Fate of transparency

motion unclearA Fort Saskatchewan city coun-cillor and the city’s Mayor are disappointed that a motion to im-prove Council’s transparency has been delayed until June, another councillor has questioned the mo-tives for bringing the motion for-ward at this time, and two other councillors have other concerns with the proposal.

A notice of motion was introduced at Tuesday’s City Council meet-ing by Councillor Frank Garrit-sen. The motion would have seen Mayor and Council’s expenses, in-cluding promotional fund outlays, published to the City of Fort Sas-katchewan’s website. However, only Garritsen and Mayor Gale Katchur saw fi t to proceed with that motion, with the other four councillors agreeing to table the matter until June.

“We’re always talking about transparency and the importance of transparency,” explained Gar-ritsen, shortly after Tuesday’s meeting.

“I’m really proud at the level of transparency within Council and administration... but I think as Councillors and the Mayor, we can take that up another notch,” he explained.

Asked if he was upset that the motion did not proceed on Tues-day, Garritsen replied: “Yeah, ac-tually, I am disappointed.”

“It’ll come back June 11th, but again, Council as a whole is Coun-cil as a whole,” Garritsen contin-ued. “And the decision of Council as a whole has to be respected, whether I like it or not, but we’ll see what happens on June 11th.”

Mayor Gale Katchur told OEP she also thought the motion should have moved forward on Tuesday. “I was very disappointed that Council moved to table the mo-tion at Tuesday’s meeting,” she said.

CONTINUED ON PG. 3

Volume 3, Number 26 Price: FREEFort Saskatchewan, Alberta • Friday, April 26, 2013

By REECE SELLIN

In both Fort Saskatche-wan, and across the conti-nent in New York, it was a bad week for two youths who were in possession of realistic-looking replica fi rearms.

According to the Fort Sas-katchewan RCMP, a local incident involving a so-called “airsoft” gun took place last Friday after-noon.

In that incident, police responded to reports of a fi ght in progress at the Jubilee Recreation Cen-tre. Police allege that during the fi ght, an “air-soft” pistol was pointed at others who did not know the fi rearm was an imita-

tion; according to police, the characteristic orange plug on the pistol had been removed to make the gun appear to be a real fi rearm.

Under Canadian law, an imitation fi rearm is treat-ed as real if it used in the commission of an indict-able offence, and if the victims of the offence be-lieved the gun to be real.

A 16-year-old from Ed-monton, Alberta, was ar-rested and is now facing several charges, includ-ing pointing a fi rearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and uttering threats. The name of the accused was not released by police, as the youth is under 18.

Across the continent, an-other youth, 20-year-old Bernard Goal, was arrest-ed by police after he alleg-edly converted his dorm into a factory to build and sell airsoft guns that resembled assault rifl es, such as Russian AK-47s. Goal apparently ran afoul of a local law that makes it illegal to possess replica fi rearms.

Media in New York also indicate that Goal’s Face-book page is “fi lled” with pictures of him armed with guns.

Common to both the Fort Saskatchewan and New York cases are prohibi-tions on “airsoft” guns.

CONTINUED ON PG. 6

Over Easy, PleaseWhy you should take on something new: Page 6

BISCUITS & GRAVY

WHAT’S IN A NAME? P. 8

POLITICALLY CRACKIN’

ELECTION INTERFERENCE P. 7

56 days until Summer!

YOUTHS CHARGED INAIRSOFT GUN INCIDENTS

New York student Bernard Goal, 20, depicted here, was booked on fi ve charges this week, per-taining to the illegal possession of replica fi rearms. Photo: Bernard Goal via Facebook.

Published in print and online every Friday

SAT SUN MON L: -1 L: -1 L: --5 H: 14 H: 11 H: 5

TUE 11/-3SHOWERS

WED 10/0SHOWERS

THU 15/3P .CLOUDY

FRI 17/4P. CLOUDY

Over Easy, Please April 26, 2013 Page 2

Spring SaleStarts April 2nd!

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

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

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

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specials!

The IssueA Replica or a Real

Gun...How quick can you decide?

