Star-Phoenix from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada • 19

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan TheStarPhoenix.com LOCALNATIONAL B7 Power outage Auditor general criticizes govt pandemic planning Reuters Emergency crews shut down Idylwyld Drive in both directions near 31st Street Tuesday after a soft drink truck brought down power lines and a pole with a transformer. Traffic flow was eventually restored, but crews were still working on reconnecting lines late Into the evening. (SP Photo by Greg Pender) OTTAWA (CNS) The federal department chaiged with disaster planning is itself a disaster when it comes to preparing for emergencies as varied as the 1 I Hu pandemic, flixxis and terrorist attacks, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser. We found that Public Safety Canada has not exercised the leadership necessuy toco-ordinate emergency management activities," Fraser concluded in her latest report, tabled in the I louse of Commons on Tuesday. Her department did not study the current H1N1 crisis, but Fraser believes that had Public Safety Canada put pandemic management plans in place, there would have been less confusion.

"Certainly an approved plan would have clearly indicated what the role was for Public Safety Canada, what the roles of the oilier departments and the federal government would be, and would also have brought in the co-ordination with tire provinces, municipalities and territories, Fraser told reporters. So its important very important that the role and responsibilities of Public Safety Canada be agreed to and endorsed in these emergencies. The opposition parties seized on Frasers findings in the House of Commons question period, blaming the long lineups for H1N1 immunizations ami a vaccine shortage on the Conservative governments failure to have an organized plan. Doesnt that begin to explain why the governments response to this crisis has been so slow and so confused charged Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. The Conservatives were also hammered for relying on a sole manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, for the vaccine.

The federal government is responsible for buying the vaccine and distributing it to the provinces. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan replied that the government has a separate pandemic management plan in place, overseen by Health Canada, that should not be confused with the Public Safety departments more general role to oversee national disasters. Auditor General Sheila Fraser takes part in a Tuesday news conference He stressed that the federal government only plays a co-ordinating role in emergency preparedness and thiit disaster and emergency management Is primarily a provincial issue. In her report, Fraser highlighted not only H1NI, but also severe acute respiratory syndrome, the 2003 eastern seaboard power blackout massive flooding and terrorist threats as examples of emergencies that fall under the coordination of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The department, which was created in 2003, has yet to finalize a federal emergency response plan and appears to be offering no guidance to other federal departments in developing their own sub-plans, the auditor concluded.

Building the capability to manage a coordinated federal response to an emergency of national significance is a huge undertaking and cannot be achieved overnight, Fraser wrote. She noted, however, that the department has spent only one-third of its annual budget for emergency preparedness in the last two years. In this context, it is evident that Public Safety has been unable to develop its capacity for emergency management, she wrote. El benefits for self-employed proposed B.C., Sask. at odds over surgery costs By James Wood reiterated that B.C.

charging a premium had Saskatchewan News Network been a given from the start since that was the with Victoria Times-Colonist files only way such an agreement would work for his province. REGINA Two close allies in the self- Obviously one of the things I emphasize styled "new west" found themselves at odds is we would obviously not just be doing it at Tuesday over the notion of Saskatchewan pay- cost. What would be the benefit'?" he said, ing a premium price to British Columbia to Im not just going to displace British have 400 of its residents receive hip and knee Columbians. There would have to be a pre-surgeries on the West Coast. mium in place for us to consider doing it.

That In the Saskatchewan legislature, the Opposi- premium would be used to get British Colum-tion NDP pointed to a radio interview where bians through the system quicker." B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon suggested NDP health critic Judy Junor said McMorris Saskatchewan had been on board with paying needs to clear up what is at the very least a a premium from the start as it looked for ways, misunderstanding of fairly large proportions. to hittle down lengthy surgical wait times. She said the onus is on Saskatchewan But Saskatchewan Party Health Minister because Wall and provincial health officials Don McMorris denied there had ever been any initiated the discussions with B.C. discussions about the province paying an addi- Somebody gave the wrong impression obvi- tional cost.

ously and who gave that wrong impression? It That's not right I dont know why he certainly appears to be us, said Junor. was saying that because I have had no conver- Wall said Monday sending more patients out sations with the British Columbia health min- of province is the last option being considered ister, McMorris told reporters. as the government looks at ways to keep its McMorris restated Premier Brad Walls con- throne speech commitment to reduce surgi-tention from Monday that there had been no talk cal wait times to no longer than three months of a premium when Wall raised the idea with B.C within four years. Premier Gordon Campbell at the June Western Falcon said even with a premium, an agree-Premiers Conference and that a premium could nient where B.C. sold surgeries would make nip any potential deal in the bud.

