Snack kills school children / 15
Student newspaper under fire for nudity /6

Metal giants unite / 22
Middaugh out-gunned by Alberta / 9

CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916

PRINCE GEORGE

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2005

80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 57 CENTS A DAY)

Accident leaves one dead
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff One person was killed and two others seriously injured early Wednesday in a head-on collision between a car and chip truck on Highway 16, east of Prince George. The person killed and the two people injured were all in the passenger vehicle. The driver of the truck was shaken but unharmed, said police. The name of the person killed has not been released. Other details of the victims' ages and sex were also not known. The cause of the accident is still unknown, but officers at the scene noted that highway conditions were "treacherous," said Prince George RCMP spokesperson Const. Gary Godwin. The highway surface was "extremely icy," and one officer who stepped out of his vehicle had a hard time standing up, said Godwin. The accident took place about 7:20 a.m., about 30 kilometres east of Prince George near Wansa Creek. Police said the transport rig -- a truck hauling chips -- was eastbound, while the passenger vehicle was westbound. The highway was closed for several hours, opening to one-way traffic about 11 a.m. The other highway lane was opened about 1:30 p.m.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Body spotted
Citizen staff Prince George RCMP spent Wedesday night searching the Nechako and Fraser Rivers for a body initially spotted floating near Cotton Wood Island Park. Police maintained a presence on several of the city's bridges throughout the evening in an attempt to retrieve the corpse. However, the body was not recovered, despite the efforts of the police as well as search and rescue personnnel. "We'll be back out looking tommorrow," said Sergeant Marvin Toma. Witnesses described the body as that of a Causcasian male, 40-45 years old, with short dark hair and a stubbly full beard. He was wearing what looked like a dark blue jacket or a shirt with long sleeves. The public are asked to report any missing persons who might match that description. Toma said the body is likely not related to the investigation into the death of Renegades Motorcycle Club president William John Moore, who was found after a fire was reported at his Salmon Valley residence.

A vehicle that was carrying three people and a transport rig hauling chips lie near Highway 16, east of Prince George. The driver of the rig was unharmed but one of the occupants of the car killed while two others in the car were injured.

TRAGEDY IN ALBERTA

Officers make grim pilgrimage
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff A bus pulled away from the Prince George RCMP detachment at noon Wednesday carrying officers from all over the region to Edmonton for a memorial service for four officers killed in the line of duty. Constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston and Brock Myrol, were shot and killed near Mayerthorpe, Alta., last Thursday by resident James Roszko. Red serge jackets were hung with care in plastic wrap. Tan Stetsons were clamped into their hat presses. Knee-high boots were polished to a shine. The trappings of a Mountie funeral like no other were assembled for the trip, just as they are in communities all over Canada. Whenever a police officer dies in the line of duty, they are honoured with the full array of their profession's colours. When four officers are killed in a single shooting, by a single gunman, new standards are set. RCMP and other police agencies are converging to make the memorial service today at the University of Alberta in Edmonton the largest of its kind in Canadian history. "We were told that only the first 55 get a seat on the bus, it was leaving at noon, so be there by 11. I was here at 10:30," said Const. Pierre Vezina, who was one of several officers who travelled from Burns Lake to join the pilgrimage. Vezina was at the Regina training depot at the same time as at least one of the slain officers, he said, but only knew him enough to recognize his photograph on the news. "It is nice that some of our out-of-town members could be here to make the trip," said

De Jong skeptical latest softwood proposal will fly
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong is supportive of the latest proposal by Canada to resolve the long-running softwood lumber dispute, but is skeptical it will prove successful. "Absent from some significantly different signals from the U.S. lumber coalition, I am skeptical of the chances of this leading to a solution," he told The Citizen on Wednesday. "However, we're willing to try." Canada has floated a framework that includes an export tax to be collected at the B.C. border to replace the U.S. tariffs of 21.2 per cent, an idea which is not new in the nearly four-year-old dispute. But de Jong is willing to give the proposal a chance, particularly as Canada gears up in a first-time effort to retaliate against the U.S. Canada has gone to the World Trade Organization seeking permission to impose $4 billion in retaliatory duties on U.S. imports. "We are on the cusp now of this dispute taking on a far different complexion, and that means full blown retaliation," said de Jong. "Hopefully, over the last several weeks, the U.S. through its various official channels, and unofficial channels, is coming to realize that there will be consequences for them if they continue to ignore these NAFTA panel rulings." The U.S. stepped up its administrative and political manoeuvering after Canada scored a major victory at the end of last summer. A North American Free Trade Agreement dispute panel ordered the U.S. International Trade Commission to reverse its position that Canada's lumber producers pose a threat of injury to the American industry. -- continued page three

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

RCMP members board a bus for Edmonton and the memorial service for four of their fellow officers who were murdered near Mayerthorpe, Alta. last Thursday.
Const. Mike Caira, who was also boarding the bus. "We have people here from Burns Lake, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, Mackenzie, McBride I believe, and maybe more." Sgt. Tom Bethune also made the trip and was one of the high ranking officers in the local bus. He said a show of support of this magnitude is essential for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a range of emotions felt by all the officers. "I think it is important to members and their families, especially those of fallen comrades, that we show how much we feel for them in times like this," Bethune said. "It is important to younger members to know that, even if they are working in smaller places, they are not all alone. We are all on the same team. Also, this is to show the criminal element that when they target us, the whole force will respond as one."

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Ambush brings back shooting memory
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Prince George RCMP Const. Terry Fehr knows what a .30-30 bullet feels like as it cuts through the body. When Constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston and Brock Myrol were gunned down last week by a man wielding a high-powered rifle, that knowledge came back to him. Fehr was working the rural detachment at Maple Creek, Sask., in the spring of 1991 when he attended a residence outside of town. An assailant fired at him and he was struck in the right hip. In spite of a bone-crushing wound causing severe bleeding, Fehr managed to drive his cruiser to the next house where he called for emergency help. The town ambulance was broken down, so a hearse was sent instead, but he beat the irony by surviving the attack. "I believe in Jesus, I'm ready to die any time, but (the Alberta shooting) does bring everything back," said Fehr, who is a familiar face at the downtown CPAC office. He is also well known at Canadian Blood Services, where he donates blood at every opportunity. "I feel for the families survived by these officers. When you are in police work you deal with death all the time and you have to look at your own mortality all the time. Some police officers are more comfortable with that than others." Fehr epitomizes the expression `There, but for the Grace of God, go I,' having seen death move in on him only to back off and let him carry on. Now he is extra cognizant of what the RCMP badge means to him and all the families connected to the force. It was Fehr who set up the honour display in Prince George by the downtown detachment, and it is Fehr who is spearheading a Prince George memorial service in the wake of the Alberta tragedy. "This touches home to everybody and not everybody can go to Edmonton," he said. "They are talking about numbers like 10,000 people for the memorial in Edmonton, but there are still those who want to take part in a service. It is a healing thing." Fehr has arranged for a local memorial at the Zion Lutheran Church on March 17 at 11 a.m. with Pastor Alan Visser officiating. Visser said the church can hold 400 people with room to expand if they detect in advance a groundswell of attendance. He says he was eager to host

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Submitted photo

Const. Terry Fehr is co-ordinating the local memorial tributes to the four slain RCMP officers in Alberta. He stands here in the Zion Lutheran Church where a service will be held next week. The tragedy touched close to home for Const. Fehr, who was shot during a 1991 incident in Saskatchewan.
the memorial because one of the slain officers, Schiemann, is the son of the bishop for the B.C./Alberta Lutheran district.

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