By OEP Editor JUDY SELLIN

A i r s o f t is a mod-ern shoot-ing sport, however in the prov-inces of Manitoba, Saskatch-

ewan, British Columbia and Quebec, the minimum age to purchase an airsoft gun is 18. Although there are age restric-tions on purchasing airsoft guns in the aforementioned provinces, authorities in other provinces, and more recently in Fort Saskatchewan with the arrest of youth (front page of OEP), are informing the pub-lic about replica fi rearms and their prohibited uses.

According to an article in the Toronto Sun this past Sep-tember, there is little time to determine if a gun pointed at you is real or fake. “And if you aim a look-a-like rifl e at a cop, you risk not being left alive to tell a judge, ‘but it was only a replica!’” That was the warning given by York Regional Police, after three teens were arrested in Newmarket, Ontario while playing battle games with in-creasingly popular, realistic-looking “assault rifl es.”

It no longer becomes a game when these airsoft guns are painted over to make them appear like real guns. It is no longer a game when the play-ers are using replica guns in threatening ways. And, for the most part, It is no longer a game when players are us-ing these gun replicas in public places. And maybe the bigger question is: do these games ac-tually train the average young person to shoot real guns more accurately?

In the January 18, 2012 edi-tion of Psychology Today, an article entitled “Video Game Guns And Realistic Guns” re-minds readers that Anders Behring Breivik shot 69 people at a youth camp in July, 2011 on a Norwegian Island. Appar-ently, Breivik claimed he used a Modern Warfare game as a military simulator to aid him in practicing shooting people. It is also claimed that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who murdered thirteen students at their school in Littleton, Colo-rado, used violent video games to practice their shooting ram-page. I am not going to give promotion to these games by naming them, but I am sure the readers get the point being made here.

What researchers can tell the public is that violent shoot-ing games can teach play-ers to more accurately shoot a real gun. It is said that the military and the police already use video games to improve

their shooting accuracy, but of course, that is done for safety and career skills.

A study of 151 college students playing certain violent video games (again I am not promot-ing the name of the games) for just 20 minutes and with vari-ous controllers, proved that players who used pistol-shaped controllers in violent shoot-ing video games had 99% more head shots compared to other players. The study results, however, did not conclude that a person who plays violent shooting games is more prone to fi re a real gun at others, but if such a person were to fi re a gun -- he or she would fi re it more accurately, and be more likely to aim for the head.

“It’s only a game,” we can say, and with most of them being played in our family homes, yet. Well, perhaps for some it remains just a game, but I in-vite you to go on YouTube to see how some young teens are obsessed with airsoft combat games. How their demeanors seemingly change from young school-age teenagers into a mode of violent combat reenact-ment makes it diffi cult to digest that many of these players are just acting. Rather, they often seem to be living and feeding on the powerful infl uence that can teach or increase skills even the potentially lethal weapon use. I say that no young person should be equipped with such skills developed from violent shooting video games.

Sheeptown mystery next

monthTake a walk on the spooky side when The Sheeptown Players proudly present “Polter-Heist,” an audience participation mur-der mystery by Tony Schwartz and Marylou Ambrose. The curtain rises on May 10 & 11 at The Lakeview Inn & Suites. Proceeds from the dinner the-ater event will benefi t The Sheeptown Players.

What can you expect from an audience participation murder mystery? Fun the minute you walk in the door! Doors open at 6:00 p.m., when you’ll get a chance to mingle with Madam Zelda Von Schpookum, Profes-sor Lionel Specter, and other cast members as they drop hints about themselves and the show and give you a chance to ask questions. At 7:00 p.m., you’ll enjoy a delicious buffet dinner while the cast keeps a low profi le. The main show starts after dinner, at around 7:30 p.m. Someone will be ruthlessly murdered at the end of the show, and it’s up to you

to solve the crime! Prizes will be awarded to the fi rst people to correctly guess both the mur-derer and the motive.

Tickets for the dinner and show are $40.00. For information and tickets, call 780-999-6844.

Tickets may also be purchased prior to the show at Station Square Sobey’s, Twice But Nice, Pitbull Tattoos & Body Piercing (10211 100 Ave #201), Sharper Image (10303 100 Ave), Safe-way, Fort Saskatchewan (9450 86 Ave) or from any member of the Sheeptown Players.

