Vol. 67, No. 29 | WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 | 403-783-3311 | WWW.PONOKANEWS.COM CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY Flying high Eraldo Pomare, one of the participants at weekend’s RC Flyer show throws his glider to start its remote controlled flight on Saturday, July 11 at the Moose Hall show ground. Please see our story on page 17. Photo by Mustafa Eric Remembering old general stores of Ponoka Story on page 5 “Pony Pleasure Driving” category won by Lisa Kaiser at the Summer Classic Horsehow Story on page 25 1-877-456-8279 6305 - 44 Avenue, Ponoka MONDAY TO SATURDAY 20 % of f 20 20 % % of f MSRP MSRP IS BACK! B B BA A A AC C C CK K K K! ! July 6 - 28
Flying highEraldo Pomare, one of the participants at weekend’s RC Flyer show throws his glider to start its remote controlled fl ight on Saturday, July 11 at the Moose Hall show ground. Please see our story on page 17.
Photo by Mustafa Eric
Remembering old general stores of Ponoka
Story on page 5
“Pony Pleasure Driving” category won by Lisa Kaiser at the Summer Classic Horsehow
Story on page 25
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2 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN- KAYE
Just over a week on the job and Ponoka's new Fire Chief Jamie Wilkinson has fielded several calls for service and he's eager to work with the volunteer firefighters of the Ponoka Fire Department (PFD).
When he's not taking calls, the new fire chief, hailing from Crowsnest Pass, has received greet-ings from residents.
"This is the type of community me and my wife wanted to be in. A smaller, safe community because we do have small kids," he said.
"Here it (Ponoka) has all the amenities that we're looking for."
Wilkinson was the fire chief in Crowsnest Pass for a year before moving to Ponoka and was deputy chief for two years prior to that time. "Prior to that, I was a captain for six. All in all I have 20 years fire-fighting experience," he explained.
Part of that experience is working in industrial fire protection. Being a firefighter is something Wilkinson has always had as a career choice. "My fa-ther was a firefighter and my mother was an EMT,"
he said."Both my parents
were first responders and it's something I grew up around," he added.
Wilkinson was used to seeing both his parents go out for an emergency call and he was a regular fixture at the fire station in Whitecourt, where the family lived. As both par-ents had to go out for calls, Wilkinson did have a nan-ny to help with childcare.
Eventually Wilkinson's parents moved to a farm and they gave up their positions, but the young Wilkinson had caught the firefighter bug, so-to-speak, and his heart was set on firefighting.
For a short time, Wilkinson was a mechanic and he says working on a car in the middle of winter on the highway solidified his desire to become a firefighter. "In 1995,m I started in the industrial section of firefighting," he recalled.
As the new fire chief for Ponoka, Wilkinson says he sees one challenge for rural fire departments is having the availabil-ity of crews. "Daytime response is big," explained Wilkinson.
New Fire Chief Jamie Wilkinson poses in front of the fire department's new rescue unit. Wilkinson came from Crowsnest Pass and was fire chief there for a year.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
New Ponoka fire chief settling into new role
In the calls Wilkinson has taken, he says Pono-ka's firefighters know what they are doing and they worked like clockwork at the scenes. He said he is pleased with their training and knowledge of what needs to be done. The goal is to continue on with that training.
"They have a lot of pride and that's something you need in a fire depart-ment," he explained.
"They want to make sure the community is pro-tected," he added.
Ensuring proper mental health for firefighters, who often deal with traumatic incidents is an important factor for Wilkinson. He feels posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have a lasting affect on their mental health.
In serious cases, Wilkinson says debriefing will become mandatory after an incident. He says no one should be ashamed to discuss these issues.
Wilkinson says he has lost firefighter friends to suicide because of PTSD and he wants to ensure firefighters, including himself, are taken care of. "It shows not only com-passion as the fire chief, but, it gives them the un-derstanding too that they can come talk."
Another area Wilkin-son wants to grow is fire prevention with the younger generation. Wilkinson suggests chil-dren are sponges when it comes to getting informa-tion and they will transfer that to their parents.
"I love coming to work," said Wilkinson of being fire chief.
He intends to expand on training and to find ways to recognize families who sacrifice their time with a firefighter who has to go out on a call. Emer-gencies don't wait for anniversaries or birthdays or even family reunions and Wilkinson said fami-lies should be recognized.
Timothy Robert Edwards recently graduated from the University of Alberta faculty of Engineering; receiving a degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering. He is employed with MPA Engineering of Sherwood Park.
We are so very proud of you and love you very much.
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Congratulations to Tim Edwards
Greg and Jan Edwards are pleased to
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We are so very proud of you and love you very much.
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Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Edwards
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 3
BY DAVID THIELEN
Five TV sets, mounted outside the ticket office at the Ponoka Stampede main grandstand were sto-len sometime between July 5 and July 6. There is no video surveillance, no wit-nesses and no suspects at this time. Gas and liquor thefts keep detachment busy
70 gallons of fuel was taken from a rural residence
TV sets stolen from outside of Stampede grandstand
on Range Road 261 some-time between 3 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. on July 6. Taken were six five-gallon jugs of diesel fuel, four five-gallon jugs of purple gas and four five-gallon jugs of hi-test gas. There were a number of other theft complaints at the same time. There are no suspects and no leads.
A male driving a white Chevy pickup truck stole gas from a gas station in town. The vehicle was last seen south bound on Range Road 254. The license plate was traced back to a 19 year-old female from Red Deer. Police are still investigating.
Three native males were reported stealing al-cohol from a 50 Street business at 12:36 p.m. on July 10. One of the sus-pects was wearing a black hoodie, the second suspect
was wearing a blue shirt, and the third, a checkered shirt. They left on foot on 52 Ave. Having acquired the video surveillance footage, RCMP are inves-tigating.
At 6:53 p.m. on July 10, two youths stole three bottles of liquor from 50 Street Liquor Store. Video was obtained and photos sent out. One suspect was wearing a white T-shirt, and the other was in a black T-shirt. Speeding driver has his car impounded
Again on July 10, a 35 year-old Calgary man, driving a 2013 Honda Ac-cord was southbound on Highway 2 and came up behind a member’s car where he was clocked on radar at 134 kph at around 7:45 p.m. The vehicle was stopped and the driver was
found to be driving while suspended and not meet-ing the terms for having his license reissued. He was charged with driving while suspended and speeding, and had his car towed. Driver loses control, no injuries
On July 10 at 8 p.m., 911 operators received a call about a motor vehicle collision on southbound lane of Highway 2. A 37-year-old Edmonton man, driving a 2014 Toyo-ta Sienna, reported feeling a shock and lost control of the van. It entered the ditch on the west side of the highway at highway speeds and travelled for some distance before com-ing to a stop. There was a 27-year-old Edmonton female and a one-year-old child passenger in the vehi-cle. There were no injuries.
Exhausted driver sus-pended
A 52 year-old man driving an 88 Honda Ac-cord with no lights on was stopped at 10:30 p.m. on July 11. The driver who was seen to be tired was charged with having no valid operator’s license and with failing to drive in cen-
ter of traffic lane. He was given a 24-hour driver’s suspension and his vehicle was towed.
There were 119 calls for service.
If you have information on any crime call Ponoka RCMP at 403-783-4472 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
BY DAVID THIELEN
George Lazarus Bull, received a $500 fine and a common law peace bond for giving Cheryl Frayne an open hand slap.
Frayne testified at Ponoka Provincial Court on Friday, July 10 that the offence occurred close to noon on January 3, 2015, while they were driving between Wetaskiwin and Ponoka. Bull, who had been drinking and was in-toxicated, gave Frayne an open handed slap on the face.
When asked by the prosecutor what she did in response to the slap, Frayne said, she just kept driving to the parking lot of the north side Walmart in Red Deer, and that somewhere between Ponoka and Red Deer that Bull had passed out. She then continued to the City of Red Deer RCMP detachment where
Slap in the face earns $500 fineshe reported the assault.
After referring to her notes, RCMP Cst. Char-lotte Rockwell, testified that she went out to the vehicle where she found a heavily intoxicated male passed out in the front seat. She did not see any vis-ible injuries, and called out a couple of other RCMP members to assist her in re-moving the male from the car and taking him into the detachment where he was placed in the drunk tank.
When Frayne finished her testimony, the defense attorney asked for a brief
adjournment to talk with his client. Once the trial re-sumed, the lawyer said his client’s recollection of the events was slightly differ-ent, but since the trial was for sentencing purposes, they would not be cross-examining Frayne, and that they would not be calling any witnesses.
He pointed out that this was not a domestic issue as RCMP had first assumed, but just a dispute between friends
The judge found George Lazarus Bull guilty of common assault, sen-
tenced him to a $500 fine plus surcharge, and a no cash common law peace bond of $1,100 that pro-hibits him from having any contact with Cheryl Frayne. Bull was given un-til Feb. 12, 2016 to pay the fine.
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4 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Religion
The Ponoka Stampede has been over for a few weeks now, but just the same, I can’t miss this opportunity to applaud the members of the Stampede Association for putting on another great show. For most of us, includ-ing myself, we have no idea of the time and energy spent in planning, organizing and putting on a show of this mag-nitude. My hat goes off to President Mike Stretch and his committee for all the hard work they do throughout the year and especially during Stampede to make this event a success. Mike was recog-nizably a great president and wonderful ambassador for our community in welcoming people from far and wide, genuinely shaking hands and trying to make this Stampede a good one. I volunteered for a few things during the course of the eight day rodeo and was admittedly tired on those nights. I can’t imagine sustaining that pace for eight full days, which is what these gentlemen do. My thoughts
DeaconRollie ComeauSt. Augustine Parish
Ponoka
Thoughts on Jesus at the Stampede
also go out to the wives and families of the committee who do their share behind the scenes to keep the home fires burning and everything in harmony. I know that some of these families open up their homes to billet out of town guests, including this year, some of the rodeo queens from other parts of Canada and the United States. As well, some of the families of-fered to house the stock used in the rodeo, especially chuck wagon horses that needed a place to rest. Accolades are also go to all the volunteers who help to put on this event. They, too, endured some long hours and are deserving of credit.
There are always a few stories that emerge as a re-sult of Stampede. I want to share one of those with you because it was an experience that not only touched me, but challenged me as well. The first part of the story actually happened at last year’s finals, but has stayed with me for some reason and is worth sharing.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend last year’s rodeo finals on the evening of July 1. It is at this show that the top four cowboys and cowgirls compete for the final prize in each of their events. In the team roping event, a pair of brothers, Justin and Brett McCarroll of Camrose, were success-ful in roping their steer fast enough to win top honors. At this point, the rodeo an-nouncer on the ground called the boys over to congratulate them and award their prize. In
doing so, he also wanted to get in a short interview and so asked them to comment about their super fast run. Rather than speak about that, one of the boys began by saying, “I would like to thank Jesus for being with us today.” No doubt there were multiple reactions from the crowd. I’m not sure the announcer was ready for that response nor maybe was the crowd. It is a rare thing for someone to make such a profession of faith in public, let alone before a crowd that I am sure pushed 5000 people.
