wednesday, february 18, 2015 - nnsl media · in the original news release from the mayor's...

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 ● 42th Year No. 51 ● $1.00 (.95 + GST) ● PM#40012157

SPORTSHUBT H E

HAY RIVER, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Pulling together for Team NWT

NEWS

Pond Hockey makes the cut

The biggest junior curling tournament event in town has been cancelled after striking municipal workers threatened to picket the event.

"I had no choice," curling club president Davida Delorey told The Hub.

Last week, 15 teams were ready to compete in the School Championships.

The curling club rents the Don Stewart Recreation Cen-tre's facility directly from the town and is entirely volunteer-run.

In the original news release from the mayor's office, Andrew Cassidy stated the curling club would be exempt from any strike action but the Union of Northern Workers evidently disagreed.

"The curling rink is a town facility with an ice surface pro-vided by refrigeration equip-ment which is town-owned, maintained and operated by town employees," reads a let-ter from union president Todd Parsons to Delorey. "Our members will take legal strike action during the period of our strike."

Delorey explained teams were coming in from Yellow-knife and Fort Smith, the

hotels were full and the young athletes were excited show off what they had learned so far this year.

The championship is the one and only opportunity for many of them to compete against teams from other com-munities in curling and gain valuable experience for future efforts.

"I have a hard time under-standing why they would want to do that on the backs of the children," said Delorey. "We're all volunteers. We have the right to be open but they've taken that away."

While perhaps less emo-tionally contentious, there are other major curling events scheduled for the coming weeks including the Big Freeze this weekend – one of the big-gest local tournaments for local players – and the NWT Seniors' Championship at the end of the month. With nego-tiations stalled, it remains to be seen how the strike will affect these events.

As for last weekend, young curlers were definitely dis-appointed.

"For a lot of them, this is the only Bonspiel they get to enter in the year and now they have to miss it," said coach Trudy Walsh. "But for a lot of them, their parents are union

members too. It's a tough situa-tion."

While Delorey understands the difficult position into which the strike has forced many

people in town she said she is not impressed with the actions of the union. As of last week, she said regular and corporate leagues were theoretically still

functional, but likely not going to be able to continue in real-ity. All junior curling has been cancelled until further notice.

"We're all volunteers, and

we pay the town lease fees every year," she said. "We've been dragged into this con-flict and we're caught in the middle."

Strikers block access to volunteer-run facility

Children's Bonspiel cancelled

Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

Daniel DaRosa, left, Mason Hachey and Marshall Beck picket the entrance to the curling club Saturday afternoon.

SARAH [email protected]

Jared Monkman/NNSL photo

QUEEN IN WAITINGMichaela Fraser, left, Shania Pierre, Jasmine Norn and Payton Norn will all be competing for the title of K'amba Queen this year. Last year, the carnival ran contests for princess, prince, king and queen but decided to go back to basics this year with just the most hotly contested category. The young ladies will be selling raffle tickets to see who will be crowned.

Valentine's Day treats

www.hayriverhub.com2 ▼ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 ▼ 3www.hayriverhub.com

William Betthale went missing along the NWT/B.C. border in May 2011 and was presumed to have drowned in the Petitot River shortly after. But for his daughter, Rose Betthale-Reid, the case has yet to be closed.

"The biggest thing that I want is for no other family to ever have to go through what my family went through," she told The Hub last week, adding that she was appalled at the lack of collaboration between the RCMP from the Fort Nelson and Fort Liard detachments. "We're in Canada. Why should these policies, protocol and regulations separate them when they're looking for a person?"

Betthale was setting nets on the Petitot River near a bridge a few kilometres into B.C. when he went missing, according to Betthale-Reid. He was a man well-used to being in the bush and a good swimmer, though at 92 he did have health

issues including arthritis in his knee. When his wife and son didn't see

him come back, they reported him missing. Right away, Betthale-Reid said officers from the detachment at Fort Liard arrived, though it was only the following day that they put a boat in the water to search the river for her father. She said officers from Fort Nelson also arrived but did not interact with the grieving family, nor the many community members who turned out to look for the mis-sing elder.

"They just stood back," she said. "They didn't talk to us, they didn't ask us any questions."

This, she said, would not have been a problem for her, except that the Fort Liard RCMP told the family from the very beginning that the case would be handled by the Fort Nelson detachment, having occurred in B.C. The river, however, runs dir-ectly into the Liard River to empty into the Mackenzie.

"They looked for three days, then said it was now a recovery, and stopped looking," said Betthale-

Reid. "So many people came from all over to help look but we were so overwhelmed we couldn't dir-ect them… the police should have helped us set something up to keep looking."

Betthale-Reid also said repre-sentatives from both detachments apologized to her and her family a year after her father went missing in a meeting in Fort Liard.

"They said they were sorry for not being there for us," she said.

The RCMP have a strict proced-ure to follow when cases straddle borders, according to Cpl. Dave Tyreman, media liaison for the E Division in northern B.C., in part to ensure that jurisdictions work together seamlessly.

"There was a thorough investiga-tion done," said Tyreman. "Every-thing that could have been done was done."

He also said that while no Fort Nelson officers questioned the family, including Betthale's wife and son who had reported him missing, officers from Fort Liard did conduct

interviews that were included in the case file.

"There were several witness statements taken and they were quite detailed," he said. "As much man-power and effort as is needed, that's how much we put into it."

Tyreman also confirmed that Betthale is presumed drowned. He said the water was moving faster than usual as a result of spring melt and that Betthale had not been wear-ing a life-jacket.

"I believe he's alive in God's arms," said the missing elder's daughter. "I still hope we find his jacket, or his moccasins, maybe on a tree or hidden in the woods."

