Then there were ten

The race for six Fort Saskatch-ewan City Council positions has reached the double-digits this week, with a fl urry of announce-ments in the last week.

Announcing their intentions to seek a Council seat since OEP’s press time last week are Arjun Randhawa, Ian Osbaldeston, and Isaac McNeill. They join in-cumbents Stew Hennig, Frank Garritsen, and John Mather, all of whom have indicated they are seeking re-election, as well as Jeff Mickle, Birgit Blizzard, Stuart McGowan, and Sheldon Bossert, who have all declared their candidacy.

OEP interviewed both Randha-wa and Osbaldeston earlier this week.

ARJUN RANDHAWA

One of the youngest candidates in recent memory, Arjun Rand-hawa, is a Political Science stu-dent at the University of Alberta.

Campaigning on the tagline “A FRESH START,” Randhawa says he hopes to bring his edu-cation, business experience, and youthful energy to Council, “leading to stronger, more effi -cient and effective government representation.”

Randhawa’s family has owned and operated several local busi-nesses.

“I hope to bring fresh ideas and a upbeat and positive attitude to our Council,” he says.

CONTINUED ON PG. 3

Volume 3, Number 32 Price: FREEFort Saskatchewan, Alberta • Friday, June 14, 2013

By REECE SELLIN

T u e s -d a y ’ s F o r t S a s -k a t c h -e w a n C i t y Council meeting

saw one of the most heated debates in Council cham-bers in recent memory.

The topic of debate was a re-tabled motion, ini-tially brought forward by Councillor Frank Garrit-sen, that proposed placing the entirety of Mayor and Council expenses online for public viewing.

The original motion had been tabled at a Council meeting in April.

Speaking in favor of the motion, Garritsen ex-pressed the view that it would improve transpar-ency and make it easier for the public to access in-formation that they would otherwise normally have to wait weeks or months to receive.

However, Councillor John Mather was fi ercely op-posed to Garritsen’s pro-posal, citing a range of reasons for his opposi-tion. Among those was a reference to the publica-tion of Councillors’ promo-tional expenses that was published in OEP, which Mather said demonstrat-ed the information was already being made avail-able to the public.

He also suggested the mo-

tion did not go far enough.

“Let’s rip it wide open, and let everything out,” he said, citing other “perks” such as cellular telephone expenses and per diems.

Mather also levelled the accusation that Garrit-sen’s motion was “nothing more than political oppor-tunism,” and even accused Garritsen of bullying.

“You are trying to bully us into passing a bad resolu-tion,” Mather said. “I am not going to be moved by that.”

“This resolution just blows smoke, and smoke is not transparent,” concluded Mather.

CONTINUED ON PG. 3

Over Easy, PleaseCongrats Brian and Daina!

ODDS, SODS & NODS

LET’S “ART-ICULATE” P. 5

THE ISSUE

HURRAY FOR TRANSPARENCY P. 2

7 days until Summer!

Published in print and online every Friday

SAT SUN MON L: 10 L: 10 L: 10 H: 18 H: 18 H: 22

TUE 21/10SHOWERS

WED 16/4SHOWERS

THU 19/6SHOWERS

FRI 20/9P. CLOUDY

MATHER ALONE IN OPPOSING TRANSPARENCY MOTION

City Councillor John Mather. Photo: City of Fort Saskatchewan Website

Over Easy, Please June 14, 2013 Page 2

Over Easy, Please is published weekly on Fridays. We are located in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, and are a publication of Tuckbook Inc. Our website is located at www.overeasyplease.com. Over Easy, Please welcomes opinions and comments. Please note that we reserve the right to edit comments for length, style, legality and taste. Comments sent to us or posted to our website may be reproduced in print and/or electronic format. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. Therefore, the views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of Tuckbook Inc., and/or any/all contributors to this publication. We reserve the right to reject or remove advertising that we deem contrary to our ad philosophy, at our sole and exclusive discretion. Please view our contact information on page 8. This newspaper is not edible.

Phone: 780-998-0730 Fax: 780-992-1229

11228-87 Avenue, Fort Saskatchewantaxifort@telus.net

Repair and Servicing • Wheel AlignmentsBuses, Heavy Duty & Light Trucks

Automotive • Licensed Inspection Facility (C.V.I.P.)

Over 100 Varieties of K-Cups Available!We also carry DMC � oss!

The IssueHurray for Transparency

By OEP Editor JUDY SELLIN

Wow! I at-tended a city coun-cil meeting T u e s d a y e v e n i n g , and I think it would not be too

far-fetched at all to say that a portion of that meeting really did raise the blood pressure of one or two of our city council-lors. I am still wondering what the fuss really was all about?

