Zimbabwe exile visits Thornbury to speak of the battle for change

By Erika Engel

He's been beaten, jailed and exiled from his home in Zimbabwe by the Robert Mugabe led Regime.

Roy Bennett fights for democratic change from his refuge in South Africa.

Now, he is the treasurer general of the opposition party in Zimbabwe called the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It's a post-liberation movement without precedent in Africa, and the people's struggle is all uphill. Bennett was a farmer in Zimbabwe years ago when the infrastructure was second to none and the country had a reputation as Africa's biggest exporter of food. Now people starve, there is no clean water or sewage treatment, and an education is a luxury unknown.

"I will stay in it until we've delivered change to people, then I will be happy to get out of it and be a simple farmer again," said Bennett at Ashanti Coffee Enterprises in Thornbury on December 11.

He made the stop in The Blue Mountains on a recent on a recent trip to Canada. David and Amy Wilding-Davies, owners of Ashanti, and Karen Clegg, marketing coordinator, invited him to the coffee shop and presented him with a cheque for $3,100 - a result of a Zimday fundraising event at the coffee shop on November 29.

Bennett will put the money in a Zimfund and use it to buy medical supplies for victims of political violence. He spent a couple hours speaking to the small crowd that gathered in the coffee shop. They were eager to ask questions and listened to Bennett's first-hand account of political corruption and resilient Zimbabweans.

"You've got to take your hat off to the Zimbabwe people," he said, noting the brutality and torture done to them for defying the Mugabe regime and voting for democratic change.

"[The people] lose everything," he said. "Their income, their homes. Their families are raped, they are imprisoned, beaten ... We as a party are unable to support them, but they've continued strong, wanting change."

He has photos on his computer of vicious acts of torture and violence.

Infrastructure has crumbled, and the people are devastated. Neighbouring countries have declared their shared borders disaster areas because of the rampage of fatal diseases. All the horror, says Bennett, began after voters rejected Mugabe's constitution to grant him absolute rule of the country for life.

"The problem in Zimbabwe is a political problem," said Bennett. "So until we can bring about political change, we are not going to be able to ease the suffering of the people."

He says it is resources that will win the war for change. Without them, the people remain oppressed, and their stand against Mutable, though defiant and courageous, gains no ground.

But Bennett is not in Zimbabwe anymore, he and his family are in South Africa, they could move to Canada, be far away from the suffering. Bennett, himself said there isn't anything good in Zimbabwe right now. Why not leave?

His answer is calculated, but shaken with emotion.

"In life you have a lot of choices," he starts.

He interrupts the thought to explain his history as a farmer in a new community. He got involved with the people there. Taught them about income farming. Helped them develop stability. They pushed him into politics. Fifteen died in the fight for change.

"It's an honour to represent them," said Bennett. "They have shown solidarity and sacrifice on my behalf ... It's not about me or my family, it's about them. Those people - they have seen hope. They have seen truth and honesty ...I would be walking away from these people ... surely they haven't given their lives in vain."

It's a dark time for a nation that fell from glory. The infrastructure that was second to none, even under Mugabe's early rule, has crumbled. AIDS and Cholera are rampant and vicious.

Bennett says it's genocide in a country that was once a "gem." People are dying because the government will not provide what they deserve. They want only a roof over their heads, education for their children and two meals a day. It's not a stretch for a country that once was the largest exporter of food in Africa.

"You never ever know about the adversity or the suffering of people until you get there," said Bennett. "Their only hope is in fellow people who do good."

The owners at Ashanti committed themselves to forming a local group to support the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe in their fight for change. Watch The Blue Mountains Courier Herald for more details.

New novel from local author tells tall tails

Wolves, gold, pioneers, prospectors, pick axes, romance, dog sleds, log cabins, Mounties, mountains and Malamutes come together to make an authentic and riveting Canadian adventure written by Beaver Valley author Dorris Heffron.

City Wolves follows Meg Wilkinson as she leaves home and tragedy in Nova Scotia for the rough and wild territory of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. Meg's trailblazing tendency, both literal and figurative, leads her to become the first female veterinarian in Canada.

Meg discovers men and women of all kinds who prove there is no mold for human beings. She falls in love with the independent, spirited sled dogs of the north whose history was inspiration for her veterinary studies.

Meg's story is laced with the Inuit tale of Ike and Piji, an ancient couple of the Malamute tribe who raise wolf pups as children.

It's a beautiful picture of the variety of the human race and the importance of that unique mix.

Heffron's history as an author is one of pioneering. She wrote three books for teenagers, at a time when literature was labelled "children's" or "adults" and nothing in between. She then wrote an adult novel, A Shark in the House, about a female dentist.

She started working on the idea for her latest book after her beloved dog, Frauzie, died. She got an Alaskan Malamute pup and called her Yukon Sally. Her vet told her that the Malamute would be an independent thinker, more like a wolf than any other dog. She fell in love.

Heffron discovered that the Malamute glory days were indeed the days of the Klondike Kings and the Gold Rush. She took a trip to the Canadian North, going as far north as one can on the mainland. Yukon Sally led Heffron along the trails, and the pair marveled at the great white north.

She came up with the story of Meg Wilkinson, the first female veterinarian, so she could take her reader across Canada and then into the Gold Rush.

"People expect that you're going to do it in that extreme feminist way - how hard it was for her," said Heffron from her home near Thornbury in between book tour stops. "Women weren't always oppressed; there were always men who thought they were really cool because of [what they were doing] and facilitated them."

Heffron doesn't try to make her wolf characters and her human characters the same. She says the theme of her book isn't that people are just like wolves or that women are just like men.

"It's really about the two different sexes and all that's between their needing each other," said Heffron. "And that's the deeper theme - the interconnectedness of people and animals. That's what we need to recognize."

There isn't a specific audience for City Wolves, and Heffron wrote her novel so that the meaning would be infinite, because the people she writes about are infinite.

She calls the book her collective novel, and says although it was a 10-year project she's been writing it all her life.

City Wolves is an historical fiction novel with some characters from history and some from Heffron's imagination. And much of the plot is based on real events.

"I thought it made the story more engrossing and artful," said Heffron.

The read is easy, but the digestion lasts long after the pages are turned. The real-life aspect of the story makes it a compelling and authentic tale.

Heffron and her husband Don Gauer live in a home they built at Little Creek Wolf Range off the Beaver Valley Road with their Malamutes Yukie two and Jake.

City Wolves was published by Blue Butterfly Books and is available by order at most bookstores or online at Amazon.com.

Heffron will be at the L.E. Shore Library on Sunday, Nov. 16 to read passages from her book at 1:30 p.m.

The people at Passchendaele

November 12, 2008

I saw the film, Passchendaele this week. It’s a Canadian made film, actually one of the most expensive ever made. It was written and directed by Calgary born Paul Gross, who also plays the lead.
It’s an incredible film, shot mostly in Canada. It follows Gross’ character Michael Dunne from the battle to a hospital in Calgary then back to the fighting again. Dunne was Gross’ grandfather, and the story is based on his own.
Gross told Now Magazine almost ten years ago about his grandfather’s confession before he died.
“He went completely out of his mind at the end. He started telling me about a hideous event that happened during a skirmish …He’d killed someone in a miserable horrible way and that had obviously haunted him throughout the rest of his life, “ said Gross. “It really affected me and I’ve not been able to get it out of my head.”
Gross ends the film at the battle of Passchendaele, with his characters fighting chest deep in shell craters filled with brown water in an endless field of grey unforgiving mud.
The Canadian troops were called to the battle when others had failed to win. They won the fight at a cost of nearly 16,000 men and a battle that lasted months, gaining the Allies about nine kilometers of ground. Five months later, the Germans re-took the ground they lost.
Intertwined in the war story is a love story.
Gross does a brilliant job of conveying Canadian courage and spirit in the film. He reminded me of the importance of Remembrance Day.
Gross’ film was not inspired by the muddy battle of Passchendaele, but by his brave, tortured grandfather who survived The Great War.
It’s not about remembering all the battles that were fought, but about the Canadians, and others who fought in them, who made sacrifices and showed courage.
We wear a poppy today because one Canadian medical officer looked up one day to see the red blooms amidst a grey field of dead, and thought, “we’re going to have to remember these people somehow.“

'Tis the season. 'Tisn't it?

October 30, 2008

Behold, I bring you good tidings and great news, there's only 56 more sleeps until Christmas.

It's lucky I was at Sears the other day to see the holly jolly figures of everything festive being poured onto the shelves, or I might not have started the countdown in time for this week's paper.

I used to wait until I bought all the half-price post-Halloween candy before I started thinking about Christmas candy to come. I'm starting to think that stores would save a lot of trouble re-merchandising if they just lobbied for a change in fall colours.

Garland makes good spider webs, and the pilgrims probably wore Santa hats. We could simply say, "Happy Hallow-days-giving," and have candy, corn, turkey, and figgy pudding for three months.

I'm sure the trick-or-treat Elmo would be a big seller.