What is amazing is that he didn’t worry about what his cowboy friends would think, or the girls in the stands or anyone really. In fact, the name of Jesus came out so natural, it seemed obvious that he had a relationship with Him that was familiar, intimate and faithful.
There was a lesson in this for me, because it got me thinking about my own wit-ness to Jesus and I had to ask myself when was the last time that I had used Jesus’ name in public outside of a church service, funeral or wedding.
It also made me think, if we call ourselves Christians, then we are also disciples of Christ and as disciples, how do we spread the good news of Jesus Christ without using his name? To add to this, how does one evangelize without having a personal and inti-mate relationship with Jesus? How does one come to know the Father without knowing the Son?
It took this young cowboy to wake me up and maybe
he also woke up the rest of the crowd. It also taught me something else. One does not need long-winded sermons or homilies to get the point across. This fellow used only eleven words.
I have shared this story with my own congregation and so if any of them are read-ing this, they will have heard the story. Using just a little bit of humor, I suggested to them that I didn’t think the McCarroll boys were Catho-lic because as Catholics we are generally not very good at evangelizing. We do work at having a personal relation-ship with Jesus, but we are probably not that good about telling others about him. You might consider your own con-gregation and ask the same question. I suspect we all suf-fer from similar hesitation when it comes to proclaiming our faith.
God does work in mys-terious ways, he even shows up at the Ponoka Stampede. It made me wonder if he used this opportunity to allow the McCarroll boys to win so that he could once again feed this crowd of 5000.
The last part of the story concerns this year’s finals. Guess who ended up as one of the top four Team Rop-ing teams? Yes believe it, the McCarroll brothers again. Not only did they qualify, but their qualifying time was the best of the four teams who made it in. This was worth the price of admission for I wondered if they won, would there be a sequel to last year’s words. I also wondered if the announcer would give them an interview given last year’s show stopping comments. Unfortunately for this talent-ed duo, they missed the head tie and so had their chances at a repeat championship dashed away in a blink of an eye.
I think I was as disap-pointed as the McCarroll boys, but it left me thinking about a few things. First of all, maybe God doesn’t play favorites in these kinds of earthly activities. He lets the chips fall where they may. But secondly and lastly, he stays faithful to those who are faithful to him and to this end I think the McCarrolls still come out winners in my eyes.
Your Guide To Local Houses
of Worship
CHURCH DIRECTORY
PONOKA WORD OF LIFE CHURCHPastor Rob McArthur 403-783-5659
9 miles east on Hwy 53 403-782-9877Jr. Church during service for children
Sunday Service 10:30 am
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 5
Remember When...
Photo submittedThe trusty old north bridge going across the Battle River has served Ponoka
for many decades, accommodating thousands of vehicles and a few floods along the way, and while it has been upgraded and repaired over the years,
our town council may eventually be looking at the replacement of this historical structure. In this 1948 photo, traffic going into the Riverside district or back into town had to be pulled across by tractors when our lazy old river
ravaged many areas of town for several hectic days.
Reflections of Ponoka
As Ponoka was prepar-ing to officially become a town in 1904, the first may-or and council stressed that one of the most vital parts of an early town would be the presence of the general stores to serve the grow-ing population. It would be our early pioneers like W.A. Brodie, F.M. Lee, W. J. Milne, R.W. McKinnell, W.R. Courtright, F.E. Algar, Andy Reed and many oth-ers who set up their humble wooden or brick stores and then brought in the count-less products that the new families would require to settle and survive in the community, as well as also serving as the home of the post office. It was Brody who introduced a big line of dry goods and ready to wear items, Draycot had the first confectionary store, George Thorsen opened the
first corner grocery store, Cecil Stoddard and Jack Johnston started a grocery store and meat market, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Smith ran a newsstand with the best ice cream in town, George and Hap Hinkley set up the first neighbourhood grocery store in Riverside, Lloyd Thirsk introduced a unique new enterprise with his 5 cents to $1 store on Chipman Avenue, the Hamilton family purchased Cash Foods in 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wedin and family arrived in 1954 and opened the first Robinson Store, and Kennedy and Russell had a war surplus store in the early 50s. Over the years, several genera-tions have proudly carried on their family businesses in and around Ponoka, and while many have retired, countless new shops and of-
fices have taken their place, and each and every one of them have contributed to the successful growth and future of our town and county, which has al-ways been led by so many colorful and energetic en-trepreneurs, professionals, family businesses and faith-ful community employees and shoppers. For those of us who were growing up in and around Ponoka in the 50s, 60s and 70s, we will never forget running errands to the congenial neighbour-hood Riverside Store, Lucas Height’s Grocery and Peter-son’s Corner Grocery and getting to choose a treat, as well as visiting the friendly old country stores out at Usona, Home glen, Nelson Lake Store, Sylvan Heights and Morningside. In those days, most of those little family stores stayed open
late in the evening and on the weekends to serve their faithful customers, as well as offering monthly charge accounts.
I was browsing through the Fort Ostell Museum the other day, and came upon their unique and amazing display of an old general store from the earliest days of our community. The high wooden shelves and glass showcases were covered with items to serve the day-to-day needs of the busy pioneer families. What re-ally caught my eye on the main counter was a big steel cash register, which had rows of big numbered but-tons to push, and when the items were added up, the clerk would pull the lever, the bell would ring, and the big drawer would pop out to accept the money and make change if necessary. There
was also a cheese cutter, where the customer would choose how much cheese they wanted, then pull down the big knife and cut a big chunk of fresh cheese off the roll. Some other prod-ucts that were purchased from the early old stores were always neatly wrapped in thick brown paper, and then placed on the scale to determine the weight and the price. Many of these friendly old stores had big tubs and barrels full of ap-ples, sugar, spices, cereal, crackers, quacker oats, rice, nuts and much more that customers could scoop into a paper bag, as well as those delightful glass jars that were plum full of yummy treats such as jaw-breakers, licorice, gum-balls, jelly beans and more, all for about a penny a piece. For the smokers, there were
packs of MacDonald’s cigarettes for a dime, fine cigars, Houdes cut plug chewing tobacco and all sorts of papers and makins for your roll-your-owns. For those who were under the weather, there was a shelf full of bottles and boxes of tooth ache-drops, botanic drugs, skunk cabbage and all kinds of good old fash-ioned remedies. Just for the mothers, there were home-made candles-jams-jellies and pies, gifts and books, toys, electric tart burners, kaleidoscopes, Rexall Hair Tonic (50 cents to $1), seeds for the garden, fancy granular gravy, as well as some fancy shave cream for dad and cream sodas for all the kids. Please drop in and browse our museum, you won’t believe what you find from way back amongst our colorful history.
Photo courtesy of Fort Ostell MuseumMr. and Mrs. Andy Reid had one of the first general clothing stores along Chipman Avenue in 1915, and specialized in all types of material, patterns, and accessories for the ladies to spend long hours making fine clothes and fashions for the men, women, children and all occasions in their busy lives.
Remembering those friendly
old local general stores
BY MIKE RAINONE FOR THE NEWS
I guess by now that most of us have gotten used to shopping in some of those great big box stores and cen-tres where you can find just about anything in one location as long as you don’t get lost or are able to find a parking spot. As a senior who is now relegated to pushing the cart and packing in the groceries and all the rest, I quite often wonder what ever happened to those friendly and easy to find local general stores and corner grocers. As many of us from that not long ago will recall that these unique shops were perfect for popping in and grabbing a loaf of bread, jug of milk, candy treat for the kids, a newspaper, a pack of cigarettes, a pair of socks and just about anything else from soup to nuts and other treasures found jam-packed onto long wooden shelves or even hanging from the ceiling.
6 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Opinion
5019A Chipman Ave., Box 4217, Ponoka, AB. T4J 1R6Phone: 403.783.3311 Fax: 403.783.6300 Email: [email protected] every Wednesday by PNG Prairie Newspaper Group in community with: Regional Publisher, Fred Gorman
They have just done it again, the international finan-cial system and its operators have just kicked the can down the road once more: Instead of cutting off the gangrenous tissue (expelling Greece), which has been poisoning the whole body (Eurozone and global financial system), they decided to attempt once more to (appear to) try to cure the disease. They know gangrene cannot be cured, but they still did it.
If by the time Ponoka News comes out on Wednes-day morning the Greek parliament doesn’t reject the deal their double-tongued
The hole and the
dysfunctional patch
prime minister cooked with Eurozone leaders, the people of Greece will have been burdened with an additional 80 billion Euros of debt, in-creasing their debt total to 400 billion Euros, almost three times the size of their economy. And this is being done with the approval of the International Monetary Fund, which just about a week ago said Greece would not be able to fulfill its current ob-ligations without some debt restructuring, including some debt forgiveness.
The terms of the surren-der of the Greek government to the European leaders is probably comparable to some of the conditions imposed by the Allies to Nazi Ger-many after the Second World War as what appears to have happened is that Greece has actually given away some of its sovereignty to Eurozone leadership.
This is just another sign that global financial system is refusing to admit that the current path is unsustainable.
As you may have heard, less than a month ago, Puerto Rico, a US territory, practi-cally announced bankruptcy.
After the City of Detroit, Puerto Rico is the second US jurisdiction to announce they are not able to pay their debts.
In the meantime, in Chi-na, last few weeks saw an almost freefall in two major stock exchanges which could only be stopped by the orders of the government prevent-ing major stakeholders from selling their shares in an ef-fort to stop the decline. (This very much looks like trying to make a diesel-engine car run on gas by a government decree, but that is another discussion.)
Although these symptoms
emerge in different parts of the body, that is various re-gions of the world, they all point to the same disease, which is stealthily eating away the healthy tissues of the body. The name of the disease is indebtedness.
The stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which saw the declines, can only maintain their current high levels due to the huge internal debt the Chinese economy is carrying. Puerto Rico has got used to issu-ing bonds for so long that a proper supply-demand based economy cannot function on the island. Greece has been so
graciously treated to generous loans by French and Ger-man banks that the people of the country have almost forgotten that they were also responsible for paying those cheap credits back.
And central banks around the world keep creating more debt by creating more money out of the blue by buying gov-ernment and private company bonds, that is, debt.
To quote legendary com-modity investor Jim Rogers, “this is going to end badly.”
Creating more money (read debt) is a desperate ef-fort by global central bankers to try to patch an ever grow-
ing hole at the bottom of the global financial system. The problem is that the material they are using to try to patch up the hole is degenerating the healthy material it is at-tached to. So while on the hand the hole is getting big-ger, the healthy material that can keep the patch functional is weakening on the other.
So sometime in the not so distant future, we will see the hole devouring the system itself. When it happens it will look nothing like the 2008 meltdown, it is probably go-ing to dwarf even the 1929 Great Depression. We all need to be prepared…
Dear Editor,
Getting a handle in what’s at stake between the Greek Government on the one hand and their creditors on the other is like witnessing a battle between a banker who is owed much and a poverty-stricken householder whose life style is ready to collapse. Not unlike Shylock, in a Shakespeare play, who literally demands a pound of flesh because of a loan default, similar battle lines have been drawn up in Europe; except that the bankers don’t see it quite that way. For them the whole edifice of their financial system is threatened if Greece
continues to default. For the Greek govern-ment, the banks are like Shylock continuing to demand their pound of flesh.