April 26, 2013 Page 3Over Easy, Please

MOTION, CONT.

“In my opinion, we are elect-ed by the residents of Fort Saskatchewan and we re-port to the residents which includes being transparent with how we spend the funds they entrust to us,” Katchur continued. “I am 100 per-cent in favor of having our expenditures posted online and the motion should have passed unanimously.”

But another councillor opined that Garritsen’s mo-tivation may be political.

Councillor John Mather, who voted to table the mo-tion, told OEP that he ques-tions the motion’s timing: “You know, it could’ve been brought up three or four months ago at the start of the year, rather than now, basically four months before an election,” he said.

“I’m just wondering wheth-er there’s any electioneering in it maybe or anything like that,” Mather continued.

Mather also questions the overall intent of the motion. “I guess the other thing is, I would have to wonder whether I think it’s a good thing or not,” he said. “In some ways, I think you’re putting too much informa-tion out to too many peo-ple, and that information is available for those who want to come in and get it, and do a little leg work; it’s already there,” explained Mather.

“If you want to fi nd out what my expenses are, you can go down to City Hall and ask, and they will get you that information, and in exchange, they will prob-ably ask you who you are,” he continued. “I certainly support being transparent, and certainly support the release of information. I don’t necessarily support all information to everybody,” Mather said.

OTHER CONCERNS

Two other councillors who supported tabling Garrit-sen’s motion told OEP they have other concerns with it.

Councillor Tom Hutchi-son said that although he doesn’t “have a problem supporting it,” the informa-tion is already available in the city’s annual audited fi -nancial statements.

Hutchison also questioned why spending from each councillor’s $1,000 per year promotion fund was includ-ed in Garritsen’s motion. “I happened to talk to one of the members of the remu-neration committee from three years ago, who said that was not the intent of that promotion fund,” said Hutchison. “That promo-tion fund is for members of Council, because of the fact that they so often spend money out of their own pocket on different charita-ble things,” he said.

“That money is a non-ac-countable thing for them to do as they feel fi t,” contin-

ued Hutchison. “So in es-sence, then, we’re changing the intent of that funding from the recommendations of the remuneration com-mittee,” he said.

Councillor Don Westman felt the motion should be more inclusive, and should therefore also include re-porting of per diems re-ceived by Council Members and the Mayor. “If we’re go-ing to be putting these ex-penses out there, we have to put them all out,” explained Westman. “I would defi -nitely supporting putting it all out there, but if we’re putting it part of it out there, we’re being deceit-ful,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter who is paying the bill; the taxpayer is paying us this money for doing this job,” Westman explained. “Whether that’s channeled through [exter-nal boards or committees such as] the Capital Region Board through Assessment Services, through the Water Commission or whatever, I don’t care -- it still goes back to the taxpayer,” he said.

Another councillor who vot-ed to table the motion, Stew Hennig, says he now has less reservations regarding the proposal than he did at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I believe that Frank’s mo-tion, for the most part, is good,” said Hennig. “I was a bit questioning of the $1,000 [promotion fund], because I didn’t think that was some-

thing that should be there, but then it was explained to me when I discussed it fur-ther [Wednesday],” Hennig continued.

Hennig felt that although he understood the promo-tion fund to be a private one, he’s “okay with being wrong,” he said. “We knew there were certain limita-tions, but we did not think it was something that we had to account to anybody other than ourselves for. But it doesn’t matter to me.”

“That sort of [information] would be available if some-body FOIPed it,” explained Hennig, referring to Alber-ta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.

“The big deal here is that anything is ‘FOIPable’ -- which any of that informa-tion is -- why make some-one have to work to get it?” Hennig concluded.

DEBATE ON JUNE 11

Garritsen’s motion will re-turn for debate at Council’s June 11th meeting. It is possible that other mem-bers of council will propose amendments to clarify or modify the motion. Among the possibilities are the ad-dition of per diem reporting. Also possible is an amend-ment to have the expenses of the City’s Chief Admin-istrative Offi cer reported to the website. Those amend-ments would match what is current policy in St. Albert.

Over Easy, Please April 26, 2013 Page 4

SCARS Pet of the Week - Arno

My foster mom says I’m a su-per friendly guy! I love to greet dogs and people when we’re out on our walks.