In brief, a motion had been put forward by Councillor Garrit-sen in April of this year to have the Mayor and Council’s ex-penses, including promotional funds, published on the City of Fort Saskatchewan website, in order for the public to have easy access to view these expenses. The motion was tabled in April, and was brought forward again during this past Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Simple motion? I would say yes. Good motion? I would say ab-solutely! There are some cities that do this already... including St. Albert. On Tuesday night, the mo-

tion was passed, but not be-fore Councillor John Mather expressed his strong opinions for not supporting the motion (read the front page of OEP for more detailed info on the meet-ing).

Therefore, in the near future, possibly a month or two from now, Fort residents will have access to the expenses of each member on city council, includ-ing the mayor from January 2013 to present via the City’s website.

Good... but is it enough? I would like to see the entirety of expenses of councillors and mayor from the beginning of their term (October 2010). And the problem with transparency is what? When our tax dollar is paying for council positions and their expenses, darn right we have the right to see how and where our tax dollars are spent. Blow the smoke away and we will have transpar-ency. At present, contrary to what Councillor John Mather said at the past Tuesday’s city council meeting, the public at this present time cannot have immediate access to all city councilor expenses. It is just not presently set up that way as of yet.

So who wants to know about Council’s expenses? I think many, and I am one of them

that wished to know precisely on what councillors spend for dinners, hotel rooms, fl ights, mileage etc. I think the pub-lic having access to council expenses will continue to en-sure accountability and trans-parency for future councils, as well. It would be good for the public to have the expense in-formation from the entire three year term, thus enabling them to put forward any concerns or questions about the expenses.

The timing is good for such a motion, as there is an election coming up in October, and per-haps having some idea of how much and where City Council expenses are spent will cause us to think differently about Council spending.

The way I see it, if even a hand-ful of residents are concerned about the cost of hotel lodging by City Council on city-related trips, then it does warrant full expense transparency. How anyone who is presently on City Council, or has opted to run for City Council, can think that their expenses should not be public baffl es me, since such positions are paid for by our tax dollars. When you have a seat on City Council, like it or not, you are accountable to the residents of the community for your expenses... that is just a fact.

Lots of New Arrivals for Spring

and Summer!

Tornado warnings in

Capital Region, Fort

Tumultuous weather resulted in Environment Canada issu-ing Tornado Warnings through-out the Capital Region, includ-ing one in Fort Saskatchewan, on Wednesday.

Early Wednesday, meteorolo-gists placed a large area under Tornado Watch, as they detect-ed conditions that were prone to develop into severe thunder-

storms, possibly with torna-does. By mid-afternoon, sever-al powerful supercells exhibited rotation, resulting in Tornado Warnings being issued fi rst in the Leduc and Beaumont area, and shortly thereafter, as the system tracked Northeast, into Edmonton and Sherwood Park.

Near 4pm, a tornado cell that was reportedly “rapidly rotat-ing,” according to one observer on Twitter, led to a Tornado Warning in Fort Saskatche-wan, which was followed by a shelter-in-place recommenda-tion by the City.

It appears damage in the region was limited to some localized fl ooding. It is also unclear if a

tornado touched the ground, despite many supposed sight-ings of funnel clouds through-out the region.

What is known, however, is that the system brought large hail to the Fort, and temporar-ily overwhelmed storm sewers in the Riverpark Drive area.

Traffi c was also stalled for some time on Highway 21 as the storm system caused low visibility due to rain and hail.

In Edmonton, aircraft traf-fi c was also stalled -- Edmon-ton International Airport was forced to suspend operations for some time Wednesday. Rain is expected into the weekend.

June 14, 2013 Page 3Over Easy, Please

MATHER ALONE, CONT.

Mather’s comments were not taken in stride by Gar-ritsen, however, who chal-lenged the suggestion he was bullying with an accu-sation of his own, inviting Mather to bring forward “some of the things going on behind closed doors.” But, despite the spirited ex-change, another Councillor saw fi t to expand the scope of the motion even further.

Councillor Don Westman proposed an amendment that saw the motion expand to include not just Council expenses, but also the re-porting of per diems that Mayor and Council receive from boards and commit-tees, such as the Capital Re-gion Board. Westman indi-cated the amendment would bring Fort Saskatchewan policy closer in line to that of the City of St. Albert, which requires all Council mem-bers and the City’s CAO to report and surrender any per diems they receive.

Westman’s amendment was carried on a 5-1 vote, with Mather being the only coun-cillor opposing it.

After the motion was spo-ken to by Mayor Katchur and Councillor Hutchison (who for his part also lev-eled the claim that Garrit-sen’s motion was “political grandstanding”), Mather found himself alone in op-position, with Council pass-ing the motion on a 5-1 vote. The fi rst public reports are expected to be online within the next couple of months.