The Greek government’s take on this is-sue, though, is not unfounded. Suicides have increased by 45 percent during the first four years of Greece’s financial crisis, according to a mental health aid group statement in 2013. How significant the financial crisis is on Greece’s vulnerable people is not totally clear, but there clearly has been an impact. Interestingly, though, other figures from 2012 suggest that the quality of Greek life far surpasses that of the U.S.
The risks of being raped, assaulted or murdered are dramatically less, suggesting a greater sense of safety and strong internal-ized norms among Greeks, helpful qualities I suggest in a period of crisis.
In Shakespeare’s play, Shylock goes to court to claim his pound of flesh but the law-yer, a disguised female acquaintance, finds a legal loophole. Shylock can claim his pound of flesh, she announces, but has no right to any of the debtor’s blood. Shylock is stuck. As a result he makes a deal that he would not have anticipated.
What the next few years holds for Greece
is unclear. For many Greeks, it is a matter of pride. Paying their lenders without any debt forgiveness, though, will impact Greece for decades to come, something they want to avoid. And debt forgiveness will impact European countries if not other non -Euro-pean economies as well. I wonder if there is a Shakespearian twist to this drama and that despite endurance and hardnosed negotiations, the magic of political creativity will surface to round out the last act. Or is that purely wishful thinking or taking poetic license to the extreme?
George Jason
Will Shylock be outwitted again?
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 7
Letter
Dear Editor,
I’m so glad Doug Hart spoke up: “Ron Orr has started the next election campaign”.
After reading mostly (and I would say exclusively in the Lacombe Globe) right wing articles for weeks, it is refreshing to hear a voice from our governing party.
Doug Hart finds Ron Orr’s articles leading to next election campaign, and not representing all the constituents. I agree with that; Orr should remember that thousands did not vote for the Wil-drose. I, for one, do not feel represented by Orr at all.
Furthermore my family and I find Orr’s articles misleading, often misrep-resenting the truth, for example: “We managed to guide the NDP into en-hancing Alberta’s democracy”. That is a stretch.
Or “The government has shown a disinterest in advocating pipeline going outside of Alberta”, that is an outright lie as Notley said over and over that she is for two pipelines, just not for Keystone as it is not going to happen, after Redford and Harper wasted millions of taxpay-ers dollars visiting the US many times promoting Keystone, why waste more energy and money.
“They are pressing ahead with a royalty review that is already causing investment to leave the province”. The royalty review is long overdue, after all Albertans were left with $ 4.38/barrel while oil companies walked away with billions of profits for decades and the PCs let it happen as they got generous party donations. Furthermore, Notley said many times no review until next year, be-cause of the oil down turn.
I am quite concerned how many right wing articles play up the “left wing ideol-ogy”, “which will ruin the province”.
The only party that has ruined the province were the Progressive
Conservatives
The NDP is not ‘old school’ left wing, but is in fact, as some have said, less left wing than Lougheed’s government was.
Social Democrats work for the peo-ple, Progressive Conservatives work for the corporations. The NDP has done more for Albertans in a few weeks of governing than the PCs have done in 44 years, after all, I don't think any party can mess things up in Alberta more than the Progressive Conservatives have in the past four decades, when billions of dol-lars went to the industry and Alberta was left in debt in spite of decades of high oil
prices.The Conservatives completely ne-
glected Alberta’s environment and Lorne Gunter called the NDP “rabies environ-mentalists” in a recent Lacombe Globe editorial. Really, “rabies”? Wow!
The NDP has done away with the cor-porate and union donations, something the PCs have never managed in 44 years. For Ron Orr and the Wildrose to take credit for this or make it their own is very wrong. (Sorry Ron we didn’t find your leader very impressive at the election campaign where he was asked all kinds of questions and answered to most of them:” The Wildrose is not going to raise taxes”, that was not the question. Ques-tion repeated, again answer: “Wildrose is not raising taxes”).
The NDP raised the minimum wage, which is years overdue. Is there anyone out there who thinks workers do not de-serve a living wage? Of course, it is still far from a living wage, but at least it is a step in the right direction, and as for the businesses fear mongering about prices will go up and people will get laid off, how about absorbing that $ 1 raise and do with a little less just like the rest of us have to?
Last Wednesday the NDP Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announced the go ahead of the Foothills Cancer Centre, a plan that was birthed 10 years ago, but never incorporated by the PCs, who could not find the money for it despite of all that oil flowing in Alberta. Cancer rates are expected to rise in Alberta as much as 60 per cent, now we’ll have the Cancer Centre next to Foothills hospital, which eliminates a lot of travel through the city by patients and families who do not need more stress. Now Albertans, you judge whether that is for the people.
The NDP also restored cuts by the PCs to our education system to accommodate 12,000 new students, who otherwise could have not been schooled.
I hope we hear more from Doug Hart and what his party has accomplished to balance out the many right wing articles.
And for Albertans, I hope they can do away with the old left wing clichés that hang around for decades. Did you forget that we have to thank Tommy Douglas, a Social Democrat and SK premier for the Canada health plan?
You can also thank Alberta’s new NDP government for the many above mentioned social changes and improve-ments in their short governing term before summer break.
Ilse QuickPonoka county
NDP has done a lot for the people
www.ponokanews.com
COUNCIL UPDATES & BYLAW INFO
EVENTS AND RECREATION
NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Town TimesPonoka, AB T4J 1P7
Ph: 403-783-4431 | Fax: 403-783-6745 | Email: [email protected] Check us out Online: www.ponoka.ca
TOWN WIDE GARAGE SALE ON CHIPMAN AVENUEMark your calendars for July 18 for this event.
Next Town Council MeetingsAugust 11 @ 4:30 pm @ Hudson Green Community Activity Centre
- 6210 61 StreetAll Council and Committee meetings will be held at Hudson’s Green until further
notice. Agenda is online at www.ponoka.org and meetings are open to the public.
Fire PermitsPlease remember that Fire Permits are required for any burning taking place within the Town, with the exception of fi re pits. The permits are free of charge from the Fire Hall. Don’t forget the many alternatives to burning: try recycling, composting, or take your items to the Waste Transfer Station. If you have any questions, please contact the Fire Hall at 403-783-0112.
Nominate a Property for FREE UtilitiesThe Pride in Your Property Contest is open to Town residents and businesses. Here’s your
chance to nominate yourself, a business, or someone you know for having a well-kept property. Prizes are awarded to Residential and Business properties as follows:
Best Kept Residential - 1st Prize $500 Town of Ponoka Utility Credit 2nd Prize - $250.00 Town of Ponoka Utility Credit
Most Improved Prize of $500 Town of Ponoka Utility Credit
Best Kept Commercial/Industrial – 1st Prize $500 Town of Ponoka Utility Credit 2nd Prize - $250.00 Town of Ponoka Utility Credit
Entry forms are available at www.ponoka.ca, or pick up at the Town Offi ce. Reward yourself or someone you know for their hard work and enter today!
Deadline for entries is July 31st !
IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID YOUR PROPERTY TAXES,THEY ARE NOW OVERDUE & PENALTIES HAVE BEEN APPLIED!
A Penalty of 10% of current taxes will be applied on all Town of Ponoka unpaid Property Taxes (due June 30, 2015). Outstanding amounts after August 31, 2015 will result in another Penalty of 3% of current taxes. If on January 1, 2016 taxes are still unpaid, a Penalty of 15% will be applied to the total amount owed.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the
clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ~ John Lubbock
TREE TRIMMING AND MAINTENANCEPlease ensure trees located on private property are properly trimmed and are not encroaching onto back lanes, road sight lines, and
sidewalks. Where a tree or shrub overhangs a sidewalk there must be a minimum clearance of 7.5 feet and 13.5 feet minimum clearance for a roadway or alley. If tree branches are close to power lines, please contact the Town Offi ce at403-783-4431 to arrange for trimming. Please help to keep Ponoka safe for all.
Aquaplex UpdateJoin us for either a lap swim or water fi tness class at 3pm. Child care in the pool will be off ered for ages 3yrs and up. You exercise while our
certifi ed instructors play in the water with your children. Regular rates in eff ect - for more information call 403-783-0131.2015-16 Ice User Planning Meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 20 at 5:30 pm at the Arena. All interested ice users are welcome to attend.
Ponoka Day in the ParkOpen invitation to all cultural groups and organizations to participate in “Ponoka Day in the Park” on Friday, August 28 at Lion’s Centennial Park. The Recreation Committee is looking for
entertainment, dancers, singers, and ethnic food vendors to participate in this fun event. Please contact Wes Amendt, Director of Community Services, if you are interested in participating, or need any further information at 403-783-0118 or [email protected].
8 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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Ponoka Secondary Campus graduate Tyson Matejka was awarded with a $1,000 bursary by the Hal Rogers Endowment Fund, one of 72 recipients of the 163 nominees whose applications were endorsed by the local Kins clubs all around the country.
Recipients are assessed for their involvement in their communities as volunteers and at their schools. Matejka said he was honoured to be the recipient of such a prestigious award, adding “it is rewarding to be recognized.” He said he was going to use the money towards his tuition for his engineering studies at MacEwan University.
Here Matejka receives his $1,000 cheque from Christina York of Ponoka Kinette Club.
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10 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
15072OS0
Andree Verhoog and Val Beukema (l-r) pose in a sea of 10,000 flags representing aborted children. They spoke about a desire to see legislative change on abortions in Canada. The presentation was made on Canada Day in Centennial Park. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
An anti abortion group took to Centennial Park on Canada Day to protest laws they feel make it easy to have an abortion.
The Red Deer and Area Pro Life group, working with “We Need a Law”, another like-minded group, received help from the Association of Reformed Political Action to host their protest of abortion legislation in the province.
The group planted 10,000 small pink and blue flags in the ground to represent aborted children in Canada every year.
Co-organizer Val Beukema said that Canada does not re-quire a limit on abortion dates related to the gestation period.
Co-organizer Andree Ver-hoog added that they want to see more information presented to women who want to have an abortion. She wants to see more checks and balances for women.
“We’d like that women should see the ultrasound be-fore,” said Verhoog.
When asked about sex edu-cation and if it helps reduce pregnancy, Beukema replied that she feels the best prevention is abstinence. “Sex is beautiful in marriage so that’s what we recommend.”
There are also instances of unwanted pregnancies such as rape, but Verhoog advocates counselling and suggests there may be other options than abor-tion for a mother. She suggests abortion is a traumatic event.
Beukema said their advo-cacy is facing challanges and she feels political planners do not want to discuss the issue of an abortion date limit.
“For some reason when it comes to government, people want to pretend that it’s (the fetus) not a child yet. It’s just a thing. It’s just some cells,” said Beukema.
She suggests there are other options for some women in a crisis pregnancy. “There should be housing. There should be families that are waiting to help this person.”
Another law the group would like to see is requiring women take a certain length of time before having an abortion or to prevent coercion.
