FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
NEWS
by FFWD StaffFluoride opponents want city to let people decide
Calgarians for Choice, a group opposed to mandatory water fluoridation, is deeply concerned about the composition and process that city council will follow prior to holding another fluoride plebiscite in 1998.
"Our first choice is to let the people of Calgary decide the fluoridation issue," says Jack Locke, member of Calgarians for Choice. "We are very concerned that the City of Calgary's fluoridation literature review committee may not be impartial."
The city is in the process of selecting Calgarians to sit on a panel to review scientific literature that has been published since 1989. Advertisements in last weekend's Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun called for written submissions to a yet-to-be-selected review committee.
Elke Babiuk, another member of Calgarians for Choice and the person behind the 1990 petition that collected 48,000 signatures calling for a fluoride plebiscite is taking a wait and see position on the issue.
"If the city can establish an impartial panel to review the truth about fluoride, we should let them go ahead before passing judgment," says Babiuk.
Calgarians for Choice is a newly-formed alliance of Calgarians and organizations that seek an open and fair public process that allows citizens to decide the fluoridation issue.
In a previous referendum, city residents voted in favor of fluoridation.
MAAC raising money to aid Calgary musicians
"I've been in the music industry my whole life," says veteran rocker Doug Kuss, currently in the employ of the band Livin' Daylights." I know how hard it is for young bands to get to the proper place where they can do some things."
So Kuss, along with partner Candy Kuss (no, the same last name isn't a coincidence), being good rock and roll Samaritans, have invested considerable time, money and effort into an organization that they hope will become a major benefactor in aiding Calgary's ever-burgeoning music scene. Their goal is to establish a kind of private grant council that will raise funds through regularly staged cabarets, with the proceeds going into a reserve to provide support for local artists.
"Basically, we put the company together to support local musicians," explains Candy. "We're a non-profit organization and the cabarets we have are fund-raisers for MAAC - Musical Arts Appreciation Coalition - and any money raised will be used to help bands self promote, like if they need posters, or recording or touring."
"These cabarets are going to provide a paid venue for the band," continues Doug. "(It will give them) a chance to set up some of their merchandising and we'll try to get some press happening and get some people out that might not normally see that band. In a lot of cases some bands might have one or two clubs they can play in town - well, it's pretty hard to be a full-time musician and dedicate yourself to the music industry if you can only play once every two months."
However, MAAC is still very much in the testing and development stage; as of yet they haven't developed a set criteria for dispersing funds, namely because they have to raise them first. With that accomplished though, the Kusses maintain that they will be open for a diverse variety of acts.
"We'll go through their project, how much it's going to cost, etc. and then we can determine how much we can fund it and how together we feel they are," says Doug.
MAAC's first fundraiser is Friday, November 21 at the South Calgary Community Hall, with Doug's band Livin' Daylights.
Canada Olympic Park ski season opens
More than 2,000 skiers and boarders hit the ski hill at Canada Olympic Park November 15 and 16, making for one of the best opening weekends in the history of the park.
The expanded daylodge was put to the test early. The 16,500-square-foot expansion to the Frank King Olympic Visitors Centre houses a newly completed rental shop.
The snowboard park is expected to be completed this week, weather permitting. This year a full FIS halfpipe will also be created for the Canadian Snowboard Federation Olympic Halfpipe Trials taking place January 5 to 11. As the halfpipe will be twice as long as the one last year, it will not be ready until late December.
The ski hill is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends and holidays. For ski condition information, call the Talking Yellow Pages line at 521-5222, code 8925.
Impaired driving offences continue decline
The number of people charged with impaired driving offences in Canada fell for the 13th consecutive year in 1996. Despite this decline, the number charged with impaired driving causing death has remained fairly constant.
Police charged 78,894 persons with impaired driving offences in 1996, down six per cent from 1995. Since peaking in 1981, the number of persons charged has dropped by 50 per cent. The decline in impaired driving has also been evident in several other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Holland, Germany and Australia.
Over one-third of all driver fatalities in 1995 in Canada involved alcohol. Traffic accidents are the primary cause of death for teens aged 15 to 19, and the second leading cause of death for those aged 20 to 44. The most serious consequence of driving while impaired is the death of an innocent driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian. In 1996, 133 persons were charged with impaired driving causing death. This number has remained relatively constant during the 1990s.
All provinces and territories followed the national trend of declining rates
of impaired driving. Over the last five years, this decline has ranged from 22 per cent in Quebec to 53 per cent in Newfoundland. Saskatchewan continued to report the highest provincial rate of impaired driving in 1996 with a rate of 718 persons charged per 100,000 population 16 and over. This rate was 40 per cent greater than the next highest province, Prince Edward Island, at 507 per 100,000. For the second year in a row, Newfoundland reported the lowest rate (265), followed by Ontario (279) and British Columbia (287).
Eight of the nine largest census metropolitan areas also reported decreases between 1991 and 1996, ranging from 28 per cent in Montreal to 54 per cent in Vancouver. Quebec was the only large urban area not to have followed this trend, reporting a slight decrease (-0.6 per cent).
Although young drivers are often believed to have a high incidence of impaired driving, data from a sample of police agencies show that young drivers aged 16 to 19 years accounted for five per cent of both accused persons and licensed drivers. Impaired driving is highest among 20-to-44 year-olds and falls off dramatically for older Canadians.
The percentage of fatally injured drivers who were legally impaired (80 mg. of alcohol per 100 ml. of blood) has also been declining, from 43 per cent in 1987 to 35 per cent in 1995, according to figures from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, which maintains a database on fatal traffic accidents in Canada. Three-quarters of these fatally injured impaired drivers had a very high blood alcohol concentration (150 mg. and over). Among the fatally injured in 1995, rates of impairment were higher for snowmobilers (41 per cent) and truck drivers (40 per cent) than for car drivers (34 per cent) and motorcyclists (32 per cent).
