Gas explodes at Green Bush camp; man airlifted to Toronto hospital

90 percent of his body burnt; three others injured by fire

by Lindsay Kelly

GREEN BUSH-A weekend trip to the Island turned tragic for a Sudbury family when a propane lantern in their trailer exploded, leaving all four family members with extensive and severe burns.

The incident occurred in a remote area of the Green Bush on top of the bluff of McLean's Mountain, about five kilometres off the Green Bush Road. The family of four consists of 40-year-old Barry Walker, his 17-year-old son Zachariah Walker, his 15-year-old daughter Samantha Walker, and his 37-year-old brother Ralph Walker, all from Sudbury.

Constable Al Boyd, community services officer with the Manitoulin OPP, explained that the family had travelled to the Island on Friday night to spend the weekend at the family's 24-foot travel trailer on property they own in Howland Township.

"Early on Saturday morning [at about 5:30 am], the uncle, Mr. Ralph Walker, got up early and went to light the propane lantern, and at that time, once he lit the lantern, a severe explosion took place within the trailer itself," he said. "From what the fire marshal has said, it was caused by a combustible gas in a confined area, and as a result of that, a big flash flame occurred, resulting in severe burns to all four individuals."

Because of his close proximity to the explosion, Ralph Walker received the most extensive burns, which cover the majority of his body, while the other three family members also received severe burns, especially to the exposed areas of skin, including their faces, arms and hands.

Despite sustaining serious burns, Barry Walker made an attempt to get help for the family. "Luckily Barry Walker had a cell phone, and, as luck would have it, the cell tower for this part of Manitoulin was about two kilometres as the crow flies from the ski hill," Constable Boyd explained. "He managed to phone 911."

Immediately after he placed the call, Mr. Walker's cell phone went dead, and, unsure whether the call had gone through, he got onto one of the family's snowmobiles and travelled the five kilometres along the muddy, rugged terrain out to the Green Bush Road where his pickup truck was parked. He then travelled by pickup along the Green Bush Road until he met up with emergency response vehicles from the Northeast Town Fire Department at the 20th Side Road.

Mr. Walker was then taken by ambulance to the Little Current hospital.

The rough terrain, with deep mud and thick snow drifts closing in the area, made it difficult for emergency services to respond to the rest of the family members.

Before Manitoulin OPP Constables Gord Bickell and Randy Dedman could attend the scene of the explosion, Northeast Town employee Gary Buzwah used a backhoe to plow snow away from the area.

Upon their arrival at the trailer, it was determined that Ralph Walker's injuries were too severe for him to be brought out by land, and he was airlifted out of the area, Constable Boyd noted. On board, paramedics deemed his injuries to be so severe that he was transported directly to the burn unit of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

The two teenagers were then transported out of the bush by the OPP's 4X4 Suburban and brought immediately to the Little Current hospital for treatment.

As of Monday, Ralph Walker remained in the intensive care unit at Sunnybrook Hospital with extensive burns to the majority of his body. Barry Walker remained in serious condition at Little Current hospital, but was recovering from his burns, and Zachariah Walker had been transferred to Sudbury General Hospital. Samantha Walker had been released from Little Current hospital late on Saturday afternoon and returned to Sudbury, although Constable Boyd said she may need follow-up care to determine whether there has been any damage to her lungs due to the inhalation of toxic fumes.

The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of the explosion, and Investigator Doug Horne is overseeing the case. Several items were seized at the scene of the incident and will be examined for further evidence as to the exact cause of the explosion, Constable Boyd explained.

For now, however, the theory remains that the flash fire was caused by having a combustible gas in an enclosed space, he added.

"There's not a lot of fire with a flash-type fire," Constable Boyd explained. "With that type of gas, the flame is very intensive, very hot, but once the air gets to it, it dissipates."

As a result, the flame at the trailer would have only lasted a brief moment, but left everything singed in its wake, he said, and quite a bit of damage was done to the trailer.

This unfortunate incident is a sombre reminder that people should never store combustible gases such as gasoline, propane or butane in enclosed areas, he warned.

In addition, people vacationing in an isolated area should always be prepared for this type of emergency, he added.

"It's important that other people know where they are and that they have some type of emergency plan put into place," he said.

He noted that a lot of factors could have prevented the Walkers from being saved, including not having a cell phone, or not being able to drive by snowmobile out of the bush.

"[Barry Walker] definitely saved the lives of the others," Constable Boyd said. "They certainly wouldn't have been able to get out on their own."

Manor seeks five percent hike in Manitoulin municipal support

by Tom Sasvari

MINDEMOYA-The Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) has agreed to an increase in its share of the costs of operation of the Manitoulin Centennial Manor, which would be five percent as long as the province provides the remaining deficit in the budget, as it did in 2006.

Ed Bond, on behalf of the Manor board, made a presentation to the MMA members at a meeting on November 29. He explained, "our funding is based on a case mix index, and on nursing care requirements, once the ministry does an assessment. In 1999 the case mix index was 90.43, and the next few years it was as high as 98.29 for funding, and for 2006 was at 92.98. However, we won't know the final index will be for 2007, until the final week of 2006."