The group takes a strong stance on choice and questions a woman’s right to choose. Beukema feels there are some choices that should not be made.
“You have the right to choose a lot of things in life,
Pro-life groups seeks to change federal
legislation on abortion
but one right we shouldn’t have to choose is to kill another per-son,” stated Beukema.
She argued that a rapist also chooses to sexually assault a victim, but that does not neces-sarily mean the action is right.
The group invited Wetaski-win MP Blaine Calkins to attend the display but he was not pres-ent at the event.
The Adoption Council of Canada states there are more than 78,000 children in Cana-da’s child welfare system with approximately 30,000 eligible for adoption. The majority of them are six years old and up.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 11
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The state of the art robotic feeder moves down the feed alley pushing the feed back into position and by using a laser it measures the amount of feed available. When it detects that there isn’t sufficient feed available, it will return to the kitchen when it will automatically mix up a new load of feed for that group of cows. The robot runs continuously, and with a fully stocked feed kitchen, is capable of feeding the entire herd for up to a week with no manual intervention.
Photo by David Thielen
BY DAVID THIELEN
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Peter Doornenbal family has built a bigger and more modern barn from the ashes of their dairy farm operation de-stroyed by fire in June 2014.
“It was about August that we made the deci-sion to rebuild” said Peter Doornenbal on Tuesday, July 7, the day they opened their new facility to visi-tors. “We replaced our cows by purchasing an existing herd, and then we rented the facilities to continue operat-ing while we completed our new barn.”
“This is now one of the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art dairy barns in Canada,” said David Numan of Penner Farm Services, incorporating the only robot feeder in Alberta.
There are only about a dozen of these feeders across Canada, and they really reduce the farmer’s workload. With a fully stocked kitchen, the robot can take care of feeding the cows for up to a week.
The kitchen is the area of the barn where the farmer will stock the various types of feed. With the use of la-sers and cameras, the robot will restock the feeder with specific mixtures of feed.
The feeder continually monitors the feed levels and dispense feed as needed. It also has the ability to pro-vide different feed mixtures to different bunks so the cows are fed a ration that is tailored to their needs.
In addition to the ro-botic feeder, there are also three robotic milking ma-chines that allow the cows to milk themselves.
A radio collar on the cow identifies the animal to the robot. The robot keeps track the last time that the cow was milked and how much milk was produced.
“Some cows can be milked two times a day, others can be milked up to six times in a day,” said Numan. “So when a cow walks into the milker, the robot determines which cow is there, when it was last milked, and how much milk was produced, to de-termine if the cow is ready for milking again.
If it isn’t ready for milk-ing, it will move the cow out of the milking stall. If it is ready for milking, then an arm with spinning brushes swings in to wash the teats.
Barn fire leads to modern dairy facility
Once washed, the teat cups are then moved into posi-tion and attached. Once milking begins, the flow from each of the four teats is measured, as well as the total output.
In addition, the milking robot and the radio collar allow the farmer to sort and move cows to other pens, or to isolate them, so that they
can be examined by the farmer.
All of this automation allows a single person to manage a 120 cow herd with no assistance, and without being tied to the barn for milking twice a day, said Numan
“Now if the farmer wants to go watch his kids’ school recital or game etc.,
he can just leave, knowing that the cows will be fed, and milked.”
“With a fully stocked kitchen the farmer can even take a holiday.
Over 500 people came from across the province to the open house of the Doornenbal family’s new state of the art dairy facility.
12 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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14 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
TIPS FROM THE GOLF GUYSRob MacPherson & Ryan Moore
Get our new Golf Club app at the App Store and Google Play
Join Ponoka Golf Club on Facebook
CUSTOM CLUB FITTINGNot everyone buys the same sized suit off the rack so why are you buying the same clubs off the rack as everyone else. Custom fi tting can enhance the way you hit the ball and there are many things that affect your shot quality. Changing one aspect affects something else for example changing the length of your club changes the lie angle. So just doing one modifi cation may not produce desired results it may make things worse. Your clubs can
be made for you to maximize distance and control. So it is important to seek the advice of a CPGA professional when purchasing or modifying an existing set of clubs. The key factors in club fi tting are:
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After sitting empty for many years, attracting wildlife and bored youths, the Elkhorn Community Centre land was sold to nearby landowners Linda and Glen Plested, who already own the rest of the quarter. The $2,000 made in the sale was donated to STARS on Monday, June 22 at the building site. What happens to the community centre in the future is up to Ponoka County.
L to R: former secretary Rita Disberry, landowner Linda Plested, STARS representative Barb Akinson, former president Melda Bragg, former director Chuck Disberry and founding member Vi Massing Ogilvie.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
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Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 15
15072UC0
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Ponoka’s Big Broth-ers Big Sisters (BBBS) is launching a new monthly lottery aimed at bringing funds to the organization.
Dubbed the Ponoka Gold Rush, the monthly lottery is similar to a 50/50 fundraiser, except that BBBS will guar-antee a minimum $1,000 to the lucky winner, says ex-ecutive director Beth Reitz.
The more money that goes into the lottery, the more money a person can make, she added. “It’s definitely Ponoka’s only lottery.”
As the program needs grow at BBBS, Reitz said planners are seeing an in-creased need for funding, which is one reason for the lottery.
“We’re growing. There is just such a need for the mentoring program,” she explained.
The real benefit of the program is the social return on investment, she said. In 2013, the Boston Consulting Group provided results from a survey stating the social re-turn on investment value.
The survey states there is an 18 to 1 social return on each invested dollar on a net present value.
“The results that we see from one-on-one investment is unbelievable . . . that one-on-one relationship changes lives,” stated Reitz.
One of the other benefits of a monthly lottery, she added, is it gives residents an opportunity to support BBBS without breaking the bank. A ticket costs $5 and supporters will be able to stop by several Ponoka businesses besides BBBS, which is the first phase of the project.
Ticket sales start Aug. 3 with winners called the last weekday of every month with a new draw starting at the beginning of every month. They will be an-nounced in the Ponoka News once a month.
Stop by Ponoka News, Sommer Home Hardware, Ponoka Coop Oils, Ponoka Servus Credit Union, Ponoka Professional Phar-macy, ATB Financial and the Ponoka Youth Centre for tickets.
Reitz said businesses have already trained staff in preparation for the initiative.
Facts about BBBS• Ponoka’s BBBS started
in 1988;
Big Brothers Big sisters launch new fundraiser
• There were 135 children mentored in Ponoka and Rimbey in 2014;
• 250 kids were part of the group-mentoring pro-gram in 2014.
16 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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RIZWAN SYED CHANTELLE LYONAssociate Associate
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In this new and modern day and age, many of us who are trying to have some fun coasting through our so-called ‘Golden Years’ quite often re-alize, especially when playing with our grandchildren, that we may not always be quite as quick and witty as we used to be. But before sending us off into the ‘senior sunset’, please remember and be aware that af-
ter surviving way over a half a century, much of that bringing up our feisty next generations, we have managed to gain quite a bit of experience along the way, and just may be able to still come up with a few neat tricks of our own.
After all, along the way we have managed to achieve quite a few good accomplish-ments and milestones, some
great, a few spectacular, most of which we will never forget or regret. Sure we may have screwed up on a few occasions, but we always just dug in a little harder and relished the fact that everyone learns by experience, as well as usually getting by with just a little help from your friends, your teacher, your boss, your coach and, of course, your parents.
Teaching an old dog some neat new tricks
Most of us have always loved telling a good joke and playing a good trick, but sometimes it is hard keeping up with some of today’s off-the-wall humour, and we were taught that pranks should mostly be in good fun. I hope, as seniors, that we will all get lots of chances to sit around with family and friends and tell some of the neat and often naughty stories about our youth, and while some of our siblings may find these tales quite boring, I am sure that most of them wouldn’t dare try to perform some of them today. We will readily admit that our grandchildren may be able to whip us at computer games, math, running, riding bikes and a few other things, but why don’t you sit down and try us at a good old tra-ditional game of monopoly, checkers, scrabble, crokinole and patience, with the winner getting the first choice of ice cream or cookies. Here’s just a little story expressing the point that some old critters are still blessed with some of the old tricks, as well as a great sense
of humour.An old German Sheppard
was out in the field one af-ternoon and decided that he would try chasing a few of those pesky rabbits, but pretty soon realized that he was worn out and lost. Wandering about, he noticed a mountain lion heading rapidly in his direction with the likely intention of having lunch. The old Shep-pard thought, ‘Oh-Oh, I’m in real deep trouble now’, then noticing some bones on the ground close by, he quickly settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the ap-proaching cat. Just as the big mountain lion is about to leap, the wily old German Sheppard exclaimed loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious mountain lion … I wonder if there are any more around here?” Hear-ing this, the young mountain lion halted his attack in mid-strike, and with a look of terror on his face slunk off into the woods uttering ‘Whew’, that was close … that old German Sheppard nearly had me for lunch.”
continued on page 18
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There were 25 aviation enthusiasts/pilots, all reg-istered members of Model Aeroplane Association of Canada (MAAC) behind Moose Hall over the week-end, sharing information and displaying mastery of flying remote controlled air-craft in what appears to be turning to an annual event organized by the Ponoka R/C Flyers Club.
Participants came from Camrose, Drayton Valley, Red Deer, Edmonton, Sher-wood Park and Calgary in addition to the 14 partici-pants from Ponoka. Some of the visitors set up camp just across Ponoka’s small air-port and all pilots flew their model aircraft of all shapes and sizes, including a few gliders and helicopters.
Organizers say that concession figures show all in all some 300 visitors showed up at the event over three days, from Friday af-ternoon to Sunday night.
Mayor Rick Bonnett vis-ited the aviation show and said it was a great idea to or-ganize the event just across the airport. “Anything that brings visitors to town is a good idea,” he added.
Rory Rust, spokesper-son for the club, said they were quite happy with the
RC aviation event attracts participants from several communities
level of participation this year. “Last year we had only one participant turning up
for the event,” he recalled. Rust says the club has
been quietly active through-
out the year and that they flew almost every weekend since the beginning of the winter. “We missed only two weekends last winter,” he said.
Asked whether the weather is not an issue for flying remote controlled models in winter, “If any-thing, winter is a much better time to fly because the air is denser and the objects fly better,” Rust re-sponded.
Among the aircraft dis-
played and flown was a Russian designed YAK-55, built at 40 percent the size of the original plane, owned by Dale Hunter of Camrose. While there were shows of skills in flying various types of aircraft, there were also mishaps, one of which led to the crash of a big model plane owned by Ponoka’s Luke Bowie. “I allowed a friend from Edmonton to fly it and this what happened,” he said showing the pieces of the aircraft.
Mayor Rick Bonnett receives information from Greg Wagner, the president of the Ponoka R/C Flyers Club, on the largest model plane at the weekend’s show at the Moose Hall ground across the airport.