Speaking of big sellers, 42 Meaford residents and 25 from Thornbury joined over 90,000 Canadians in spending a combined $18 million ordering Christmas gifts from one catalogue - the World Vision Gift Catalogue. It's an international wish book, but contrary to so many others, it's filled with gifts people need.

This year, World Vision's catalogue, available online, features a few new gifts. For $75, donors can pay for one child soldier to be "restored to safety and hope" through a reintegration program. For $60, donors can help an Afghan farmer grow pomegranates, saffron, pistachios and more.

There are many other practical and much-needed gifts available for purchase in the gift catalogue including goats, fruit trees, village latrines, shelters, warm clothing, emergency supplies, clean water equipment, solar panels for power generation and school supplies.

Here's the only statistic I'm going to quote, because I think you already know the dire need of so many people across the globe.

World Vision Canada conducted a poll with the help of survey experts Ipsos Reid and found that seven in 10 Canadians say they don't need anything for Christmas.

Of course, Christmas is a time for giving gifts, and it's an exciting thing to do. Why not add one or two gifts to your list from the gift catalogue?

Charities like World Vision give Canadians the opportunity to give even more at Christmas time - the chance to give sweaters that won't be returned and food that won't go bad. There are lots of charities to give to this Christmas, including local food banks, outreaches and churches.

It's the tradition that St. Nicholas started and the reason for those city block sized department stores drowning in cinnamon candles and glittering plastic icicles.

Give some extra love this Christmas.

Superman, eh?!

October 5, 2008

I was chatting with an old friend at a Terry Fox event last week. He told me he just heard the cutest thing. He was standing near a little boy who had finished his run when the boy exclaimed between breaths, "Wow, I'm so good at running, I should just run around Canada."

Now, that's Canadian courage.

The kind of courage that Terry Fox himself displayed when he dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean at the start of his iconic journey across Canada. Fox was once heard saying, "I remember promising myself that should I live, I would prove myself deserving of life." He dreamed that each Canadian would give $1 to Cancer research so that one day, a cure would be found.

Fox didn't make it across Canada, but a few months before he died, his dream was realized.

Canadians had donated over $24 million to the Marathon of Hope, the population at the time was 24 million.

The Marathon of Hope is and always was about more than cancer. It's about the little boy who now believes he can just run around Canada. Terry's courage is the part that people remember - the thing that makes him a hero.

Heroes aren't too rare a phenomenon in Canada. In fact, the nation is more like the planet Krypton than most may think.

Superman's creator was actually an average Canadian Joe ... Joe Shuster. I'm sure many remember that Historica moment on TV at the train station when the lady says " a hero in tights? It'll never fly." And the young man says, "Fly, no, but he can leap over tall buildings."

Then he hands a sketch of the Man of Steel.

Shuster moved to the United States and worked from there to sell his hero and start a comic book trend. Superman, however, was decidedly Canadian.

Canuck novelist Mordecai Richler said Superman's extraordinary strength, speed and superhuman powers hidden under a modest, even bland, alter ego makes him an archetypal Canadian personality.

The Man of Steel is a universal hero known as the champion of virtue completely content to take no credit for his deeds and instead live as a quiet and subtle man.

I like Canadian heroes. For some reason, they get their head on right and it stays that way. They see enough of reality to stay grounded, but dream big enough to defy odds. Maybe it's because they aren't chased everywhere by paparazzi and they rarely have to get restraining orders against 12 year-old girls and their mothers. Maybe it's because they are Canadians first, and heroes second.

Lucille Teasdale was Montreal born, and despite growing up in a working-class family in the 1930s, she was determined to go to medical school. She graduated at 26 and while interning decided she wanted to be a surgeon. Canada and the U.S. refused to admit her, and she later moved to France where she was accepted by two hospitals and licensed as a surgeon.

She married another doctor and moved to Uganda to start a hospital. She treated 13,000 patients throughout her career in Uganda. She worked through wars, AIDS epidemics and unimaginable carnage.

Teasdale contracted HIV in the 1980s, probably while operating on a soldier. She was given two years to live. She continued to perform surgeries in Uganda until 1993. She said simply, "If I didn't do it, the patients would die." When surgery became too difficult, she and her husband set up a foundation to guarantee the future of their hospital, and for the last two years of her life, Teasdale toured the world to raise funds for the foundation. The hospital is now one of the largest medical centres in Uganda.

Fox and Teasdale were both recipients of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian award. The order recognizes lifetime achievement and merit in service to Canada or humanity at large. There's a motto for order recipients - a member of the Order of Canada must desire a better country.

They prove not only that they are deserving of life, but also that life is worth desiring.

Rocks in the treasury

I walked into a store the other day.

I guess it was a flea market.

I'm ruining this, aren't I?

Well, there was a section for "treasures." And behind a few "you break it you buy it" notes, the shelves were crowded with trinkets, some shiny, some dull. Some half and half, depending where the dust had settled.

There were many shelves full of books, and one decrepit, thick black spine caught my attention. The tired book was completely ordinary. Once a textbook, once pristine, with white pages tightly bound, it probably arrived in the mail wrapped brown paper and tied with string.

It was probably discarded as soon as the graduate received their certificate.

Now it's on a shelf with other books, some standing a little straighter than others. Across the aisle are the lazy typewriters with dented cases, the threadbare chairs, frayed ticket stubs with washed out ink and thousands of teacups. All in a section called "treasures."

What keeps these faded memories from ending up in the junkyard? Maybe chance. Maybe more.

When I was young, my family had a Black Lab. We called him Tar. He called us obvious.

He loved swimming and chasing sticks, but toward the end of his life he slowed down a bit. He couldn't swim as far, but he still loved the water. We used to take him down to the beach near Thornbury Harbour. It's very rocky there, we often wished for sand, but Tar thought it was perfect.

While we sat on the beach, skipping rocks off the shore or wishing for sand to make castles, Tar would stand knee deep in the water staring into the waves. His ears fell forwards to cover the side of his face.

Labs have adorable ears.

His brown eyes watched the bottom of the lake, his head moving slightly as he searched the rocks. Then one would catch the sun, and sparkle like he wanted it to. He would shove his ink black head under the water and stay there until he had that grey rock in his jaw.

Then he would bring it to a spot on the beach, near enough so we knew it was a gift, but far enough away to keep it safe. After it was placed neatly on the pile - and they were neat piles - he trotted back to the water to wait patiently for a new gem.

The rocks chipped his teeth, the water got in his ears and made them ache, and the piles always tumbled when we left for home, but on our return, Tar made more treasure piles for us, his family.

I've heard it said that one's heart is always found in the same place as one's treasure, and that makes me think that something precious is that way because our heart decides it.

Teacups, typewriters, ticket stubs and Tar. Perhaps value is found where value is placed.

Questions not watered down for meeting

October 23, 2008

Clarksburg residents put some tough questions to Town of the Blue Mountains staff and council at two meetings about plans for the water and wastewater servicing project.

The meetings, on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Monday, Oct. 20, were held at the Marsh St. Centre and were a result of a growing list of questions and concerns over the cost of providing town water and sewer services to Clarksburg residents.

Reg Russwurm, director of engineering and public works for The Blue Mountains, made the presentation and fielded questions with the help of Deputy Mayor Duncan McKinlay.

The plans, thus far, are not specific. The next step in the process is to make preliminary designs, and decide on the best option. Ideas to phase the construction to include just the downtown area in the beginning and/or to only install lines for water and not wastewater are a few options town staff will look at.

The cost of servicing seemed daunting to the residents present at the meetings. The town has estimated that if it was to proceed with the plan today, and achieved provincial funding in addition to the federal government's contribution of $5 million, each Clarksburg resident would have to pay $22,825 for service to their property line.

They would then have to arrange and pay for a contractor to connect the service from the property line to their home or business, and to decommission their existing septic system and well.

The few residents already legally connected to the town's water and sewer service, will not be charged a capital charge for the new system, since a portion of their monthly bills is set aside for replacement and repair.

The existing pipes in Clarksburg are smaller than the planned pipes and will be replaced should the project be approved. A key component in the plan, according to Russwurm is fire safety and larger pipes are required to meet safety standards for emergency situations.

Russwurm assured the residents that the plan would be unlikely to proceed without provincial funding. The town's applications to the province have been denied three times, but they will make another application in November for funds from a project called Building Canada. The plan released by the town projects a three-way split in the cost, $5 million from the federal government, $5 million from the province, and another $5 million from the town.

All the costs released to date are estimates and could change based on the many variables in the project, not the least of which is the current state of the economy.

Many of the people at the meeting voiced their concerns about the cost of the project especially in light of the recent economic uncertainty. One person suggested a five-year moratorium be placed on the plans, and could not believe the plan was being considered at the present time.

McKinlay said he would not stop moving forward with preliminary plans because there was no way to tell what was going to happen in the economy in the next five years or what the governments will do for economic stimulus. He stressed, however, that drafting some preliminary plans did not mean they were committing to any construction date, or even to a definite plan.