And he said two sense for Saskatchewan because the province phone conversations initiated by a Saskatchewan would not incur up-front costs for infrastruc-health bureaucrat with B.C. officials only dealt ture and ongoing costs for surgeons and staff, with capacity," not cost. The NDP has said a deal with B.C. would McMorris suggested the bad political optics institutionalize two-tier health care because of B.C. selling surgeries to out-of-province Saskatchewan doesnt pay travel and accom-residents when it has its own health-care issues modation costs for patients who receive ser-may have played a role in Falcons comments vices outside the province.

That means only about the premium. those who can afford it would be able to go to I have no explanation as to why the B.C. B.C. for surgery, minister would have said that. It may be some- But McMorris said there were 366 out-of-thing about cutting back health-care services province hip and knee surgeries paid for in the and being under pressure when theyre say- last four years of the NDP government, meaning, Well, Saskatchewans going to come ing such two-tier medicine already existed, and utilize.

I cant answer his questions, said Those surgeries were performed under McMorris, who in response to a reporters sug- reciprocal agreements between the provinces, gestion said he would call the B.C. minister. No premium price was paid. But speaking to reporters in Victoria, Falcon jwoodsp.canwest.com Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, said the initiative fills a glaring gap for people running their own business, especially women. Under the proposal, self-employed peo- Ele will be eligible to collect special El enefits after they have paid into the system for one full year, and earned a minimum of $6,000 during that year.

Premium payments could begin as early as Jan. 1,2010. OTTAWA (CNS) Farmers, hairdressers, real-estate agents and other self-employed workers will have access to Earental, sickness and compassionate-care enefits as early as January 2011 under legislation proposed Tuesday by the federal Conservative government. The voluntary plan for collecting special employment insurance benefits was applauded by representatives of small business owners, as well as the federal NDP, as a long-overdue break for self-employed people. Family mourns victim of fatal beating fifth in Saskatoon this year.

Miller is in custody following a court appearance on Monday. He returns to court Nov. 18. Results from Keenatchs autopsy on Monday have not been released so no cause of death has been confirmed. A wake on the Big River First Nation continued all day Tuesday.

Big River is about 1 1 5 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert. Sophie Keenatch, 73, raised her grandson since he was six months old. Michael was a really good child, she said from her home in Big River. He went to school like everybody else. He rode horses.

He never did anything bad. She said her grandson would often call and never failed to visit when he was in the area. (Michael) was always happy and talking to everybody, she said. He had a lot of friends on the reserve. I dont think hed ever start a fight.

Thats what I know about him. jjwarrensp. canwest. com By Jeremy Warren of The StarPhoenix Friends and family of Michael Keenatch, the Saskatoon man killed in a weekend beating, gathered to mourn the father of four Tuesday at the Big River First Nation. Just before 3 p.m.

on Oct. 31, Keenatch was seriously injured in a violent, daytime altercation in the parking lot of a strip mall on the 300 block of Second Avenue North. He died nine hours later in hospital. He was lovely and friendly, said his cousin Douglas Keenatch, who saw him the day before he died at the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations fall assembly. Michael was joking around, of course.

I hadnt seen him since spring. Keenatch, 37, leaves behind four children, two boys and two girls. Fifty-year-old John Newbum Miller has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Saturdays homicide, the Sask. MP Trost launches petition against funding of planned parenthood group Plaskett enters guilty plea in sex assault By Jenn Sharp for The StarPhoenix A petition calling for a stop to federal funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has been launched by Sas-katoon-Humboldt MP Brad Trost. Trost presented the petition to the House of Commons Monday.

IPPF is funded through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and, according to Trosts petition, promotes the establishment of abortion as an international human right and lobbies aggressively to impose permissive abortion laws on developing nations. The petition says that the government pledged $18 million to the IPPF over four years and that the IPPF does not support physicians freedom to practice according to their conscience andor religious beliefs regarding abortion referral. According to IPPFs website, the federation promotes sexual and reproductive health rights and provides health services for people in six world regions. Its work is focused in five priority areas: Access to services for maiginalized groups, education services for adolescents, advocacy campaigns, HIV-AIDS and abortion services. Trost, a Conservative, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Evelyn Reisncr, executive director of the Sexual Health Centre in Saskatoon (formerly Saskatoon Planned Parenthood), says while its services are not directly funded by the federal government, if government funding is cut off to IPPF, it will have a negative effect on women in Saskatoon. Philosophically, this will have a huge impact, she said, adding a trickle-down effect would happen quickly. It starts in the federal level and moves to the grassroots level where we work with the community directly. That momentum will have a huge impact directly on the work we do in Saskatoon; Reisner added a strong conservative community in the city often makes it hard for her program to receive support and funding. possessing child pom between Dec.