More than anything, Betthale-Reid said she doesn't want other families to have to go through the same thing. She said the accusations and the rumours nearly tore them apart.

"There's a monument there now, at the river, and sometimes we go there when it gets to be too much," she said. "At least his grandchildren have a place to go visit him."

'I don't want this to ever happen to anyone again'


Rose Betthale-Reid holds a photo of her father, William Betthale, who went missing in 2011 near the NWT/BC border, as well as a photo of the place where he put in his boat that day.

Did we get it wrong?Hay River Hub is committed to get-

ting facts and names right. With that goes a commitment to acknowledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in Hay River Hub, call 874-6577 and ask to speak to an editor, or e-mail [email protected]. We'll get a correction or clarification in as soon as we can.

NEWSBriefs

Murder trial continuesThe trial for Richard Deleeuw,

who is accused of killing his mother, started Monday in NWT Supreme Court in Hay River.

Deleeuw was charged with the second-degree murder of Linda Lafferty in September 2012, when he was 25-years old.

He was hospitalized in Edmon-ton after his arrest and completed a psychiatric assessment to deter-mine whether he was fit to stand trial.

Shake up at the chamber

The Hay River Chamber of Commerce held its annual gen-eral meeting last week discussing major issues from the past year as well as looking on the horizon to the future of the organization.

Joe Melanson succeeded Janet-Marie Fizer as president with Steve Anderson and Sherry DaR-osa serving as first and second vice-presidents respectively.

George Blandford accepted the role of treasurer and Allison Steed continued in her capacity as sec-retary. Several directors were also elected, some familiar faces and some relatively new to the table, if not at all new to the local business community. Mark Huntley, Wayne Taylor, Heather Coakwell, and Rom Lakusta were elected as dir-ectors, as were Wally Schumann, Kevin Wallington, Tim Hinz and Kelly Schofield.

NWT residents get poor grade for health

A new report by the Confer-ence Board of Canada suggests that NWT residents are among the least healthy in Canada.

The report compared the health of residents in each province and territory and compared Canada to 15 other western countries.

The NWT was given a D-minus along with Nunavut, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador. Overall, Canada received a B grade.

– John McFadden

Wildfire response under review

A review of civil response dur-ing last summer's wildfire season is under review and could lead to an update in emergency plans for the Northwest Territories.

Throughout February and March, GNWT depart-ments including Municipal and Community Affairs, as well as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada will conduct the post-emergency review. Wildfire responses will be examined through discussions with emergency response officials, communications staff, businesses and government.

Public opinion is also being taken in through a survey.

– Elaine Anselmi


Daughter blamesRCMP in caseof missing father


As we continue to watch this community become increasingly divided on social media over the municipal strike, the picketing of the Hay River Curling Club last weekend stands out as a particu-larly contentious issue.

Unionized workers have every right to picket. They are unhappy with the raise they have been offered and have taken legal strike action to pro-test it. Similarly -- and despite several accounts to the contrary -- non-unionized employees and essential service workers have every right to go to work unmolested by the strikers.

While it is not fair to children of Hay River to force a halt to all activ-ities housed in the Don

Stewart Recreation Centre, the union is fully within their rights to do so and frankly with snow, sewage and garbage removal, along with water delivery, all off the table, recreation is the only card they have to play.

The curling club cancelled its tournament. That was the right call to make in response -- you don't bring children through a picket line.

What is not OK, however, is the grey area that is the curling rink.

It is indeed a town facility but it is leased by a volunteer group for tens of thousands of dollars a year and entirely run by said group. In the news release from the mayor two weeks ago, it was clearly stated that the club would not be included in the shutdown. In threatening to picket an event specifically for junior curlers -- the only one of the year -- union employees have gone against that statement to the detriment of the children who were set to participate.

The town and the union need to figure out where the line is for everyone's sake but mostly for the children. If the curling rink is deemed not a town-run institution, which it isn't, the union needs to leave it alone. If it is, the town needs to refund some of the money the club paid to use the facil-

ity for the season though refunding the hundreds of hours of volunteer time would be far more dif-ficult.

The purported justification for the inclusion of the curling rink, namely that the ice plant that creates the ice in the first place is maintained by town employees, is tenuous but technically cor-rect. The problem is that the curling rink was not included in the original list of facilities that would not be open, now leaving it in a bizarre limbo where it theoretically has the right to open but not the actual ability to do so without inconvenience.

Strikers and management need to set limits

EDITORIAL

HUBOPINIONHISTORICAL QUOTE

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they

must be felt with the heart."– HHelenn KKelllerr

What's the best part of Valentine's Day?

You Said It!

Heather Tybring"Chocolate."

Jessica Mandeville"The creativity of it all."

Jacqueline Larocque"Spending time with people you love."

Samantha Scheper"The kids' faces when they open their valentines."

2011CCNA

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From: Sherri OstedPresidentHay River Figure Skating Club

The Hay River Figure Skating Club has been preparing to host the NWT Territorials for more than a year. This is a significant event in the figure skating calendar. It con-sists of not only an inter-club com-petition for every level of skater but also a test day. Tests are an import-ant part of a figure skater's life where they showcase their skills in order to move to the next levels.

Without these two things, the skaters are at risk of not being able to advance to new levels and losing all the work they have put in this season.

There are 83 NWT skaters and eight coaches who will be directly impacted by the club's inability to successfully host this event.

Forty of these skaters and two of the coaches are from Hay River. The club has invested a significant amount of resources toward this event knowing how important it is for our skaters. The club has pursued donations from Hay River rate-payers and town businesses in order to have a successful event. All of this will be lost if we are unable to host this event.