Town staff have been pursuing the idea of servicing Clarksburg for a number of years, even surveying the well water and septic treatments that exist now. An independent consulting engineering and planning company, the Ainley Group, found that almost a third of the residences in Clarksburg had water that would not pass the Ministry of Environment standards for water quality.

Russwurm reasoned that the survey, conducted about six years ago, showed the majority of people in Clarksburg had acceptable water quality, but still showed concern about the properties below standard.

"We want to provide good water quality to everyone," said Russwurm. "Not just the majority of people."

Councillor Cameron Kennedy told the crowd at the meeting that his biggest concern as a council member was the health of the citizens, more than the cost of the project.

"It's not a decision that council will make easily," he said. "If we have one person sick from water or septic ... I don't want that on my shoulders."

One resident said the plan was being pushed on the town, and that many of the residents he knew didn't even want water and wastewater servicing. He asked for a show of hands at the meeting to see who wanted the service. His survey was cut short, however, by McKinlay who said that private comment forms were available for all local residents and the town council and staff would carefully consider all the comments they received.

Mayor Ellen Anderson cautioned her constituents to approach the issue carefully.

"It's always an emotional issue when money is involved," she said. "We are trying to do the right thing ... I don't want to see human beings in my municipality arguing about water."

She said the costs of a septic system and a well are sometimes hidden, but must be considered to make a fair and balanced decision. She added that she pays for a water softener and the salt to go in it, that she must constantly replace rusted fixtures, and that a new septic system can cost about $15,000.

Another resident said he was one of several in the area "hanging by his toes" when it comes to his septic system and well water. He asked about the time frame for the plan, because if he were to replace his systems, he would not want town service, but as it stands now, he wants town service "yesterday."

Russwurm explained that the federal government requires the town to use the funds they have been granted by March 2011, which means the construction will have to be complete by November 2010.

Residents would be billed by March 2011, and will have the option of a payment plan or paying the cost upfront. They will have to be connected to the system within 11 months of receiving a bill for the capital sum.

If they choose not to connect to the system because they are satisfied with their current system, they will be billed a sum of $24 a month for water/sewer maintenance, and may connect at any time once they have paid a contractor to install a connection from the property line to their home or business.

The ultimate decision for the go-ahead on this project rests on the shoulders of The Blue Mountains town council. McKinlay urged residents to fill out comment forms or write letters to the town expressing their opinions on the matter and including their situations for consideration.

After a public meeting in May on this same issue, the town received just 15 comment forms.

The forms are available on the town website or at the town office on Bridge St. in Thornbury.

Letters are also accepted, and may be sent to the office or e-mailed. The town asks that comments be submitted by November 14 so they can be reviewed as soon as possible.

McKinlay closed the meeting saying there was some historical momentum behind the servicing project and that nothing has convinced him, thus far, that the council should stop considering it.

He made it clear that he had not made up his mind to go ahead with or delay the project, and urged residents to send in comments to help the council make an informed decision.

Beaver Valley home burns in early morning

An historic home in Beaver Valley was all but obliterated in an early morning fire.

All that remains of the 125-year-old home is a portion of the walls and a newer addition on the rear of the building.

The Blue Mountains fire department received a call about the house on the intersection of Beaver Valley Road and Epping from a neighbour at about 4 a.m. on Thursday, October 30.

The owner, Dr. Peter von Bitter, was away at his other home in the Toronto area. No one was injured in the blaze. By the time the neighbour noticed and phoned 911, the flames were through the roof.

When firefighters arrived, the flames had consumed most of the front section of the house, including the roof, a side addition and the top floor. Firefighters managed to save the newer addition at the rear of the house by cutting a hole in the roof to allow heat and smoke to escape.

Windows had already started to crack in the addition indicating high levels of heat, according to A.J. Lake, fire prevention officer for The Blue Mountains.

There was a propane tank at the back of the house that remained safe, but firefighters had to manage tanks of fuel oil in the basement, which did catch fire.

The house, locally known as the Londry home, was built circa 1885 by the original owners Clara and Clarence Londry with additions constructed in 1957 and about 10 years ago. Von Bitter has owned the home for about 20 years, and said he was spending more time in the area now that he is retired.

All that is left standing of the original part of the home is the half stone - half brick walls. Von Bitter said there were several theories about the unusual construction of the home. Some assume it was supposed to be a barn, others that they ran out of stone.

Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire.

Meaford Hall does the Wright thing for Christmas

This Christmas, Meaford can expect more than a jolly fellow in red for the holidays: Michelle Wright is coming to town.

Wright is touring Ontario this December and plans to make a stop at Meaford Hall on Dec. 6 as part of the "I'm dreaming of a Wright Christmas" tour. It's sure to be a great holiday event.

"I believe it's music for everybody," said Wright in a phone interview with The Express from her home in Nashville. "It's a show for family and for people who enjoy good music performed by a group of great musicians that like to have a good time."

Her Christmas album, A Wright Christmas, features her interpretations of famous carols like Joy to the World and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, most of which are Wright's favourites. She is looking forward to a second Christmas album, which she hopes to start recording this summer, as long as her European tour goes according to plan.

Wright says the Meaford show will be about 70-per-cent Christmas songs and 30-per-cent hits.

"It's a wonderful music experience," she said, adding that she enjoys touring. "I love it all, I really do."

She is glad she will make it home for Christmas this year. She plans to be back in Nashville on December 20, and says she celebrates Christmas like many faith-based households, and enjoys "all the rest" of the Christmas traditions.

"Food, family, gifts, decorations, hanging around in flannel pajamas, watching Christmas movies," she said. "I love to decorate."

Wright is a great Canadian success story, launching her cross continent career in the country music industry in 1990 with a debut, self-titled album. She previously released an album in Canada called Do Right by Me. She went on to record eight other albums including two greatest hits discs.

She's had 25 top-10 Canadian hits, including the famous, Take it Like a Man, and has received about 30 awards.

Wright now lives in Nashville with her husband and white German Shepherd, Winter.

Tickets are $48.50 and available at the Meaford Hall box office. Showtime is 8 p.m. Click her link for more information.

Green forum at Blue Mountain welcomes red-ribbon advocate

Social justice advocate Stephen Lewis visited The Blue Mountains for the opening night of the Go Green at Blue environmental forum as the keynote speaker.

Lewis, founder of the Stephen Lewis Foundation - a charity known for supporting community-based programs fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa - began his speech with stories from his many trips to South Africa where he visits orphans, women and grandmothers affected by AIDS.

He said he always asks them what he can do for them and they always ask for the same thing - food.

"The environment can't be separated from other issues," he said. "100 million more people have been thrown below the poverty line in the past months because of the rising cost of food."

He added that the destabilization of societies is increasing as water conflicts become prevalent, and that leads to inhumane behavior. Droughts and famines only add more pain to communities torn apart by the AIDS virus.

"It's important to green ourselves, but as vital as all that is ... it just isn't enough," he said, encouraging the crowd to become advocates themselves.

"There are certain struggles worth throwing oneself into," he said. "There's no value in embracing futility ... you just have to grit your teeth and keep on fighting because you know that eventually the pendulum swings."

The dinner served at the Blue Mountain Convention Centre Friday night was a special 100-mile diet with all the ingredients purchased and grown locally.

The forum lasted Friday through Sunday with workshops on topics such as the water stream, greening homes, agriculture and culinary moves ahead, greenway land use and youth. The Community Foundation Grey Bruce presented the forum.

Town makes plans to grow landfill

November 5, 2008

The Blue Mountains is seeking approval from the Ministry of Environment for expansion and mining projects at the current landfill site in order to make the site last for another 25 years.

Jeffrey Fletcher, manager of solid waste and environmental initiatives for the town, said at the rate things are going now, the site, without any modifications, will reach capacity in three or four years.

The plan is to ask the MOE for permission to expand the capacity by 100,000 cubic metres, and to mine the current site to regain an additional 100,000 cubic metres.

The expansion could come in several forms. The town may expand the outer boundaries of the footprint and/or change the elevation of the current site. Mining involves sorting through what is already in the site, using newer technology to re-compact it all and removing excessive fill.

Fletcher noted this is also an opportunity to put in place a better collection system for the leachate that may flow outside of the footprint. Leachate is essentially rainwater that flows through the waste and becomes tainted. There are measures now, including liners and landscaping methods to prevent this tainted water from having a negative effect on the environment surrounding land fill sites.

The current maximum capacity of the site is 380,000 cubic metres.

The town is currently engaged in a proposal process with a consulting group to take ideas and plans to the MOE for approval. Once they are granted approval, the town will then begin to plan the engineering and the science of the projects with the help of a consulting group.

Fletcher says this process won't begin until September 2009.

The town began using the land in the current site in the 1970s; Fletcher said they probably didn't start thinking about measuring the use and estimating the life of the site until the 1980's.

