of Canada’s

Worst Driver, which is now looking forcandidates for its third season. Andsince the “winning” losers of the previ-ous two seasons both came fromOntario, Younghusband says he wantsto start looking there first.

“To tell the truth, some of the trulymost shocking drivers do their mostshocking driving on the 401,” he says.

“We had a guy in the first season who

played bumper tag on the 401 — he’dget in front of you and hit his brakes at110 km/h if you ticked him off. And wehad a kid last year from Whitby whowas in training to be a cop. He used hiscop badge to get out of tickets andboasted about it on television.”

He knows that much of the reason forthis is Ontario’s congestion on its high-ways, but that’s no excuse for poordriving, and Canada’s Worst Driveraims to improve the abilities of its con-testants until, finally, the leastredeemable person is left and declared“the worst.”

Along the way, says Younghusband,others learn from their mistakes.

“People who do watch the show a lot

will say to me, ‘I didn’t know this, Ididn’t know that, that’s a good tip.’People who watch this show look far-ther down the road now because that’ssomething that Scott Marshall (seniorinstructor with Young Drivers ofCanada, and show judge) constantlyhypes.

“I can really honestly stand behind itand say that I think it’s a good learningtool for an audience and it’s an amazinglearning tool for the people who get togo.”

There’s little incentive to appear, butpeople still apply. In the eight othercountries that broadcast local versionsof the show, every contestant but theeventual winner will win a car so they

really do want to improve. But becausethe show in Canada is produced for theDiscovery Channel — which is notallowed by the CRTC to make gameshows — the only recompense is tocover missed earnings during filming.

Even so, some 400 people were nom-inated for the first season and 200 forthe second season last year. These werewhittled down to short lists of 40 peo-ple, and a show producer drove withthem all to make the final selection.

“If you’ve ever been a passenger in acar and thought about the driver, ‘theyshould not have their licence,’ whetherit was with a grandparent, brother, sis-ter, friend or relative, we want to hearfrom you,” says Younghusband.

“Bad drivers should not be deniedthis high caliber of driver training. I saythat for all of us who share the roadswith them.”

Nominations are being accepted nowthrough the end of March, for filmingthat will take place this summer.

You can contact the show at [email protected], or phone 1-866-598-2591.

TV show looking for bad drivers — starting in Ontario

Andrew Younghusband

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27

Billboards, BlackBerries and other bad distractionsIwatched a guy

driving theother day. His

left hand was onthe wheel and hisright hand wasfuriously pokingaway at theLilliputian keys onhis BlackBerrywhile he alternatedholding the deviceat arm’s length sohe could see whathe was doing.

I’m not sure why he believed hismiddle-aged eyes would ever be ableto perform this task, and especiallynot while driving.

And yes, that’s even taking intoconsideration that a 55-year-old manis middle-aged, while for women it’s40, even though we live longer.

Much as I wanted to watch himmake his series of wrong numbers, Ikept my eyes on the road.

I also have a tendency to have myattention drawn to sudden movementsor shiny objects, not unlike a bird.Does anyone else think electronicbillboards, the combination of thesetwo things, are not just a little bit stu-pid?

Like reading maps and eating soup,scanning these signs is an activity thatshould be left to the passengers of thecar. But they are specifically designedto grab and hold your attention, driv-ing be damned.

I know this. I once worked, for avery short time, for one of the placesthat created some of the first boards inthis area.

Computer graphics were in theirinfancy at the time, and I’d design anad with as much movement as possi-ble. It had all the finesse of an Etch-a-Sketch, but the idea was to have peo-ple think they were actually seeing amotorcycle or a shoe flying across abillboard.

This was so long ago, the motorcy-cle and the shoe looked quite similar.

I was told to have the words scrollup or down, slide across, sparkle inand out, and zoom here and there.You could always tell when a newbiehad designed one of these ads — youhad to take a Gravol just to watchthem.

