Electric train arrives at museum /13
Ryan Seacrest show cancelled /17
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2004

Oil prices hit 20-year high /22
Cyclists close to end of marathon journey /3

CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916

PRINCE GEORGE

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Family rallies around boy after tragedy
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff An eight-year-old boy is blaming himself for what happened to his dad but his mother is assuring him his father, Ken Castonguay, 31, disappeared into the Fraser River because of a series of events, not one little boy's innocent actions. "My son is a grade-A student, a wellmannered young man who enjoys people and loves to be active. Now he doesn't have his father around to do those things with," said Julie Castonguay. "My husband adored his son and he worshipped the ground I walked on even though I was a nagging wife." Much has already happened to this local family. The couple became estranged after the boy, Kenny Jr., was born, but Ken and Julie reconciled and married when the boy was five years old. They were living in Ontario but moved to Prince George three years ago to be close to the Castonguay family. Their fourth wedding anniversary was coming up in September. "I intend to stay in Prince George to be near my husband," said Julie. "My husband's family is really close with my son and the whole family has been there for me since the beginning. They are terrific now. I struggle to keep my emotions under control in front of my son, and without my mother- and father-in-law I don't think I could have done it." The boy's grandfather, Jerry Castonguay, says the whole family is rallying together for the sake of the boy. "I don't think he realizes exactly what's going on yet. When they recover the body, then it will sink in for him," he said. "Recovery is the biggest thing for us right now. We've got a big family in town. Everyone is holding up OK right now and we're just hoping for closure, that they find him soon." Julie has been touched by the outpouring of support she and the family have received. She has lived in Prince George only a few years, not long enough to fully understand the dangers of the Fraser River, but long enough to understand the city's reputation for compassion. The family was on social assistance at the time of the incident, and in the few days since has seen their church, their neighbours, their extended family and even strangers step forward to help them. Julie gushes over the warmth and professionalism of the RCMP, Prince George Search and Rescue, ambulance paramedics, Prince George Regional Hospital staff, and Victim Services personnel. "What I'm trying to do now is get over my fear of the water. I can only put my feet in. My son is down at the beach right now with Grandma and Grandpa, playing in the water to help him get over his fear. He's wearing a lifejacket and we'll start there. At the lake," Julie said. "I can't bring myself to go back there (Hudson Bay Slough) ever again except for the memorial service. Maybe the mayor could put up some signs down there warning people that it is too dangerous to swim there. It's a bad place."

Citizen photos by Dave Milne

Search and Rescue volunteers Duane Hanson, left, helps RCMP Cst. Jay Bob Charron with a line securing RCMP diver Jay Wessel as he emerges from the Fraser River near the mouth of the Hudson Bay Slough, above. Wessel, below, said the heat, the current and the weight of the diving equipment made the search for a missing local man difficult.

River search called off
No sign of missing man in Fraser
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff The formal search was called off Wednesday afternoon for Ken Castonguay, the 31-year-old Prince George man who disappeared in the Fraser River and is presumed drowned. No clues were found in two days of ground, water and air searching between Fort George Park and 22 kilometres south of Quesnel. The last search effort was completed on Wednesday when Prince George Search and Rescue ground crews re-examined the shoreline on both sides of the Fraser from Hudson Bay Slough to the BCR Industrial Site, while RCMP divers combed the bottom of the river in the incident area. "We have a general duty member standing by in case the divers do find something, to advise the coroner of anything or to seize any exhibits," said Const. Erica Thompson. "We have a three-member dive team in the water." The divers were soaked in sweat from the heavy equipment and hot sun even before they began the water work. Each diver weighs more than 300 lbs. once tanks and gear are on. Their grim work was made difficult by visibility that varied from two feet to zero, and the powerful current. One diver would be in the water with the other holding steady on a guideline, anchored by trained Search and Rescue man Duane Hanson. It was all the two of them could do to keep the one in the water from being swept away. "I was hauling, full fin, and pulling on the rocks. And I could only get a few feet out there," said Const. Jay Wessel, taking a break in a shallow spot with his mask pulled up. "That's all I can do until I catch my breath, just give me a minute." The Underwater Recovery Team divers are highly trained professionals, with superior gear and shore support. It was all any of them could do to maintain a systematic search pattern due to the powerful volume of water constantly pushing them downstream. Weeds three feet off shore grow with a permanent pattern to the north, while eight feet off shore the water pounds rocks in a southerly direction. In between are eddies and pools that are, at best, unpredictable. "There is something called a helico force -- a wall of water that keeps kicking objects back into the main current," said Jeff Smedley, one of the search managers on this effort. "I've been involved in a lot of water rescues and swimming rivers. That helico force is rough stuff even if you're expecting it. The Fraser is unforgiving." The search manager that brought the search to a halt, Dave Merritt, says the entire PGSAR team and RCMP team was determined to find Castonguay, and were sick to have run out of options. "We put in 253 man-hours as of noon on Wednes-

day. The four boats from Quesnel burned 180 gallons of gas between there and Stoner, and the Prince George boats were doing their thing too. That's how intensive we worked at this," Merritt said. "It is hard for us not to find anything as to this gentleman. Our hearts are going out to the family. It's hard on us and it is just brutal on them especially. Our members feel for them a lot." Merritt reports that the Fraser River is so high and so fast this year that even surface debris was hardly seen, it was swept away so swiftly. Swimmers should not attempt even shoreline wading.

