Doug Rutherford

July 29, 2011

Our judges walk on water

If you’re not in the Yukon, you probably aren’t aware that we’ve had one of the more unusual trials I’ve seen in a long time. It wasn’t different in the subject or outcome, but rather in the judge sitting the trial himself.

The Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon launched suit against the Yukon Government in a lengthy battle over whether or not the Government had withheld funds that had been earmarked for French education. The government countered with the claim that the French school board was adequately funded. The French school, École Émilie-Tremblay, has 184 students and the principal claims that the school is overcrowded. YTG lists the capacity of the school as higher. The board asked for $15 million to expand the school to accommodate its 41 high school level students.

The judge, Vital Oulette, was brought in from Alberta, to sit on the trial. What came out early in the proceedings was that Justice Oulette had a history as a lobbyist and advocate for French education and the government lawyers asked that he recuse himself because of a potential conflict of interest. This seems a reasonable request. It is impossible to avoid the possibility of conflict when you have lobbied in favour of similar groups as one involved in the trial. He refused. He said that his lobbying had been public knowledge. I’m sorry, but saying that people may be aware that you might be biased doesn’t take away the possibility that you are.

He also issued an order for the government to hire more teachers for the French school system 8 months before the trial actually ended, actually predetermining the outcome of the trial. Finally, in his decision, he decided that the French school board should, instead of receiving an expansion, should instead build a new school within two years. Estimated cost: $30 million. Further, he ordered YTG to pay $1.95 million in federal funds to the school board. Needless to say, YTG is planning to appeal Justice Oulette’s decision.

Our little territory has long had issues with judges that thought they could walk on water. I only wish some of them would try it when the lakes aren’t frozen over…

July 29, 2011July 29, 2011

No answer to my letter yet

I still have yet to hear from the Premier on my request for action regarding the storage of hazardous wastes across the street. I believe he is actually out of town this week, so I will probably give him a bit more time to provide a substantive solution for this before we go to the national press. Although, I would have assumed I would have received an acknowledgement from his executive assistant, who probably would be the one reading and dealing with his e-mails anyway. It would, at the very least, have been the polite thing to do.

Also, the city is workiing on action to clean the lot. That being said, it’s been in the hands of the legal department for several weeks…

July 26, 2011

An open letter to Premier Darrell Pasloski

Darrell:

We are writing to see if some action can be taken in the issuance of a hazardous waste storage permit to Double Cross Motors, 15 Maple Street, in Whitehorse.

The fact that this permit was issued, in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, has been confirmed by the minister’s office and the Director of Environmental Protection, Jon Bowen.

We have been aware of this situation since the 3rd of June and, to this date, the department has not rescinded the permit and had the property cleaned to appropriate environmental regulations. The reason given is, despite the fact that the department issued the permit without even checking where the property was located, that the regulations have no consideration for removing a permit. According to Jon Bowen, “We continue to pursue options for resolution of this issue in light of the fact that we cannot unilaterally rescind/reissue a permit even if an “administrative error” was made. There is a legal process in the Act for cancellation of a permit and that is the process we must follow; there is no “shortcut”.”

You may wish to remind him that, if he is worried about the legal ramifications of just arbitrarily removing the permit and ordering the property cleaned, he may more wish to consider the legal ramifications of issuing the permit through gross negligence and incompetence of his department. We are not willing to allow these unacceptable situation to continue much longer and wish that something be done within a very short period of time.

—
Doug Rutherford
Whitehorse, YT, Canada

July 26, 2011July 26, 2011

Still nothing on the hazardous waste site across the street

We discovered on the 3rd of June that the neighbour across the street had licensed the property for storage of hazardous wastes. To this point, there has still been absolutely no action taken to remove his hazardous waste storage permit. This has been in the hands of both the Territorial Government and the city and neither seems legally capable of dealing with the situation.

To say that we are frustrated is understatement. I see the surgeon on Thursday afternoon so I have no idea of what my schedule will be for next week. That being said, it is time to go back to city council and rattle their chains. Yes, council has been emailed the details on this situation so they are aware… or at least as aware as they are physically capable of being. Yes, the head of bylaw services has also notified them that they are required to take action. It is time to get a lawyer and take some more direct action if this does not have the desired effect.

The neighbour, by the way, has not been seen at the house for a while. His garbage is still there but it looks like two youngsters living there at the moment. I think they are two of his employees but I’m not sure on that. The only thing we are sure of is that neither YTG or city council offers much in the way of competence…

July 24, 2011

The more I get done, the more needs doing

I’ve been busy working on the boat. That being said, I had two biggish jobs to do. I got them done, only to discover two more biggish jobs. OK, one was a big job.

