The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 25

CITY THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1999 C3 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ark Tyler's awesome Amazon adventure deal in limbo again City committee rejects region's Lansdowne plan By Joanne laucius ,1 1 'vm A f' ir'V '1 A 1 A -rn i -v, 1 'jU I i i It 1 Hf-. 1 ft lA "'V "I I i I i 1 1. LL v- 1 A plane crash in the jungle and showdowns with spiders are all a part of a young Embrun actor's summer in Toronto. Tony Atherton reports. Talk about your summer jobs.

After a hard day's work, Embrun's Tyler Hynes brushes the tarantulas off his legs, shoos away the jaguars, steps gingerly over the anacondas, scoots past the cascading waterfall and the trailing jungle vines and hops on his skateboard. You see, 13-year-old Tyler is working in the Amazon this summer. And living in Toronto. It's about a three-second commute. Actually Tyler is working in Amazon Peter Benchley's Amazon, to be precise a $26 million syndicated adventure series being shot by Alliance Atlantis.

It will premiere this fall on ONtv and TV stations around the world. Tyler spends most of his days surrounded by creepy crawlies and semi-hostile natives on a lush set that would make Gilligan jungle-green with envy. The size of three football fields, it includes precipitous cliffs, a verdant rain forest and a river with a three-storey waterfall. "It's all jungle and it looks so real, and you just step off set, a few feet over, and you're on like perfect cement," Tyler said recently during a break in filming. "You're like, 'Wait a sec The "perfect" cement is as remarkable to Tyler as the faux jungle; he's almost as passionate about skateboarding as he is about acting, though acting probably came easier to him.

In Peter Benchley's Amazon, Tyler plays Will Bauer, the 14-year-old son of missionary parents, and the only kid among six survivors of a commercial-jet crash in a remote section of the Amazon jungle. The disparate group, a teacher with six 'months to live, a jaded flight attendant, the winner of a trip to Rio, an opera diva and a egotistical heart surgeon, must learn to work together in a savage environment. Tyler's co-stars include Madison's Chris Martin, 1980s teen star C. Thomas Howell (The Outsiders) and, in an offbeat role as an elder of a white Amazon tribe descended from 17th century explorers, the redoubtable John Neville. With nine episodes under his belt and 13 to go before filming wraps in December, Tyler says he's getting a fix on his character.

"At first he was pretty quiet. He's more comfortable now (but) pretty serious. I guess the jungle's made him more of a man." For his part, Tyler is in no hurry to grow up. Though he's been a professional actor since age eight, and is now earning a wage that most adult actors can only dream of, his career plans include making plenty of time "to hang out with my friends." That suits his mother, Betty, just fine. The Hynes family keeps horses on a hobby farm in Embrun, and Tyler is going into Grade 8 at Mother Teresa Catholic School in Russell (a tutor keeps him up to speed when he's working).

Since April, Mrs. Hynes and Tyler have been living in a rented home not far from the set, but making frequent trips back to the farm where Tyler has been able to rejoin his family and classmates. Since the summer began, Mrs. Hynes has been bringing Tyler's friends down from Ottawa for regular visits. She doesn't want her son to miss out on being a kid.

"When he comes home to the farm, it's a normal life, doing chores. There's hay to be put in the barn, things to be done, and friends to hang out with," says Mrs. Hynes. She's been keeping Tyler's career in perspective for five years now, ever since a two-week stint at a summer camp run by Toronto's Young People's Theatre gave focus to her son's innate showman- ship. "I was trying to find something for him to do because he was always in my face, performing.

I couldn't talk on the phone, I couldn't do anything without him on the coffee table dancing or some-: thing." When Tyler was eight, Mrs. Hynes even consid-' ered asking a friend, who performed as a clown, to let him tag along with her. Then came the summer camp, where Tyler took to acting with unruffled ease. Right after the camp, the YPT held auditions for a production of A Christmas Carol, and Tyler A-Lansdowne Park deal is up in the air again after an Ottawa city council committee voted against a package that offered the region $675,000 a year to take over the park. The vote means that the on-off saga of transferring Lansdowne Park to the region is once again off.