Back then, I’m sure people causedtraffic problems just trying to figureout what they were seeing.

Today, it’s worse than that. Thetechnology is so great, traffic getsbungled up as people actually becomeinvolved in what they’re watching.

Studies are ongoing to try to deter-mine just what contributes the most todriver distraction.

When statistics from those studiesbecome available, everyone will dowhat they always do with statistics:twist them into origami shapes to suittheir purposes.

I’m uncertain how an advertiser isgoing to get away with the conun-drum of trying to say that the fabulousad they’ve created to draw attention,doesn’t.

I still believe that cell phones arethe most dangerous distractions fordrivers, though someone wielding amascara wand or digging around inthe glovebox for a Nickelback CD is aclose second.

In 1965, the Americans announceda highway beautification program —a program that apparently skirtedFlorida. Regardless of the intent, thehighways are still pretty much a riotof ads for outlet malls and Denny’slocations.

In Canada, we are able to “adopt” ahighway, which means we plant flow-ers under the signs. Nowadays, thosetypes of billboards look positively

quaint. If you can’t say it with thou-sands of pixels, don’t bother trying tosay it at all.

It doesn’t matter how much clutterwe line our highways with, it’s alwaysup to the driver to stay focused on theever-changing conditions.

I’ve started receiving junk e-mailon my cell phone, which isn’t set upto receive e-mail or text, so I don’tknow how to clear them.

Then they started calling me (“Notinterested in declaring bankruptcy,but thanks so much for asking”).

The apparent urgency of advertis-ing means we don’t even have to opena paper or look out the windshield

anymore — they’re bringing it rightto us, wherever we go.

As I sat at a light reading an elec-tronic billboard advertising a psychicfair the other day, my BlackBerry-binging buddy pulled up beside me.

The good news? He never oncelooked up at the creative displaypromising to reveal his future.

No silly moving signs to distracthim from the important task at hand— dialing frantically while eventuallymoving off from a green light, alertedto the signal change by the car behindhim.

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WEEKLYDIVERSIONSACROSS1 Small scented pouch7 Pace11 Name of somepharaohs17 Magnetism18 Jellied consommé20 Eaves dropper?21 Large pitcher22 Subarctic zone23 Pilgrim’s goal24 European beetle25 Flag’s maple leafdesigner27 Elly and John’s sonin “For Better or ForWorse” (FBFW)29 Like: suffix30 News piece32 Please in PuertoVallarta: ___ favor33 Teensy35 P.E.I. redhead36 Large properties38 Criminal39 Cap part40 T-shirt too worn towear41 Medication42 P.E.I.’s tree: northern___ oak43 Killed46 Noxious shrub (B.C.)47 Fiddler MacMaster51 In addition52 Distance around athing53 Non-clerical

54 A Canadian lang.55 Tattler56 Ire57 He shot the big shots58 Joker59 French pal60 Sharpen61 Calcutta coin62 N.W.T.’s official tree:jack ___63 Judy Loman, e.g.65 A square has four66 Gave medicine to67 Possessive with noapostrophe68 Russian author69 Indecisive end70 Tremble73 Equine hybrids74 Shania Twain’shometown78 Jose’s house79 Saskatoon’sBessborough80 Bill81 Cease82 OR personnel83 “World’s largestWestern ___”(Edmonton)84 Basketball’s inven-tor: ___ Naismith86 Ruckus87 Moneylender of akind89 Dog in “FBFW”92 Suit maker94 Lament

95 Sonata movement96 Jean-Paul Riopelle,e.g.97 Scoffs98 Bird feeder treat99 Brother’s daughters

DOWN1 Habitat architect2 Sets out portions3 Dry red wine4 Embrace5 Libido6 Camping need (2wds.)7 Lustful, goatlike crea-ture (myth.)8 A Romanov9 Upon: prefix10 Glutton11 Hazardous12 Throb13 Russian space sta-tion, once14 Descendants15 Troublesome oceancurrent16 Planter19 Small roles26 Romaine28 Traveller’s stopover31 “The Magnificent”Lemieux33 Of Wales34 Her to Hervé35 Verdi opera37 Summer shade38 Yukon river,