If a strike interrupts operations at the Don Stewart Recreation Centre, it is not as if we can just move the territorial event to another weekend. The officials for the event are pro-vided by Skate Canada and are not available for another time period and we just would not be able to get the time required. We are not sure of the feasibility of moving the event to a different location as we would not be able to draw from our large volun-teer pool in Hay River.

I have been told I need to tell the town what this strike is going to cost figure skating.

As a figure-skating parent, sup-porter and executive member, I can tell you it is not the dollar amount. It is not the dollar amount when we spend hundreds of hours to plan an event for skaters to showcase their abilities. It is not a dollar amount when we take time off from our jobs without pay so we can be there to braid the skaters' hair, fix their dress-

es or drive them around the lake to compete. It's not a dollar amount when every evening we rush to the rink so the coach can get on the ice and have people to watch her baby. It's not a dollar amount when we carry our babies out of the rink and into the hospital after they hit the ice especially hard. It is not a dollar amount when they show something they have never done before.

So what is this costing figure skating? I am going to start with the test day.

We have 103 tests scheduled.Ten skaters are participating in

their first test day. Three skaters are pursuing gold

level tests.We have five skaters pursuing

tests levels meant to move them up in the Arctic Winter Games and Canada Winter Games qualification meaning they will not be able to compete at trials without success-fully completing these tests.

One skater is pursuing the test levels she needs in order to be able to apply for coaching courses in the summer.

One skater is pursuing her gold levels before the end of her Grade 12 year. She has 4 opportunities to try 8 tests.

Skaters prepare for tests one to two seasons in some cases. Test days in the North are very hard to come by with most clubs getting only one a season. Skaters who are unable to successfully try their tests are unable to reach new levels, qualify for competitions and funding and take courses toward coaching. It also devalues their hard work.

Now the competition:– Thirty-one skaters will be mis-

sing their Canskate events meant to encourage a love of skating.

– Eight skaters will be missing Canskate Stage 1 -- the very first opportunity to compete.

– Two skaters will be missing Canskate Stage 5 -- their opportun-ity to prove to the coaches they can skate with the big kids and move up.

– Six skaters will be missing their very first Starskate solos.

– Six skaters will be missing their opportunity to demonstrate brand new events to the NWT to inspire younger skaters.

– Fifty-two skaters will be mis-sing the opportunity to go out with their "team" and show off for the other clubs.

– Eighty-three skaters will be missing the opportunity to do their best!

– Eight officials are giving up their free time to make this happen. These eight officials will miss see-ing how giving of their time helps Northern skaters to be better.

– Eight coaches will miss out on

seeing the fruits of their labours.If that's not enough about what

this strike action is costing Hay River Figure Skating Club here are some numbers. The budgeted amount for territorials is $25,000, approximately $10,000 of this is done through donations from Hay River rate-payers. Each club attending has fees of up to $3,500. The clubs that are travelling here are spending between $5,000 and $10,000 in travel costs with Hay

River rate-payers including Esso, Rowes, Ptarmigan Inn and Buffalo Airways. The test day is budgeted to $3,000. We already owe Skate Canada $1,030 in fees for testing whether it goes or not. We must pay for time of Dance Partner which would be regularly charged out to individual skaters and is approxi-mately $6,000.

These are 83 children with dreams and that is the true cost of territorials being cancelled.

Strike puts damper on figure skating

Walter Strong/NNSL photo

VICTORIOUS FINISHJaidyn Bourdages rests after winning a heat at the Field Law NWT 2015 Swimming Champion-ships in Yellowknife on Feb. 7.


All other issues were left behind as employees of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority packed the MLA constituency meet-ing last week and demanded answers.

"When is the transfer going to happen?" asked Terry Rideout, referring to the much-discussed GNWT take-over of the authority. "We were not told 'if' but 'when.' We're all cau-tious about this."

In an ongoing discussion that started decades ago, the Department of Health and Social Services is look-ing at absorbing the local health authority. The issue most recently flared up in the wake of Health Minister Glen Abernethy's announce-ment last summer of the proposed unified territorial health board. The move is intended to reduce cost and increase efficiency in the health system. At the time, Abernethy said if legisla-

tion is passed, the new board could come into effect April 2016 but added that the date is tentative.

To do so, the GNWT would have to buy out the pensions of all authority employees with an estimated $20 million price tag.

"This has been on the radar for two decades now and it's been left on the back burner, at first because e m p loye e s weren't inter-ested," said Hay River South MLA

Jane Groenewegen. "Now there are new things that will spur this on."

She cited the new legis-lation being introduced for the territorial health board as well as the transfer to the new health centre in the coming months.

But the imminent move to the new facility is part of the employees' problem. Several people at the meeting said they had heard maintenance duties would be taken over by the Department of Public Works, leaving the current

maintenance workers to an uncertain fate.

"That raises a red flag for other areas, like nutrition and housekeeping," said Rodger Blake. "We're down to a mat-ter of weeks before we move and we still don't know the answers to these questions."

Hay River North MLA

Robert Bouchard assured those present that he had yet to hear of any job losses as a result of the move but that he and Groenewegen would both push for more details while in session.

Beyond simple job losses, employees were concerned with what a union repre-

sentative termed "continuous service," essentially asking if authority workers would maintain their seniority if absorbed into the GNWT. Again, both MLAs said they would make sure the issues were heard in Yellowknife.

About 100 people turned out to the meeting, most of

them from the health author-ity which employs about 300 people in town.

"We're just looking for some answers about what's coming," said Lesley Schyn-der. "It seems like every time we sit down with the govern-ment, the story changes. Are we safe? Are we not?"