I am very good on a leash and I am house trained, I do not like my crate though.

I have my own room and when foster mom goes out, she leaves me in there and I’m very good!!!

I am not a barker and overall I’m very well behaved. I am a big puppy, so I don’t have all the manners of a grown up yet, but I’m working on it.

I might not know how to be-have around little wee kids, I might knock them over. I would do best in a home with a large fenced yard or even an acreage where I can run around.

I’m a sweet boy and would really love to fi nd my furever family.

For more information on this pet, contact SCARS at www.scarscare.org or 780.466.7227.

Dingers by Ken Schotsch

Sunny Smiles Beautiful Babes

Inspirational Thought

“Never let facts get in the way of a good story.”

-- Mark Twain

Spiritual ThoughtLook into the blue horizon for there you will see the portals of heaven.

-- Jan Vorose

Random Act of Giving Suggestion

Good reason to go through your closets with Spring here. Be liberal and give to others you know or drop off at local clothes bins and thrift stores...don’t forget that shoes are al-ways needed too. Give abun-dantly.

High FiveThis week goes to Assistant Manager Marton of Fort Sas-katchewan Walmart. He is helpful to customers and has a great sense of humor; both are assets that make for hap-pier customers. Give him the high fi ve when you see him this week!

Two Thumbs DownTo businesses that can’t be bothered to refi ll the paper towel dispenser, but rather plunk a big roll for customers to unravel....not very sanitary is our view!

Book of the WeekTenth of December -- George Saunders

Song of the Week“Endless Goodbye” by Darrell and Tatum Barr - Edmonton - January 22, 2013 (YouTube)

A Spoonful of Sugar...

A Spoonful of Sugar over a hot steaming bowl of corn meal is a healthy and delicious break-fast.

Funny Yokes

Q: Why was one egg shunned by other eggs?A: They thought it was half cracked up.

Q: When does a hard boiled egg and bread have in com-mon.A: They both can remain whole or sliced.

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.

Celebrity baby edition. Can you guess who this is? Check back next week to see if you are right! Last Week: Beyonce

Celebrity smile edition. Can you guess who this is? Check back next week to see if you are right!

April 26, 2013 Page 5Over Easy, Please

By Fort Sask Life Church Pastor BILL OLSEN

Have you ever had someone believe in you?

I mean really be-lieve in

you? Where they could be-lieve that you could do some-thing that you didn’t believe or even know you could?

A few times in my life, that has happened to me. It’s al-ways humbling and takes courage to act on, but usu-ally worthwhile to make the try.

I have always liked hanging out with people who have an upbeat attitude toward almost everything. They al-ways see the cup half full, instead of half empty. They can always fi nd the positive in most negative situations, and they are the ones who spur you on the most when you feel like you can’t give another ounce of energy.

These are the types of things that a great coach will do for those they are working with. They have this amazing cre-ative ability to fi nd ways to keep you focused, and draw energy and will from places you didn’t even know exist-ed.

Have you ever noticed that these types of people never lack quality relationships, and regularly are success-ful? I have taken notice, and have a deep desire to

Heart & Soul: Power of Belief

do the same, but also would like to encourage all of us to join in. This person has learned something that is so valuable and fundamental, that every person on planet earth should sit up and take notice.

Sometimes great manag-ers or leaders will invest in their followers or employ-ees in this manner, to make their company or organiza-tion more successful, which is just good leadership, but then you’ll fi nd others that genuinely seek out the best in people because it gives them great pleasure to do so. This will be a near im-possible task for anyone who is self-centred and wants everything around them to serve their overwhelming sense of entitlement.

I can remember a crowd of people cheering me on one time when I was about to break out into a guitar solo that was a diffi cult piece to play. There was an individ-ual there who understood its complexities and knew me quite well... they ran to the front of the stage and be-gan yelling, “Come on Bill,

PLAY!” The crowd joined in and the room exploded with cheers as they all began do-ing the same.

Something rose up in me that night, and I played as I never had before... some-thing new rose up in me that I never knew was there, and all of the hours of practice and discipline, joined with a new-found confi dence, cre-ated an atmosphere for the performance I had dreamed of pulling off for years.