Photo by Mustafa Eric
18 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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continued from page 16Meanwhile, a squirrel who
had been intently watching the whole scene from a nearby tree figured he could put this knowledge to good use and trade it in for some life time protection from that moun-tain lion. Scurrying through the woods, the sneaky little squirrel soon caught up with the mountain lion, spilled the beans and struck up a deal with the mountain lion, which was furious at being made of fool of by an old dog. “Here squirrel, hop on my back and we’ll see what is going to hap-pen to that conniving canine.”
Back out in the woods the old German Sheppard spies that mountain lion coming back at high speed with the squirrel on his back and thinks, ‘What am I going to do now?’ But too tired and old to run, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending that he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they got close enough to pounce, the dog uttered out loud …’Where’s that squirrel? … I sent him off an hour ago to bring me back another juicy mountain lion.’
The moral of this story: Don’t mess with the old dogs; age and skill will always over-come youth and treachery, and B.S.; and brilliance only comes with many years of age and experience.
Some good thoughts for a great day.• We gain true love not by
finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. Never look down on some-one unless you are helping them up.
• If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?
• One of the most profound-ly human things we can do is to talk to someone instead of about them. Let’s promote what we love instead of bashing what we hate.Thanks to everyone for
hosting another very success-ful Ponoka Stampede, with accolades to the Stampede Association, the volunteers, the sponsors, the competitors, the fans and the community for once again making it one of the greatest and longstand-ing rodeo events in the world. Now let’s get on with the rest of the summer, and have a hot and happy great week, all of you.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 19
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Mike Stretch, president of the Ponoka Stampede Association (left) presents the keys for a brand new Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi to Ralph and Laurel Pole, of Erskine, AB. The Poles won the truck when their ticket was drawn at the Sawyer Brown concert on opening night. “When they called out the numbers I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t read the ticket, but everybody else around me was all excited and telling me I had won, Ralph said. “But when I started walking across the stage, what was running through my mind was that they had just been bullshitting me, and I was going to look like a fool, ” said Ralph.The luck turned up at the most needed moment for the Poles: As they were driving to Ponoka to watch the Stampede, their truck, one of the two used in their 300 cow-calf farming operation, broke down and they had to go back to pick their other one to be able to make the trip. Now instead of a Ford-Dodge duo, they have two Dodge trucks at their farm. Ralph Pole said that they would be putting their new truck to good use.
Photo by Dave Thielen
Infamous pirate Long John Sliver (centre) is tested for his bravery and pirate skills as he is introduced to Roger’s entourage in the play “A Pirate’s Life for Me” staged by the Thespians at the Asker Church over the weekend.
Photo by Mustafa Eric
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
The Asker Church near the Mecca Glen School was full last Friday and Saturday, July 10-11 with live theatre enthusiasts who squeezed into seats in tight formation to watch Craig Sodaro’s play “A Pirate’s Life for Me” as staged by the Thespians group as their first act of the summer sea-son.
The play revolves around the efforts by Rog-er, a rich but boring young man, to adopt the skills and manners of a pirate in order to have his love for Sarah requited. Sarah is the daughter of a rich ship owner and believes life should be exciting as a “pi-rate queen.” In his efforts to impress Sarah in the most possible realistic fashion, Roger hires notorious pirate Long John Sliver as his tu-tor and events begin to take a colourful turn as the story becomes one of a real trea-
sure hunt.With a 24-member cast,
many communities were represented in the play, with a few actors coming from Ponoka, Clive and Rocky Mountain House and some from even as far away as southern Alberta.
There were only three performances of the play, two on Friday and one on Saturday. “This is primar-ily an educational activity,” said director of the play Debbie Zepick when asked about the limited number of performances after a long preparation period.
“We are producing ac-tors here,” she continued. “There are some who went on to join Rosebud and others who have gone to (study) theatre at Red Deer College.”
And those who didn’t join professional troupes are still acting in amateur productions, according to Zepick.
Thespians play to full houses at Asker Church
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20 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
UNRESERVED REAL ESTATE & FARM UNRESERVED REAL ESTATE & FARM AUCTION FOR TERRY WRIGHTAUCTION FOR TERRY WRIGHT
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BY JACLYN BERRY
Clothing drive raises $200We have the COW Bus
coming to Ponoka Jubilee Library on Tuesday, July 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This Classroom on Wheels brings family literacy support and awareness to rural and urban communities throughout the province. The COW bus is a friendly space for parents and younger children to learn and explore fun new ways to add literacy activi-ties into their daily lives. Trained facilitators are on hand to provide information
on the importance of early language development. Ev-eryone is welcome.
There are still a couple of days left for the com-munity to come check out ‘Collage & Abstraction’, a traveling art show from the Alberta Foundation of the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program. These modern abstract art pieces are all produced by Canadian art-ists and will be on display in the front half of the library until July 20.
We still have spots avail-able for a Non-restricted Canadian Firearms Safety Course on Sunday, July 19 from 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. You must pre-register by July 15, cost is $120/person. Go to www.albertafirearmscourse.com for more information, or call Luke Peters at 403-741-9898.
Emma Neufeld, our Summer Reading Club co-ordinator would like to send a big thank you out to all of the local businesses who have donated towards our program. The monetary and prize donations given to us make the program fun and educational for our program participants, and keep their brains busy while school is out of session.
The Ponoka Friends of the Library Society would like to thank everyone who donated items to our cloth-ing drive, as well as to the kind-hearted Good Samari-tan who donated his truck, trailer and fuel so that the items could be transported to Calgary. We were able to raise close to $200, and every little bit helps towards
funding free memberships for next year. If you would like to make a monetary donation to Ponoka Jubilee Library you can either do so in person at the library, or online on our GoFund-Me page at http://www.gofundme.com/tfkcb8. Tax receipts are available. And if you interested in join-ing the Ponoka Friends of the Library Society, please contact the library at 403-783-3843.
Don’t forget our Fare-well Drop-in Tea for Sharie Kuhl on Tuesday July 28 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Come enjoy some coffee, tea, cake and a visit, as we say good bye to Sharie on her retirement after 26 years of service to Ponoka Jubilee Library.
Coming Soon: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjust-ing to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a Watch-man casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s endur-ing classic.
Summer is well under way and we at Ponoka
Jubilee Library are enjoying the sun and the fun.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 21
With a few keystrokes you can sample thousands of opinions, a oat in a sea of information.
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Like many participants in the 2015 Walking in Spirit event, Ingrid Ekomiak carries a sign explaining her presence there.
Photo by David Thielen
BY DAVID THIELEN
Several hundred sup-porters turned out for the fourth and final year of the Walking in Spirit suicide awareness walk on Thurs-day, July 9 on Highway 611.
The walk is the vision of Mason Buffalo, a mem-ber of the Samson Cree Nation, who had moved to Toronto to take acting lessons, as his way of cop-ing with the suicide of his cousin.
“I had been a fire fight-er with the Maskwacis Fire Department, and was the first on scene at his sui-cide, and it really affected me,” said Buffalo. “I need-ed to get away.”
While in Toronto, Buf-falo said that he met an Iroquois lady who asked if he had a recent loss in his life. “When I replied, yes, she said that she saw a spirit that was attached to me.”
“That is when I realized that I had to do something to lift the heaviness, not just from my shoulders but from everybody else that has been affected by sui-
Final chapter of Walking in Spirit cide”, said Buffalo.
He started planning the walk while I was liv-ing Toronto, on social media and the first walk was organized in 2012. He described the response to the first walk as “unbeliev-able”. “We had so many turn up that we ran out of T-shirts for the partici-pants,” he recalled.
The first walk started in Wetaskiwin, and head-ed south to Maskwacis. The second walk started in the east on Secondary Highway 611 and headed west into Maskwacis. Last year’s walk started in Ponoka and headed north, and the circle was com-pleted this year by walking east from Highway 2, said Buffalo.
While Buffalo has returned to Toronto af-ter each of the previous walks, this time he will be remaining in Maskwacis.
“I knew from the start that I wanted to take action and to do something for the community. To be a voice, and to use our prayers to lift the heaviness from our community,” he said.
“The large number of
participants on the walk shows that there are lots of people that are on this healing journey, and we need to speak out and say we need help. I know that in December, it just seemed like there was fu-neral after funeral, after funeral.”
My biggest vision is that we create a healing lodge. To create an envi-ronment where people feel safe.
Almost all of the sev-eral hundred participants in this year’s walk had been personally affected by a suicide, according to organizers.
One of the participants in the walk, Rose Simon, said she was walking for her granddaughter Beth-any Sarah Leigh Simon, who she said was driven to suicide last year by the bullying she was receiv-ing at the Montana School. Jared Rain, another par-ticipant, was walking for both a brother and an aunt.
Frankie Moonias, who has participated in every walk, was there with his four-year-old son. “I came to support Mason (the lead
organizer), because I know him, and have played hockey with him, and I have had thoughts of sui-cide myself.”
The walk started at the intersection of Secondary Highway 611 and followed the route into Maskwa-cis. There were several rest stops along the way,
where native drummers provided encouragement to the walkers, and vol-unteers handed out water to keep the participants hydrated on the hot walk under the bright sun. A fire truck from the Maskwacis Fire Department travelled up and down the column spraying cooling water.
22 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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With weather creating a fairly volatile trading in the grain markets, compound-ing the situation is economic uncertainty in Europe and China. Wheat prices are being resilient as drier conditions in Western Canada, Europe, & even Argentina continue to provide fodder for bulls to be loud, but the U.S. winter wheat harvest is picking up pace with combines going full tilt in the Southern Plains. With a stronger U.S. dollar because of the aforemen-tioned economic concerns, canola continues to enjoy some solid prices, but I’m not quite so certain we’re at a top yet as we still have some more critical days in the growing season to get through yet.
Most recent crop progress reports show that the quality of corn and soybean fields haven’t fallen as much as the market is thinking, which is why any rallies have been reigned in, with corn holding above the $4/bushel handling while soybeans straddles $10. More rain is expected in the eastern cornbelt this week, making most of the Ameri-can West Coast and a lot of Western Canada extremely jealous. The cost of hay and other feed rations continue to increase in the latter, as dry conditions continue to point towards the big “d” word (Drought). (P.S. you can list hay on the FarmLead Marketplace!) Conversely, a wet May and damp June has created some of the best pasture conditions in years for livestock producers in the US Southern Plains, especially Texas. There’s some specu-lation that more Canadian
Brennan TurnerFarmLead
Uncertainty abounds
animals could be sent to the US, since the pastures (and grass) are literally way green-er than on the Canadian side of the border. Ultimately, the U.S. herd size is expanding while the Canadian is likely shrinking, leveling out some of the supply and demand of feed grains. That being said, I have to play the reminder card that substitution effects will start to play out if feed grain costs stay high (i.e. switching out barley and wheat for other rations), even as more live-stock head to the U.S. (you still gotta feed the animals you have!).