Constituency meeting dominated by health workers looking for answers

Workers question MLAs about health authority changes

Jared Monkman/NNSL photo

Residents packed the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre on Thursday evening for a constituency meeting hosted by both Hay River MLAs. The trending topic of the night was the future of health authority employ-ees if they end up transferring to the GNWT.


▼ "We're just looking for some answers

about what's coming."

Lesley Schynder ▼


Team NWT packed their bags and took off for Prince George, BC, taking with them seven youth from Hay River to compete against the best in Canada.

"Coming from the territor-ies, this is such a great oppor-tunity," said Cassidy Ring. "Just being here is such a great learning experience and hope-fully we'll be able to take what we've learned to help us in the future."

The girls hockey team were the first to step onto the stage on Saturday afternoon and while they lost 14-0 to New Brunswick, Ring said the team was still in good spirits.

"I think we've managed to keep a positive attitude," she said. "I'm most looking for-ward to bonding with my team and building friendships that will last a lifetime."

Teammate Bryn Hill agreed that the experience itself was valuable, despite the results posted on a scoreboard.

"It's been really fun," she said. "It's better to play against people who are better and stronger than you. It makes you a better player even if you don't win."

Win or lose, Hay River has a lot invested in the athletes representing the community at the national games in the next week and a half. Each athlete needed to raise $3,000 to make the games and many Hay River businesses and groups stepped up to help.

Super A's John Hill and Tracy Hill – also Bryn's par-ents – were no exception. The store ran its third round-up program last month to help fund hockey players raising a total of $8,000. For the course of the initiative, customers were asked if they wanted to round up their totals at the till with the extra going to support causes like the Soup Kitchen and others.

"We've found it's a great way to raise money for what-ever group is participating," said John. "It's often nickels and dimes but some people are more generous and it adds up."

John said he sees helping athletes travel to games like these as an investment in the future.

"If you look at the Canada Winter Games, there are ath-letes there who are going to be Olympians," he told The Hub. "With any luck, some of them will be from Hay River

and the NWT."John and Tracy made the

trek to Prince George to sup-

port their daughter but also said they were there to cheer on all the athletes.

"You're so used to getting in the truck and driving for miles and miles," said Tracy.

"It doesn't really matter how you get there as long as you're there supporting the athletes."

HUBSPORTSHOCKEY UPDATEOrganizers overcome speed bumps to put Pond tournament together, page 8

Girl's hockey team loses to New Brunswick in Canada Winter Games but Hay Riverite competitor Cassidy Ring says teammates still positive

Spirits still high after loss

photo courtesy of Tracy Hill

Super A owner John Hill, left, presents a cheque to Tanner Mandeville, left, Bryn Hill, Dawson McMeekin, Cassidy Ring and Lochlan Munro before their departure for Prince George, B.C., and the Canada Winter Games.


SWISH!A few grade 6 Ecole

Boreale students travelled to Yellowknife

this past weekend to participate in

the Junior Cagers tournament. The team

joined Allain St. Cyr and was coached by

Frank Pabai and Nadia Wood. The underdogs

soared and rose to the challenge going

all the way to the semi finals in their first ever

basketball tournament. Unfortunately the team

lost a great game to Inuvik. In the front row

from left are Conner McKay-Ivanko

and Landon Bowker. In the back row from left

are Shanelle Moore, Jack Coombs, Declan

Munro and coach Frank Pabai.

photo courtesy of Kim Ivanko


Despite a few extra hur-dles, Polar Pond Hockey is finally a go this year.

The popular event draws crowds from home and out-of-town for a weekend of hockey and fun, all hosted on the fro-zen Hay River at the Fisher-man's Wharf. But this year, a series of bureaucratic mishaps almost stopped it from hap-pening.

"This year had a lot of speed bumps but everything came together in the end," said organizing committee mem-ber Ryan Rowe. "It's look-ing like there maybe won't be any other hockey this year so this is a great opportunity for everyone to get out and enjoy some hockey and have fun."

One of the problems included ensuring the mas-sive tent used throughout the weekend to host concessions, warming stations and the blow-out dance on the Fri-day night was cleared by fire officials, something that was achieved only last week.

"We've been working closely with the fire marshall throughout the whole pro-cess," said fellow committee member Curtis Rowe. "We're really happy to be moving forward with it."

Last year's event saw 34 teams compete for the title in open, ladies' and oldtim-ers' categories. While reign-ing champs, Poutine Machine, took the top spot in the open category, the Moosehide Mamas from Fort Simpson – although a few players now live in Hay River – won for the women and the Super A Allstars took the oldtimers' title.

"The government groups we've been dealing with have been willing to work with us and that's been great," said Curtis. "They could have kai-boshed the plan at any time but instead they helped us make it happen."

But the delays do pose a potential threat to the size of the event this year. Ryan said the committee will be work-ing hard to get advertising out ahead of the event's planned

run – from March 20 through 22.

"It's a great event and has

been gaining steam in the last few years, and it would be a shame to see its growth

stunted," he said. "We're get-ting a late start on our adver-tising and things and we're

hoping the community will come out and support us and participate."

Setbacks make for late start but organizers hopeful for high turnout

Pond hockey good to go

NNSL file photo

Eddie Smith, left, battles out Richard Johnstone for the puck at a game last year at the sixth annual Polar Pond Hockey tournament on the Hay River.


photo courtesy of Wendy Morgan

A TASTE OF GOVERNMENTDavida Patterson, left and Jolene Lamalice stand with Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen. The students from Diamond Jenness Secondary School served as pages in the legislative assembly from Feb. 9 to 12.