RANDHAWA, CONT.

“Growing up in the Fort has allowed me learn of the is-sues our citizens face, and my education and local busi-ness experience will allow me tackle those issues head on,” he says.

Although young himself, Randhawa says he will not be focused exclusively on youth.

“For any City Councillor, they have to represent any-body. As of course, me be-ing younger, means I will appeal to younger people more -- but I will have poli-cies in my platform that are for everybody,” citing, as an example, his plan to encour-aging the development of an affordable local public tran-sit system, perhaps mod-elled off of that in Hinton, in conjunction with building a park-and-ride facility for inter-city transit.

Regarding the Highway 15/21 corridor and bridge congestion issue, Randhawa is committed to standing be-hind MLA Jacquie Fenske in her efforts to win an im-proved river crossing for the Fort, while also pointing out that a local transit system would also increase safety for those who otherwise would have to cross High-way 15/21 as pedestrians.

On the issue of potentially supporting a School Re-source Offi cer (SRO), Rand-hawa is generally favorable of the existing proposal, but would consider different op-tions, such as a Peace Offi -cer, to improve school safety for both staff and students.

“An SRO is a great thing; for junior highs, we don’t have the DARE program anymore, so they’ll help with that... do we have to do something about the safety of schools? Without a doubt. Do we need something spe-cifi cally for them, like an SRO or a Peace Offi cer? Yes.”

On taxes, Randhawa says “when we’re looking at ex-penses... we need to fi nd out where the money is go-ing, and redirect it to better, more effi cient ways. The money is there; it’s not that we don’t have enough mon-ey coming in, it’s are we us-ing it effi ciently?”

IAN OSBALDESTON

Another recently an-nounced candidate for City Council is local business owner, Ian Osbaldeston, of The Lawn Ranger - Lawn Care and Snow Removal. He became interested in seeking a council position after working on some other

campaigns, including Gale Katchur’s Mayoral Cam-paign and Jacquie Fenske’s MLA campaign.

In terms of why he is run-ning or Council, Osbaldeston says “it’s really important to me that people have a voice they can trust to bring for-ward their concerns to city council.”

“My family and I pride our-selves on living and working in this community. I want others to commit to making Fort Saskatchewan an even better city and learning all it has to offer.”

Post-secondary education plays a big part in his vision for Fort Saskatchewan. He would like to see a satellite-type campus in the Fort, as-sociated with an institution such as NAIT, in partner-ship with local industry.

“If you can get education in the community, and the les-sons are that the community uses... then people are going to learn in the community, they’re going to work in the community, and therefore the chances increase that they are going to live in the community, raises their families and invest in the community,” he says.

Another program that Os-baldeston would like to see developed is an open-door youth shelter program, modelled off of a similar program in Camrose.

“It’s more or less meant to be a short-term solution that kids can come and ac-cess different programs that we do already have as a community... but in kind of a one-stop shop,” he says. “There would be tem-porary rooms available for kids, such as those having a rough time at home.”

Osbaldeston sees growth as making such a facility nec-essary in the Fort, point-ing out that Camrose has a smaller population than the Fort. He feels that the shel-ter program could be funded through external grants and local fundraising, to help mitigate costs for taxpayers.

Osbaldeston also plans to campaign on bringing more “green” initiatives to the Fort.

For example, an at-the-curb compost program, similar to that in Strathcona County, is something he would like to see implemented in the Fort.

He also wants to see bet-ter education on what can be recycled in the commu-nity, although he does not think that an initiative like sponsoring blue bags would be timely absent industry sponsorship of some sort.

Osbaldeston also would like to propose a better facility for dealing with construc-tion waste recycling, say-ing that something could be modeled in the Fort, from Habitat for Humanity’s Re-Use Store concept.

Library to o� er

summer reading

programsThe area may be best con-sidered “under construc-tion,” but that isn’t stop-ping the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library from offering a range of summer reading programs.

The TD Summer Read-ing Program, based on this year’s theme of “GO!”, will be commencing on June 24th. Kids who wish to par-ticipate will be able to pick up a poster, log book (pass-port), and activity booklet from the library’s front desk starting on that date.

Completed logbooks will be entered into what the library bills as a “super-cool-end-of-summer-prize.” Visit the library’s website at www.fspl.ca for more in-formation on this and other programs for kids.

An adult program will also run this summer, and also starts June 24th. That date will mark the return of the library’s summer “binGO” program. Participants will also be eligible to win a prize.

Over Easy, Please June 14, 2013 Page 4

SCARS Pet of the Week - Wrangler

Hey all! Wrangler here. I’m living the life at a doggy resort, but I AM missing one crucial element - YOU! I’m a bit of a big galoot, loving to run and wrassle and destroy my toys. But cut me some slack. I’m a guy and those are “guy things.”