Canada’s oldest (est.100,000 years)39 Small purple wild-flower41 French door42 Pay hike43 Singer McLachlan44 S. American rumi-nant45 On the move46 Like IMAX films47 Nostrils48 Stephen ___49 Silly50 ___ on (incited)52 Actor Paul (“DueSouth”)53 Poppy place56 Satirical singerNancy57 Praise for achieve-ment61 Orion’s brightest star62 Works of P.K. Page64 Rockies rodent65 Only fish in the sea?66 Ill-lit68 It’s beside the side-walk69 The Dalai Lama, e.g.70 Surgeons’ wear71 Man in Motion72 Suppose73 Bossie’s bellow74 Bagpiper’s beret75 Sloping letter76 Knotty77 Hockey and curling

79 Honkers80 Deck with a fool83 Endure

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Solutions on page 30

ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR. 19)New opportunities spring up forthe Aries. Kick up those heelsand go, go, go for them.Remember: Someone specialwill be rooting for your success.

TAURUS (APR. 20 TO MAY 20)Indulge your love of beauty.Buy something marvelous foryour home, then plan a roman-tic dinner at a special place withthat special person.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Your diligent search for thetruth pays off. You can now goahead and make that decisionfully armed with the facts.Expect some resistance to yourplans.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Travel is favored. But be pre-

pared to be flexible in planningyour trip. A family situationmight cause you to delay youroriginal departure date.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) Be careful in whom you con-fide your secrets. While youcertainly have your admirers,you also have detractors whowould love to puncture theLion’s pride.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) That family problem still needsyour attention. It would beunwise at this time to let thingsslide. Things start to look morepromising on the job.

LIBRA(SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22)Your mate seems to feelincreasingly ignored. Try for abetter balance between yourhome and work commitments.

Start with a romantic weekendgetaway.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21)Missed opportunities usuallycome from miscommunication.It’s not too late to correct thewrong assumptions. A timelycall can help re-establishimportant contacts.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21)Your usually keen sense ofdirection needs some sharpen-ing this week. Stay focused onyour goals despite those peskydistractions. Your efforts willsoon pay off.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19)Don’t automatically reject sug-gestions from friends and fami-ly members. Some of theirideas might be helpful. Checkthem out before you decide to

chuck them out.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18)Expect to be pleasantly startledwhen a promise from the pastfinally comes through for you.Use this as an opportunity torestart that long-delayed proj-ect.

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) An air of conspiracy dominatesthe workplace. Avoid takingsides. This is one time whenyou need to concentrate onbeing your own best friend.

YOU BORN THIS WEEK: You despise hypocrisy. Yourhonesty is admired, althoughyour friends sometimes feelyou could be less blunt and alittle more diplomatic. You loveliving life to the fullest.

(c) 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

WEEKLYSTARS

Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each col-umn of nine and each section of nine (three squares bythree) contains the numbers 1 through 9 in any order.There is only one solution to each puzzle. Solutions, tipsand computer program available at www.sudoko.com

SOLUTION ON PAGE 30

CHUCKLE BROS Brian and Ron Boychuk

By Don PowerFor The Independent

March 31, 2007 was probablythe last thing on BradGushue’s mind when he and

his Newfoundland and Labrador curl-ing rink won an Olympic gold medallast year in Italy.

But Feb. 24, 2006 — the day Gushuebeat Finland’s MarkkuUusipaavalniemi in the Olympic final— will be front and centre next weekwhen Sport Newfoundland andLabrador holds its annual athleticsawards banquet, and Gushue walks upto accept a couple of prizes.

The St. John’s curling skip is nomi-nated for a pair of awards at the provin-cial banquet, scheduled to take place atThe Colonnade in Pleasantville nextSaturday. Gushue has been selected asa finalist for the Ferd Hayward SeniorMale Athlete of the Year Award and histeam is in the running for the EdwardBrown Team of the Year Award.