At least until next Wednesday, when full council will debate under what conditions they're willing to proceed with the transfer. The current a package would give the region $675,000 a year for the next 15 years to cover the cost of capital improvements to Lansdowne. The region would assume full ownership. Under a previous deal, the region would have taken over the city's sewer system, which it would amalgamate with its own to save money. Yesterday, councillors voted to review the sewer program to see what savings could be found.

But some councillors balked at giving the region money to take over Lansdowne. "If (regional chair) Mr. Chiarelli wants to keep it public, he should look for ways to give us money for it," said Councillor Inez Berg, whose ward includes Lansdowne Park. Some councillors say when the issue comes to full council next week they'll vote against any move to give away Lansdowne in a deal that also demands cash. "It's like keeping on paying the mortgage, and they get to keep the house," said Councillor Richard Cannings.

"It's the weirdest deal of this century. It doesn't make any sense." But Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, a proponent of the deal, said the city will save $500,000 a year if it divests itself of the money-losing park. He added that in the next few years the city will have to spend millions in renovations to the aging facility. "If we don't want to save half a million dollars a year, then we kill this deal," he said. Meanwhile, Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli said the mayor's offer is the only one on the table.

"There will be no negotiations. There will be no discussions with the mayor. If it doesn't pass city council, we're out of it," he said yesterday. If city council approves the deal, Mr. Chiarelli said he'll bring it to regional council and encourage other councillors to vote for it.

"People are totally fed up with the comings and goings on Lansdowne. It's up to our councils to put up or shut up on the Lansdowne deal," he said. With files from Mohammed Adam BROOKE PALMER, ALLIANCEATLANTIS Tyler Hynes has been a professional actor since he was only eight years old. The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo and played an orphan in Steve Guttenberg's forthcoming family feature, Home Team. Playing Will on Peter Benchley's Amazon is a step into another league.

It's the first Toronto audition that's panned out for Tyler, and a major dramatic role in what has been one of the most highly sought-after syndicated series of the season. Halfway through production, Tyler's part has proved juicy. Will gets separated from the rest of the survivors after being marked with a strange symbol by Neville's Ghost tribe. He then falls into the clutches of the Spider tribe, who take his symbol as an affront. A prisoner at first, he is eventually adopted by the tribe's leader, and begins to learn their ways.

"I like the kind of characters that are really deep, and you play mostly off their eyes and that's exactly the way (Will) is," says Tyler. "I'm hoping that eventually I can get big enough to go to L.A. and do some stuff, but that's in a while from now. I'm hoping to do a movie on my break (from Amazon), but just one because I want some time off, too. But if there was a really good role out there, I'd do it." won the part of Tiny Tim.

He was hooked. But the family picked up and moved to Embrun the next fall, and Tyler had to put his acting aspirations on hold. By the following May his parents were ready to let him try again, this time at an audition for the part of the young Tommy in the touring company of the Broadway production based on The Who's classic rock opera. Tyler turned 10 on the day of his audition, and got the part almost immediately. "We had no idea what we were getting into," his mother recalls.

"We thought he could do it for a little while, and that would be it. But no." Within four days of his audition, Tyler had to be in Toronto for rehearsals, followed by months on the road. "It threw our lives into havoc," says Mrs. Hynes. But it earned Tyler his Actor's Equity card and gave him a leg up on future auditions.

He began working regularly on productions in Montreal, appearing with Mariel Hemingway in a feature film production of Louisa May Alcott's Little Men, and landing a recurring role on the remake of TV's Lassie. He had a guest spot on such series as Are You Afraid of the Dark, Soldier of Fortune and rw 1 1 1 'We're so stuck' STANDBY I TEAi'lR PREI-l 1 i 4 didn't happen. We're a five minute drive from the Walkley office. I said to them, 'if you get a cancellation, couldn't you call and we'll be there in five or 10 But they said they couldn't do that. At that place, everyone is so tense and snippy.