Now the town is required to submit annual reports and conduct regular tests to determine the health of the site, the surroundings and the projected lifespan of the site.

According to Fletcher, there are now about 60 or so conditions included on a certificate of approval for a municipal landfill site. This is in addition to the regulations and guidelines in the Environmental Protection Act.

The town met with local residents in close proximity to the site to notify them of the plans for expansion and get some feedback.

"They understood that it's a necessary evil," said Fletcher. "They want to see that, if anything, things will be improved."

Fletcher says that with the expansion and mining projects approved, they will be able to make the site better by reducing dust and odours, and they have already begun to make the improvements to the visual appearance of the site.

Last week a team from the town planted evergreen trees in a line on one of the ridges at the front of the site. Fletcher has more plans for improvement, including a more efficient drop-off area for residents wishing to bring waste to the site themselves.

Fletcher said the town will continue to have public meetings throughout the process, and hopes to get feedback from local residents.

When the town first started drafting a long-term plan for waste management, it looked at several options.

Fletcher said the town was too small to have an incineration facility, and sending waste outside of the municipality was a costly venture. He added that most of the feedback the town received already from a survey and from public meetings indicated that residents felt it was important to deal with the waste locally.

"I suppose landfill in general is a con," said Fletcher. "But it's the best way we've come up with to deal with our waste problem ... We have to deal with a problem without having the ability to deal with the cause of the problem."

The expansion and mining projects should make the site last another 25 to 30 years. Fletcher adds that this estimate is dependent on several external factors.

It is dependent on a 60-per-cent waste diversion rate and although there is some buffer room, Fletcher says he knows much of the commercial waste doesn't come to the local site, but is sent elsewhere, and those options may be disappearing in the near future, especially if the waste is sent across the border.

If the town is not approved for the two projects, the site will be full in about three years, and the only other option for the town will be to send the waste to an outside location, which will cost taxpayers more.

School board's surplus goes into deficit

November 26, 2008

The auditor and treasurer for the Bluewater District School Board (BWDSB) announced a surplus of $1.4 million at the last board meeting, but the final numbers are still in the red.

"It's an in-year surplus," said Treasurer Brenda Booth after the meeting on November 18. "It goes directly into the deficit that has accumulated."

The deficit she is speaking of goes back to 2002 when the two school boards of Grey and Bruce County amalgamated to become Bluewater. A pay equity plan left them in deficit, one that, until this in-year surplus, sat at $3.3 million. On the 07/08 financial statements, the debt is reduced to $1.9 million.

"This is the first year in a number of years we've been able to have an in-year surplus," said Booth.

BWDSB chair Ross King said he wants this year to start a new trend for the board.

"I'm really hoping we can get rid of all this ... I call it an albatross around our neck that's been with us for ten years," said King, adding that the board was aiming for a further reduction of $1 million for the 08/09 financial year.

Booth confirmed that goal, but said there was no way to tell if the board was on track, yet. They will be examining the budget and financial records of the board in the next couple weeks to see if the goal is reachable and what changes need to be made.

Booth said the Province of Ontario deems school board deficit illegal. She said a deficit that sits around one per cent of the operating budget tends to stay under the radar, and that it's important for the Province to see that a school board is making sincere efforts to reduce any existing deficits.

The BWDSB operating budget on the 07/08 financial statements was $190 million.

Elementary teachers only ones staying out of provincial talks

November 26, 2008

An ultimatum from the Ontario Minister of Education isn’t the way to earn a long-term collective agreement according to Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario president David Clegg.

The “ultimatum” he’s referring to is, according to the Ministry of Education, a voluntary deadline to sign a provincial framework agreement and work out long-term collective agreements locally.

Essentially, the ministry is acting as a facilitator for discussions between trustee associations, teacher federations and unions representing education support workers to work out province-wide issues to facilitate local contract bargaining.

The provincial framework agreements include salary increases of three per cent for each of the next four years compounding to 12.55 per cent, according to their website. As well, the agreements include funding provisions for additional teachers for targeted class size reductions in grades four to eight, literacy and numeracy coaches in grades seven and eight and additional arts and specialist teachers.

More provisions for support workers are also included. All funding promised in the provincial level agreements goes to the local board.

These framework agreements, once signed are not staff contracts; those must be negotiated locally through the various school boards, such as the Bluewater District School Board. Once a federation or association has approved of the framework agreements, they promise to work toward a new collective agreement locally by November 30.

The collective agreements reached are to reflect the provisions of the provincial agreement and are not to expire until August 31, 2012.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said in a statement that four-year collective agreements, such as the ones they were trying to facilitate in the province would deliver “peace and progress with improved student achievement.” She added that the ministry would keep working with education partners to achieve four more years of the same.

“But we believe that the people of Ontario understand that can’t come at any cost,” she said.
Minister Wynne announced in September that any organization that does not enter a voluntary provincial framework agreement and locally ratify collective agreements by November 30 will not be eligible for the provincial funding agreed upon in the agreements. Instead, the province will cut the salary provision to a four per cent raise over two years.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), representing 73,000 teachers across the province left the provincial discussion table in May of this year and has not returned. They don’t think the framework agreements are good enough.

Clegg toured the province to spread the word about the new ETFO campaign to close what he says is a $711 gap between elementary student and secondary student funding.

He stopped in Owen Sound and Chesley to address the Bluewater District School Board area on Thursday, November 20.

“The deadline is an artificial one, it’s not helpful,” he said. “Ultimately, if you are trying to establish a long term agreement with the complexity this one will obviously have, you need to have some patience.”

He maintained that the salary portion of the framework agreement is reasonable, but their plans to close the gap did not follow an acceptable timetable.

He calculated that according to the provisions in the agreement, it would take 21 years for elementary specialized teaching to be at par with secondary and 30 years for grade four to eight class sizes to be the same as secondary classes. Currently, Jr. Intermediate class sizes are about 25 students to one teacher. The ETFO wants to see that number brought down to 22.

“Salary is not the issue and has never been the issue. The real issue is fairness,” said Clegg in a statement. “When we were involved in provincial level talks earlier in the year, what was offered to elementary teachers fell very far short of what is needed to close the gap.”

According to Patricia MacNeil, senior media relations coordinator at the ministry of education, the funding formulas, also called Grants for Student Needs, for Ontario students are not calculated along elementary and secondary panels and are instead provided to boards with the flexibility to account for the unique circumstances – rural, urban, declining enrollment, large geographical area, etc – that each board operates in.

She adds that there are other grants for student funding through programs by the ministry’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, which are directed exclusively to elementary boards.

“Also, there is no gap in student services,” she said. “For example, the average class size in K-8 last year was 22:1 versus the funded average for a secondary class size of 22 students. The ratio of students per adult was the same in both panels: 10.9:1.”

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has signed a framework agreement for their support worker’s units, but left the provincial discussion table without signing an agreement for their English secondary teachers. The OSSTF teachers returned recently to re-engage in the provincial discussion tables.

“Staff from the Minister's office and the ministry will continue to facilitate that discussion and staff are confident English secondary students and boards can reach a common understanding that is in the best interest of students,” said MacNeil.

Catholic and French teachers have already signed the provincial framework agreement.

The Bluewater District School Board has ratified long-term collective agreements for all their support staff. Clegg said local negotiations for Bluewater would begin in December, after the deadline for provincial framework agreements. There’s no word yet on local talks with secondary school teachers.

“We’re hoping that come Dec. 1 the government will realize issuing an ultimatum is not the way to resolve problems of this nature and that they’ll make a commitment to eliminate the funding gap over a number of years,” said Clegg.

If the province does not make a commitment that the ETFO finds reasonable and indeed withdraws their funding as promised in the ultimatum, Clegg says the government “will not get a collective agreement with the elementary teachers in the province.”

“If the government believes that the future economically is so uncertain that they cant make a commitment, then equally they should not expect us to make that type of commitment,” he said. “But lets be clear it’s very obvious why the government wants the long term collective agreement – it gets them past the next provincial election.”

A strike is not in the bargaining cards yet, according to Clegg, who said they haven’t contemplated it and have not suggested they were going to take strike votes.

“It’s always an option that’s out there,” he said. “But not one that we’re exploring.”

Soccer boys all grown up

September 17, 2008

Erika Engel photo

Matt Paterson, Nathan Shaw, Shane Raymer and Shawn Roberts
played their final year in the youth soccer league.
They've been on a Beaver Valley team for 12 years
and won six championship titles.

The shoes hanging on the telephone wires at Tomahawk Park in Thornbury aren't just muddy old soccer shoes.

They're trophies, thrown to their proud pedestals by the under 18 Beaver Valley soccer champs.

It's a tradition started by the soccer boys in their final year playing youth soccer in Beaver Valley.

Shane Raymer, 18, Matt Paterson, 17, Shawn Roberts, 18, and Nathan Shaw, 18, joined the Beaver Valley Under 7 soccer team when they were six. Their friends Doug Collins and Gerbe Botden joined at the same time. Collins is now at Fanshawe College, and Botden moved to Ottawa to go to Carleton University.