Of course, 2006 was a special yearfor the St. John’s Curling Club rink.They represented Canada at the TurinOlympics and brought home the firstgold medal for a Canadian men’s curl-ing team.

“Our province witnessed somememorable sporting achievements inthe past year,” says Trevor Paine,chairman of the annual awards ban-quet.

Last year was also special for a cou-ple of other teams who may have themisfortune of enjoying tremendoussuccess in Gushue’s shadow.

The Kelly’s Pub Canadians men’ssoftball team won the Canadian juniorchampionship last summer, riding thestrength of tournament most valuableplayer Sean Cleary’s pitching arm tothe title.

And The Rock Rugby Club demon-strated to the rest of the country we doknow how to play rugby in thisprovince. The Rock successfullydefended its Rugby CanadaSuperLeague title with a convincingwin over Saskatchewan’s Prairie Fireat Swilers’ Complex.

Those two teams are the other final-ists for team of the year.

In the senior male athlete category,Gushue is competing against a runnerand a rugby star.

Colin Fewer of Harbour Main quali-fied to run for Canada with a strong2006 season. His performance at thenational cross-country championshipin December, as well as strong finishesin Vancouver and Ottawa, highlightedhis year, which included being namedprovincial road race champion.

Rod Snow, who retired from profes-sional rugby in 2005, returned toprovincial play and led the Rock to a 6-0 record in the Eastern conference ofthe SuperLeague before a total disman-tling of the Prairie Fire in the titlematch. Snow was also instrumental inleading the Canadian rugby team to aqualifying win over the United States— again on Swilers’ pitch — that putCanada into the next World Cup. Snowcapped off that match by scoring a tryin front of the hometown fans.

These are just a couple of examples,

Paine stresses, that show the magni-tude of the accomplishments in 2006.

“Once again this year the quality ofathletes, coaches and volunteers are ofan extremely high calibre,” Paine says.“The group certainly represents theprogress our province is making whenit comes to competing on a nationaland international stage. We haveOlympic gold medal winners, two-time national rugby champions, nation-al softball champions, a world rankedswimmer and a nationally ranked ten-nis player … to mention only a few.”

The senior female honour, theElizabeth Swan Memorial Award, willgo to rugby’s Charlene Barter, soccer’sLaura Breen or basketball’s KatherineQuackenbush.

Barter captained the Rock seniorwomen’s team at the nationals lastyear, and was selected to the tourna-ment’s all-star team.

Breen is one of the premier soccerplayers on the island, and showed thatlast year. She was named the JubileeShield’s most valuable player in theregular season after leading the leaguein scoring and her team to a first placefinish. Following that season, she ledMUN to the semifinals in AUS play,where she was named first teamAtlantic all-star and second teamCanadian all-star.

Quackenbush was named the AUSdefensive player of the year as a MUNSea-Hawk. She was also named to theleague tournament’s all-star team. Sheled MUN in scoring, rebounding,assists and steals, the first Sea-Hawk toever accomplish that feat.

Rugby is also prominent in the jun-ior male athlete of the year category.The Joe Mullins Memorial Award willbe presented to tennis player KendrickAu, rugby player Adam Paul or figureskater Joey Russell.

Au is one of the top tennis players toever come out of Newfoundland andLabrador. The provincial singles anddoubles under-18 champion, Au isranked top eight in Canada in that cat-egory.

Paul, although still in his teens, wasa regular member of the Rock, theRugby Canada Super League champi-ons, for the second successive year. Hewas also starting scrum half forAtlantic and national teams last year.With the national under-19 squad, heplayed in the World Cup in Dubai.

Russell, from Labrador City, placedfourth at an international skating juniorevent in Budapest, Hungary and 11th atanother international event in Norway.He was also the provincial juniormen’s champ.