SCARS has been my home base for a while now. Although my friends all think I’m a good time Charlie, I’ll let you in on a little secret that nobody knows.

At night, when the lights are out and I’m alone in my pen, I dream of having a place of my own, a home where I can have a pat on the head or a belly rub any time I want one, a place where someone will say “This is my dog, Wrangler. Isn’t he great?!” Please help make a guy’s dream come true.

To fi nd out more about how you can adopt this pet, visit the SCARS website at www.scarscare.org or call 780.466.SCAR (7227).

Dingers by Ken Schotsch

Sunny Smiles Beautiful Fishes

Inspirational Thought

“Smiles are contagious, and many want one.” -- Unknown

Spiritual Thought“Happiness is your spiritual right... exercise it.” -- Un-known

Song of the WeekCome Home -- Faith Hill

Did You know?

That you can use bubble bath to wash walls leaving them clean and with a nice scent. To remove crayon marks from walls apply toothpaste wait at least 10 minutes and wipe. To clean

dog hair from furniture or vehicle seats put on latex dish gloves and wipe.

Funny Yoke

Q: Where do chickens put their eggs?A: All in one basket.

Random Act of Giving Suggestion

Invite a family over for a simple Sunday dinner of hot dogs, beans, dill pickles, potato salad, homemade lemon ice tea and vanilla ice-cream with fresh strawberries.

High FiveTo those that remember those who need our fi nancial assis-tance in other countries.

Book of the WeekThe Possibility Dogs -- Susan-nah Charlest

Two Thumbs DownTo the person that really does not care that they seated themselves at fast food table designated for the disabled when they themselves are not disabled... and when the es-tablishment was super busy. Oh by the way, did you notice the lady with the cane in her shopping cart that went right past your table?? Inconsider-ate and rude are two words that come to mind regarding your reaction when the desig-nation of the table was pointed out to you. Good example too for young people on how to dis-respect disabled designations.

Community Info

Fort Saskatchewan Public Library: 10011-102 Street. Mon-Thu: 10a-9p, Fri: 10a-5p, Sat: 10a-5p, Sun: 1p-5p (closed Sun in Jul + Aug)

Commuter Bus Ser-vice: Mon-Fri, Clareview <-> to Fort Sask. Departs Sherridon Dr and 99 Ave 5:34a, 6:04a, 6:34a, 7:19a, 4:16p, 5:16p, 5:46p, 6:28p, 7:08p. See www.fortsask.ca or call 780.442.5311 for full route details or more info.

Walk In Medical Clinic: 9368 Southfort Drive, next to Shoppers Drug Mart. Call 780-997-0177 for info.

This not-so-little fi shy was recently caught (and released) in the North Saskatchewan River near Fort Saskatchewan. Thanks for the picture,

Chris!

Jami Osterland, 17. Graduated fro Viking School Class of 2013 on May 31, 2013

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SUDOKU

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

The solutions will be published here in the next issue.

No. 129 Tough Previous solution - Medium

June 14, 2013 Page 5Over Easy, Please

By Fort Sask Life Church Pastor BILL OLSEN

This past weekend, I spoke of Pastor Y o n g g i Cho of Soul Ko-rea, and told a

little of his story, where he began and where he is now. In 1958, He began leading a very small church of only 5 members, and ended up with the largest evangeli-cal church in the world with more than a million mem-bers. His passion for people and his skill to lead were key elements to the success he knows.

As I was pondering his sto-ry, and those of others who have done extremely well in their various fi elds, I found it very easy to fi nd that there are many accusers along the way who have worked hard to bring them down and try hard to destroy what these people have built. It doesn’t matter if it’s business, mu-sic, church... there’s always someone or something that arises that seems to attract negative attention that is designed to try to cause fail-ure.

Heart & Soul: Small & Great

I’m a person who spends a lot of time trying to en-courage people to reach for something more than where they are now. To never be satisfi ed with mediocre and do everything you can with a “spirit of excellence”. I’m not talking of perfectionism, as it is a cruel master that can never be satisfi ed, but simply putting aside your “average” and do your best with what you have... this is something everyone can achieve.

Those who don’t have a desire for this level of per-sonal success often have a “poverty spirit” which really doesn’t have anything to do with money, but everything to do with attitude. These often feel inferior to those around them, and because of a multitude of reasons, would rather spend time and energy working hard at pulling others “down” to their level of thought, rath-er than work at trying to do better personally. The trend then will be to try to search for a way that the successful ones have done something to take advantage of the weak etc... Why not spend the extra effort on improv-ing yourself rather than try to destroy or debase what someone else has done.