Customer service is terrible. Why don't they hire a bunch of examiners for the next six months to clear the wait? I said, "What are you doing to rectify and they said "We're shortening the road 1 was told today that I should consider myself lucky. Some places are booking for Sue Kavanagh TM1 Ml PATRICK DOYLE, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Traffic jam for licences ticks off drivers Tempers flare as lines grow longer at Walkley Road office 1 BY JEREMY BARKER Tempers were short and waits were i long yesterday at the Ottawa driver examination centre as many sat impa- tiently for hours hoping for a chance to take a driving test and to bypass a months-long backlog One woman booking an exam yes-! terday at the Walkley Road testing centre was told there were no avail-; able spaces until Jan. 24, 2000. She said she was in the middle of a job search and needed to be able to drive to get to interviews but was told there was nothing that could be done for her.

Ministry of Transportation staff told her and others waiting that they could try to get a test by going stand-i by, in case anybody who had booked an appointment did not show up. That's what Mohammad-Reza Nas-saji-Matin had been doing for the past two days, but to no avail. "This is ridiculous," said Mr. Nas-, saji-Matin, an immigrant from Iran. "I have 10 years of driving experience and I just bought a car but I can't dri- ve it." He came to the centre at 8:30 I a.m.

Tuesday and at 7 a.m. yesterday and was still third in line, the same position he held at 4 p.m. that after- Mohammad-Reza Nassaji-Matin says he has just bought a new car but can't drive it because of the 'ridiculous' wait for a driver's test. With five children and one child who needs frequent medical attention, Sue Kavanagh is tired of waiting for her nanny to get a driver's permit. I am in a really serious bind.

On April 16th I had twin boys, and I hired a live-in nanny from New Zealand to help out as I also have three other children, aged 9, 7, and 4. One of my twins actually has Downs Syndrome, so it means we'll be going to doctors appointments more frequently. I'm so stressed, my stomach is in a knot. Rachael was told upon her arrival that her New Zealand licence is not recognized and she must write a test and do a G-i driving test and a G-2. She wrote the test, but the earliest available appointment for the driving test is January 2000.

Only after she takes this driving test can she book an appointment to do her G-2 test. My understanding is she can't have kids in the car with her and she has to have a licensed adult with her thp whole time until she gets her G-2. We tried to do the standby option but were informed that she must have her vehicle at the office at all times and be ready to go. In our situation, there is no way I can drive Rachael to the licensing office and wait with three children and two babies all day until they can give her an appointment. On Monday we went to wait in the line-up because my husband is on vacation this week, but it was too long.

On Wednesday we went back, but it time slots for the people in the standby line. "They've seen us waiting here all day, they should give us a chance." Mr. Nassaji-Matin said he had been told the centre was short an instructor and was squeezing appointments into the other six instructors' schedules. "They had all seven yesterday and they didn't squeeze any of us in," he said, exasperated. Late in the afternoon, a staff member handed those waiting standby a list of testing centres outside Ottawa Cornwall, Renfrew Hawksbury, Pembroke, Smith Falls, Winchester and suggested they might find it easier to get a driving test elsewhere.

"What they need is five more instructors," said Mr. Nassaji-Matin. "If you schedule with a driving school, you can get in very easy. They can do it, but we can't." noon. "You can do the written test in a flash, but this takes months," said Mr.

Nassaji-Matin, who called in June for an appointment and was given a date in November. Rosalba Dambra didn't even bother booking a test, wanting to get her licence sooner and figuring she had more likelihood getting in standby. "Now I've wasted my days and I can't take any more time off," she said, after two days of waiting on the bench in the office. An Italian immigrant, Ms. Dambra said she was worried about having to take her test during the winter months.

"I've been driving for 15 years, but not in the snow. Imagine driving in snow the first time to get your licence." She said she didn't understand why the staff couldn't find any available Rachael is very frustrated too. She's had her licence for two years and had an international drivers licence when she got here. I was told today I should consider myself lucky. Some places are booking for June.

Both my husband and I work at Jet-form. I'm on maternity leave and need to go back to work on Oct. 4. 1 don't have a choice. I'm going to have to do something because I go back to work.

If I had known about this ahead of time I would have hired somebody who could drive. We're so stuck. But (what about) other people? If you needed to have a licence for a job and had to wait six months I feel bad for them. As told to the Citizen's Kathy Cook.