Greece is on the ropes as their status as a member of the European Union is in jeop-ardy, depending on whether or not they can get a deal done before missing more pay-ments on their debt to various creditors to a deal. What’s really grabbing the attention of global markets is China, where stock market losses in the last few days have been substantial – literally $3.25 Trillion USD in value was lost on the various Chinese exchanges in a matter of 36 hours. That number is more than 20 times greater than any value lost from Greece not paying off its debt in time. With equity markets tanking, Chinese regulators are looking to shore up their financial system but questions abound regarding whether or not the People’s Repub-
lic will be able to rebound from such significant loss of wealth. How does this relate to the agricultural markets? China’s double digit growth over the past 15-20 years has correlated quite well with in-creased commodity demand, specifically for soybeans, meat, and dairy on the farm side of things. While the argu-ment can definitely be made that food demand is relative inelastic (no response in price to big fundamental changes), there’s no certainty that we won’t see any short-term ef-fects on the import levels of the world’s largest consumer of foodstuffs.
To growth,
Brennan TurnerPresident, FarmLead.com
Brennan Turner is origi-nally from Foam Lake, SK, where his family started farm-ing the land in the 1920s. After completing his degree in economics from Yale Uni-versity and then playing some pro hockey, Mr. Turner spent some time working in finance before starting FarmLead.com, a risk-free, transparent online and now mobile grain marketplace (app available for iOS & Android). His week-ly column is a summary of his free, daily market note, the FarmLead Breakfast Brief. He can be reached via email ([email protected]) or phone (1-855-332-7653).
BY JAN SLOMP
Trade did not begin when the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1989, and neither will it stop if the Trans Pacific Partner-ship (TPP) is not signed. Trade agreements’ investor protection clauses that enable corpora-tions to force governments to compensate them when social or environmental policy impedes profits are contrary to democratic values.
Today, Canada’s supply management sys-tem is under attack. Some trading partners, such as New Zealand and USA want to sell their dairy products to Canadians, and lobbyists from other sectors within Canada would like to sacrifice the supply managed sectors as a way to obtain benefits for their own sectors. While CETA, the TPP and NAFTA are called “trade” deals, they really sets of rules that limit governments and empower corporations. The corporate sector may make profits the top priority, but for Canadians, it is common sense to guarantee that our people can rely on both the quality and quantity of food produced by our farmers.
Canadians support supply management for good reason. It is an innovative solution, first developed in Ontario and Quebec in the 1960s. Supply management addressed the problems that led to both milk shortages and over-production and waste, along with uncer-tain, volatile incomes for dairy farmers. Prices were often below the cost of production and at times, processors would turn farmers away. Elsewhere in Canada fresh milk supply was inconsistent, sometimes with no milk available at all. Farm gate prices also fluctuated season-ally. In 1969, in exchange for a commitment by all dairy farmers to apply production disci-pline, the governments of Ontario and Quebec implemented supply management regulation for dairy. Other provinces soon followed. Today’s dairy farmers supply a daily stream of fresh, high quality milk. Their farms are highly sophisticated, capital intensive operations that require specialized, experienced labour and management. In exchange, they receive a price based on the cost of production. Unlike their European and US counterparts, Canadian dairy farmers do not rely on government subsidies
to make their living.Canadian dairy processors also benefit
from the predictability of milk supply, al-lowing them to run plants efficiently, using near full capacity year-round, unlike those in Europe and the USA. Because it is so perish-able, a constant, predictable supply of fresh milk is needed every day for efficient dairy processing. To meet this need, dairy farmers must carefully plan for calving intervals, herd size, herd health, nutrition and feed inventory. The drive to efficiency in production is im-portant, but is only truly valuable if real costs are reduced. Obtaining lower milk prices by compromising quality standards, off-loading environmental costs and under-paying labour is not progress. Subsidies provided in some but not all jurisdictions give the appearance of efficiency when costs are just shifted from the marketplace to the public purse.
We could be faced with severe food short-ages in future. Over the last century, we have seen the total farm population implode from one-third of all income-earners to less than one percent being involved in agriculture today. Canada has a significant agricultural resource land base, but it takes vision and common sense to utilize the land’s potential. Climate change adds to the challenges farm-ers are facing. Those who would put trade agreements such as the TPP ahead of having a made-in-Canada solution to the challenges of providing milk to the population must be confronted with serious questions. How fresh would imported milk be? How reliable would the supply be, and at what price? What kind of quality standards could consumers expect, and who would enforce them? What would the Canadian countryside look like? How would the local economy change after losing its lo-cal family-owned and operated dairy farms and their related employment? The picture is uninviting at best, if not dangerous and bleak. Supply management has a proven record of providing the right amount of affordable, high quality dairy products at all times. Free trade deals like the TPP are not sacred cows, but do supply a lot of bull.
Jan Slomp is the President of the National Farmers Union.
When trade is a sacred cow, investor protection displaces common sense
Gospel Concerts are fi nished for season. Will resume in September
September 25 - Pot luck and general meeting
Billiards - Weekdays 1:00pm. Mon through Sat – 50 cents per game. Honour system
Monday Bridge 1:00pm
Monday Whist - 1:30pm
Monday Yoga - 6:30pm
Tuesday Canasta - 1:00pm
Tuesday & Thursday Exercise class 9:30am FINISHED UNTIL FALL
Tuesday Shuffl eboard - 7pm • FINISHED UNTIL FALL
Wednesday Sewing Guild 9:30am to 4pm
Wednesday Cribbage 1:00pm
Wednesday Yoga - 6:30pm
Wednesday Duplicate Bridge 7:00pm
Thursday Floor Curling - 1:00pm • FINISHED UNTIL FALL
Thursday Weaving 1:00pm Welcome to drop-in to see how it’s done
Thursday Bridge 1:00pm
Thursday Pickleball 7pm - contact Janice Mackie 403-396-4315 for location
Thursday Art Club Drop In Noon to 4pm
Friday “500” 1:00pm
Saturday Yoga 9:30am
Memberships available for 2015 - $10.00 per person. To rent our facility contact Dorothy @ 403-783-3027 or George
@ 403-783- 3514 or leave a message @ 403-783-5012. Rentals are increasing and we would like to invite our town
administration, business groups, and general public (Wedding, funeral, and Birthday groups), to inquire about rentals
services and prices early in their planning. We may fi t your bill!Ponoka CapitolTheatre
4904 - 50th St.Ph. 403-783-3639
PLAYING July 17 - July 23July 17 - July 23
AGES 1264 $9.00
AGES 211& SENIORS
$7.00TUESDAYS
& MATINEES $6.00
3D$3 EXTRA
SCREEN #2
Ted 2115 min2:00 PM
Sat & Sun8:00 PM Nightly
Rated 14A
SCREEN #1
Minions2D
91 min2:00 PM
Sat & Sun7:00 PM Daily
Rated G
BRIGHT & CLEAN
OPEN 6am-11pm
daily!3 sizes of washers2 sizes of
dryers
Comfortablesitting area
with tv
4205 64 ST., Ponoka • 403-783-8382P o n o k a • W e t a s k i w i n • L e d u c
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
Over the course of one evening eleven contestants sing their hearts out and in the end there can only be one ultimate winner.
The victor of this year’s Ponoka Stampede Talent Show was Brad Abel, with his surprising rendition of the Dixie Chick’s Not Ready to Make Nice.
As he was names champi-on, Abel got choose the prize of his liking and selected the handcrafted Gilmore guitar.
Second place winner Jeremy Rush was awarded a mentoring session with county recording artist Bobby Wills and $500 cash to put toward studio time.
It was a tough competition this year and Abel says he was as surprised as anyone to come out on top. “I was shocked, everyone was really good tonight.”
“You never know how you sound you only hear other people,” he added.
Abel decided to take on a Dixie Chicks song because he likes the band and knew his choice would help him stand out from the pack.
As a veteran contestant, Abel recalled on his talent show experience from last year to give him a leg up. “I
Able wins Ponoka Stampede Talent Show
Brad Abel came in first place in the Ponoka Stampede Talent Show with his rendition of the Dixie Chicks’ Not Ready to Make Nice, Monday, June 29. Able chose a custom made Gilmore guitar as his prize.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
learned a lot from it last year.”Abel says he spends most
of his time playing music and his love for it comes from his father. “My dad was a Garth Brooks fan … he shoved that down our throats,” he explained with a laugh.
As an avid musician, Abel says he has got project in the
work with different people and that is why he chose the guitar rather than the mentor-
ing sessionJeremy RushFlabbergasted Rush au-
ditioned for the talent show twice before and charmed his way to second place with his third attempt.
“It feels amazing,” said Rush.
Rush performed a Brett Kissel tune and says part of the
reason he chose it is because he got to meet the country superstar last year. “He’s just a super nice guy.”
The budding county musi-cian also grew up in a musical family but says he was so shy in his younger years he could not sing in front of people. He would perform for his family but make them stand in a dif-
ferent room.As the talent show came
to a close it was a flurry of equipment being packed away and contestants hugging and happily exchanging numbers and plans to meet up.
“I would say it’s awesome, it’s chill. You get to connect with other musicians,” said Rush.
24 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 25
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• Business Advisory Service• Government Program Assistance
Ponoka Offi ce: 403-783-3315
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Sports
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
Last year’s summer basketball tourna-ment, which attracted many enthusiasts and created much excitement mostly among the Filipino members of the community is not taking place this year due to lack of a gym to host the event.
Organizer Jerry Nepomuceno said they didn’t want to take the risk of serious injury to players again after what happened during last year’s tournament, with some players taking on injuries on the open-air court.
“We wanted to organize the tournament at an indoor facility this summer, but could not find a gym to play at,” Nepomuceno ex-plained.
He said they had approached all the schools in the community, prepared to pay for whatever costs might be incurred, but
that they were turned down. He said they didn’t think the Centennial
Centre gym could be a good venue because of the number of fans their games attract and the games would disturb the hospital environment. As a result, they didn’t even think about it as a realistic choice.
According to Nepomuceno, interest remains quite high in the event with many residents willing to join in and be part of the tournament. He said they had spoken to the Mayor Rick Bonnett on the matter and that they were hoping a solution could be found for the tournament to take place next year. He mentioned the possibility that once the Air Cadets squadron moves to their new location, the former Ponoka Elementary School building, their gym the could be a good venue to organize next summer’s tour-nament.
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
Storm FC, Ponoka’s representative in the Battle River Men’s Soccer League, sit at the top of the standings with six wins against only one loss and an advantage of 26-goal difference in favor, the best possible spot to be eyeing a second championship in as many years.
Storm played two back-to-back road games, on July 5 in Camrose and on July 12 in Millet, winning both in comfortable fashion and building even more confidence as the title race approaches its climax.
In Camrose, the score was a comfort-able 9-0 for the visiting Ponoka side. Their hosts were suffering from a severe shortage of players who could dress for the game and in the end they could field a team with only nine players, which by the rules of the league is enough to go ahead for a game. The result did not come as surprise given the imbalance of the competing forces.
“In a game like that some teams or players can get a little selfish, but Ponoka avoided that and demonstrated a true team
effort,” said Storm coach Lonny Behm. “The linking play from the back to the
midfield up to the strikers was very impres-sive.”
Scorers were Eric Ehscheid (2) Carmen Lyon (2) , Josh Simons, Todd Alexander, Christoph Dittmar, Jason Duddy and Jor-den Vogel.
Then in Millet, Storm opened scoring early in the game with two goals within the first 10 minutes and the hosts struggled to respond but could come up with one goal only before halftime break.