Volleyball player Maura Hayes,swimmer Katarina Roxon and basket-ball player Victoria Thistle will com-pete for the Margaret Davis JuniorFemale Athlete of the Year Award.

Hayes was a member of the TeamCanada at an under-16 volleyball eventin Florida last year. She was named tothe team after an all-star performanceat the Eastern Canadian champi-onships.

Stephenville native Roxon set sevensenior national disabled swimming

INDEPENDENTSPORTSFRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — PAGE 29

Spring cleaningA mental cleansing of thethoughts stored through winter

Provincial honours; international calibreQuality of nominations for provincial athletic awards continues to rise, says committee chairman

See “A credit,” page 30

Brad Gushue’s Olympic gold medal victory in curling in Turin last year was just one of the many national or international sporting highlights from 2006. Andy Clark/Reuters

DON POWERPower Point

Spring arrived on our shores earli-er this week, although from thesub-freezing temperatures and

snow squalls Wednesday, you’d neversay it. However, the expeditious depar-ture of snow is a sure sign that the deadgrass, half-buried under brown moundsof crusted ice, will be green before long.

That can mean just one thing: theMaster’s golf tournament is just aroundthe corner.

OK, two things. It also means spring-cleaning, that time when men of allshapes and sizes return to the outdoorsand repair the mess the winter leftaround their houses.

For guys like me, it’s spring cleaningof a different kind; time to clear awaywinter notes that I have tacked up, tapeddown, jammed together and crumpledup but have yet to throw away …

A short while ago — Valentine’s Dayto be exact — the provincial govern-ment announced plans to build a hock-ey rink in Torbay, for the towns and res-idents of the Northeast Avalon. Sincethen, there has been much speculationabout how the rink will look, and howmuch the locals will benefit.

There’s also been talk of a potentialmerger between two minor hockeyassociations — Northeast and Avalonhave discussed joining forces for nextyear. Avalon has already approved thedeal; Northeast members vote Sundaynight.

(A lengthy meeting Wednesday nightdiscussed a lot of issues about the merg-er. I’m still on two minds about the deal,but must decide soon. I’ll keep youinformed next week on the vote.)

But one thing that will happen whenthe arena opens is the return of theAvalon East name to the Avalon East.

Way back in 1966, the Avalon EastHockey League started, and since thenteams from Torbay, Outer Cove,Flatrock, Pouch Cove and PortugalCove — even Bell Island — haveplayed in a community-based league.

When this arena opens, look for com-munity-minded individuals like CraigLegrow, Ron Cadigan and Carl Doyle,to name three, to look to restart theAvalon East, and reclaim the name.

The Avalon East of 2007 is not theAvalon East that residents know. It’stime to return to the old intermediateset-up, allow local guys to play a gameof hockey for their hometowns, andprovide some local entertainment.

Whether you need 1,250 seats for that— the proposed seating in the rink — isdoubtful. But if the folks involved inNortheast minor hockey have their way,there’ll be two ice surfaces constructedin Torbay, not one.

That’s probably a pipe dream, sincegovernment has already committed thefunding for one, but it’s a thought worthpursuing down the road.

•••Sometime this weekend, perhaps as

early as March 23 in Deer Lake, thechampions of the West Coast SeniorHockey League will be crowned.

Across the province in HarbourGrace, more than 1,000 Cee Bees fol-lowers will cram into SW MooresMemorial Stadium Saturday night forgame three of the Conception BayNorth-Southern Shore Avalon Eastfinal. CBN can wrap up that series withtwo more wins, Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Bonavista, the St.John’s Midget Maple Leafs are one win

It’s time to return to the old intermediate set-up, allow local

guys to play a game of hockey for their hometowns, and

provide some local entertainment.

See “The charade,” page 30

Ioften wonder at the catastrophes wehumans mete out to the earth, waterand air that sustain us. And we jus-

tify our actions with some flavour ofeconomic development and collectivegood — faster transportation, cheaperpower or more jobs.