It’s so easy to come up with excuses for poor behavior and a low work ethic... it re-

quires no responsibility and little effort. The opposite is accomplished by taking fear head-on and a little will-power to desire to overcome the obstacles that impede you.

Dr. Cho, began by lead-ing fi ve people, and now leads over a million and is a coveted, world-renowned speaker that will come to in-spire his audience and help them toward their success. He could have gotten dis-couraged and gave up, but he chose the more diffi cult road... and it paid off.

When he tells his story, it’s full of pain, struggle, false accusations, exhaustion, poor decisions and brilliant ones as well. He knows what it’s like to struggle for survival under the hands of tyrants, and to walk in com-plete freedom. Through it all, his desire is to see peo-ple do well in life and to be a leader who can lead them toward their personal suc-cess... whatever that looks like.

My desire is to be among those ranks. To be one to lift up rather than pull down, to be your loudest cheerleader, and strive to keep up with you as you burn toward the fi nish line... that’s the “spir-it of excellence”! Have an awesome week!

Odds, Sods & Nods: Let’s ART-iculate

By STUART MCGOWAN

G r e e t -ings to all! This will be a sort of mixed up Odds, Sods & Nods. Take it for

what you will and with a pinch of salt.

I have been appalled at the Government on many lev-els cutting funding for Per-sons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) and the Arts. Now, depending who you speak with, there are no cuts, only either redistribu-tion or reassigning people to other facilities or homes or certain arts programs were under-utilized and needed to be cut. Both stories are far from the truth. Unfor-tunately the Government is in a bit of a fi nancial bind or crunch and they need to do some belt tightening. Let’s see, what we can get money from, I know, the disabled won’t fi ght back and those in the Arts are too nice and timid to speak up. We can cut those programs. Now, I am sure (or at least I hope) that’s not what happened or was said, but it came out that way.

The vulnerable in our soci-ety need and deserve our support. They are not dis-posable. They have names, families and feelings, even if they can’t fully articulate them, their families can. Read about it at http://bit.ly/17rCXnj (for the Govern-ment side) and http://bit.ly/14m4B0q to read about the cuts to the system. You can decide who is telling the truth.

Now as far as the Arts. Similar issue. My wife and I went and attended a won-derful musical, Bye Bye Birdie, put on by the Mill-woods Christian School at the Paramount Theatre in Edmonton. It was produced by a friend of mine, Serena Rae Stein, who is a teach-er at that school. Perhaps some of you may have seen the news bit on Global TV Edmonton about the young boy with autism who is in their school and performed in the musical. If you missed it, here is the link you can go to, http://bit.ly/16EdveV. Or check out Everyone mat-ters on Facebook or on CTV, http://bit.ly/12Hp17W. I know you will have to type it in on your computer, but it is well worth the look.

The Arts are taking a pounding as well. Unfor-tunately, I have heard, un-offi cially, that some news outlets have told their chain that sports is where the fo-

cus should be and if there is a bit of room they can slip in some arts stuff. If you think I’m kidding, check out any national chain newspaper and compare the number of Arts related articles versus sports.

I have nothing against sports, but to have a well-rounded individual, you need both. Interesting to read that schools that put a focus on the arts are ranked higher in graduation rates (see http://nyti.ms/rCu0N) .

In Fort Saskatchewan, we have good support from the Shell Theatre (with Eliza-beth Wilkie) and there is also support from Fort High and JP II high schools, not to mention the Sheeptown Players. But this is without support from the Govern-ment. Arts funding has been cut and a lot of what goes on is handled by volunteers.

Check out Save Our Fine Arts on Facebook. Speak up and help make a difference. Get out and take in a show. Go and see a live band. Re-member, the big bands that are around today started out in someone’s basement or garage. The actors that you love to watch started out on some small stage somewhere for little or no money.

Cheers for now!

Read Over Easy, Please at www.overeasyplease.com or view the print edition in your web browser, on your

tablet, or via your smartphone at www.issuu.com/overeasyplease/docs

Over Easy, Please June 14, 2013 Page 6

Upcoming fundraisers to support

local causesTwo local businesses are looking to give back to the community in the next few weeks.

On June 22nd, from 1:30-4:30pm, the Retreat Salon & Spa will be hosting its 8thBirthday party. This year’s theme will be a Boysdale camp fundraiser, featuring a spinning prize wheel with a wide assortment of donat-ed prizes from local business and the Retreat. There will also be a Photo booth, silent auction and an assortment

of gift baskets that will be raffl ed off, while the Funky Mango food truck will be on site, donating $1 from each food order to support the Boysdale Camp.

For more details on the event, or to donate, contact Alan at 780.998.0922.

A few days later, Drayden Insurance will be taking up the fundraising role. Their 5th Annual Charity BBQ will run from 11:30am to 1:30pm on June 27th, in support of the Fort Sas-katchewan and Area Re-storative Justice Program.