About a dozen families turned out to decorate cookies last Friday afternoon at the Anglican church, making a mess and having lots of fun in the process.

"It's just a great activity and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do," said Angela Jacobs, co-ordinator for Healthy Families.

"And they make for a great last-minute

present if people happen to have forgot-ten about getting someone a present."

There were also boxes of apples, oran-ges, and bananas on hand which partici-pants could take home to balance out the sweet treats.

Jacobs said part of her program's goals is to get families to eat healthier and said she is happy to do anything she can to help.

Coira-Ann Wilson gets creative with her decorations at an icing workshop last week.

Xander Pynton, left, and Misty Pynton

enjoy the fruits of their labours before taking

their decorated cookies home.

A dozen mothers and children turned out for the Healthy Families' cookie workshop to celebrate Valentines Day last week.

Emily Taylor, left, Molly Taylor, Jody Halstead and Annika Halstead finish up their cookie trays during a Healthy Families workshop last week.

Cookies for familiesNorthern News Services

by Jared Monkman

VALENTINE'S Feature


Chief Sunrise students get swag for participating in police program

DARE class graduates

While times may vary, Lenny Fabian says he tries to open the K'atlodeeche First Nation Youth Centre five days a week, every week.

"It's keeping them away from trouble," he told The Hub.

"Most of the time, they prefer coming here anyway."

Last Wednesday night, the small building next to the band office was packed at 8 p.m.

Children aged 12 and under played pool, sat at computers and played video games on the massive, flat-screen television in the cor-ner of the common room. At 9 p.m., the younger children will head out and a new crowd of teenagers will traipse into the centre to hang out and escape the cold and snow for the next two hours.

"I used to try to be open seven days a week but it got to be too much," said Fabian, who now takes Sundays and Mondays off.

Fabian is also the full-time recreation and justice co-ordinator, running the youth centre in the evenings after he's done a regular day's work.

He said it began as just a job, having gone to the band to ask for work last November but that he is now invested in the centre's future.

"Basically, the plan is to keep it going after I'm done," he said, adding that he has indefinite plans to go away to school in the coming year. "I consider this a crime-pre-vention program more than anything now."

In terms of sheer volume, Fabian should be making a difference. On a regular week day night there were more than 20 children in the build-ing, a number the co-ordin-

ator said doubles when he announces a movie night. On weekends, he stays open later for the older children.

While the youth centre has lofty goals of providing a safe place for young people to hang out and stay out of trouble, the youth there are just happy to have somewhere to go with cheap food and wireless networking.

"I like the pool table, the games, the movies," said Faith Martel. "And the Wi-Fi! The free Wi-Fi."

With funding from the band, Fabian said he outfit-ted the centre with new com-puters, a new television and other electronics to draw in the young people.

"It's just better for them to be here," he said.

"And the computers and the Internet make it easy for them to choose here instead of somewhere else, maybe mak-ing bad choices."

New justice co-ordinator hopes to see initiative continue after he's gone

Youth centre gets new lease on life


Allora Cayen, left, Bianca Sabourin, Destiny Smallgeese, and Faith Martel goof off for the camera Feb. 11 at the KFN youth centre. The girls were only some of about 20 children who came out for the evening.


Students at Chief Sunrise Education Centre will be facing challenges equipped with new swag and a greater understand-ing of the issues facing them and their community.

"It's not an easy program, I throw a lot of information at you and some of it is pretty tough to hear," said Special Const. Steve Beck told a group of students graduating from the DARE program last week.

"The struggle with drugs and alcohol has already begun for most of you and it's

only going to get worse but it comes down to choices."

The DARE program -- Drug Abuse Resistance Education -- is an initiative implemented by the RCMP to try to combat drug and alcohol abuse in young people before it even begins. For the past few months, a class at Chief Sunrise has been meeting for an hour every week with Beck to go through the program, learning about the adverse effects of drugs and alcohol and what to do when confronted with adults or peers who may be abusing.

Upon completion, the students got a speaker system and sound dock for their classroom, as well as hats and water

bottles to take home."A lot of the questions you guys asked

me really made me think as a police offi-cer and as a person," Beck said, adding later that there wasn't a session where he didn't receive at least 20 or so anonymous questions.

He also said such programs in small communities can be challenging to deliv-er, as there are always a number of chil-dren who have been exposed to family members abusing drugs and alcohol.

If students haven't seen the effects of substance abuse in their own families, Beck said they surely know someone who has.


Sonya Sabourin, left, Chad Clark, Special Const. Steve Beck, Shanita McArthur, Keyona Tourangeau and Destiny Smallgeese show off some of the gear they got upon completion of the DARE program last week.



Thebacha/Fort SmithTwo people from Fort

Smith are among 24 high-performance athletes to receive financial backing from the GNWT.

The recipients from Fort Smith are golfer Bran-don Walterhouse and junior hockey player Shaun Mac-Pherson.

The recipients of the 2014-2015 H ig h -Pe r fo r m-ance Athlete Grant were announced Feb. 10 by Muni-cipal and Com-munity Affairs Minister Robert C. McLeod and Maureen Miller, president of the Sport North Federation.

"Supporting Northern athletes competing at the national and international levels is an important part of sport development in the NWT," said McLeod in a

news release. "These ath-letes inspire our youth, pro-vide strong leadership in the sport sector, and set a positive example for all youth and our

future sport stars." Miller said

the program aids NWT athletes in a variety of sports to pursue their goals and dreams.

"Training at a high level in sport is a costly pursuit involving expens-es for coaches, travel and equip-ment," she noted.

Brendan Green – an Olympic biathlete from Hay River – is another recipient this year.