The Criminal Code provides for a minimum fine of $300 for a first conviction of impaired driving, 14 days in prison for a second offence and 90 days in prison for subsequent offences. Of the almost 50,000 persons found guilty by provincial courts in nine jurisdictions in 1995/96, 66 per cent were sentenced to a fine (as the most serious sentence), 22 per cent to imprisonment, nine per cent to probation and three per cent to another type of sentence. The median jail term was 30 days.
In addition to Criminal Code provisions, most provinces have implemented their own acts and regulations to help reduce the incidence of impaired driving. These include zero or low tolerance levels for new drivers, automatic license suspensions for those drivers tested just under the legal limit, and seizure and impoundment of a vehicle driven by a prohibited or unlicensed driver.
(This release is based on a Juristat, which analyzes data on impaired driving at the national, provincial and metropolitan area level for 1996, as well as recent trends. As an indicator of the incidence of impaired driving, the number of persons charged by police is often directly related to levels of police enforcement, such as the frequency of roadside checks.)
Building campaign for world-class art facility
The Institute for Modern and Contemporary Art (IMCA) has a founding partner in its capital campaign with a significant donation of both time and money from FirstEnergy Capital Corp. The $12-million campaign will assist in the transformation of two vintage art deco buildings in downtown Calgary into a state-of-the-art cultural facility, which will host world-class exhibitions.
Brett Wilson, FirstEnergy managing director and chief operating officer, said the company believes in investing in the cultural life of the city. "Calgary has grown from a frontier town to become a thriving centre of corporate Canada, now boasting the second highest number of head offices after Toronto. There's a new drive and energy here, which has succeeded in attracting the best of everything to Calgary - world-renowned soloists, symphony orchestras, theatre and ballet companies.
"Now with IMCA we can expect to attract major international art exhibitions, such as Picasso, Matisse or Andy Warhol."
The $12-million building campaign is headed by newly-appointed campaign director Karyn Allen Keenan, senior vice-president, arts and communications, who directed the successful private sector fund-raising for the interior restoration of Calgary City Hall and led the sponsorship drive in Canada and abroad for the 1996 Esther Honens Calgary International Piano Competition.
"There's a growing thirst for knowledge and interest in the visual arts in Calgary," which is evidenced by the increasing number of avid art collectors, both corporate and private," said Yves Trépanier, acting president of the board and owner of the Trépanier/Baer Gallery. "We are also home to the Alberta College of Art and Design, which has attracted leading Canadian artists to its faculty and is graduating some of Canada's more interesting artists, including Chris Cran and Christian Eckart. With Calgary's economic climate on the upswing, we believe it's time to begin active campaigning for IMCA, the Canadian version of MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)."
The first step towards IMCA's plans came with the donation of the two buildings, located at 115-119 6th Avenue SW, including the historic Telus sandstone brick building (1929) and the adjacent City of Calgary Utilities building (1939), which combined will provide 12,192 square feet of exhibition display space.
Alberta's air quality remains steady
Air quality monitoring results compiled for the third quarter of 1997 indicate that Alberta's air quality was better or close to the 10-year average, according to a provincial report. The period from July to September, 1997 was rated as "good" - the highest level achievable based on the Alberta Index of the Quality of the Air (IQUA).
The IQUA measures air quality as Good, Fair, Poor or Very Poor based on measurements compiled from eight continuous air monitoring stations throughout the province operated by Environmental Protection. The IQUA is calculated every hour at all Edmonton, Calgary, Fort Saskatchewan and Fort McMurray monitoring stations. Good air quality means that there are no known harmful effects to soil, water, vegetation, animals, materials, visibility or human health. The goal is for air quality to be in this range all of the time.
Air parameters monitored at these locations include carbon monoxide, dust and smoke (the coefficient of haze), oxides of nitrogen, ozone, total hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and inhalable particulates.
Some of the highlights of the third quarter report include:
· Poor or very poor air quality did not occur at any of the stations in the third quarter.
· The greatest improvement in air quality was seen at the Fort Saskatchewan station where good air quality was almost two-per-cent higher than the 10-year average (1987 to 1996).
· The Fort McMurray station measured good air quality 100 per cent of the time in the third quarter.
· Air quality guidelines for carbon monoxide, dust and smoke, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide were not exceeded at any monitoring station during the period.
· The one-hour guideline for hydrogen sulfide was exceeded once at the Edmonton east station and two times at the Calgary east station. The most likely source of these exceedances in east Edmonton were fugitive emissions, or leakages, from petroleum transport vehicles or storage tanks. The Calgary sewage treatment plant was the most likely source of hydrogen sulfide exceedances at the Calgary east station.
The Arts Centre's Guild celebrates first million
The Arts Centre's Guild, a volunteer organization of 200 local women committed to the enhancement, awareness and support of the performing arts, will mark its first million dollars in contributions to The Arts Centre on November 22.
A gala concert and reception will be presented at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Saturday, November 22 to honor the achievements of the guild. The event will feature international entertainers Michael Burgess and Tracy Dahl, plus Calgary's own prodigy, pianist Wesley Chu, accompanied by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Tickets may be purchased through guild members by contacting Rosemary Crawford at 264-3433 or through TicketMaster at 299-8888.
Since its founding by Vera Swanson in 1980, the guild has made many significant contributions to The Arts Centre. Members of the guild represent the business and education community, civic officials and other women who support the performing arts.
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