Donations of new or gently used baby blankets will also be accepted at the event, for Patricia’s Blankets for Ba-bies.

ShellTheatre Unveils Season

Fort Saskatchewan’s Shell Theatre rolled out the red carpet last Thursday, with a free concert to unveil and celebrate the release of their 10th Performance Series.

A range of young artists, including Fort Saskatch-ewan’s own Kelly Thomp-son plus Trevor McNee-ley, Kayla Patrick, Olivia Rose, Kemi Adesida, Cay-ley Thomas-Haug, Waves of Mercury, Ken Stead, Barobliq, Royce Matthew and Jey Whitten, performed at the well-attended event.

Also new are a pair of smart-phone apps for the theatre, available for both iOS and Android devices.

Fans of the theatre will cer-tainly not be disappointed by the stellar lineup un-veiled for this upcoming season’s performances.

The season will open Sep-tember 20th, when Spirit of the West brings their mu-sical talent and renowned storytelling to the Fort.

They will be followed by George Canyon on Septem-ber 27, Going to Graceland on October 4, Brian Gore/Your Town in Song and Im-age on October 25, Jenie Thai on November 9, West Meets East: Bardic Form

Mary Jane Lamond & Wen-dy MacIssac on November 29, and Jimmy Rankin on December 13.

2014 will see Music Intima at the theatre on January 18, Strings & Swing: Jesse Peters & Lizzy Hoyt on February 1, Sass Jordan on February 21, Evelyn Parry’s “SPIN” on March 8 to close out the Professional Series.

As part of the Fort Series, Lisa Hewitt will be in town on September 21, with Don-ald Lee/The Kacafeenated Quartet following the very next week on the 28th. Big Red Shoe, November 1st, while the last Fort Series performance is in 2014, when Kory Wlos takes the stage on January 25th.

Also exciting this year is the return of Missoula Chil-dren’s Theatre, offering lo-cal kids the chance to per-form on stage while offering local audiences a delightful pair of performances on No-vember 23rd.

Renowned children’s per-former Fred Penner will delight audiences in an ab-solutely free concert (tickets required) on Family Day, February 17, 2014. Closing out the Family Series will be Juno Award winning musician and entertainer, Norman Foote, with a pair of performances on March 20 and March 21.

Season tickets go on sale on June 19th. Visit www.fort-sask.ca or Like the Shell Theatre on Facebook for more information.

Olivia Rose performs last week. Photo: Reece Sellin

June 14, 2013 Page 7Over Easy, Please

SALONSCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

SOUPS, SUBS & SANDWICHSHOPS

BARBER SHOPS

Fort Saskatchewan’s Categorized Business Section

JANITORIAL & CLEANING

PHOTOGRAPHY

GELATO

Church ListingsFort Saskatchewan Life Church50-10420 98 Ave. (Back of Fort Mall). Sunday Service/Kids Church @ 10:15a. Wed. Service @ 7:00p. Culture Shock Youth, Fri @ 7:00p. 780-992-9673. www.fslifechurch.ca.

Fellowship Baptist ChurchPastor Jim Paulson. Worship Service: Sun @ 10:30a. Prayer: Tues @ 7:00p. Awana Children’s Program Thurs @ 6:30p. 9932 - 101 St., Fort Sask. (Ac. from Legacy Park) 780-992-0880.

Church of the NazarenePastor: Stephen Conklin. 9802 104 St., Fort Sask. 780-998-2451. www.fortnaz.ca. Join us Sunday @ 11a for Worship. Sunday School @ 9:50a.

Josephburg Community Church21380 Township Road 550 (intersection of Twp. Rd. 550 & Sec. Highway 830) Aas you enter the hamlet of Josephburg. Ph: 780-998-9331 Fax: 780-998-9305. Pastor: Rev. Audrey Daleywww.josephburgcommunitychurch.ca

Partridge Hill United ChurchCorner of TWP 542 and RR 220. 780-895-7378. Debbie Brill, Minister. Worship Service: 9:30am. www.partridgehillunitedchurch.com

First United Church10409-100 Ave., Fort Sask. 780-998-4060. Rev. Danielle A. James. All welcome. Sunday Wor-ship & Sunday School: 10:00a.

Holy Protection Orthodox Church. Saturdays: Great Vespers, 5p. Sundays: Divine Liturgy, 10a. 281 Fort Mall, 10421 99 Ave. 780-708-2877. All Services in English.

St. George’s Anglican Church.Reverend Maude Parsons-Horst. Regular wor-ship times: Sunday @ 8:30am Holy Communion (BCP) and 10:30am Holy Communion (BAS) with Sunday School. 10029 – 99th Ave, Ph: 780-998-3620.