Not that these aren’t good things, butmore often than not progress stampedesforward with little or only spuriousefforts to protect the environment.Planners and policy makers focus onshort-term benefits while ignoringlong-term consequences. Boardroomdecisions are guided by the bottom line.

Sometimes the politicians we elect toprotect our interests see no further thanthe next election. Voices that expoundthe pitfalls of unbridled progress aretrampled, labelled as extremists, or atthe very least not elected.

But there is a bright side. Some voic-es — Dr. David Suzuki for instance —are being listened to and respectedmore and more. Maybe we are begin-ning to see the damage that has accu-mulated since the industrial revolution.Perhaps, just perhaps, we are collec-tively wiser.

Maybe politicians with an environ-mental conscience now stand a chancein the political and economic fray.More than likely, planetary calamitieslike global warming have brought us toour senses. Prospects of whole citiesunder water by century’s end have con-vinced all but the most right wing ofpoliticians and oil company executivesthat climate change is for real. Maybewe’ll begin to do something about it.

Although doing our part to save theplanet is good and noble, there are tan-gible and practical projects that needattention right here in Newfoundlandright now. Newfoundland Power is inthe process of refitting its LittleRattling Brook power plant, providinga choice opportunity to right a 49-year-old wrong.

Little Rattling Brook is a tributary ofthe Exploits River, the largest and mostprolific salmon river on the island por-tion of Newfoundland and Labrador.Nearly 30,000 salmon swam throughthe counting facility on the Exploits in2005. Back in the 1950s, when the

Exploits supported less than 5,000 fish,the tiny tributary, Little Rattling Brook,was home to 1,100 salmon.

In addition to this, 35 per cent of thebrook’s stock was two and three-winterfish; 20-to-25-pound fish were com-mon and an occasional 40-poundercame ashore each year. For those whoaren’t deep into salmon fishing, twoand three-winter fish, or multisea win-ter fish leave their native rivers early inthe spring as smolt and stay at sea forseveral winters before returning aschunky well-nourished salmon.They’re genetically programmed to dowhat they do and are an invaluableresource.

The smaller (four to six pound) and

more common fish are called grilse andstay at sea only one winter. Un-fortunately, while grilse have fairedwell in recent years, two and three win-ter fish are in steady decline — butLittle Rattling Brook had the highestpercentage of those fish in all ofNewfoundland.

With such a prolific run of bigsalmon, Little Rattling Brook attractedanglers from all over the world, anx-

ious and grateful to test their skill andluck against the king of game fish. Butin 1957, our insatiable thirst for energydestroyed the river.

A hydroelectric project dried up theriver to the point salmon could nolonger reach their spawning grounds.The immediate benefits were 20 jobsfor the residents of Norris Arm andmore power for the paper mills. Thejobs have since dwindled to two andanglers are noticeably absent.

Fortunately, a few salmon continuedto spawn downstream from the hydro-electric plant and are trusted to preservethe genetic purity of the original LittleRattling Brook stock. With the help ofthe same powers that destroyed their

river, they just might succeed. The town of Norris Arm has official-

ly realized the importance of Atlanticsalmon as an economic, ecological andrecreational asset. Like the rest of ruralNewfoundland, Norris Arm has beendevastated by the collapse of the com-mercial fishery, lack of employment,and out-migration.

In August 1999, the Norris Arm eco-nomic development committee identi-fied the restoration of Little RattlingBrook’s once magnificent salmon runas their top priority.

The committee has been lobbying forsupport and negotiating withNewfoundland Power and DFO offi-cials ever since. The project has beenendorsed by the Atlantic SalmonFederation, the Salmonid Council ofNewfoundland and Labrador, TrevorTaylor (former provincial Fisheriesminister) and former federal minister ofFisheries, Gerald Regan.

Allan Paddock, resident of NorrisArm and member of the developmentcommittee, says the project is techni-cally feasible and ripe for the doingwhile the power plant is being refitted.