This one person believed I could do it... I wasn’t too sure... that night will al-ways be a highlight.

Great Olympians have been born as the result of coaches and encouragers that have seen the potential in those who sometimes didn’t see it themselves. They had desire and a great work ethic, but still needed someone else to keep speaking to their potential and used creative means to pull it out.

I heard a person speak a while ago who said God had designed us for rela-tionships, and our wealth

is always found in, and is the result of, those relation-ships. I was always a bit of a “solo artist” that liked to do things on his own...

I’ve since learned that much more can be accomplished with a team... not to men-tion that it’s often more rewarding (and fun) to see things come to completion or fruition with friends.

If we need each other, then... why not spend some time speaking to the potential in each other... use our energy to really believe in and en-courage each other... what a great place we would live

in...

We won’t need to “compete” for recognition... we’d al-ways get it because we’d always be giving it... “You reap what you sow.”

If you need good stuff to come your way, start giving good stuff away fi rst... you’ll never lack in success!

I challenge you to try it... you’ve got nothing to lose!

Have a great week!

Over Easy, Please April 26, 2013 Page 6

Gettin’ More of the Good Stuff “Many hands make

light, the work”

By IAN HOPE

Ralph Wal-do Emer-son was an American p h i l o s o -pher, lec-turer, es-sayist and poet who lived from

1803-1882. One of the most often quoted speakers and writers of all time, he de-scribed success this way:

“To appreciate beauty, to fi nd the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,a garden patch or a re-deemed social condition;

To know that even one life has lived better because you have lived… this is to have

succeeded”.

With that in mind, I like to provoke people by ask-ing what they are doing to make, or to leave, the world a better place. Take a few moments now before read-ing further and think about that- better yet, jot down a few notes to stimulate your thinking. This exercise will be a particularly good one for you to do today since this is National Volunteer Week in Canada, running from April 21 to 27th.

In my case, I share this col-umn and my insights about how to get along well with people in the hope that it will bring some light into the world of my readers. My thinking is that perhaps it will improve my reader’s outlook and improve the re-sults they are experiencing in their lives, both at work as well as at home and in the community.

I look for other ways to make a difference, also. For exam-

ple, I have been a volunteer on the Capital City clean up for the past ten years or so, and have found a great deal of satisfaction in keep-ing the ditches clean along a two mile stretch of country road in Sturgeon County. There is something about a clean neighborhood that is good for the soul, and I am hoping that it lifts the mood and spirit of my neighbors and other passersby, too.

I was rewarded the other day as I drove by a young lady who resides with her parents not far from me as she was walking down the road, a good sized plastic bag in hand. Thinking she might be in need of a ride home I enquired and she said, “no thanks, I’m just picking up some trash along the road to our place”. I was warmed with the awareness that I am not alone in my thinking and that maybe, just maybe, her efforts fol-lowed partly from an ex-ample I have tried to pro-vide over the last decade to the young people along our street.

Also, with the intention of lifting moods and spirits, I have recently started to host a little Karaoke at an

Edmonton hospital in their mental health ward. I just got started last week, but can tell by the smiles I saw developing on the faces of the patients, just how much it cheered them to hear and participate in their favorite tunes from the past. I just know this is going to be one of the most worthwhile vol-unteer roles of my life, and frankly I’m highly excited about that!

I’m determined to fi nd more ways to give back in the fu-ture and want to encourage everyone to consider what they too might do in the spirit of volunteerism to cre-ate a better world for others. There is huge bonus in this process folks because, while putting the needs of others ahead of your own and at-tending to those needs, you actually make the world a far better place for yourself as well! Pretty positive and powerful, and if you’re a volunteer now you already know the truth in that.

Let’s just say that I will con-tinue in my efforts to live up to Mr. Emerson’s com-pelling message and I hope that many of my readers will feel the same. There are so many great opportu-

nities right here in your own community to make a differ-ence by volunteering and helping others. Check with schools in your area, your church, hospital, one of the men’s or women’s clubs, or simply call one of the many local charities. The truth is there are never enough volunteers to meet all of the many challenges in so-ciety. That thought isn’t meant to cause you hesita-tion but rather to highlight how much your strong back, youthful legs, experienced hands and your smart ideas might otherwise be missed in an important and much needed volunteer role!