The boys remember playing soccer at recess in kindergarten and pre-school. It seemed natural to join the Beaver Valley U-7 team 12 years ago.

Raymer remembers "dancing around and picking grass" for the first year, but something about soccer stuck with him, and he continued to play.

"Eventually it grows into something you want to keep doing," said Raymer.

Next year, he's joining the new adult soccer league in Thornbury, a competitive team in Collingwood, the high school team at GBSS and he hopes to be the assistant coach for one of the youth teams. Last year he was the head coach for an under 15 team. He is also trying to get a scout from Laurentian to watch him play - he's hoping for a scholarship.

Roberts plans to play soccer on the GBSS team as well. Paterson is going to focus on Rugby this year, and Shaw is working full-time.

After a dozen years, with six championship wins, there's no shortage of soccer stories.

Like the time Paterson had to run six laps because he picked up Botden and dunked his head in a puddle. Or Raymers's famous red cards in the finals.

Shaw, when he wasn't scoring on his own net was hitting the post or the crossbar, earning him the nickname "crossbar." One day, coach Rob Ferris told the team they had to run six laps unless Shaw could score from mid-field. If he scored, the team only had to run two laps. True to his name, he hit the crossbar. Coach Rob made them run four laps.

The boys are proud of their team's aggressive group.

"Remember the Chatsworth game!" one of them interjects.

Raymer explains that for one game they played in Chatsworth the host club brought in an extra referee for the Beaver Valley game.

They boys remember several people for their dedication to youth soccer.

"Without them, nothing would have happened," said Raymer.

Thanks to Peter and Mary Lou Hibbard, organizers for youth soccer in Beaver Valley.

To Don Stevens - "He made sure we had a league to play in," said Paterson.

To their parents - "They always came out to cheer us on, and gave us snacks at half time when we were younger," said Shaw.

"Even when we started driving ourselves, they still came to the games," said Paterson.

The boys proudly announce that their team always had the best crowd turn out.

And to Coach Rob Ferris - He started a job in Mississauga, explained Raymer, but he still drove to Thornbury twice a week for practice and a game. "He did a lot for us," they all add almost in unison. "We didn't start winning until he started coaching us."

Now the 12 years are up, the boys are moving on to other things.

"It was fun while it lasted," said Raymer.

"We put Thornbury on every single trophy from U-13 to U-18," adds Paterson.

NHL officials train at Beaver Valley arena

Erika Engel photo

Kerry Fraser and Dennis La Rue are veteran
referees with the NHL, and part of the group
that came to the Beaver Valley Community
Centre this year for a week long training camp.

The NHL visited the Town of the Blue Mountains on official business this week.

For the second year in a row, the NHL Official Training camp for referees and linesmen was held at the Beaver Valley Community Centre.

Johanna Kytola, manager of officiating with the NHL, said there were 73 officials at this year's camp, which, until last year, was typically held in Fort Erie or Toronto.

NHL referees and linesmen from all over North America met in Toronto, then Thornbury, where they took turns playing and officiating full hockey games with NHL rules and participating in off-ice seminars.

"We want them to play the sport they are officiating, and have fun," said Kytola.

She said the NHL decided to host the training camp in Thornbury last year, after Senior Manager Terry Gregson, a Blue Mountains resident, scoped out the Beaver Valley Arena and thought it would make a good facility.

Kytola said she thought the Town of the Blue Mountains staff has been "phenomenal" and the officials loved having the camp in the area last year, so they decided to come back.

The group stayed at the Westin Trillium House while they trained.

Shawn Everitt, recreation director for the Town of the Blue Mountains, helped coordinate surprise events for the officials. Last year, they went dragon boat racing, and this year they went paintballing. He said the NHL's return visit to the area is a boost for the town and the arena.

"It shows that this is a good place for high-level professionals to go and train," said Everitt.

"It's a nice feather in our cap," he added.

The Refs
Dennis La Rue of Spokane, Washington has been an NHL referee for 20 years. He played hockey when he was young, and started refereeing minor hockey to work his way up to the NHL. He likes training in Beaver Valley because it makes the training camp more retreat-like.

"It's a chance to get things started off in a little less hectic setting," he said.

Kerry Fraser, who is originally from Sarnia, has worked for the NHL for over 30 years. He lived in Collingwood when he was 16 to play for the Blues. He says training in Thornbury is like coming home for him.

He remembers everyone in the area being very hospitable and welcoming the "imports" playing for the Blues. Now that he's back in the area for official training in Thornbury, he says the facilities are great, but it's the people that stand out.

"People make a place, the place doesn't make the people," he said.

Fraser and La Rue both love their jobs in the NHL.

Fraser said most of the officials never aspired to be referees or linesmen, but their playing careers didn't work out as planned. They still consider it a "tremendous honour" to be NHL officials.

"We're the best in the world," said Fraser. "We get to see what you watch on TV. We're rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world."

"They let you in the back door, they give you the best seats in the house, and every two weeks they send you money," said La Rue.

Fraser is part of a team headed to Europe at the start of this year's season to officiate a game in Prague - a first-class trip for he and his wife. It's one of the many perks for an NHL official.

The summer vacations aren't bad, either.

Both agreed the hardest part of the job was the constant travel and weekend work, but conceded that the pros far outweighed the minors - uh - the cons.

Newcomers glad to live in 'paradise': A Canada Day Story

Photo and story by Erika Engel
Hamilton News
June 27, 2008

He talks about Canada like he's been blind his whole life and has just seen his first rainbow.

"The colours," said Ali Al-Bayati. "The colours here are different."

There are greens and blues he's never seen before.

The Iraqi native stretches out his arms, palms toward the sky gesturing at the surrounding trees, the flowers, the sky -- as if to say, "Can't you see?"

Mr. Al-Bayati says the trees in Canada are more alive than those he's known all his life. He said he can stand beside them and feel them move as if they know he's there listening.

Mr. Al-Bayati's journey to Canada began with intent reflection on a map that he kept in his tiny flat in Jordan. It was a map of the world and he would study the coasts of Canada, the jagged islands, the country's rivers and lakes, nearly forgetting the "prison" that he was living in.

"Canada is somehow ... " his voice trails.

He smiles, searching for a word to explain what he saw when he looked at his map. He cups his hands and pulls his elbows in close like he's holding palms full of diamonds.

"Cornered," he says.

His eyes reflect the diamonds he still pretends to hold.

"It's a hidden paradise. It is safe."

Safe, at last, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Mr. Al-Bayati, 48, was born in Iraq. He became a mechanical engineer, but, like many, worked for the government.

Mr. Al-Bayati wasn't allowed to leave Iraq, because his work at the presidential palaces was too sensitive. He knew too much.

He and his wife Nidhal, 38, lived in fear.

"I can't describe it," he said. "Everybody has agony. There is no electricity, no water...You're not safe in your own home. When you go out, you might not come back."

He speaks of mass graves and brutal killings. He says this new government has one agenda -- to kill.

Mr. Al-Bayati opens his eyes a little wider and slows his speech to carefully pronounce each syllable flawlessly.

"You can't compare it to Canada," he said. "You think every day, death will be the next address of yours."

Mr. Al-Bayati decided he had to leave. He knew people in government, and paid them to get a passport for himself and his wife. The passports were legal, but it was impossible to get them without connections and money.

They were given the documents.

They had two days to leave.

They could never come back.

Mr. Al-Bayati left his family -- five brothers and one sister.

"They are suffering, now," he said. "Life there is decaying."

His mother died after he left, but he didn't attend the funeral. He could never go back.

In 1997, Ali and Nadhal left for Jordan but it was nothing more than a move from death row to a bigger cell.

"In Jordan, if you leave, you can't get in again," said Mr. Al-Bayati. "It was like a big open prison for us."

He explains that Iraqis are not allowed to work in Jordan unless they have permanent residency status. An Iraqi, he says, is never given permanent residence.

Ali and Nadhal tried to survive. Work was rare, and only one day in many.

The couple lived in a tiny apartment in Jordan's capital, Amman, for 10 years. The threat of death was not so obvious, but it lingered. They also knew the Jordanians could find them and throw them out of the country at any time. To where? Mr. Al-Bayati didn't know, but he knew it would be their end.

"It was hard to develop ourselves there," said Mr. Al-Bayati, speaking of the constant anxiety he and his wife dealt with.

The couple has no children. Mr. Al-Bayati said there was too much uncertainty and stress to bring a baby into the family.

"We feel we are settled down now," he said. "Children are the next project."

Soon things got worse in Amman. Iraqis were being hunted and thrown out. Mr. Al-Bayati applied to the United Nations for refugee status and a chance to leave Jordan.

On his application, he had to choose three countries that would be ideal. Canada, that corner of paradise on his map, was his first choice. Next was Australia, then the United States.

After more than a year of waiting, Ali and Nadhar made the 24-hour trip to Canada on a cramped Air Bus. They arrived in Hamilton less than three weeks ago.