"The High-Performance Athlete Grant has been instrumental in my career as a high-perform-ance athlete," said Green. "Since the initiation of this program, Northern athletes have developed into some of the best and most resilient

athletes in Canada. I truly believe the NWT is lead-ing the way in amateur ath-lete support and there will be many more incredible athletes to come out of the North."

The Sport North Fed-eration and MACA jointly approve all recipients.

The funding is provided at three levels – up to $15,000 for national-caliber athletes, up to $10,000 for someone in a national sports development program and up to $5,000 for a player on a university team or in a nationally-sanctioned amateur sport league.

Mental health course

plannedThebacha/Fort Smith

A three-day course will be offered in Fort Smith next week to help people learn about mental health issues and how to support someone who may be struggling with a mental health crisis.

The Mental Health First Aid for Northern People course will be offered from Feb. 25 to 27.

The 18 hours of instruc-tion will deal with disor-ders involving such things as substance abuse, anxiety,

psychosis and deliberate self-injury.

Crisis First Aid skills will be taught for situations such as substance overdose, sui-cidal behaviour, panic attack, acute stress reaction and psy-chotic episodes.

The course will take place at Northern Life Museum & Cultural Centre.

It is being presented by Mental Health First Aid Canada and the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority.

GNWT hands out athlete grantsphoto courtesy of Brendan Green

Olympian Brendan Green of Hay River won himself a High-Performance Athlete Grant from the GNWT on Feb. 10.

AROUND THE SOUTH SLAVEPaul Bickford is the South Slave corres-pondent for The Hub. Send your ideas to [email protected].

Northern News Services


30 years ago The GNWT Alcohol and Drug

Program approved $73,000 in funding for the Hay River Drug and Alcohol Abuse Society's new fiscal year.

The funds would be used to operate an awareness, counselling and referral program.

The program would deal with topics such as addiction, how it affects the family, legal and medical aspects and rehabilitation.

Co-ordinator Murray Green stressed that the main purpose of the program was educational,

although some counselling would be done.

"It's not a detox centre," he said.Green had been involved with

community education when he worked as a volunteer for the Sas-katchewan Alcohol commission.

With the Hay River Society

he planned to work in close conjunction with the schools, correctional centre, hospital, RCMP and court systems. The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Cen-tre was located in the Macken-zie Place high rise.

20 years agoThe hub was king of the medal

wars in an invitational bantam hock-ey tournament in Fort Simpson.

The Hay River Kiwanis Kings played royally all weekend, entering the finals without a single loss tar-nishing their honour.

The Kings knocked out Fort Smith in the final match, 7-4.

Fort Simpson's home team man-aged bronze.

10 years agoThe Town of Hay River declared

a half-day civic holiday in recogni-tion of the 22nd annual K'amba Car-nival on the Hay River Reserve.

A motion for the holiday was passed at council's Feb. 21 meeting.

Deputy mayor Dean McMeekin said the half-day holiday would be for town employees and was intend-

ed to recognize the importance of the carnival to the town.

"It's been a great boost to our economy."

He said it was up to other employers whether they would give their workers time off.

Assistant deputy mayor Vern Tordoff questioned declaring the half-day holiday if non-civic employees don't get time off.

Tordoff also said it would not be right to make other employers pay half-day wages for the holiday.

"Not too many employers can afford that."

Alcohol and drug abuse program gets funding

LOOKING Back

with Candace A. McQuatte-mail: [email protected]


Vehicles2009 FORD Focus, excellent condition, fully loaded dark blue 150,000 km or (85,000 m). 6,500.00. Phone: 867-875-7065 02/25

2008-4X4 FORD Escape, excel-lent condition, fully loaded, silver, priced same as Edmonton/G.P @ 190,000 km or (120,000 m). Phone: 867-875-7065 02/25

Miscellaneous

FIREWOODCustom Cut Sizes – Split

Price Change Effective June 11, 2014

1 Full Cord $250 (GST & local delivery included)

Call Patterson’s Sawmill867-874-2746

Fort SmithClassifieds

DRY FIREWOOD for sale. For more information, call Norm at 872-2355 TFN

FOR SALE: Firewood. Cus-tom cut sizes, split green, dry, bagged. Wood gasification/outdoor wood boilers. Delivery to Hay River and Yellowknife. Contact Dave at (867) 872-3435 or cell 872-0229. Fort Smith, email: [email protected]

CommunityAnnouncements

THE SOUP Kitchen Open Mon., Wed., Fri. 11am - 1:30pm. For more information, please call: 874-2885 or 874-4353.

AEROBICS IS back every Mon-day, Wednesday and Friday at Harry Camsell School starting at 6 pm. Come on out and get active!

PARENTS AND Tots every Thurs-day at 10:30am. Stories, crafts, creative play. Join us at the Hay River Community Library.

PENTECOSTAL CHAPEL Bible Study and prayer Tuesdays at 7pm. Service Sundays 10:30am

24-HOUR CRISIS Line Providing a free and safe place for victims of family violence. Help is available. Call 874-6626

LIONS CLUB meetings, 2nd Tues-day of every month, 7pm at the Salt N Pepper’s back room. New mem-bers welcome. If you would like more information call Pat at 874-6660

JSS PARENT Action Committee (DJPAC) is looking for anyone, who would like to help out and support our school. Call Evellyn Coleman at 874-2342 / Kim Crook at 874-4901 or email: [email protected]

ROTARY CLUB meets every Thursday at noon. Call Chris Robinson 874-2207.

GROWING TOGETHER, a place for children 6 and under and their parents. A variety of activities are always on the go. For a full sched-ule of events, call us at 874-4545.