Alberta Health Board

FiredThe Government of Alberta moved to fi re the entirety of the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Board in a surprising turn of events on Wednesday.

“At a time when we’ve asked our front-line providers, includ-ing doctors, teachers, and sup-port workers to take freezes in pay, the unwillingness of the AHS’ Board to reconsider its decision on pay-at-risk is com-pletely out-of-step with the gov-ernment’s priorities - and more importantly, the priorities of Albertans,” said Health Minis-ter Fred Horne in a statement issued Wednesday morning.

“Yesterday’s directive on bonus pay was at least the fi fth formal directive I’ve issued to AHS in recent months. The response to yesterday’s directive and the comments later made in the

media raise serious questions as to whether the Board can continue to function effectively and work collaboratively with government and other commu-nity stakeholders,” he said.

“Earlier this morning, I in-formed the AHS Board Chair and the members of the AHS Board that I am terminating their appointments, effective immediately and thanked them for their service. In accordance with Section 11 of the Regional Health Authorities Act, I have appointed Janet Davidson as Offi cial Administrator of Alber-ta Health Services effective im-mediately to act in place of the Board,” he continued.

But opposition politicians felt the move may do little to solve problems within AHS.

“This government simply can’t be trusted to deliver good qual-ity care to Albertans. The time has come to reconsider the ben-efi t of AHS in its entirety,” said Alberta NDP Leader Brian Ma-son. “Not a year ago, the Min-ster praised Lockwood for his

‘tremendous business experi-ence’, and today he’s implying that he made a grave error in appointing him,” Mason said.

“[Horne’s] decision to relieve the entire Board of their duties demonstrates a lack of account-ability and transparency; the loss of control over expenses and compensation; a high level of turmoil at the top of AHS; and the defi ciency of a private governance model of AHS,” said Mason. “In order to avoid any disruption to frontline services, the Ministry needs to bring the governance of Alberta’s health care in-house.”

Also critical was Wildrose Opposition Leader, Danielle Smith

“Replacing one unelected and unaccountable board with an-other unelected and unaccount-able board isn’t going to fi x the problem,” Smith said. “The problem is the PC government has created a monster it can no longer control... The solution is to fi x the system, not change the front offi ce,” she said.

Parade needs more

entriesWith less than two weeks left to the deadline to enter, the Canada Day Parade needs more entries, say event organizers.

As of Monday afternoon, the parade had 29 entries. The

parade, sponsored by ATB Financial, has an entry deadline of Monday, June 24. Parade applications can be submitted online at www.FortSaskCanadaDay.ca by clicking on the “Enter The Parade” button.

“I’m looking forward to see-ing the last-minute rush of entries, but this year’s number with two weeks to go is lower than usual,” said Conal MacMillan, Canada Day Parade Chairman. “I

know the parade is still go-ing to be a blast.”

The parade will also recog-nize one of Fort Saskatch-ewan’s great citizens by naming him/her honorary marshal and having them lead the parade through city streets. The 2013 honorary marshal will be announced early next week.

The committee is also look-ing to ensure spectators have access to prime seating

through the Adopt-A-Barri-cade program.

“Adopting a barricade guar-antees that person or family front-row seats to the pa-rade,” said MacMillan.

“But we also know there are families who have long-time favourite spots along the route. We would love to see them adopt the closest bar-ricade. It’s really a small task, but saves us trying to recruit 30 extra volunteers.”

Adopt-A-Barricade started in 2012 as a way to ensure all barricades were manned in order to the parade route was safe and secure.

Last year, less than half of the barricades were adopt-ed.

A map of the remaining bar-ricades available to be ad-opted can be found on Fort-SaskCanadaDay.ca.

Over Easy, Please June 14, 2013 Page 8

Except where otherwise copyrighted, all content of this newspaper, includ-ing advertisements, is Copyright 2013, Tuckbook Inc. Editor: Judy Sellin (judy@overeasyplease.com); Senior Editor: Reece Sellin (reece@overeasyplease.com); Advertising In-quiries: (ads@overeasyplease.com); Mail: PO Box 3153, Fort Saskatch-ewan, AB, T8L 2T2; Phone: 780-934-0139.

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Biscuits and Gravy: True Love

By BRIAN MASONbrian@overeasyplease.com

T h a t w a r m f e e l i n g r e a c h -es your heart and you know, beyond a shadow of

a doubt, that you have not only fallen in love, but that you have met that one true love of your life.