"We feel we are Canadian," said Mr. Al-Bayati.

The Al-Bayatis are two of the thousands of refugees who have made Hamilton their new home, and Canada their new country. Currently, there are 22 million refugees across the globe.

The couple celebrated World Refugee Day on June 20 at a reception behind LIUNA station hosted by Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO).

SISO is a Hamilton based initiative to aid refugees and immigrants living and coming to Canada. They offer help in job searching and training, education, language instruction, translating services, and finding a home in the city.

Mr. Al-Bayati and his wife are closely connected to SISO, and say the organization has been a great help.

Five days after moving into their apartment on Upper James Street, Mr. Al-Bayati phoned his family in Iraq.

"I've arrived," he said into the receiver. "I've arrived in Heaven."

Long-awaited place to call home

Photo by Erika Engel

In The Dundas Star News, The Ancaster News, The Stoney Creek News, and Hamilton Mountain News

By Erika Engel

News

June 27, 2008

Home is where the heart is, and this home is full of heart.

Habitat for Humanity Hamilton recently presented a newly renovated home to a grateful family of seven.

Naim and Bukurika Dedinca immigrated to Canada with four of their five children as refugees from Kosovo in 1999. The family fled when a civil war and the threat of ethnic cleansing made life at home too dangerous.

In the fall of 2007, they asked Habitat for some help, and on June 19, Mr. Dedinca was given the keys to a six-bedroom home at 13 Rosemont Ave.

"I feel like I did that day in Kosovo," he said. "Relieved."

Mr. Dedinca told the crowd of volunteers, sponsors, city officials, and neighbours, who had gathered around his porch, that he was grateful to all who helped and happy to see his growing family so well cared for.

"I wish that [my children] will be able to help someone else as we were helped by this country," he said.

Mr. Dedinca recently earned an AZ driver's licence and is working with Skyway Lawn Equipment in Stoney Creek.

His two oldest daughters, Adelina, 22, and Shqiponja, 20, are currently working, but have plans to go to college in September.

Mimoza, 18, was absent from the dedication because she was at McMaster University for a meeting. She is enrolled in the Humanities program there. Mr. Dedinca's only son, Arber, 16, is still in high school, and says he wants to be an electrician.

Since coming to Canada the Dedinca family has grown to welcome another daughter, Ereza, who is almost two years old.

Mr. Dedinca also brought his father to Canada with him, but Mr. Dedinca Sr. passed away last year.

The Dedincas' home was the first renovation project undertaken by Habitat for Humanity Hamilton. The agency typically builds houses on donated land.

Habitat is a not-for-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty specifically by promoting homeownership. Habitat receives funding and donations of land, building materials, and labourers, which allow it to provide struggling families with decent places to live. Families also receive an interest-free mortgage.

Sponsors for the Rosemont project included Home Depot, which gave supplies and $43,000 toward the renovation, and Scotiabank, which donated $31,250 to Habitat Hamilton this year.

Many volunteers helped complete the house, including the Habitat volunteers, a group of Hamilton Health Science staff and the Dedincas themselves, who put in a total of 500 hours as "sweat equity."

Families wait for word

Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(May 7, 2008)

The people she holds nearest to her heart have never felt so far away.

Kyin Khine, 56, is waiting in her Hamilton home to hear news of her sister in Myanmar.

Cyclone Nargis has claimed more than 20,000 lives since it struck just a few days ago. The government says more than double that are still missing, with hundreds of thousands left homeless.

Entire communities, such as the ones where Khine's relatives lived, have been destroyed.

There's no word from her brother who owned some rice fields on the coast.

Her husband, Tint, 64, also waits for news of his brother.

"We are thinking, 'he could be dead,'" said Khine.

Waiting and thinking is all they can do.

"We don't know how long it will take to get news," she said. "I feel very bad. You can't do anything. You can just pray."

Some relatives have turned up uninjured, but the rest remain among the missing in Myanmar.

Khine watches the news, and hears the death toll rise. She prays.

She calls her niece in Singapore again -- no word. She prays.

Khine and her husband are alone in Hamilton. Most of their relatives, including their three grown children, live in Singapore. They came here as political refugees in 2000.

A little less than a year ago, nearly 100 Karen refugees came to Hamilton from Thailand and Myanmar. Hser Mu Lar was among them. She may have had relatives in Myanmar when the cyclone hit, but will never know. She lost contact with them years ago.

International relief organizations such as Red Cross, World Vision, UNICEF and the Salvation Army are forming a relief effort in the affected areas.

Brian Burditt, director of world missions for Salvation Army, visited Myanmar three years ago. He said the devastation from this kind of catastrophe weighs heaviest on the country's poor.

"A very difficult existence will be made intolerable," he said.

To help:

* Red Cross is accepting donations on their website at redcross.ca, by phone at 1-800-418-1111, or at the local office at 400 King St. E.

* To donate to World Vision, use their website WorldVision.ca or call 1-800-268-5528.

* For UNICEF call 1-877-955-3111 or visit www.unicef.ca.

* To make a donation to the Salvation Army call 1-800-725-2769 or visit salvationarmy.ca. All four organizations are asking for financial gifts only. It is nearly impossible to ship goods into Myanmar at this time.

Adventures in Literacy

By Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(May 3, 2008)

See Spot run. See Spot leap over tall buildings.

Big B Comics is donating 1,500 comic books to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to promote literacy for boys on Free Comic Book Day today.

The day is celebrated across North America at many comic book stores, including Big B Comics on Upper James Street and Comic Connection on King Street West.

This is the first time Big B has made an extra donation on Free Comic Book Day.

"It just seemed fitting," said owner Walter Durajlija.

Chris Spence, director of education for the board, will be at the store to receive the donation today at noon.

Durajlija decided to make the donation after he attended a Boys to Men literacy seminar organized by Spence and the board.

"I thought, 'I have stuff boys love reading,' " he said.

He later approached school board staff to arrange the donation.

Durajlija remembers comic books igniting his interest in reading at a young age, and he can see the same interest in his son, who is in Grade 3.

"I hope it sparks an interest, I hope it proves that reading isn't painful, that it's enjoyable and it's a door to adventure," he said.

The books, which are screened for content, will be given to schools as teaching resources.

Spence says he believes educators should broaden their perspective of what literacy is and how they teach it. He says they should use the Internet, games and other technology to promote literacy.

"If you want to be successful in reaching them and teaching them, you have to go through their door," he said.

According to the Education Quality and Accountability Office test results from last year, 57 per cent of Grade 3 students in the public board were at or above provincial standards for reading. In the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, that number was 69 per cent. The province-wide average is 62 per cent.

International testing from the EQAO showed that girls scored an average of 13 per cent better than boys in reading achievement.

Educator 'on a mission' to close boy-girl literacy gap

Chris Spence, director of education for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and a former Canadian Football League running back, talked to The Spectator about literacy.
Q. What got you reading as a kid?
A. Sports. I was really involved with sports, and I read anything with sports in it. I remember reading the sports pages to my parents. I would pick up Sports Illustrated at the store.
Q. Are comic books really going to help young boys learn to read?
A. Absolutely. You want to engage them in reading. Once they enjoy it, they are inspired to pick up more. When you find their interests, you can continually expose them to other genres.
Q. Why the focus on boys?
A. In the total picture, girls are outperforming boys. I'm on a bit of a mission to close the gap. If we give further support to our boys, our schools will be better and safer.

Gas 'n' dashes take off as fuel prices skyrocket

Pub Date: May 2, 2008 A1
By Erika Engel

Desperate times fuel desperate measures.

The grainy, unofficial mug shots covering the wall at a Pioneer gas station on Upper Gage are proof. Pictures of people who fill up and drive away without paying.

They're called "drive-offs," and staff at area stations say they are increasing along with gas prices.

Two drive-offs a week are common at this station, according to attendant Alan Sharif.

Other stations near highways are more likely to see fuel 'n' flees.

The Esso on King and Dundurn had $500 worth of drive-offs last week alone, said station operator Paul Gallardi. But a bigger concern, he said, is thieves' disregard for safety as they run red lights, drive the wrong way on one-way streets and speed to get away.

"When these guys go, they go."

Lilia Lutes is worried about skyrocketing gas prices. She fills up at the Petro-Canada station on Cannon Street and recalls gas siphoning during the gas shortage in the '70s.

"We're this close to being there again," the Hamilton woman said.

It's only going to get worse.

Michael Ervin is the president of MJ Ervin and Associates, a Calgary-based consulting firm specializing in the gas sector.

He said we'll see an increase of 15 to 20 cents in pump prices over the next three or four weeks.

Another building may have to go

Pub Date: May 2, 2008
By Erika Engel

Another building on King William Street just a few doors
down from the fallen Balfour building faces an uncertain future
as engineers have been called in to assess its integrity.

The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), owner of
the vacant building at 33-35 King William St., has been
given an order by Hamilton building officials to submit an
engineer's report.

