The Prince George Citizen ­ Thursday, September 25, 2003 ­ 3

CITY DESK: Randall Heidt 562-2441, Local 753 FAX: 562-7453 E-MAIL: news@princegeorgecitizen.com

SECOND FRONT
Citizen staff Prince George's Bel Canto Children's Choir will be the only Canadian group scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York next spring. "We've raised $10,000 for the trip, and we have to raise $90,000 more, but the parents have taken up the challenge because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Cynthia Halliwell, Bel Canto administration assistant. She said support is being received from across B.C. since Bel Canto director Gerda Wilson did an interview with CBC Radio about two weeks ago.

MORE LOCAL NEWS ON PAGE 5

Kids choir off to NYC
The 30 singers, ranging in age from nine to 25, will sing at a specific concert during the March 18 to 22 event, and will have 120 choristers on stage with them as they perform a piece called Missa Brevis. Fundraising events planned include a silent auction and a Christmas concert Dec. 19 and 20. The choir is seeking donations in cash and kind to help with fundraising efforts. "I have no doubt we will do Prince George proud. These kids are great ambassadors for the city," said Halliwell, who can be contacted at 562-3743.

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Crews from Pembina Pipelines, the provincial government, the oil and gas commission and Envirotech deploy an oil spill containment boom during a simulation on the Nechako River.

Driver fined for death of cyclist
by KAREN KWAN Citizen staff A Prince George man has been fined $2,000 for striking and killing a cyclist while driving a commercial moving van last year. Joey Hawley, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving without due care and attention in the July 26, 2002 death of August Thibault. The charge came under the provincial motor-vehicle act, and is not a criminal offence. Judge Lynn Dollis fined Hawley the maximum allowed for the offence, and banned him from driving in B.C. for six months except for work and travelling to his job. The penalty was a joint proposal by Crown counsel and defence. Court heard Hawley has no criminal record but does have a record of traffic offences, and continues to drive a commercial vehicle. Turning to face Thibault's family in court, Hawley apologized: "I am sorry about what happened," saying he would change things if he could. The crash occurred on Highway 16 near Gauthier Road as the truck was heading back to Prince George from an out-of-town job around 5:30 a.m., court heard. Hawley and his co-worker left the Francois Lake area around 3:30 a.m. and the other man drove as far as Vanderhoof before Hawley got behind the wheel, Crown counsel John Sutton said. "He had little or no sleep for the preceding 24 hours," Sutton said. Thibault, 43, was cycling to work in the same direction along the shoulder when the one-tonne cube van veered across the fog line and struck the concrete barrier on the side of the road before hitting him from behind. The force threw Thibault backwards over the van and sent his helmet flying, court heard, and he died at the scene from severe head trauma. Sutton said a police analyst pegged the van's speed at a minimum of 82 to 84 kilometres an hour at the time of the collision, just over the speed limit of 80 km-h. Weather and road conditions were not a factor, he said. Hawley's lawyer Ron Tindale described the incident as a moment of "inadvertence" that led to tragedy. "On this occasion, there's no suggestion there was any alcohol involved or any erratic driving," he said. "It's haunted him since the day it occurred," Tindale said. After the incident, Hawley lost his job with Two Small Men with Big Hearts moving company but found work as a gravel-truck driver, he said. Thibault's wife and three sons described their loss in victim-impact statements, Judge Dollis said, but those statements were not read aloud in court. His family declined to comment on the sentence outside court, but his wife Robin has said criminal penalties would not bring her husband back.

Oil spill exercise staged
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff Popcorn was the substance used to simulate an oil spill in the Nechako River during an emergency clean-up exercise for pipeline-industry and emergency personnel Wednesday. "In years gone by, we used canola oil, but that's no longer allowed," said Fred E. Webb, vice-president and general manager of Pembina Pipeline Corporation. Although Pembina does not have a pipeline over the Nechako, it was chosen because it is a fast river. "It is really fast-moving, and part of the purpose of this drill was to see how well the equipment would work in the fast-flowing water," said Webb, who is based in Calgary. "The objective was to teach containment of a fast-river oil spill." The exercise was a success, and no popcorn got away, he said. "We had problems moving the booms into place and it was hard to get an anchor in a river moving this fast," Webb said. "But we also learned what new equipment worked best." Color-coded ropes stored in the two Pembina Environmental Response trailers brought to the boat launch by Cottonwood Island Park for the exercise allowed clean-up crews to determine their length immediately in case of an emergency, he said. For example, a 50-metre rope is green, and an 80-metre rope is yellow, and so on. Webb had praise for the Heritage River Trail System segment leading along the south bank of the Nechako from Cottonwood Island Park. He said it made it much easier for emergency personnel taking part in the exercise to carry boats and other equipment to the appropriate locations to get them into the water in a timely manner. Twenty-five employees of Pembina and its subsidiary, Plateau Pipelines, took part in the exercise. Also participating were several staff members from the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, an employee of the Husky Oil refinery, a representative of the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission and Bob Kelly of the Provincial Emergency Program (PEP). Pembina keeps one of its environmental response trailers in Prince George in case of a spill. One of its six crude-oil pipelines in B.C. leads from Taylor to Kamloops, and supplies the local Husky Oil refinery along the way. That pipeline crosses the Fraser River near Shelley.