Neighbour instrumental in saving boy
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff A local father, presumed drowned, was not the only hero in the Fraser River Monday evening. Although Ken Castonguay, 31, disappeared in the act of saving his son Kenny Jr., one man did make it back to shore with the boy in his arms. The Castonguay's friend and neighbour Brian Wittenberg finished the rescue that the determined dad started. Wittenberg describes the events of July 26, at about 5:30 p.m. "We went there (Hudson Bay Slough sandbar) together. Kenny Jr. got in trouble in the water, 20 or 30 feet out and Ken went after him. When Ken got out there he was in as much trouble as the boy was. I went in to try and pull them out, but I could only get Kenny Jr," Wittenberg said. "His father died a hero, and that's great, it says a lot about him." Father and son were both struggling in the strong current. Wittenberg remembers they were struggling to stay afloat, and both were panicking. Wittenberg went in to grab them, but couldn't deal with the swift water and the two distressed swimmers all at once. He began ferrying man and boy, advancing first one a little ways, then the other. "I did that two or three times and when I went back for my next turn at Ken, he was gone," Wittenberg said. "After he was gone we didn't see anything." The boy's mother, Julie Castonguay, was on shore with a long stick she thrust into the water. Wittenberg and the gasping boy grabbed hold and made it to safety. "We were totally exhausted, and just collapsed there on the sandbar. His mother was hysterical, she was screaming `my husband, my husband' and was a little dazed. I had to yell at her to bring her around to go call 911." He said it seemed like a long time, but police were there quickly and the rest was handled by authorities. There is no way anyone can erase from his memory those grave moments that turned an everyday family outing into a tragedy. "He lives across the street from me, our kids are good friends with each other," Wittenberg said. "We don't go down there very often. Usually we go to West Lake, but we weren't even swimming. We were on the shore, my six-year-old daughter was there, too, and they were just up to their knees wading." It only took moments and the drama was underway. It was nobody's fault, it was no one's individual failing, but the events unfolded into a worst-case scenario. Wittenberg says it could have been worse, had the boy not used his wits and began treading water as he approached. He says the boy saved himself by hearing Wittenberg's instructions and calming himself for the harrowing trip back to shore.

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B.C. doctors ratify three-year contract
VICTORIA (CP) -- British Columbia doctors voted 89 per cent in favour of a three-year contract with the government that holds the line on wage increases for two years and guarantees patients there won't be any strikes or work disruptions. The deal includes $100 million to improve patient care in British Columbia, but the Liberal government and doctors said Wednesday at a joint news conference the money does not amount to a special pay raise for the province's more than 8,000 doctors. The two sides will meet to attempt to negotiate a pay raise for the third year of the contract, which expires March 31, 2007, but agree that binding arbitration is an option if they can't reach a deal. "Today's agreements are consistent with the other agreements that we've reached in the public sector," said Health Services Minister Colin Hansen, "all of which point to our desire to work with the healthcare providers of British Columbia." The Liberal government offered its unionized public sector workers three-year contracts that call for no wage increases. A contract with the 43,000-member Hospital Employees Union included wage and benefit roll backs that amounted to 15 per cent. The province's nurses recently signed a deal that included no wage increases. "The negotiations process that led up to this agreement was less about physician compensation and more about system reform" said B.C. Medical Association president Jack Burak. The contract allows doctors to dedicate more time and resources to patients with chronic HANSEN diseases, pregnant women and patients with mental illnesses and offers more supports to doctors practising in rural British Columbia, Burak said. Hansen said the government will meet with doctors in the coming months to discuss how best to spend the $100 million. Nine areas of health care will become the focus of the $100 million, he said. They include: more money for chronic disease management, maternity care, elder care, support for dying patients and help for patients with addictions and chronic mental illness, Hansen said. Up to $60 million of the $100 million comes from an agreement between the government and doctors to streamline private laboratory services, he said. British Columbia has the most expensive laboratory services in the country at per capita costs of almost $100 per patient, when the national average is about $77, said Hansen. The remaining $40 million will come from money within the current health budget, he said. The contract ratification was billed as a partnership between B.C. doctors and the government. Recent contract talks have been marred by namecalling on both sides and work stoppages that shut doctors offices and restricted emergency services. Last March, the BCMA dropped its demand for an 11 per cent wage increase, saying doctors would accept a two-year wage freeze if the government improved the health-care system. The contract between doctors and the government expired on March 31. The government legislated the last doctor contract two years ago after it rejected an arbitrator's ruling as too rich, a move that infuriated the doctors.

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