The report is to say whether or not the building
is structurally sound and what may need to be done
to make it sound.

"We would like to keep it," said LIUNA vice-president Joe
Mancinelli, adding that the outcome depends on the results of
the engineering report.

"I have no idea at this point," said Mancinelli. "The
next step is to go through the building with a
fine toothed comb to make sure it's structurally sound."

Mancinelli added that the building may have to be torn
down if it cannot be fixed, but said LIUNA would
build another in its place.

Although they have no specific plans for the building, they
plan to restore it as storefront rental space if it
can be saved.

They have until May 6 to submit the engineering report,
according to acting director of building services John Spolnik.

Spolnik said this building and the one housing a Thai
restaurant are the only buildings on that block that received
orders from the city for engineering reports.

He said the city ordered the report because of concerns
about the structural integrity of the building after the Balfour
building collapsed more than two weeks ago.

Spolnik said if the owners apply for a demolition permit,
they will no longer be required to submit an engineering
report.

As of Thursday night, LIUNA had not applied for a
demolition permit. "I'm not sure what their intentions are," said
Spolnik.

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina said he hopes the building
doesn't get torn down.

"I don't want to see any more buildings demolished on
that block," said Bratina.

LIUNA also owned the now collapsed Balfour Building, which was
just placed on Heritage Canada Foundation's worst losses list.

The Hamilton Spectator: Fire blamed on metal grinder

Pub Date: May 01, 2008
By Erika Engel

Firefighters had to work around debris scattered across an upper
Stoney Creek property yesterday to fight a blaze apparently caused
by a spark.

Firefighters fought the fire for almost five hours as it
destroyed a barn and consumed scrap metal, lumber and vehicles
cluttering the property at 241 Mud St.

Winds carried flames almost 100 metres across the property.

The fire seems to have started when a man was
using a grinder on the metal of a truck bed.
Sparks ignited nearby debris and spread from there, according to
Hamilton fire media officer John Verbeek.

The fire started between the house and the barn, and
the wind carried the fire to the back of the
property. The house was about 10 metres in the other
direction.

Verbeek said the challenge fighting the fire was navigating through
the large amount of debris scattered all over the property.

This included decrepit vehicles, scrap metal, trailers, tractors, snowmobiles, tractors
and tires.

Since there were no nearby hydrants, several trucks were called
in to replenish the water supply.

The fire department raised property standard concerns, and called the
Ministry of Environment in to inspect some suspicious drums they
found on the property.

The Hamilton Spectator: A moving story

Pubdate: April 30, 2008
By Erika Engel

Another piece of downtown history is disappearing two weeks after the Balfour Building collapse.

Allan Petteplace has been a business owner on King William Street for almost 40 years.

Experts now say his heavy history may literally weigh too much.

The 74 year-old has 100,000 books in a space above Thai Memory restaurant next to where the Balfour stood, demolished because of structural concerns. City inspectors and insurance engineers are worried the books might be too heavy and cause the ceiling to collapse in the Thai restaurant.

Worried, but unsure. It may be safe. The floor and structure can only be tested when the books are out of the way.

The city won't let Thai Memory reopen until the tests are done .

Petteplace must act quickly: Pat Satasuk, owner of Thai Memory, is depending on it. Petteplace's livelihood depends on it, too. This is his pension plan. He needs them all.

Those books are wall-to-wall, they creep down the stairs, up into the attic and across the floor. The history section is stacked to the ceiling. There's a few dozen banana boxes full of paperbacks. The shelves in the biography section sag.

He must move them all.

Immediately.

"It's mind boggling moving all those books," Petteplace said. "It scares me ... I don't want to move."

He would rather stay on the street he has known for 40 years. But, it's not up to him.

Today, he'll sign a new lease and pack up his books. Later, he'll find 100,000 new places for them all.

The Hamilton Spectator: City 'dropped the ball'

Pubdate: April 30, 2008
By Erika Engel



Mayor Fred Eisenberger admitted yesterday that the city "dropped the ball" when it came to supporting downtown business owners after the Balfour Building collapsed two weeks ago.

Eisenberger and Tim McCabe, the city director of economic planning, visited with business owners along King William street yesterday afternoon. This was just six hours after the same business owners met for a press conference at Reardon's Deli to tell their stories and express their frustration with the city's lack of communication.

Eisenberger sent staff members to the morning meeting, and when he heard the concerns raised by the downtown business owners, he decided to pay a personal visit to each business.

"We're apologizing," said Eisenberger. "We want to let them know we care."

During the morning meeting, delicatessen owner Paul Reardon said he remembers seeing the mayor walk by his business earlier that week, but was disappointed the mayor didn't walk in to talk to him.

Reardon, a third-generation butcher in a business that has been in the downtown for 90 years, asked for "a little compassion."

"We work hard," he said. "They let us down."

Kevin MacKay, 35, is executive director of Sky Dragon Centre on King William Street. He was at the morning meeting and later met with the mayor.

MacKay said the mayor's afternoon visit was "damage control."

When he spoke to Eisenberger and McCabe, MacKay told them that if they were serious about economic development in Hamilton, they should realize the importance of smaller businesses.

"In situations like this, small businesses need to be protected," he said. "If we can't look to the city for that protection, then who can we look to?"

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina was at the morning meeting in Reardon's, and said he would push for the city to respond to the business owners and provide answers about what they can expect.

He said there would be a meeting on May 12 where city committees will discuss the issues related to the building collapse.

Anyone wishing to raise an opinion or concern at this public meeting must submit their thoughts in writing to Mary Gallagher from the city clerk's office.

Requests may be e-mailed to mgallagher@hamilton.ca.

The meeting is at 9:30 a.m. in the Convention centre's Albion room.

The Hamilton Spectator: Half the Sky goes for laughs in 25th anniversary play

Pubdate:April 23, 2008

By Erika Engel

Half the Sky Feminist Theatre would like you to laugh
as it marks its 25th anniversary by performing a farce.

The play is called Good Help is So Hard to
Murder, and it strays from the traditional hard-hitting drama the
group is known for.

"This play is a total deviation," says Kathy Brown, one
of seven founding members. "This is a murder mystery. A
woman kills a woman, and we make fat jokes. It's
so wrong and so not us."

This year, Half the Sky's production is meant to celebrate
how far the group has come.

"It's our 25th anniversary, and we thought, 'Let's just have
fun.' We need to have fun, and that's a feminist
issue," she says.

In 1982, in a church basement, during a women's conference,
Brown read a description of menopause from an 1800s medical
dictionary. Friend Zora McLachlan acted out what she read. When
the laughter subsided, Brown wanted to find a way to
do that more often.

"(I thought) wouldn't it be fun to have a women's
theatre group," says Brown.

From there, the feminist theatre group was formed. In 1983,
their first production was called Hot Flashes, and it was
a series of monologues about the lives of the seven
women involved at the time.

Since then, the group has performed about 25 plays, tackling
issues such as abortion, death, cancer, insanity, marriage, homosexuality, aging
and poverty, all from a feminist perspective.

"Feminist theatre is a venue for those issues that address
woman and all of the things in their lives that
are important to them," says Judian, member of Half the
Sky since 1983. "It is incredibly important because women's issues
are not addressed, as a rule, in mainstream theatre."

The original goal of Half the Sky was "to work
in the area of women's issues and have fun," Brown
says. She says it hasn't deviated from that first intention.

Judian agrees.

"We've provided a space that is safe for women to
not only be creative, but to express their inner thoughts,"
she says.

Members of Half the Sky choose or write the plays
they perform collectively.

Liz Inman, member since 1997, will be directing Good Help
is Hard to Murder.

When the group was deciding on a play for its
anniversary, Inman said they spent a lot of time deciding
on this one because it could be offensive.

"This is a farce; we are doing our best to
perform it as a farce and trust that it will
be seen and enjoyed as a farce," she wrote in
her director's notes.

Judian said that although they believe feminist theatre is important,
and it tackles vital woman's issues, the women in the
group still like to laugh.

"I'm hoping that people will come and see that women
haven't lost their sense of humour. It still exists, and
we can have lots of fun with it," she said.

The group won't return to this kind of theatre for
awhile.

In fact, the ladies joke it will be another 25
year before the next farce.

The Hamilton Spectator: City man gets six years for 'tragic' killing

Pubdate:April 26, 2008

By Erika Engel

George Gallo asked for compassion before he was given a
six-year sentence for killing one man and wounding another with
a knife in a drunken downtown brawl.

"This was a tragic event and, in the end, I
understand that I am responsible for his death," Gallo read
to the crowded courtroom from a folded paper.

The 25 year-old Hamilton native killed Ryan Milner, 22, and
injured Marko Duric in the Club 77 parking lot on
King William Street on Nov. 17, 2006.

Superior Court Justice Stephen Glithero said in his ruling there
were many words he could use to describe the situation
but chose three: "Tragic, heartbreaking, senseless."

Milner's father, brother and sister told the court how Milner's
death affected them.

"We had a special bond," said the father.