Water spillage tests were conductedduring the fall of 2003 and the summerof 2005 through the combined effortsof Newfoundland Power, DFO, and thecommittee. The purpose was to ascer-tain just how much water is necessaryto restore the almost dry river bed to aviable salmon river. What a joy it wasfor local residents to hear the roar of theriver once more.

All that’s needed now is the sacrificeof water by Newfoundland Power and afish ladder to facilitate fish passage. Inmy view, it’s a small sacrifice to restoreand nourish a unique stock of wildsalmon that have been deprived of theirhabitat.

There will surely be long-term andsustainable economic gain as anglersreturn to cast their lines and savour theswirl of Salar’s broad powerful tail as itnegotiates this tiny jewel of a river.

Paul Smith is a freelance writer andoutdoor enthusiast living in Spaniard’sBay.

[email protected]

30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS MARCH 23, 2007

Solutions for crossword on page 28 Solutions for sudoku on page 28

Saving Little Rattling BrookAfter 49 years, the time is right to bring back this once-popular spawning ground

PAUL SMITHThe Rock Outdoors

records last year — four in long courseswimming last year (50-, 100- and 200-metre breaststroke and the 1,500-metrefreestyle) and three in short course (50-,100- and 200-metre breaststroke).

Thistle of St. John’s is one of theprovince’s top female athletes. An all-star soccer player, she was also namedmost valuable player of the localDivision I Ladies Basketball League. AtMUN, Thistle played for the varsityteams in both soccer and basketball.

There are also two awards to be pre-sented for individuals off the field ofplay.

The John Drinkwater Coach of the

Year Award finalists include MichaelBursey of gymnastics, Pat Parfrey ofrugby and Paul Power of rowing.

Bursey was named that sport’s coachof the year, and was awarded by coach-ing the provincial team at the 2007Canada Winter Games.

Parfrey was instrumental in TheRock’s rugby success and developedtwo senior national team players.

Power coached 12 crews to provin-cial titles, setting five provincial recordsin the process. He also led the provinceto seven gold, seven silver and fivebronze at the Atlantic championships.

The finalists for the Graham SnowExecutive of the Year Award includeMel Osmond of 5-pin bowling, Judy

Pittman of soccer and Beverly White ofgymnastics.

“Of the seven categories,” Paine says,“there are 13 sports represented. Thisspeaks volumes to the quality of ath-letes, coaches and volunteers we areproducing.

“As well, no less than 12 nominatedathletes have either varsity or nationalteam experience in 2006. That’s a cred-it to the coaches and volunteers that aretraining our athletes.”

Tickets for the banquet are available for$25 each at the Sport NL office (576-4932).

[email protected]

‘A credit to the coaches and volunteers’From page 29

Little Rattling Brook near Norris Arm. Al Paddock photo

away from the provincial midget title,and a return shot to defend theirAtlantic championship. A win tonightagainst Tri-Pen Frost would send theLeafs on to Cornwall, P.E.I. for theAtlantics.

While a hockey fan can’t really getto all events, there’s hardly any needto go. That’s because the outcome isnot in doubt.

Nobody will be shocked to learnthat by Monday, Deer Lake will be theWest Coast champ; the Cee Bees willtop the Avalon East, and the midgetLeafs will once again be provincial

champs.In fact, you didn’t even need to wait

until this weekend to foresee that out-come. That forecast could have beenmade in October and, in fact, probablywas.

And that, more than anything, iswhy nobody watches local hockey, atleast over here on the east coast.

It’s also why the time has come forone provincial senior hockey league.Keep two divisions, and only play ahome-and-home interlocking sched-ule, but the charade is over.

Time for provincial senior hockeyto resurface.

[email protected]

‘The charade is over’From page 29

MARCH 23, 2007 INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 31

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INDEPENDENTCLASSIFIEDFRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 23-29, 2007 — PAGE 32

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2007-03-23

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