So let’s really make volun-teer week count in Fort Sas-katchewan folks by taking on something new and spe-cial that just might make a huge and positive difference in another person’s life. Happy thoughts to you!

Ian Hope facilitates work-shops that raise the bar on key people skills. His insights are highly relevant and valued in today’s workplaces. To en-quire about Ian speaking or training at your event, send an e-mail to ianhope@alberta-com.com or go to his website at www.ianhope.com

AIRSOFT GUNS, CONT.

According to the RCMP’s national website, many so-called “airsoft” guns -- which are not powerful enough to cause injury or fatalities -- are none-theless “prohibited devices” under Canadian law.

Any airsoft gun that is deemed to be “resembling with near precision an existing make and model of a fi re-arm, other than an antique fi rearm, are replica fi rearms and therefore are prohibited devices.”

Canadians may only own replica fi re-arms that were in their possession as of December 1, 1998. Other replica fi rearms cannot be legally imported or acquired.

“Some devices may resemble a real fi rearm in terms of their shape, but are made of clear or brightly coloured plastic, or have signifi cant dimen-sional differences,” say police.

“Many of these devices need to be as-sessed on a case-by case basis. As a general rule, however, devices signifi -cantly smaller or larger than the real version are not classifi ed as replica fi rearms,” the RCMP website says.

Church ListingsFort Saskatchewan Life Church 50-10420 98 Ave. (Back of Fort Mall). Sunday Service/Kids Church @ 10:15a. Wed. Ser-vice @ 7:00p. Culture Shock Youth, Fri @ 7:00p. 780-992-9673. www.fslifechurch.ca.

Fellowship Baptist Church. Pastor 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 Nazarene. Pastor: Ste-phen Conklin. 9802 104 St., Fort Sask. 780-998-2451. www.fortnaz.ca. Join us Sunday @ 11a for Worship. Sunday School @ 9:50a.

Josephburg Community Church.21380 Township Road 550 (intersection of Twp. Rd. 550 & Sec. Highway 830) Aas you en-ter the hamlet of Josephburg. Ph: 780-998-9331 Fax: 780-998-9305 www.josephburg-communitychurch.ca Pastor: Rev. Audrey Daley

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

First United Church. 10409-100 Ave., Fort Sask. 780-998-4060. Rev. Danielle A. James. All welcome. Sunday Worship & Sunday School: 10:00a.

Holy Protection Orthodox Church. Sat-urdays: 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 worship times: Sunday @ 8:30am Holy Commu-nion (BCP) and 10:30am Holy Communion (BAS) with Sunday School. 10029 – 99th Ave, Ph: 780-998-3620.

April 26, 2013 Page 7Over Easy, Please

SALONSCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

SOUPS, SUBS & SANDWICHSHOPS

BARBER SHOPS

Fort Saskatchewan’s Categorized Business Section

JANITORIAL & CLEANING

PET CARE

REAL ESTATECELLULAR PHONES

GELATO

PHOTOGRAPHY

Politically Crackin’

Election Interference

By REECE SELLIN

W h e n Fort Sas-k a t c h e -wan goes to the polls to elect City C o u n -cil this fall, “the r u l e s ”

will be a little bit different.

Although the most notice-able new “rule” under Al-berta’s recently-amended Local Authorities Elections Act is that council and may-oral terms are now four years long, there are some other changes.

For example, laws regard-ing donations will be some-what stricter starting next year. One change is that candidates who accept do-nations prior to nomina-

tion day will have to regis-ter with their municipality. Another change means that campaign debts must also be paid off.

But perhaps more interest-ing is what has not changed -- especially the rules about what people can say and do regarding candidates.

A recent controversy about local election laws has oc-curred in Calgary, where it is alleged that a developer may have broken existing donation limit and other laws.

A leaked video of that devel-oper’s speech has lead Cal-gary’s Mayor to demand a provincial investigation into possible interference.

But, what many people may not know is that both the old and new election laws in Alberta also place limits on not just what candidates may do, but also on the ac-tivities of citizens during election campaigns.