BROWNIES (GIRL Guides of Can-ada) Thursdays 6 - 7:30 p.m. Cath-olic church. For more information, call 874-2350.

GUIDES, PATHFINDERS (Girl Guides of Canada) Wednesday 6:30 - 8 p.m. P.A. School. For more info, call 874-2350.

HAY RIVER Playschool Early childhood programs for 3 & 4 year olds. To register, contact Norma Shaw at 874-2508, Mon to Fri, 8:30am - 4:30pm.

COMMUNITY COUNSELLING Services Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; closed noon hours. We of-fer confidential referral, counsel-ling, therapeutic and education services. Please call 874-2446.

ST. ANDREWS Anglican/Grace United Church, service – Sun-day morning 10:30 am, Sunday School. And the Thrift Shop hours are; Wed, Thurs. and Sat – 1:30 to 4pm, Thurs. night 7pm to 9pm.

HAY RIVER AA Meetings Schedule. Sunday at SMCC 7:30pm. Monday at Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre (backdoor) Board Room 7:30pm. Big Book Meeting. Wednesday Friend-ship Centre 7:30pm. Thursday AI-Anon Friendship Centre 7:30pm. Thursday AA Anglican Church base-ment 7:30pm. Friday AA Anglican Church basement 8:00pm. Saturday 12 step/12 Traditions Meeting Friend-ship Centre 8:00pm. TFN

THE HEALTHY Family Program is in Suite 11 - 3 Courtoreille Street (upstairs above the Bakery). Are you expecting a baby or had a baby in the past six months? We do home visits to support you with: Healthy Child Development, Healthy Parent-Child Interaction, Community Re-sources & Social Support. Our pro-gram is FREE and open Mon. - Fri. 8am - 4pm. Angela Jacobs @ 874-3009 or Noella @ 874-3008

MEALS ON Wheels needs vol-unteers to deliver meals. (11am - noon approximately). If you are interested, please call Marcy Cowger at 874-7201. Hay River Community Health Services.

IF YOU have a fine – the Com-munity Alternative Measures, Fine Option Programs are now serviced from the office of the Hay River Community Justice Committee. Office hours: Monday - Friday, 2-5pm. Located at Room 102 in the Greenway Building. For more info, phone 874-3993.

HR RESERVE Community Coun-selling. Service hours: Mon. to Fri. 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m. Offer confiden-tial referral, counselling and educa-tion services. Please call 874-3560.

VICTIM SERVICES. For immediate assistance call 876-2020 for free and confidential direct services. TFN

COMMUNITY COUNSELLING Services Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; closed noon hours. We of-fer confidential referral, counsel-ling, therapeutic and education services. Please call 874-2446.

SUPPORT LOCAL business! Check out www.sshcp.nt.ca to see what Hay River has to offer!

HAY RIVER Community Library hours are as follows: Monday - Thursday 10am - 5pm and 7 - 9pm (always open during lunch) Friday, Saturday/Sunday 1 - 5pm. Closed for statutory holidays.

EVERY WEEK at the Tree House! Mondays-crafts and drop-in, 10am-noon for parents and children ages 0-6. Tuesdays-tumbling toddlers at the Pentecostal Church, 10am-noon; fun stories and drop-in, 1:30-4:30pm. Wednesdays-movie mad-ness days, come in and enjoy a featured movie, 10am-noon; phon-ics club 3:45-5pm. Thursdays - par-ents and tots, 10am-noon; curious kids clubs, 3:45-5pm. Call: 874-2103

SPARKS (GIRL Guides of Can-ada) Thursdays 6 - 7p.m. Pente-costal church. For more informa-tion, call 874-2350.

INTERESTED IN Karate? Classes for all ages at Harry Camsell School. Call Santiago or Cindy today at: 874-3754 or Alex: 874-6667, after 6pm.

RECYCLING FUND Raiser - Hay River Minor Hockey Association. HRMHA’s main fund raiser is its bot-tle drives every October and April. If we missed you, or if you have re-cycling to donate in between these months, please contact Stacey Barnes at 874-2515 for pick up. Thank you for supporting HRMHA.

Realty For Rent or Sale

PROPERTY FOR sale: 135,000.00 titled beautiful lake shore property, Hay River, NT. Four (4) lots @150' x 400' cottage and much more. Phone: 867-875-7065 02/25

ONE BEDROOM & kitchenette available in basement for rent at $1000.00 per month, call Susan 867-874-3144 02/25

Vacation Rentals

CANMORE 3 bedroom condo for vacation rental. Available for short holiday rental (min. 4 days) in Canmore, Alta. Ideal for skiing or hiking. Comes fully furnished with all conveniences. Call Chris at 403-208-5341 TFN

VACATION RENTALS avail-able in Palm Springs, California area and Big White Ski area near Kelowna. Palm Springs house, 2 bdrm, master w/ensuite, second w/bunk bed, sleeps two. Fully equipped kitchen, patio w/BBQ, lo-cated in gated community on golf course. Big White Ski area, ski in - ski out, 3 bdrm townhouse locat-ed in Snow Pine area, two queen sized beds, four bunk beds, sleeps 8. Fully equipped kitchen, deck with BBQ and private hot tub. 403-208-5341 or 403-875-7604 TFN

Alberta Blanket

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MEIER GUN Auction. Saturday, March 21, 11 a.m., 6016 - 72A Ave., Edmonton. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, hunting and fishing equipment. To consign call 780-440-1860.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

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COMING EVENTSFIRST CANADIAN Collector's Club Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale. Sat., February 28, 2015. 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Thorn-cliffe-Greenview Community Hall, 5600 Centre Street North, Calgary. Admission $4.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

WELDER - Flagstaff County seeks permanent full-time Welder, will consider Apprentice/Journey-man. Competitive salary, bene-fits, pension plan. Apply to: Kevin Kinzer; [email protected]. More details at flagstaff.ab.ca.

