Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Lethbridge-East MLA Maria Fitzpatrick was surprised when her domestic abuse survivor story went viral. The St. Johns native drew a standing ovation in the Alberta Legislature. 6 Wednesday November 25 2015 POLITICS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Please leave a message at 872-5543 for details. WESCLEAN NORTHERN SALES LTD. Ph 867 875-5100 Fax 867 875-5155 Avalon Cat Hair - long Size - medium Gender - female Avalon is a very loving and beautiful cat. She is spayed and is up-to-date with all her shots.If you think you have a home for a Avalon please call the shelter at 872-5543. Please leave a message at 872-5543 for details. WESCLEAN NORTHERN SALES LTD. Ph 867 875-5100 Fax 867 875-5155 E-mail infowescleannwt.com web www.wescleannwt.com Avalon Cat Hair - long Size - medium Gender - female Avalon is a very loving and beautiful cat. She is spayed and is up-to-date with all her shots.If you think you have a home for a Avalon please call the shelter at 872-5543. Please leave a message at 872-5543 for details. WESCLEAN NORTHERN SALES LTD. Ph 867 875-5100 Fax 867 875-5155 E-mail infowescleannwt.com web www.wescleannwt.com Avalon Cat Hair - long Size - medium Gender - female Avalon is a very loving and beautiful cat. She is spayed and is up-to-date with all her shots.If you think you have a home for a Avalon please call the shelter at 872-5543. SpayedNeutered Up-to-datewithroutineshots House trained MinnieFemaleAdult Grey and white Looking for a new home Minnie was a very scared shy cat when she first came in. She had been kept in a bedroom and was not socialized. She has come a long way but will require some patience to gain her trust. She is a great cat just not good with other animals. By CRAIG GILBERT Fireweedrocksscruffytreesandsafehaven greeted the future MLA for Lethbridge-East and her two young daughters when they ar- rived in Yellowknife on July 24 1981. Sixty-two hours by bus removed from her husband and tormentor back in Cincinnati Maria Fitzpatrick could nally start divorce proceedings against him unafraid of another injury to herself or death threats against any three of them when the paperwork arrived at his door. By law he would have been served almost immediately. It took her three tries to leave she was forced to return both times be- causethesheltersshebroughtherfamilytohad two- and three-week limits respectively not even a Band-Aid in terms of resetting a life. Now with her sister she could start over but she didnt stop looking over her shoulder until 1992 when she learned he had died. When I left my ex my sister was living in Yellowknife so she had opened her home for me to come up there with the girls she said. It was far away and it was safe. When I got there the reweed was blooming all over the place and I kept saying to my sister Oh my gosh its just like home. Im from Newfound- landoriginallysolotsofreweedlotsofrocks lots of short scruffy trees and lots of water. Fitzpatrick who prefers to be called Maria broughtherfellowMLAstotheirfeetwhenshe shared her story while speaking in support of Bill 204 which makes it easier for a person to leave an abusive relationship by allowing a lease to be broken early without penalty. Proof of domestic violence can be presented to a landlord in several forms including a state- ment from a social worker nurse physician psychologist or police ofcer or a court-issued emergency protection or restraining order. SeveralMLAsmenandwomencommended Fitzpatrick for bravely sharing the details of her abusive nine-year marriage. All of them voted in favour of the bill which was tabled by Independent MLA Deborah Drever. Fitz- patrick is a New Democrat. New Democrat MLA Shaye Anderson said the RCMP estimate they will respond to 427 domestic violence calls in Leduc this year but that incidents are underreported by as much as 80 per cent meaning there could be more than 2000 such calls in the town. Families in Leduc-Beaumont can go to the closest womens shelter which is the Cam- rose Womens Shelter but they need the abil- ity to break a lease without penalty in order to move on he said. Calgary-Mountain View MLA and Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann reached back to 1996 to groundbreaking legislation the Victims of Domestic Violence Act which made it possi- ble for a victim to obtain an emergency pro- tection order granting exclusive occupation of his or her residence for a specied period. An EPO is one of the documents that could be used to break a lease early under Bill 204. Importantly former Edmonton MLA Alice Hansons private