Doctors needed for medical program BOOK YOUR PARTY NOW!
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff To ensure the Northern Medical Program is successful, there is a need to recruit more than 20 family physicians and 20 specialists to the North, according to the CEO of the Northern Health Authority. "We would like to increase our family doctors to 245 from 223, and add about 22 more specialists across the region," Malcolm Maxwell said. "There's a concern in Prince George that we need to recruit the physicians within the first two years of the NMP (which begins in September, 2004)." Maxwell said the need is vital because physicians will have to continue caring for the sick and teach, as well as caring for patients who now travel south. Reducing the need to travel to the south "is a good thing except it will increase our costs for staff, operating rooms and physiotherapy for patient recovery, and it will put a bigger pressure on recruiting nurses. "We will have some resources coming back from care now done in the south, but the concern is that at the end of the plan, communities will still only have the same services now offered in larger communities," he said. After years of losing doctors in the North, there are now 10 or 11 more physicians working in the North than a year ago, said Maxwell, who credits the medical staff, UNBC and the province for the increased numbers. "People are more interested in coming here now because they know there will be a medical teaching centre here." He said the NMP will require space at Prince George Regional Hospital for first

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2nd Annual

Foodsafe Conference
September 26, 2003
CNC AMPHITHEATER 3330-2nd Ave Doors open 8:15
Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Professionals from around BC will present on topics including:
· ENVIRONMENTAL ALLERGIES ·FOOD SECURITY · PREVENTING FOOD ALLERGIES IN RESTAURANTS · FOOD SAFETY PLANS & ISSUE · FOOD CRAVINGS and DIETS $40 Registration Fee for general public $20 Registration Fee for Foodsafe Instructors with submissions Seating at the door will be limited

Construction continues on the medical building at UNBC. The facility is set to open next September.
and second year students, and anticipates third and fourth year students will require space across the region. "The school is interested in educating third year students in rural, as opposed to urban centres." The school is considering a 16-week training program in rural family practices such as Terrace, as opposed to smaller learning opportunities. He noted almost every hospital in the NHA now has third and fourth year students from the UBC medical school in specific areas. "Those communities may still get those students, but the priority will be given to UNBC students" Maxwell said it is believed the NMP will be a program of choice once it's up and running because students will have firsthand exposure to procedures without having to be the twelfth student in line.

Register or leave cheques at Environmental Health Dept 4th Floor, 1600 -3rd Ave 565-2150

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by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff Among the biggest future health concerns of the B.C. Medical Association president, Dr. John Turner, is how the government will be able to care for the "bulge" of baby boomers that will soon turn into senior citizens. "There are now 500,000 seniors in B.C. and that is expected to increase to 700,000 around 2010," said Turner who visited Prince George on Wednesday. "This will impact Northern B.C. because you will be increasing your numbers, and even worse is the problem of getting doctors and specialists to come to the north." He said the Northern Medical Program at UNBC "is the key to keeping doctors here on a longer-term basis," he said. Unfortunately, B.C. is not planning for the care of increased numbers of seniors, he said. "I think we're in denial. We as doctors are thinking about it, but I don't think the politicians are. "We're going to need long-term care homes, care for dementia patients and those with chronic diseases, and doctors to serve them. "The costs will be humongous and decisions will not be easy. We need to have all health professionals involved in the planning. Turner said he hopes the UNBC

Flood of future seniors worries BCMA Shake Paws with Shania!!
doctor training program will help in the long term. "In the meantime, we have to keep people up here, and we have to be competitive wit h t he rest of t he provinces and the rest of the world by offering competitive salary and resources." He said BCMA worked for a long time to encourage the establishment of NMP. Dr. Mark Schonfeld, CEO of the BCMA, who accompanied Turner, added that over the past eight years, joint meetings have been held with numerous health organizations, such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons and university faculty members, to try and get an expansion program (with UBC). Turner said B.C. is way behind in number of doctors being trained. There are 128 training spaces now per year and that will increase to about 250 in 2010 with the expanded program involving UBC, Victoria and Prince George. "But we need about 400 doctors annually to replace those who leave or retire. Since family doctors needing nine years and specialist requiring 11 years of education, "we won't see results for several years." "I don't see any short term solution except to steal doctors from other places, and if we're going to do that, we have to find a process to assess their qualifications (to make it more simple for them to immigrate)," Turner said. To stop the migration of our doctors, B.C. needs to be "a have province" with research and technology they now pursue in other places like the U.S. He said we have to make sure B.C. is "a have province" when it comes to research and technology. Medical students need financial help with increasing tuition fees and the debt load they accumulate that, in some cases, exceeds $80,000, Turner said. "At the other end of the spectrum, we need to find ways to keep our senior doctors, with their accumulated knowledge and experience, working even without necessarily practicing full time." In response to patients who say they have to wait too long for treatment, the BCMA has proposed to government the establishment of maximum wait times for various procedures. Once established, patients would be guaranteed access to treatment, and if it can't be provided, t hey would be sent to where they can receive care, even if it means going outside the province. "We believe it is an essential step to restore credibility and to meet the needs of all British Columbians," Turner said.

want you to "Shake Paws" with Shania Twain
Grand Prize Package includes round trip airfare for two courtesty of Westjet and luxury accommodations at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Smokin' hot seats to see Shania Twain at her "SOLD-OUT" Vancouver show Dec 7! A chance to go backstage and "Shake Paws with Shania"

Listen to Carol Gass & Darren Co ogan on The Wolf@97FM toda y at 9:10 am for the song "I'm Outta Here" Caller
7 at 562-9797 qualifies for the Grand Prize!

Draw is Friday, September 26 at 8:30 am

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