www.pgcitizen.ca Newsstand s1.80 incl. tax | Home Delivered 70c/day Full Cup treatment for teen, family Arthur WILLIAMS Citizen staff awilliams@pgcitizen.ca Jake McLeod and his family will be getting the VIP treatment at the Grey Cup this weekend in Vancouver, thanks to Mark’s Work Wearhouse and the CFL. McLeod, 15, suffers from a rare form of cancer called desmoid tumours -or aggressive fibromatosis - that has caused large, rapid-growing tumours to form in his right calf and behind his knee. But despite his challenges, the Grade 10 student played as an offensive/defensive lineman on the undefeated Duchess Park Condors junior football team up until the end of the P.G. Bowl. “It’s energetic, it’s fast. When I started playing, it really caught my eye,” McLeod said. “I enjoy the defence because I can break through the line. I can help put the pressure on...[But] offence is the biggest part of the game, because you are the one who decides if the quarterback can throw the ball and get the run off.” When McLeod’s mom, Carrie McLeod, saw a contest on Mark’s Work Wear-house’s Facebook page offering two tickets to the Grey Cup, she put McLeod’s name in and explained why he deserved a chance to win. “Jake got to play, but he had to cut his season short because of treatment. When you have a tumour this big [holding her hand in a baseball-size circle], it’s hard to play football,” Carrie McLeod said. “The goal is to keep his leg right now. He’ll never not have these [tumours]. For the rest of however many years, until we have a cure, Jacob will be doing chemo and radiation.” The McLeods didn’t win the contest. Instead, Mark’s Work Wearhouse part- CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN Jake McLeod, who has a rare form of cancer, will be attending Grey Cup this weekend because of several organizations coming together to make it happen. nered with the CFL to offer his whole family an all-expenses-paid trip to Vancouver to take in the game. And they won’t just be sitting in the stands, either, according to information released by Mark’s Work Wearhouse. The company and the CFL will fly the family of four down for the weekend, put them up in a hotel and give them a behind-the-scenes tour of B.C. Place. In addition they will be on the sidelines during the warm up, get to take in the INSIDE: • Equally inspiring EDITORIAL 6 • Grey Cup preview SPORTS 12 halftime concert by Imagine Dragons on the field and attend a meet-and-greet with Toronto Argonauts legend Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons and former B.C. quarterback Damon Allen, along with the full VIP treatment. “I am definitely excited about it. It’s not every day you get to go to the Grey Cup,” McLeod said. “This will be a very exciting experience, especially to meet some of the players. This is a huge opportunity that most people don’t get.” He’s also looking forward to the Imagine Dragons concert, he added. Carrie McLeod said their family has been challenged since Jake’s diagnosis in February, but “the goal is to keep everything as normal as we can, despite the abnormal.” According to the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation in the U.S., the condition is very rare - affecting only two to four people per million. McLeod is only the fifth child to be diagnosed at B.C.’s Children’s Hospital in the hospital’s history. While Desmoid tumours don’t metastasize - spread from one part of the body to another - like other cancers, they can grow very rapidly and cause serious health complications. “This, for us, is everything right now,” Carrie McLeod said. “To have one day of pure fun... it’s just wonderful.” Area First Nation faces federal wrath Arthur WILLIAMS Citizen staff The Takla Lake First Nation is one of 52 First Nations’ governments - including 12 in B.C. -facing sanctions from the federal government for not complying with the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. In a statement issued Wednesday, aboriginal affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt said the government will begin: withholding funding to noncompliant First Nations for nonessential programs, services and activities; withholding new funding for nonessential program proposals; and seeking court orders to force First Nations governments that have indicated they will not comply with the legislation to comply. — see ‘THE ACT, page 3 CNC hiking tuition Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN Citizen staff sallen@pgcitizen.ca Starting next summer, students at the College of New Caledonia can expect to see a bump in course costs. The college’s board of governors voted Friday to a two-per-cent tuition increase - or $5 per course - that should translate to about $115,000 in additional revenue, a total that is subject to enrolment. College president Henry Reiser said approving the vote was “absolutely critical.” “I’m comfortable with a modest increase in tuition in order to ensure that the institution is sustainable. Tuition represents a very, very small cost of attending a post-secondary institution,” said Reiser, adding food, transportation and accommodation are bigger financial barriers. — see ‘WE ARE, page 3 ANNIE'S MAILBOX 32 OPINION 6 Contact Us BRIDGE 32 B.C. 7 CLASSIFIED: 250-562-6666 HOROSCOPE 2 CANADA 13-16 READER SALES: 250-562-3301 COMICS 33-35 WORLD 17-19 SWITCHBOARD: 250-562-2441 CROSSWORD 33 SPORTS 9-12 Today's Weather V Hi-20 Ml Jr Low -27° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts CLASSIFIEDS 23-26 0 58307 00200 058307002005