When I went to position the height of the keel roller, I noticed the boat is actually sitting on the wheel fenders. That meant that I needed to raise the bunks the boat sits on. This is fun since the boat is actually sitting on them at the time. With a little ingenuity, and a tire jack and some 2×6 blocks, I raised each side high enough to be able to lift the bunks to the next height. It should actually be a bit higher, but I might get by. If necessary, I’ll get 4 aluminum blocks cut and use these under the bolts the bunk height adjusters rest on. This should give me a bit more height.

Next, I was getting a bit panicky on the weight on the trailer tongue. That’s because there really wasn’t any. The trailer is for a 14-17′ boat so it’s a bit longer than the boat needed. So, I moved the axle back another 7″ which should give me a bit more tongue weight. I really have to road test it to be sure whether or not it should come back a bit more. Why 7″? I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether to bring it back 6″ and 8″, and I am fond of compromise.

All in all, I have probably overdone it again but I did get all done. Now, there are only two things left. First, I have to attach the boat seat to a milk crate. Next, I discovered that the tie down I bought for the boat is too short. I eyeballed it and said 10′ would be fine. Actually 10′ 6″ would be more in the realm of practicality. Back to Canadian Tire, I’m afraid.

Now, I am having a beer and thinking of taking it easy for the night. A shower, since I had to douse myself with bug dope to work in the shelter of under the trailer, would be the next totally strenous thing I have planned on the agenda…

July 23, 2011

Progress report

There is no place in town to get a T-connector for connecting the trailer light connector in the truck in an easy manner. So tonight, I went out, with my electrical tools and spliced in the wiring. We have lights on the trailer and all is well.

There are still two more jobs to do. However, it’s late so I decided to have a beer and wait until the morning to do the last. With a little luck, I should be able to finish things up tomorrow and head out to Fox Lake (61° 15′ 49″N 135° 28′ 48″) and get the bottom of the boat soggy for the first time. The alternative was to turn it upside down in the rain, which is not as satisfactory…

July 23, 2011July 23, 2011

Getting the boat ready

I thought that having a brand new boat and trailer would be quick and easy to get ready to take it off to the lakes. I must rethink that idea.

We did get the boat inflated and the floorboards in and we got the motor on and installed, mostly. I am going to bolt it to the transom rather than rely on just the clamps but want to run it to make sure that it’s properly centred, etc., before I do that.

I also need to arrange a seat for the driver, since the boat came with only one seat and you need something for your passengers as well. We went to the dealer to see if they sell extra seats. They have one in stock on the computer but after a diligent search, could not find it in the shop. I found one online, but they don’t ship outside the continental US. The dealer will order one but it won’t be in until sometime in mid- to late August. So, I bought a boat seat at Canadian Tire yesterday and it is extremely comfortable. I’m going to mount it on a swivel and mount that to a milk crate for the time being. This is a rather easy job and I stole the idea from Derrick McKay, who did the same for his inflatable. The swivel is already on the seat and I just have to clean a milk crate and bolt it on.

Next, I need to move the keel roller and post on the trailer. I bought it without it being configured since it came from a different place than where I bought the boat. This is not a big job but I haven’t got to it yet. This will only take about half an hour so it’s not the huge bit of work you might expect.

The big problem is the lights. I went to test the trailer hookup plug on the truck and there wasn’t any power coming out. I did the automatic assumption and bought a new connector to hook in. When I cut the old one off, I discovered that the previous owner must have had one hell of a short, since the wires are burnt. That’s OK, since there is (supposed to be) an easy fix. Several companies make the quick snap T-connectors for adding trailer wiring to a vehicle. You simply disconnect the wiring plug in the back of your vehicle, snap in the connector between the two plugs and “Voilà!” However…

Canadian Tire had only one on their computer inventory for a 2006 Ford Ranger. It doesn’t have a location so the clerk figures it has been long sold. “By the way, Sir, it’s been discontinued.” NAPA and Bumper to Bumper sell a different brand, but that doesn’t make one for my truck. Ford can actually get one, but it has to be ordered and will take about a week. I tried one of the RV places but they don’t sell them, as is the case for the third auto parts store in town. I’ll phone the other two RV places today just to see, rather than run down the Alaska Highway to find out they don’t have them. Looks like I’m just going to do the old-fashioned splice in a new trailer connector thing that I was hoping to avoid.

Hopefully, we’ll get it wet tomorrow or Monday…

July 21, 2011July 21, 2011

Medical testing done!