He went through a divorce when Milner was two and
in the difficult times remembers thinking, "No matter what, I
would have my boys."

Milner's older brother Derek, 26, said the 4 a.m. phone
call on the night of his little brother's death still
haunts him.

He struggled with alcohol abuse in the months after Ryan's
death.

"The person I turned to for help in time of
need is also the person I am mourning," Derek read.

Sister Leesa Brejak, 16, read a statement through tears.

"It's hard to see people I love in pain," she
read. "Now, it's a daily routine for me."

Assistant Crown Attorney Steven O'Brien, asked for a five-year sentence
on top of time already served, and noted the support
of Gallo's family would be good help in future rehabilitation.

Defence lawyer Nick White also said Gallo came from a
kind and caring family and had great hope for successful
rehabilitation.

White told the judge Gallo was in trade school to
become a welder at the time of his arrest and,
since he's been in custody, has spent time earning further
high school credits.

Gallo was given two years and eight months credit for
the time he has served, and must now spend three
years and four more months in jail for manslaughter and
aggravated assault.

The Hamilton Spectator: Province targets cosmetic pesticides

Pubdate:April 23, 2008

By Erika Engel

The McGuinty government is imposing a province-wide ban on the
use of cosmetic pesticides.

The Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act is expected to be effective
next year and would give the province authority to ban
the use and sale of pesticides including herbicide, fungicide and
insecticide for cosmetic purposes.

The law would not apply to agriculture, forestry and golf
courses. It will supercede any existing municipal bylaws. However, municipalities
will still be free to impose extra regulations at their
discretion.

Rob Hall, Hamilton's director of health protection, believes the legislation
will help with consistency between municipalities.

"It would appear that the province has started down the
path that is similar to what the Hamilton bylaw encompasses,"
Hall said.

"It's hard for us to look at what's in our
bylaw and how it compares," he said. "The devil is
in the details."

The provincial legislation will ban the sale of certain pesticides,
something local bylaws couldn't do.

Details about how the ban will be enforced or when
it will take effect have not been released. Those specifics
will be in the regulation, which will be drafted if
the act is approved in provincial legislation.

The proposal thus far imposes bans on cosmetic pesticides on
the following:

* Commercial, institutional and industrial properties including parks, school yards
and cemeteries.

* Residential, farm, and cottage properties including lawns, ornamental plantings,
vegetable gardens, patios, driveways and trees.

* Land around golf course clubhouses.

* Municipal and provincial government lands including parks, school yards,
conservation areas, and gardens.

Pesticides may be used on the above lands for health
and safety reasons, such as managing harmful pests like stinging
insects, poison ivy and mosquitoes, which could carry the West
Nile virus.

Exceptions are also made for lands used for agricultural purposes,
First Nations land (exempt from provincial oversight), land used for
golf courses, land used in forestry and federal government land.

The Hamilton Spectator: Training the brain for A's

The jury is still out on cognitive-training software, but one local student says it helped her stay ahead of her class

April 25, 2008
Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator


Samantha McCowell is bursting to talk about how her life changed after a computer game helped her out of a frustrating rut.

The 10-year-old Hamilton girl's brown eyes grow wider with each sentence, and her dark hair bounces around her animated face. She talks about her A in Grade 5 science class at Adelaide Hoodless Elementary, and her best ever report card -- As and Bs in every subject.

A year ago, Samantha had a D in science. Her report cards were littered with Ds and Cs. The tutoring didn't help. She just didn't get school work. Any of it.

It wasn't a lack of will or effort.

"I kept telling myself, 'Try harder, try harder,'" but it didn't help, she said, dramatically throwing her pink-sleeved arms up in seeming surrender.

It wasn't until Samantha was coached by a psychologist through a brain-training computer program called Cogmed that her endless hours of agonizing over homework came to a welcome end.

Now, she says, "I am able to pay attention. I am able to get ahead of the class ... It's like I passed a video game, like I finally passed a level."

Cogmed is a new product in the emerging brain-fitness industry whose worth more than doubled last year to reach $225 million in the U.S. alone, according to SharpBrains, a cognitive research and consulting firm.

Samantha used the program for half an hour five days a week for five weeks. For her, the brain-training program was less like education and more like recreation.

"When I was done, I thought, 'Wait, was I learning or was I just playing a video game?'" she said.

In fact, the program combines video-game technology with new research into cognitive training to progressively improve an individual's short-term memory.

In early 2006, Samantha's pediatrician, Dr. Dan Marshall, diagnosed her with attention deficit disorder. ADD is characterized by the inability to control behaviour due to difficulty in processing brain stimulation, according to MedicineNet.com.

Samantha started taking the stimulant Adderall, an alternative form of Ritalin, in the fall of 2006. Aside from almost eliminating her appetite, it made no difference in her ability to concentrate. Her parents, Paul and Janice, put her in Sylvan tutoring classes, but that didn't help either.

In September 2007, Janice read an article in The Hamilton Spectator about the Cogmed program. The Boston Globe article featured a nine-year-old Massachusetts girl with a working-memory problem that prevented her from understanding her school work. When she used Cogmed, her comprehension difficulty was solved.

The article described symptoms that were similar to Samantha's, said her mother. And more importantly, it presented the family with a fresh option.

Samantha started the Cogmed program last fall, and her parents say the turnaround is unbelievable.

"She explains herself very articulately," said Janice. "Normally she would be all over the place."

The program cost them $1,700, a fee not covered by OHIP or eligible for tax deductions. But they say it's worth it.

"It's the best money we ever spent," said Janice.

Working or short-term memory is necessary for such basic tasks as remembering instructions, solving problems, controlling impulses and focusing attention. Working-memory problems affect the brain's ability to store and manage information on a short-term basis, according to the Cogmed website. These problems are most common in adults and children with ADD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

And some individuals suffering from working-memory deficiencies may never be diagnosed as such if their symptoms are mild, according to Stephen Barker, the Ancaster psychologist who coached Samantha through the Cogmed program.

For example, habitually forgetting phone numbers, instructions and conversations minutes after they are heard or read may indicate working memory problems.

The Cogmed software program was created by neuroscientist Dr. Torkel Klingberg of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm in 2001. Since then, about 2,500 individuals, mainly in Europe and some in North America, have completed the program with about 80 per cent experiencing improved working memory, according to company reports.

The program, owned by Karolinska, was released in North America only last year. Since then, six physicians and psychologists in Canada have been licensed to coach patients through the program (see website cogmed.com). The closest licensee, Barker, has offices in Oakville as well as Ancaster.

The program's brain-stimulating exercises are designed to train the visual-spatial and verbal working memory while they measure the progress of the patient. The interactive nature of the program allows it to progressively adjust the level of difficulty.

"This is cognitive weightlifting, with a very qualified personal trainer," said Jonas Jendi, president and CEO of Cogmed's Chicago head office.

Patients are coached by phone or Internet, so the program can be completed from home. Barker coached Samantha through the program by phone.

But Cogmed is not a miracle solution, according to Alvaro Fernandez, CEO of California-based SharpBrains.

Most of the research published on the program was conducted and reported by companies connected to the program (see the websites sharpbrains.com and cogmed.com).

Some independent research has begun, but it is too early to know the results of those tests, said Fernandez.

That's why Barker said he tries to make parents aware of the software's possible benefits and limitations. He follows up with his patients six months after they complete the program to make sure they are still benefiting from the training.

Still, he added, much is unknown about the software's lasting effects because the program is so new.

"It doesn't solve all the problems," Barker said.

Fernandez agrees with this caution, adding that the Cogmed software has only been tested on small groups of people. Even Cogmed's own reports are careful not to claim sweeping success.

Cogmed's Jendi said there are about five other brain-fitness programs available in North America. Nintendo's BrainAge is the most popular in the industry right now, according to Jendi, though it does not make any serious claims toward health benefits.

Barker, himself, reports a generally high success rate in the 20 patients he has coached so far.

"About 80 per cent have shown some benefit," he said.

The Karolinska Institute recently developed an adult version of Cogmed. Early results indicate that patients are experiencing clearer focus, better rationality and improved thought organization, according to the Institute's own research.

"The more active you can make your brain, the better it will perform," said Barker.

This new research and approach to memory and behavioural disorder treatment is thrilling for Barker.

"It's really exciting," he said. "It's hard to say where it's going to go. It's not a flash in the pan. It's going to take off."

While the program's results are promising so far, Cogmed's Jendi admits, "I think the brain fitness industry has a lot left to prove."

But the McCowells are already convinced.

"What a difference ... it's unbelievable," said Paul McCowell about his daughter's improved academic performance.

Even Samantha's nine year-old brother, Jake, notices a change in his sister.

"She pays attention to me, and she's less annoying," he said.

Samantha grins from her seat on the couch.

Last week was her first piano lesson, something her mom promised she could do when she was caught up on her school work.

Someday, Samantha wants to act or teach or be a dentist. The girl who couldn't add now says there isn't anything she can't do.