Bribery, unsurprisingly,

is one practice that is out-lawed. But a far more inter-esting practice, which is also illegal, goes by the name of “undue infl uence.” And the wording of that law has ac-tually changed very little in the last sixteen centuries.

An 1854 British law, called the Corrupt Practices Pre-vention Act, made it a criminal act for anyone “by Abduction, Duress, or any fraudulent Device or Con-trivance...[to] thereby com-pel, induce, or prevail upon any Voter, either to give or to refrain from giving his Vote at any Election.” Sur-prisingly, identical wording appears in the current Al-berta Election Law.

In other words, a person can, to this very day, be guilty of an offence (and pos-sibly face imprisonment) if they, by “fraudulent device or contrivance... compel, in-duce or prevail” on a voter to cause that person to vote for or against a particular candidate.

So, what is a “fraudulent

device or contrivance?” And what exactly does it mean to “complete, induce or pre-vail?” Well, perhaps also surprising to some, there is actually a quite modern court decision on exactly that matter.

The BC Court of Appeal, in the 1999 case Friesen v. Hammell, looked at exact-ly what that law means in modern elections. And, it’s probably bad news for those who get carried away.

According to the BC Court of Appeal, such illegal un-due infl uence is not just lim-ited to physically stopping someone from voting, for example. That Court found that making misrepresenta-tions that are false (or are reckless as to the truth) may also lead to a person be charged with undue infl u-ence.

“Statements of intention or belief, and statements which any reasonable per-son would attribute to mere puffery would not constitute fraudulent means,” how-

ever “misrepresentations of material fact which were in-tended to, and did, lead vot-ers to vote for a candidate... for whom the voter would not otherwise have voted” are potentially actionable.

And, according to our cur-rent election law in Alberta, candidates who who become victims of undue infl uence can apply directly to the court for a remedy.

So, although one is certainly able to honestly state their political opinions in the up-coming election campaign, those engaging in public dis-course may be well advised to be careful as to their con-duct and words.

False accusations of crimi-nality, for example, or peo-ple choosing to engage in “anti-campaigns” against specifi c candidates may lead to not only civil liability for libel/slander, but could also lead to more serious trouble, such as fi nes or imprison-ment, for those who try to run election interference.

Over Easy, Please April 26, 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: “What’s

in a Name?”By BRIAN MASONbrian@overeasyplease.com

Everyone at some point in their life has run a c r o s s that per-son with the awk-

ward name. Someone whose parents seemed to defy the laws of nature and the logic of culture, and gave their child that name that no doubt haunts them for the rest of their lives.

Of course, granted, there are those that don’t cross cultures too awfully well with pronunciations and such, but that’s defi nitely no fault of the namesake or the parents. But, it does make for good conversation. The South in defi nitely no exception to that rule. But then again, is it ever really an exception to the rule, aside from any topic border-ing on cookin’, guns, faith or courtesy? Maybe tossing in a topic of alcoholic beverag-es every once in awhile, and I think things will fi t just fi ne. But that’s another top-ic for another day, or rather another rabbit to run. Names are something that any group regardless of geo-graphic location, cultural background or oppossum meat preference can agree upon -- that they mean something beyond just a collection of letters. Some,

however, I’m not sure gave it much thought as to the impact of the name, such as the kid I met once with my former in-laws, who was named Harley.

Now, such a name would be great for a good ol’ Southern boy but a girl, I’m not really certain on that one. But that paled in comparison to a feller I knew back in the day, strange old codger by the name of Cornbread.

Of course, I didn’t believe him, thinking for sure even a self-respectin’ back woods Hillbilly-Tarheel, coon hat wearin’ Daniel Boone im-personator wouldn’t give a kid that name. But right as rain fallin’ at an outdoor tobacca spittin’ contest, he was a bonafi de Cornbread in legal name. Of course he was just as strange as his name, so it was a good match in the end, feller was nuttier than a ten dollar fruitcake. Myself, however, was an-other story. Folks think my name was a simple decision, likely some concoction of historical fi gures and fam-ily. Well, not exactly. You see my dad had the honor of naming my sister, Kristie.