I had my tests this morning and have come to the following conclusion. It’s amazing how good the words “no malignancy” and a coffee and muffin after 28 hours of fasting can make you feel. There is a bit of not good news, in that I need to have surgery to repair the colon and bladder in about two weeks time. However, we knew this had to be done anyway, so this is not a suprise from out of the blue.

I’ll be in hospital for about a week and off for about six weeks in total. That being said, this has probably been why I’ve been miserable since last fall and it will be nice to have it out of the way. On the other hand, I just sent off my cv and head shots for an audition that I will now have to cancel and I was looking forward to it.

There’s another good thing. Maybe, knowing all is well, I can undo a bit of bad behaviour. I somehow, with the stress of this, managed to start smoking again last weekend. I think I should go back to behaving myself, or at least behaving myself as well as I am capable…

July 20, 2011

Don’t try to follow medical logic

I have to go for day surgery for some tests tomorrow. I got much the same instructions as for knee surgery last month, but with a few slight differences. The pre-op directions make me wonder where the logic lies in what the medical profession calls things.

I’m only allowed to have clear liquids since 8 this morning. No solid food. We could say, “That’s boring” but it does become exciting with the definition of clear liquid. The usual suspects do get rounded up here, with apple juice, white grape juice and water on the list. However, black coffee and tea are on the list as well. They are on the list, if you don’t add milk or cream to them. Is coffee more clear than milk? Also, sugar in your tea or coffee are permitted since it’s not a solid food. Huh? By the way, a spoonful of sugar by itself is solid food. It just doesn’t count when you put it in your tea.

Then, there’s the colour thing. White grape juice or white cranberry are good. Red grape juice or red cranberry are no-no’s. While I do understand the line of logic in some situations, why would that affect someone going for knee surgery, like it did last month. Why does the colour matter?

Well, I’m going to leave this odd consideration and move on to supper. White grape juice and apple juice means I’m having a 2-course meal. Although, given the perversity of the rule, maybe bacon is a clear liquid. I have to go back to the list…

July 19, 2011July 19, 2011

A nice camping weekend… in spite of all

This is the second time we’ve gone camping and the second time we came in for a memorial service over the weekend. I went out on Thursday definitely not in the mood for a camping trip, but under some profound encouragement, went out anyway. I didn’t think I was going to be the happiest camper in the world. I was a bit down in the dumps over Steve Cardiff’s death and have not been feeling well for a few days. Neither contributed to the possibility of a great weekend.

In spite of it all, it was a nice weekend. We went out with Shawna and little Hanna and the weather, in spite of a forecast that had rain as the high point for the entire weekend (thunder showers were the forecast for the less than good days). The weather did hold for much of the weekend although the Kusawa Lake road was not in its best shape. Actually, the road was some of the worst I’ve seen it since they upgraded the road about 10 or so years ago. This was kind of curious since, at the turnoff from the Alaska Highway, there is a big Canadian Economic Action Plan sign with Road Improvements listed as the project on it. I suspect that whoever was overseeing the project spent a lot of money on beer.

As mentioned, we did come in for a bit. I came in Friday afternoon to go to the play reading of Catherine Frid’s Homegrown. I was definitely curious to see what all the controversy over the play was, since the Prime Minister’s Office stated that the play “glorified terrorism” and may have resulted in the termination of federal funding for the festival where it first ran. In case you’re curious, the children’s book Goodnight Moon is probably as controversial.

Saturday, Clara came back in the morning so we could go to Steve’s memorial service. It was a nice service and at least 400 people came out for it. After the service, I went outside for a bit. It was held at the Convention Centre, next to the High County Inn, locally famous for the 20 foot high wooden mountie in front. The last time I stepped outside for a smoke with Steve was under the mountie, so I sat out there for a bit myself with a nice little cigar. It’s kind of a hokie thing, but…

We went back in that evening. It was incredibly windy most of the weekend. I’m glad that we didn’t bring a boat with us since we would have taken it for nothing.

Katrina came out Saturday as well, so we had quite a group. Ryan was supposed to come out that evening, but he didn’t make it. We had a bit of a panic and Katrina and I drove out to the highway to cellphone range and called him. He had left too late so wasn’t coming out.

The girls left on Sunday after we made Sunday dinner: salt beef, roast, chicken and vegetables. Clara and I decided to stay an extra day and spent most of the evening on the beach in front of the campsite. We got up early and came back so I could pick up the new outboard for the inflatable boat. There should be pictures of that coming up shortly. All in all, I did have a decent time and, as you can see, camping isn’t the most stressful thing in the world…