members bill ac- knowledged that perhaps the greatest barrier victims face to escaping an abusive spouse or partner is not wanting to be on the street such a basic basic protection and disincen- tive Swann said. A tiny huge piece of the puzzle Fitzpatrick has shared her story before with other women and womens groups she was involved with but not publicly. I talked to my daughters because I thought it would end up on Facebook but I really didnt think it was going to go viral. Yesterday morning I received an email from a friend of mine who is in Africa and he had seen it. She told her colleagues in the legislature her childrenwerescarredforlifeandshewouldhave beenhorriedifasingleonevotedagainstthe bill which passed unanimously. She told the Journalitisalittletinypieceoftheapproach to ending family violence that would be huge for someone trying to escape an abusive home andwouldmakeanimpactinsmallandremote communities where social services are sparse. I was familiar with lots of women in the Northwhoeitherdidntleavebecausetheyhad nowhere to go or they left and they were kinda tracked down she said. If you were in a com- munity like Cambridge Bay youre not driving out of there. Youre there and everybody in the communitymayknowaboutitandpeoplewould take sides. You could still be at great risk. Fitzpatrick has spoken to Drever about the next piece of legislation that should be drafted and presented as early as the next sitting in February. Ideally we should reach a point where we dont have to have shelters for anybody thats being abused she said. But I dont think thats going to happen in my lifetime. My abuse ended in 1981 and here we are 30 years later and its still an issue. In fact we have way more womens shelters in Alberta than we did at that time. The shelters in Ed- monton last year got 50000 calls. You cant even wrap your head around that. MLAs survivor story brings legislature to feet PhotocourtestoftheGovernmentofAlberta By DALI CARMICHAEL Business man father and friend John Chadi was all of these things. A three-term councillor for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalos Ward 2 Chadi passed away on Nov. 15 after living with bile duct cancer for over two years. Chadi was originally elected to council in 1998 only a year after moving to Fort Chipewyan where he helped his father run a family-owned business. John Chadi was a friend of mine for over 25 years and you know John was always the kind of guy that would always be inter- ested about others said Ward 1 Councillor Keith McGrath. Even in his bed in hospital John would never talk about his own condi- tion his rst words and his last words were always wondering how everybody else was doing. That kind of illustrates he always cared about other people and he would never see anybody do without. Not because John has passed away but I would say the same things about John if he was alive today he genuinely cared about people. Before entering politics he gained business acumen as a car salesman in Fort McMurray experience that would be essential in his po- litical role and as the owner of several busi- nesses in Fort Chip including trucking and contracting companies Chadis Restaurant and the Wood Buffalo Liquor Store. Chadi sat on council for 10 years before being asked to step away after he missed eight consecutive weeks of council meet- ings in 2008. In 2013 he re-entered the political ring discovering he had the rare form of cancer only days after winning the election along with fellow Ward 1 Councillor Julia Cardinal. Its just sad that he died but you know he outsmarted the doctors because they only gave him a couple of months to live and he lasted a couple of years McGrath said. He fought a real good battle. In honour of his well-attended service a regularly scheduled municipal council meeting was moved back a day to allow all to give their last respects. Our thoughts and prayers are rmly with Cr. Chadis family as they mourn his pass- ing following an incredible life lived in the service of his community Mayor Melissa Blake said in a written statement. John will be deeply missed by all of us and we can only hope his family nds peace at this sad and difcult time. On behalf of Council I wish to express our sincerest condolences to Cr. Chadis family friends and the entire community. Social media messages showed anoutpour- ing of admiration for Chadi as well. Its a sad day for our region Ward 1 Coun- cillor Tyran Ault tweeted. Councillor Chadi was a great colleague friend and mentor. Truly a great man. Rest easy John. Wood Buffalo councillor father and friend dies of cancer POLITICS IN MEMORIAM