Many of us have been there, some are still searching, but some time back I found my-self hopelessly and desper-ately in love with a beautiful young woman. This woman took my breath away with every smile, calmed my nerves and heart with a sin-gle touch, and wisped away my fears and toils with a simple embrace. You’ve all read about this wonderful young woman in my life, Daina. Daina is a true gem and someone who has been there every step of the way; no matter what life tossed her way or mine, she was always there for me every time I needed her. She toiled relentlessly to not only ensure my happiness but to comfort me and build me up into a better man. So, unbeknownst to her, I have been planning for sev-eral months a little surprise for her. Loading her and her suitcase up into the Jeep, we stormed off into the sun-rise early Saturday morn-ing. Around Calgary, I told her where she was going, which was to the heart of Banff and then beyond. A little while later we were checking into a quaint lodge in down-town with a private balcony overlooking the mountains. Then, of course, the day began at rapid pace.

A quick drive up to the Banff Springs Inn and a tour, a gondola ride up the mountain and a roam around town com-pleted a wonderful day of sightseeing. Daina was having a ball but was still in for a sur-prise.

The morning saw an early wakeup with a risk of rain. I paced the balcony begging that the rain stop if only for a bit. Though, even with the slight rain, we drove on to Lake Louise, touring a bit and then further still up the Jasper Highway. By now I had consumed a hefty portion of antacids as we pulled into the quaint Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Re-sort along Bow Lake. There I asked Daina to wait for a moment at the lake’s edge as I went to grab something.

Racing back to my Jeep, I quickly changed into my suit and tie, unwrapped a long stem red rose that I had secretly kept alive in the back of my Jeep for two days, and readied my cam-era. A passing couple from Aus-tralia looked my way. I asked them if they had about ten minutes to spare, at which point they asked why. I explained my reason-ing and asked if they could follow me with my camera. Well, the wife of the gentle-man smacked his arm, and had him give her their cam-era so she could snap pic-tures while he would use mine. Then off we went. Daina was seated comfort-ably at the end of a foot-bridge facing the lake, and didn’t see me approach. I was afraid that she would get suspicious of my being gone so long, but hadn’t no-ticed, apparently.

Once I got nearer, I got her attention. She turned around and commented

about how handsome I looked, a bit shocked but still uncertain as to what exactly it was I was doing. I closed the gap and told her just how much she meant to me. I told her how in-complete I was without her and how wonderful she had made my life.

Then, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a red cedar box, I knelt to the ground. Suddenly Daina realized just what I had in store for her big surprise. There, on the shoreline, with a crowd gathering to watch, I asked this wonder-ful young lady to be my wife. With all watching, includ-ing my recruited Australian photographers, she said yes. Placing the enormous shimmering diamond on her hand, tears of joy be-gan to stream down her soft cheeks.

Scooping her into my arms, we kissed and for two days, that smile never left her face. Through so much she and I had toiled and fi nally true love had found us both.

We continued on from there with a whirlwind tour up the Jasper Highway, even a trek out onto the Athabasca Glacier.

A journey to signal the be-ginning of a wonderful and long life together full of love and joy.

I had found my one true love, the fulfi llment of my heart and the joy of my soul.

Flimsy Whimsy: Dice

By JAI MURUGAN jai@overeasyplease.com

T h e s e days it’s hard to r e m e m -ber half the play-ers on the home team, let alone an-other 29.

Leave that to the ice-game enthusiasts who do convo-luted fantasy drafts.

In my day the entire season could be played out in one wonderful wintery Sunday afternoon, just in time for the CBC radio broadcast. Others claimed it boring, but Maurice and Jacques fi gured it was the most thrilling time of their puck-scarred lives. One pencil, some paper, and one die.

I time travelled back to even simpler times - fi fty games, ten against each team, simple double round-robin home and away. Re-peat fi ve times. 150 games, 300 dice rolls. Then March playoffs. I cheated by using the commissioner’s power to call a false roll. This en-sured victory of Les Habi-tant. Still Jacques never managed a shutout in my

fantasy league.

Only later did I infer why I was a rarity, a Montreal fan on the prairies, not from St. Paul, St. Boniface, Falher, or any other former Quebecois community. Fa-ther detested racial hate.

He chose Montreal fi rstly to antagonize the neighbour-hood bigots, and secondly because they were incred-ible, hockey’s original dy-nasty. I enjoyed his wink towards me when we went over to Hector’s house and Dad would turn the rile-him-up key by some sim-ple comment. “Wasn’t that some goal Maurice scored the other night?” Then he’d relax and listen for a loud ten minutes or more, enjoy-ing every malicious minute of it, whilst watching me learn the lesson. Subtle were the ways.

Usually, but not always, the commissioner would see to it that the fi nal would come down to a close one with the hated Leafs. It was so quietly intense – as if I was walking a tightrope high above The Forum ice. As if by some pre-ordained time treaty, Mom would call, “Aren’t you bored with that yet?” Then I’d hear Danny say it, “The Montreal Cana-diens have won the Stanley Cup!”