So, when I came into being, which apparently was be-cause some family friends decided to have a second kid so mom and dad thought, well, why not? (A decision they would regret for the remainder of every year I spent at home...) But since dad had named Kristie it fell to mom to name me. A deci-sion she didn’t take lightly. Mom toiled over names and fi nally came to dad with the

perfect name, one she felt very dearly about. “What about Noah?” With my fam-ily looking towards dad’s future in the ministry, sure it sounded good. Then dad, thankfully, turned to mom and said, “Ya know-a Ma-son?” Well that settled that so she went back to the draw-ing board, and took inspira-tion off of my cousin. “How about Rocky?” No doubt vi-sions of Sylvester Stallone went through dad’s mind as he fl at out said “no.”

Again, much to my delight in the future. But appar-ently a movie was on TV afterwards, and an actor caught their eye. So, after a bad movie and a bit of a discussion, Brian Keith be-came my namesake. You never really know the inspiration nor the process to a name, but regardless there is always something to a name. It’s never simply something, despite some-one arguing to the contrary, that is just picked out of a hat. Folks, we a lot of times look at names as something that might be commonplace or trivial.

Sometimes, this makes us think of someone as com-mon or less worthy of our time in some way. But folks, a name is something special, because even a John Smith is special to that John Smith, it is the name that their ancestors gave to them, to be only for them. Yes, even if a million other people in the local area have the same name. Everyone we come across is unique and has a story to tell, even just through their name.

Flimsy Whimsy: City

By JAI MURUGAN jai@overeasyplease.com

So my c o u s i n p h o n e s me up all panicky . She has to come to the city for a specialist appo int -

ment and there’s been an-other murder in town. Be-ing the encouraging type, I’m obliged to smother her fears with common sense.

“Wasn’t that horrible?” she says. “Yup. This place is now the murder capital of Canada. Nothing to worry about.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?’ she asks. “Not since I bought three extra guns and a huge padlock for the front yard.” She doesn’t seem soothed.

“But you don’t even have a fence. How can you lock your front yard?”

“Oh, sorry. Did I say front yard? I meant front door. That, and another lock for the back yard. The other night there were three bald guys in leather jackets pok-ing around back there.”“Weren’t you scared?” she

asks. “Nope. The Dober-mans put a run on them. That and Boss yelling out the window. Then I took a couple of shots out the basement with one of the new guns.”

“So I heard your whole neighbourhood is like that.”“Yeah. I heard it’s the most dangerous neighbourhood in Canada. But it doesn’t bother me. Mostly it’s kids fi ghtin’ over drugs.”

Her voice is shaky. “Don’t you think you should move to the other side of town?”

“You mean over by where your doctor’s appointment is?”

“Yes. How safe is that area?”

“That place is even worse. That’s right near the new half-way house from the federal jail. Nothing to worry about though. I hear they mostly wander around yelling at strangers. What time’s your appointment?”

“Ten in the morning,” she says, her voice a little high-er. “That’s when they let them go for their morning jog. Last week I guess they got hold of some stranger in a car, and pulled the poor guy out, then hammered on him. Good thing they forgot their baseball bats at home. Nothing to worry about, though.”

My First Spring Bull Sale in Edmonton

By WALTER MELNYK

This was quite an experience for me to be chosen over the other four b r o t h e r s

to attend and help dad with the animals.

My main job was to keep the stalls clean and well-bed-ded, so the animals would look presentable. I was just a young fellow, about

12-years-old at that time.

I learned a lot about caring for animals.

The highlight of the week was going across the tracks to the Fairview Hotel, where a number of breeders would be having dinner.

Imagine having a steak with all the trimmings or 35 cents (and with catsup to go along with it.) That was a novelty, for we very seldom had catsup at home.

It wasn’t too long after that when the Fairview Ho-tel burned down. After all those years that went by, I still miss that place (a home away from home).

OLD FLOUR MILL

People from as far away as Andrew would come to Chipman to grind their wheat into fl our.

A number of farmers would sleep over at our place, be-cause travelling with horses and a grain wagon was too far to make in one day.

One summer night, a severe storm came and a bolt of lightning hit the fl our mill. It burned to the ground.

They never rebuilt.

Lamont and Mundare each built one.