19, 2005, and July 6, 2006. That charge was laid following an investigation into the sexual assault, which happened between June 3 and June 27, 2006. The victim of the sexual assault was a girl under 14 years of age, whose identity is protected by law. Details of the incident are banned from publication until Plasketts next court date. He was released from custody with strict bail conditions on May 22, 2008.

Plaskett subsequently accumulated five charges of breaching those conditions, but remains free on bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the child pom charge next March in provincial court. A Saskatoon man who was charged last year with possession of child pornography pleaded guilty Monday to sexual assault in connection with a 2006 incident in the Spir-itwood area. Steven Plaskett, who is still awaiting trial for the child pom charge, is due to return to Court of Queens Bench next month for sentencing arguments regarding the sexual assault, after a pre-sentence report is prepared. The report will examine the possibility of a conditional sentence with electronic monitoring and is also expected to discuss Plasketts risk of committing another sex offence if he is does not receive a jail sentence, court heard.

The 29-year-old is accused of accessing and RPC guard testifies about Tarala role in restraining prisoner Tarala, who had worked for the corrections system for 27 years, was fired in October 2007, Smith was the youngest prisoner at the federal psychiatric hospital' Erison and was difficult because of cr frequent attempts to harm herself and her aggressive outbursts toward staff, Morris said. That night, Smith repeatedly choked herself with- ligatures shed hidden in her vagina and had obscured the cell window and camera with a crayon. Also earlier that night, she had repeatedly banged her own head against the concrete floor until she had a bloody abrasion on her forehead and had climbed up onto the sink and banged on the ceiling, Morris said. Tarala roughly pulled Smith to the floor as Smith pleaded with him, saying, Ill be good, Morris said. Tarala said to Smith, If you want to act like a animal, Ill treat you like a animal, Morris said, recalling the incident, which occurred over six frantic minutes shortly after midnight on March 24, 2007.

Tarala, 61, is charged with one count of common assault on Smith. His trial, before Judge Barry Singer at Saskatoon provincial court, resumed Tuesday after a two-month hiatus. Smith committed suicide in a Kitchener, prison about six months after the Saskatoon incident. Charges of criminal negligence causing death were laid against four correctional employees in Ontario, but were dropped. During the incident, Morris was squatting near Smith, who was then prone on the floor, when Morris saw a hand grasp Smiths quilted gown and lift her far enough off the floor for Morris to slide the restraint belt under her body and attach it to her waist A previous witness, nurse Cindee Tchorzewski, testified Tarala struck Smith in the head and shoulders during the incident and lifted her by holding her hair and gown.

In cross-examination by defence lawyer Bill Seines Tuesday, Morris said she wondered about the difference between her own and Tchorzewski observations. I thought, How could I not have seen that? I didnt see it, she said. Tarala, who was in charge of the institution during the night shift, influenced staff to protect him in the reports they were required to submit about the use of force upon the prisoner, Morris said. Institution procedure required staff to give the reports to the supervisor, who was Tarala. After the incident Tarala had angrily paced the nurses station as those present wrote their reports.

We need to stick together or management will hang us out to diy, Morris recalled Tarala saying. Morris said she gave an inaccurate account of the incident. He was standing over me and I was scared, Morris said. The trial resumes today in Court of Queens Bench. badamsp.

canwest. com By Betty Ann Adam of The StarPhoenix A guard who was in a cell at the Regional Psychiatric Centre (RPC) in 2007 when a supervisor is alleged to have assaulted a female prisoner testified Tuesday she did not see John William Tarala strike the young woman. Corrections officer April Morris testified she was trying to place a restraint belt around the waist of 19-year-old psychiatric patient Ashley Smith while an angry Tarala repeatedly yelled at her to get the f- belt on her. Minutes earlier, Smith had been lying unresponsive on the floor with a ligature tied around her neck. By the time staff entered her cell, the ligature was gone and Smith was on her knees, Morris said.

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