With both teams short on the bench, just three substitutes each, the summer heat began to take its toll on the players as the second half went on, but Ponoka guys made better use of their potential and dominated the field until the end, scoring three more before the final whistle. Eric Ehscheid undersigned two as did Josh Simons with Christoph Dittmar icing the cake with one.
Storm play their last home game of the league on Sunday as they host FC United at high school field at 2:30 p.m.
Storm set their sights on championship again Basketball summer
tournament called off due to lack of facility
Lisa Kaiser of Edmonton wins the championship in the “Pony Pleasure Driving” category with her ride on Saturday, July 11 as part of the Summer Classic Horseshow organized at the Calnash Ag Event Centre over the weekend.
Photo by Mustafa Eric
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
Close to 100 riders and their horses from all over the province converged at the Calnash Ag Event Centre over the weekend of July 10-12 for the 10th annual Summer Classic Horsehow for a dis-play of equine elegance and esthetic, horse-rider harmony and great fun.
Participants at the event competed in dozens of cat-egories with their horses, coming mainly in three dis-tinctive breeds, Andalusians, Morgan horses and American Saddlebred horses.
Leslie Hurst, one of the organizers, said the compe-tition was mostly to judge the skills of the horses but in some categories, riders were also judged with regard to the harmony between them and their equine partners and their ability to command the horses
to take direction.“Horses are mostly
judged as to how they walk or trot, how they can adjust their pace and style,” said Hurst.
Horses are judged in their own categories as each breed has its own characteristics.
Darlene Brouwer, a Mor-gan horse owner said that breed was particularly “easy and fun to be around.”
“They are easy to train, they like people and they are also competitive. But mostly they are family horses,” she said.
Alongside horseback rid-ing, competition also took place in harness driving cat-egories.
“Winners receive ribbons or nominal monetary prizes, but no one gets rich at this competition,” said Hurst with a smile.
Summer classic displays equine
elegance and skills
26 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Gwynne DyerThink
Globally
It’s game, set and match to the Burmese generals. On Wednesday they finally announced the date of the general election that was once seen as the real dawn of democracy in Burma: 8 November. But the army will emerge as the winner once again.
The political party that was created to support the generals, the Union Soli-darity and Development Party, will not win a ma-jority of the seats in the new parliament. Indeed, it may win very few. But serving military officers will still have 25 percent of the seats, in accordance with the 2008 constitution (written by the military), and that will be enough to preserve military rule.
The spokesman of Burma’s president, former General Thein Sein, tried to put a positive spin on this in an interview last month. “In the past the military was 100 percent in control of the country,” he told Peter Popham of The Independent. “To-day it is only 25 percent in control.” But that’s not true: it is still 100 percent in control.
Those military officers (who wear their uniforms in parliament and vote in a bloc as the army high command decrees) will continue to dominate poli-tics, because 25 percent of the votes, according to that 2008 constitution, can block any changes to the constitution.
And if they can’t find or buy enough allies in parliament to muster a ma-jority and pass legislation that the military want, they have a fall-back position. The constitution still al-lows the military to simply suspend the government
BY LARRY BROWNTROY MEDIA COLUMNIST
Recently the United States had a spir-ited secret debate about the huge 'trade deal', the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that's being negotiated by many countries, including Canada.
Why the secrecy? A former U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, said he opposed making the text public because doing so would raise such opposition that it could make the deal impossible to sign.
Exactly. If people knew what was in this proposed deal, they would tell their governments to drop the talks immedi-ately.
The TPP will be so unacceptable that it isn't supposed to be made public for four years after it's signed. A deal that would cover almost every aspect of our economy, and we aren't supposed to be told what's in it even after it's complete.
In Canada, if one reads our main-stream media, the only issue in the TPP worthy of comment is the effect on our dairy farmers. Even that supposedly won't be a problem for long because our federal government is going to use public money to compensate the dairy farmers. Appar-ently, there is nothing else of importance.
The lack of serious reporting on this proposed massive international agree-ment is shocking.
The TPP would give corporations, from every country that signs on to the deal, the right to challenge the democratic decisions of our federal, provincial and municipal governments. Corporations will have the right to challenge decisions about how we protect our environment, how we manage our resources and how we regulate our industries. We will be sig-nificantly weakening our right to govern ourselves.
The Canada-Europe deal, CETA, is the subject of a major political battle in Eu-rope because it includes this outrageous provision, called ISDS or Investor-State. The deal may well be rejected in Europe because of the corporate rights it includes. Here at home, the whole debate has been virtually ignored.
The TPP will encourage the privatiza-tion of our public services, and make it virtually impossible to reverse a decision to privatize, even if it's obvious that the decision was a terrible mistake. Even if a new government is elected on a prom-ise to reverse a privatization boondoggle, they won't be able to. Democracy doesn't count for much under these corporate-friendly deals.
Our drug costs will go up, once again. We'll pay more for the same drugs we now get.
If we want to protect our workforce, we will find that we are competing with countries with essentially no workers' rights, and those countries will be able to sell their goods in Canada tariff free.
We will be also prevented from any action to protect our culture.
We will lose most of our remain-ing manufacturing sector. NAFTA has decimated our factories, and our factory workforce, and ensured our wages stag-nate. TPP will make that 10 times worse.
This deal is huge and will affect us very directly. There is so much in it - we know from leaks about the negotiations - that it should be scrutinized by every Canadian before we let our governments give away our right to make democratic decisions about our own country.
But at this stage, this massive poten-tial agreement is completely unknown to three-quarters of Canadians. And why would they know about it when a genuine debate is impossible because, in the view of our media, it's not a significant story?
We need to demand the truth from our government. No more silence. What are they are doing at the TPP table? What are they prepared to sign away? They are not the government of the corporate sector, they are the government of Canada. As Canadians, we are entitled to know what our government is doing.
And we need to demand that this ma-jor story, a story about the very future of Canada, gets the attention it deserves.
Larry Brown is National Co-chair of Canada's Trade Justice Network.
Burma:The generals
win againand take over whenever they like. Well, whenever they perceive a “security threat”, technically, but soldiers are usually pretty good at doing that.
Two weeks ago the civilian parties in parlia-ment tried to change those parts of the constitution. They also tried to drop the clause that was written to stop “Burma’s Mandela”, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, from becoming president. (She has two sons with British passports, and the consti-tution says that nobody with “foreign” ties can be president.) The soldiers just used their 25 percent blocking minority to reject all the changes.
Aung San Suu Kyi now has until Saturday to decide whether she will lead her National League for Democracy into the November elections, or boycott them as she did in 2010. In principle, it shouldn’t be a tough deci-sion. Her party could win by a landslide — indeed, it probably would — but she still couldn’t be presi-dent, and any NLD-led government would be per-manently under threat of removal by the generals if it challenged their privi-leges.
When she was asked in a press conference last year how the democracy project was faring, she gave a one-word answer: “Stalled”. And in an in-terview in April she put the blame squarely on the countries that used to sup-port her: “I would just like to remind you that I have been saying since 2012 that a bit of healthy scep-ticism would be very, very good, and that too many of our western friends are too optimistic about the democratisation process here.”
It’s quite true that just the promise of democrati-sation was enough to end the long-standing West-ern economic sanctions against Burma and unleash a tidal wave of foreign in-vestment in the country. After fifty years of military
rule during which the sol-diers got very rich, Burma is the poorest country in South-East Asia (it used to be the richest), but it does have huge, mostly unex-ploited natural resources.
So the foreign investors piled in and the economy is being transformed, even though the military are re-ally still in charge. But Suu Kyi has made some seri-ous errors too. She took the generals’ promises se-riously enough to let her party run in by-elections in 2011, and even took a seat in parliament herself. She undoubtedly understood that it was a gamble, but unfortunately it failed.
So now she has no practical alternative to going down the road she chose in 2011: taking part in the November elections despite all the limitations on civilian power, and working for change within the military-designed sys-tem even though she lends it credibility by her coop-eration.
Aung San Suu Kyi used to be a symbolic leader of great moral stature; now she is a pragmatic politi-cian who has to get her hands dirty. It cannot feel good, but it was inevita-bly going to end up more or less like this if she ever made any progress in her struggle to make Burma a democratic country. She HAS made some progress, and the military were inev-itably going to push back. They never thought she was their friend or their ally.
The Burmese army has ruled the country for fifty years, and it has done very well out of it. It has won this round of the struggle, but Burma is changing: all the foreign influences coming in, all the new money, and a more or less free press are creating new dynamics in the society. Aung San Suu Kyi is still in the game, and the game is not over yet.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are pub-lished in 45 countries.
Lack of debate about TPP an embarrassment
for CanadaDemocracy doesn't count for much under these corporate-friendly deals
Be environmentally friendlyRECYCLE YOUR PAPER!
Marilyn Schultz Marilyn Josephine Schultz was born in Stettler, Alberta on October 14, 1932 and passed away in Red Deer, Alberta on July 11, 2015 at the age of 82 years. She will be lovingly remembered by her daughter Brenda (Frank) Kraft of Morinville; granddaughter Carlene (Justin) Townell and great-grandchildren Ben, Will and Oliver Townell of Edmonton;
her daughter Verla (Randy) Girletz of Oyen; and granddaughter Sara Girletz of Calgary; her son Keith Schultz of Portland, Oregon; sisters Vera (Bill) Lynn and Connie Gaudin; brother Ross (Eunice) Lyle; sisters-in-law Gladys Lyle and Leila Lyle; as well as numerous other relatives and friends. She was predeceased by her parents Victor and Annie Lyle, her husband Herman (1996), daughter Lorrie (1963), brothers Leonard, Arnold and Lindsay Lyle; sisters-in-law Ila Lyle and Peggy Lyle; and brother-in-law Bob Gaudin. A Service of Remembrance will be held at the St. Peters Lutheran Church (Highway 53 east of Ponoka) on Thursday, July 16, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Memorial donations are gratefully accepted to the Kidney Foundation of Canada (11227 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton T5K 0L5), St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Cemetery Fund, or to a charity of your choice. To express condolences to Marilyn’s family, please visit www.womboldfuneralhomes.com.
Arrangements Entrusted To PONOKA FUNERAL HOME
~ A Wombold Family Funeral Home ~
MY BELOVEDIn loving memory of
Clarence (Dag)Heggedal
Dag passed away on Tuesday July 7, 2015 at Northcott Care Centre. A wonderful kind gentleman sums up all he was during his life. Dag is survived by his loving and devoted wife Irene, his son James and daughter Jodi and fi ve grandchildren, Carter Moore, London, England; Jessica Heggedal (Mark) of Perth, Australia, Jordan Heggedal (Elyse) of Grande Prairie, and Taylor and Spencer Graham of Red Deer, and Trisha of Camrose. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Dag’s life with family and dear friends was held on July 14. Donations to the Kidney Foundation would be appreciated. Rest in peace my love.
BAINColin Daniel
February 12, 1986 -July 8, 2015
Colin attended school in Chilliwack B.C., and Enderby B.C. and his last years in Ponoka.