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FOR SALE - To Move various size and style of buildings. For more information contact McCann's Building Movers Ltd. at 403-279-6395 or visit our website: www.mccannsbldgmovers.com.

MANUFACTURED HOMES

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TO PLACE YOUR AD:Call 874-6577, fax 874-2679,

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A Yellowknife man who survived horrendous injuries on a night in which his best friend was killed said he is fearful the person who beat and stabbed him will come back and finish the job.

Colin Digness, 41, spoke from his apartment unit where he is recovering from his injuries.

It's the same Sunridge Place apartment unit where he and his best friend, John Wifladt, were found uncon-scious early in the morning of Dec. 14 of last year. Wifladt, 39, of Yellowknife died from his injuries after the attack. Digness was medevaced to Edmonton.

RCMP is investigating Wifladt's death as a homicide. Digness said he has a "pretty bad feeling" knowing he is the sole witness to the crime.

Digness is back at home after being released from Stanton Territorial Hospital earlier this month and said he doesn't remember much about that night. He said he recalls drinking with Wifladt at the Black Knight and vaguely remembers being at the Gold Range.

Wifladt's brother, Tommy Wifladt, told Yellowknifer in December that he met the two men outside the Gold Range who invited him to a party in Ndilo but Digness said he doesn't recall that.

"I do remember going out downtown drinking and I do remember being back at my

apartment later with John and someone busting through my door," said Digness.

"I was hit in the face with something heavy, near my eye. I think then that the per-son attacked John and then came back and stabbed me."

Digness then showed the long scar on his stomach where he received dozens of stitches.

Swords in apartment gone

Digness said he did have two swords in his apartment that night which have since been removed but he doesn't know whether the police or someone else took them.

Tommy Wifladt speculat-ed shortly after his brother's death that there had been a sword fight in the apartment after speaking to a nurse at the hospital. He was unavail-able for comment last week.

"I don't know if they were used as weapons that night. I just don't remember," said Digness, adding he has no idea who attacked them nor what weapon the attacker used.

He didn't rule out the man may have used the two swords he owns in the attack, which he describes as toys. They were hanging on the wall in his living room.

"I don't think I knew the attacker," said Digness. "All I know is that he forced open my door."

He said he was told by staff at Stanton last month that he was stabbed three times and a bone near his

eye was broken. Digness also received stitches around his left eye which is still swollen shut.

"I can see out of it, but it's blurry," said Digness. "The biggest side effect I have right now is bad headaches."

Digness said he is having trouble remembering details

from that night due to the amount of alcohol he con-sumed, the head injury he suffered and the pain medi-cation he's been taking since waking up in an Edmonton hospital.

Digness said he has no memory of the medevac flight to Edmonton. When he

regained consciousness in the hospital, he was still covered in blood. Digness said a week went by before hospital staff cleaned the blood off of him.

"I had no idea at that time that John had died," said Digness. "It wasn't until I got back to Stanton in January that I was told by nurs-es that John had died."

Digness said he was never interviewed by RCMP while he was in the hospital in Edmonton.

"They only spoke to me after I got back here in Janu-ary," he said.

'I am nervous that there is a killer out there'

Digness said two male officers interviewed him while he was in his hospital bed at Stanton. They tape recorded the interview, he said.

"They didn't tell me much and I couldn't tell them much," said Digness. "All that police have been able to tell me is that they are working on the case.

"They never accused me of doing this or being a sus-pect. But I am nervous that there is a killer out there. I don't want anyone to get away with this."

Digness said he has no enemies and he has no idea who would've wanted to break into his apartment and attack him or Wifladt.

"There are crackheads down the hall, but I did not recognize the person who

burst in as being one of them," he said.

His apartment was a mess when he returned to it, he said. "Every-thing was upside down and pushed against the wall."

He said he doesn't think robbery was the motive for the attack as the only things that

he can determine are mis-sing are his swords. His land-lord repaired the door and he was given new keys when he returned to the apartment, he said.

He pointed to the new unpainted door frame as evidence the door had been broken and since repaired.

Digness said he had not heard the rumours of a sword fight in his apartment.

"I hadn't heard about that but I do know that John and I did not get into a sword flight that night," said Digness.

"We had been best friends since 1984. I found myself at Stanton unable to sleep, just staring out the window. I was thinking of John, trying to remember what happened and worrying. It was a pretty bad feeling."

He said he had yet to speak to anyone in the Wifladt family.

Police have said little about the case, including whether a killer is free on the streets of Yellowknife. RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko said on Feb. 11 that police are "continuing their investigation" but she had no further information on the case.

Colin Digness says he's worried assailant may try to finish him off after bloody night in December that left friend dead

'There is a killer out there'

John McFadden/NNSL photo

Colin Digness, his left eye still swollen shut, talks about the night he survived a brutal attack in his apartment. His best friend John Wifladt died from injuries suffered in the same attack. Digness said he is worried the attacker could come back and finish the job.

NNSL file photo

An RCMP vehicle sits in front of the Sunridge Place apartment on 51A Avenue on Dec. 15. Police were guarding a third floor apartment where John Wifladt and Colin Digness had been attacked the day before. Wifladt died from his injuries.

John Wi adt

JOHN MCFADDENNorthern News Services

wednesday, february 18, 2015 - nnsl media · in the original news release from the mayor's...

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