He moved to Medicine Hat for work in the gravel crushing business at which time he had his
little girl, Pillar. His greatest asset.
He will be greatly missed by Danielle and Pillar, and all his family and all his friends.
Trust fund for Pillar Bain will be opened at ATB Ponoka branch
In Loving Memory of JORDAN BRETT
WILSONNovember 7, 1994 -
July 15, 2013
Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure.
You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.
Forever loved by Steve, Yvonne and Blake Wilson
DICK PUGHSept. 1, 1928 - July 14, 1985
A face we love is missing,A voice we love is still.
A place is vacant in our hearts,That no one will ever fi ll.
Many things have happened,Many things have changed.But how much we love you,Will always stay the same.
Whether it happened Yesterday or Today, Whatever you want to say, To celebrate your special day... CLASSIFIEDS
ANNOUNCEMENTS1-877-223-3311
The family of Nancy Dennis would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the many friends and family for their support during our extremely diffi cult time. Thank you to the staff at the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre for the care provided to Nancy and to the Wombold family at the Ponoka Funeral Home for conducting a beautiful memorial service. Special thanks to everyone who sent fl owers, food and donations in Nancy’s name. The compassion shown to our family will be forever remembered.
Sincerely, Damien, Devon, Darius, Drew, Desirae and families.
Certifi cate, a minimum of fi ve (5) years’ experience in the trade and a valid NWT Class 1 driver’ slicense, with air brake
endorsement. The training and ability to use oxy-
acetylene and arc welding equipment is also required.
Qualifi ed applicants are required to apply no later than July 24, 2015. Please visit the City of Yellowknife
Website at www.yellowknife.ca to submit
your resume
Truckers/Drivers 860
PROMAX Transport islooking for drivers for
long/short haul. Weekend shifts. Please
send resumes to fax # 403-227-2743 or call
403-227-2712 for more information
BusinessOpportunities 870
GET FREE VENDING machines. Can earn
$100,000. + per year. All cash. Retire in just 3
years. Protected territories. Full details. Call now
1-866-668-6629. Website: www.tcvend.com.
Restaurant/Hotel 820
Clerical 720
Misc.Help 880HAVE a passion for help-ing people? Want to make a real difference in the lives of others? Look no further! The Action Group is currently hiring Community Support Workers for week-end positions. If you have experience working with complex behaviours and/or personal care, reliable transportation, patience & fl exibility of hours, then we want to hear from you! See available jobs on our web-site www.action-group.com. Resumes sent to [email protected] .
is seeking aFull Time Administrator/Field Coordinator
for our Ponoka Facility.Our team is made up of the best and the brightest, and it's our people that give us the privilege to defi ne ourselves as elite.
To join our team please submit your resume toMelissa Smith at [email protected]
* Limit one free 1 week fitness membership per person at participating locations only. Not valid with any other offer. No cash value and new members only. First visit discount
may be offered in exchange for the free week. Free week must begin by 8/31/ 2015.† Scheduled at participating locations only.
AUTO DETAILERAUTO DETAILERGreat career opportunity with room Great career opportunity with room for advancement based on ambition, for advancement based on ambition,
may lead to apprenticeship. may lead to apprenticeship.
Must be self motivated and perform Must be self motivated and perform duties w/minimal supervisionduties w/minimal supervision
Call Jim Ashbough 783-2764 or Cell: 588-0599Jack Surbey 783-5283 Cell: 588-0597
BOBCAT SERVICES
SALES & SERVICE
BOTTLE DEPOT
Call Jim Ashbough 403-783-2764or Cell: 587-729-0092
PONOKA BOTTLE DEPOT
Open Monday - Saturday10 am - 5 pm
Closed Sundays & Holidays
We Now Recycle Milk Cartons for Deposit
3, 5520 Hwy 2A(Across from Husky)
403-783-6875
Tues - Fri: 8:30 am-5:30 pmSaturday: 9 am-3 pm
403-783-51851-800-662-7135
Fax: 403-783-4635
Motorcycles & ATV’s
OVERHEAD DOORS
www.doorsondemand.ca
403-963-5000
5306 - 60 ST, PONOKA, AB T4J 1K7
PH: (403) 783-6372 • FAX (403) 783-6345
“Reasonable rates on all your plumbing needs”Gas Fitting - Home Renovations - Drain Cleaning
-24 HOUR SERVICE-
PLUMBING
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JAMES AVERY
LANDSCAPING TREES
Ponoka- located 1.5 Miles North of High SchoolPhone (403) 783-5072 Cell: (403) 704-5384
www.brtrees.com
Specializing in Colorado Blue & Green Spruce. Also offering a variety of caliber deciduous trees. Schubert, Royalty, Mountain Ash, Weeping Birch, Norland Apple, Green/Black Ash and many more.
DANDYPERMANENT POSITIONS
Night Shift Welders & Assistants
Plant #1, Wetaskiwin
Full Time Employment
Fax or email your resume in confidence to:A.C. Dandy Products Ltd., Wetaskiwin, Alberta
TELL it all! Tell it well! Make your ads sell for you by giving full description of goods or services offered. Include prices and terms. Phone 1-877-223-3311 for a friendly ad taker.
Acreages/Farms ..............3010Houses/Duplexes ............3020Condos/Townhouses........3030Manufactured Homes ......3040Four Plexes/Six Plexes ....3050Suites ..............................3060Cottages/Seasonal ..........3070Roommates Wanted ........3080Rooms for Rent................3090Motels/Hotels ..................3100Offices ..............................3110Stores/Commercial ..........3120Industrial ..........................3130Warehouse Space............3140Garage Space..................3150Storage Space ................3160Land ................................3170Pasture ............................3180Mobile Lot ........................3190Misc. for Rent ..................3200
Wanted to Rent#3250 - #3390
Acreages/Farms ..............3255Houses/Duplexes ............3260Suites ..............................3270Rooms..............................3280Manufactured Homes ......3290Housesitting Wanted ........3300Garage Space..................3310Storage Space ................3320Stores/Commercial ..........3330Office Space ....................3340Industrial ..........................3350Warehouse Space............3360Resorts & Cottages..........3370Pasture/Land....................3380Mobile Lot ........................3390
Houses/Duplexes 3020AVAILABLE AUG 13 + 1 bdrm house w 2 baths. Double car
garage, large lot$1300/mnth
plus D.D. & utilities403-790-6011
Available Aug 1Furnished 2 bdrm house
Centrally locatedWasher/dryer, N/S, N/P$950/mnth plus D.D.
with deck. Across from school & recreation center $850/mo. Water Included.
403-249-2708.
Suites 30602 BDRM bsmt. suite in PONOKA incld’s util’s, washer/dryer, no pets, non partier, N/S. Long term working tenants and sen-iors welcome. Avail immed. 403-704-1645
FURNISHED BACHELOR SUITE FOR RENT
IN PONOKA.TV & utils. incld. $700/mo.
403-963-0204
* RIVERSIDE APTS. *Newly renovated
1 & 2 bedroom units in Ponoka: 3724-45 Street.
403-357-0287
Real Estate#4000 - #4190
Realtors & Services..........4010Houses for Sale................4020Houses Wanted................4030Condos/Townhouses ........4040Acreages ..........................4050Acreages Wanted ............4060Farms/Land ......................4070Farms/Land Wanted ........4080Manufactured/Mobile Homes ..................4090Income Property ..............4100Commercial Property ......4110Industrial Property ............4120Cottages/Resort Property ..4130Businesses for Sale..........4140Buildings for Sale ............4150Lots for Sale ....................4160Out of Town Property ......4170Investment Opportunities ..4180Mortgages Bought/Sold....4190
HousesFor Sale 4020Just Listed $325,000 4013
45 Street, PonokaWALKOUT BUNGALOW
with attached heateddouble garage. Four nice
sized bedrooms, hardwoodfl oors,new shingles andpaved parking. To view this home Call CharlotteRenschler 403-506-3141
REMAX real estate centralalberta
Condos/Townhouses4040
SENIORS 50+. Duplex condo Horizon Village
Beaumaris Edmonton By owner $275,000. 2 bed-
room, 1 bathroom, no pets, single garage.
780-953-5585. Realtors welcome.
ManufacturedHomes 4090
DON’T OVERPAY! rtmihomes.com “Your
Smart Housing Solution” Canada’s Largest provider of manufactured housing.
Text or call (844-334-2960). In stock
16’/20’/22’ Homes on Sale Now!
KITCHEN SPECIAL HOMES starting at $138,500. Kitchen
upgrades include full backsplash, stainless steel appliances & much more. For more information call United Homes Canada
1-800-461-7632 or visit our site at www.
unitedhomescanada.com.
SILVERWOOD LUXURY Modular Log Homes. Show
Home 311 - 36 Ave. SE, Calgary. Discover how we can design, build & fi nish your custom log home in weeks. 1-855-598-4120;
www.silverwoodloghomes.ca.
Financial#4400 - #4430
Investments ......................4410Money Wanted ................4420Money to Loan ................4430
* MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS* SALES & SUPPLIES TO ALL MODELS
403-783-1944
Ponoka Veterinary Clinic Dr. Murray Jacobson Dr. Clayton West Dr. Ashley Shannon
Mon. - Fri.8 am - 5 pm
Sat.9 am - 4:30 pm
24 Hr.Emergency403-783-4348
5502 - Hwy 2A Ponoka, AB T4J 1M1
VETERINARY SERVICES
• Dr. Murray Jacobson • Dr. Clayton West
• Dr. Nicole Macdonald • Dr. Katie Graves
SALE BY TENDERBarry Woyen and Beverly Woyen of Ponoka, Alberta, intend to sell their quarter of land by tender, on the following terms:
1. The land is the NE 2-43-23-W4, consisting of 160 acres of mostly cultivated land. There are no buildings.
2. Two Surface Leases will be assigned to the successful purchaser but not adjusted. The Purchaser will be entitled to future payments. One lease pays $2,800.00 yearly in January, and the other pays $3,550.00 in September.
3. Tenders, in a sealed envelope are to be in writing, without conditions, and accompanied by a deposit of 5% of the purchase price, payable in trust to:
Kenneth Cruickshank Professional Corporation, Solicitor5025 - 51 Street, Lacombe, AB T4L 2A3
4. Tenders are to be sent in by August 31, 2015.
5. Closing and possession will be September 30, 2015, but subject to the present tenant being able to remove his crops by October 31, 2015. Tenders would be opened privately September 1, 2015 by Kenneth Cruickshank and the owners.
6. Every tender shall be treated as confi dential.
7. Every unsuccessful tender will have the deposit returned by ordinary mail within three business days of September 1, 2015.
8. The highest tender (or any tender), will not necessarily be accepted, but will be at the sole descretion of the owners.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 31
Transportation#5000-5300
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HEATING & EAVESTROUGHING
VETERINARY SERVICES
VETERINARY SERVICES
8 a.m. - 5 p.m Mon. to Sat. • Open late Thursday24-hour Emergency Call
• Dr. Kelly Loree • Dr. Leighton Coma• Dr. Trevor Hook • Dr. Jasmine Hardy