"Based on what we know today, the board has approved its 2007 budget," said Mr. Bond. "You can see the efforts made by the board over the past year on expenditures is starting to pay dividends."

Mr. Bond pointed out the total expected revenue for the Manor in 2007 is $3,058,906 (compared to the 2006 budget of 2,930,958), while  the total projected expenditures are $3,542,641 (compared to 3,796,229 for 2006). This leaves a net deficit of $483,735.

Adding on other revenues, the total deficit is projected at $509,151 (compared to $913,682 in 2006), he said. The annual municipal apportionment would then be $290,913 (as compared to $277,060 in 2006). This would leave another $218,238 that the Manor hopes the province would provide (as compared to $636,622 in 2006).

"The municipal apportionment is a five percent increase," said Mr. Bond. "The board is asking municipalities to continue to participate in getting the deficit costs reduced."

There were concerns raised that the municipalities are not receiving monthly statements from the Manor budget. "You are right, all the information is not showing, and copies of the monthly statements should be going to the municipalities," said Richard Stephens, chair of the MMA. He pointed out this would show, for example, the Manor had a surplus in its October monthly statement alone, for $50,000.

"We were quite pleased with that," said Mr. Bond.

Jeff Hietkamp questioned Mr. Bond as to whether the Manor board has received any response from the province as to whether it will to continue to help the Manor pay down its deficit.

"What happens if the proivnce does not take up the contribution of $218,238? Would this then go back on to the municipalities?" asked Ken Noland. "If they don't, then our amount would almost double if you add up the $290,913 and $218,238."

Mr. Stephens pointed out with the amount that has been reduced from the Manor board budget, "you're indicating the managers of the various departments at the Manor have sharpened their pencils, but there are still more opportunities for further efficiencies. I've seen quite a positive change in the past six to eight months."

"Some of this has to do with Jarlette (Services) having taken over the operation of the Manor," said Mr. Bond.

"The Manor board would appreciate our endorsement and acceptance of the budget," said Mr. Stephens. "But I wonder if a provision could also be put on it, on the basis that support will continue as long as we continue to receive government support on the shortfall."

"And, you have to remember the costs to run the facility have gone up, especially in areas like fuel and water," said Les Fields. "The committee has done a real good job, and continue, along with staff, to make this a workable measure for the municipalities. And, we are hopeful that when the ministry sees the effort that has been done they will continue to provide financial support."

"The worst case scenario would be that they (province) don't help out?" asked Ms. Fields.

"Then I guess we would have to go back to the drawing board," said Mr. Hietkamp.

Mr. Stephens noted, "I, as a municipal leader, would be reluctant to accept the budget without the stipulation that the province continues to provide the funding support that they have last year."

"I would like to say to Ed and the Manor board and administration I wish you well in trying to keep the building going, and good luck," said Harold McCutcheon. "I see real progress having been made and I hope to see it continue."

Mr. Bond pointed out the "the board is not finished in looking at cost efficiencies." He noted, however, while looking at the costs and the proposed budget for this year, that negotiations on new collective agreements with staff have just started.

The MMA passed a resolution stating the 2007 budget be accepted  "wherein the municipalities within the District of Manitoulin are to pay the apportionment of $290,913.00 as their aggregate contribution towards the operation of the Manor, provided that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care will pay the remaining deficit for 2007 as they have agreed to do for 2006."

Doc Jeffery becoming house call 'specialist'

by Jim Moodie

NORTHEAST TOWN-Come the new year, an extra physician will be available in the Northeast Town, but he won't be waiting in his office in a white coat. He'll be arriving on patients' doorsteps in his parka.

Dr. Roy Jeffery, a 26-year veteran of the healing arts on Manitoulin, is vacating his practice at the Little Current clinic to make room for incoming physician Simone Meikleham, but he's not leaving the community or hanging up his stethoscope. Instead, he'll be branching out to offer a new service to aging and mobility-challenged members of the community: visits in their homes.

"I've always liked house calls," the physician explains, "and as a group we have been looking at community needs and identifying ways to improve medical services in the community. One thing we identified was the need to get services to people who are less able to avail themselves of the care we provide."

Dr. Jeffery notes that both he and the other physicians operating through the Little Current Medical Associates have always performed house calls when required, but given their other obligations, both within the clinic and at the hospital, the number and duration of such visits have been limited. Having an extra doctor dedicated to this type of practice will greatly expand the range of outreach service that the clinic can provide.

The initiative is also a throwback to the old days of medicine on Manitoulin, when physicians regularly embarked-on foot, or horse-drawn carriage or sleigh-to tend to patients in their homes, cabins and farmhouses. Even in the time of retired physician Jack Bailey and the late Jack McQuay, it was not uncommon for doctors to travel long distances, by land or water, to reach people in need.

"I'm sort of 100 years out of date," admits Dr. Jeffery. "But I've always really liked the idea of a house-call practice."

As traditional as it sounds, however, don't expect him to arrive on a wagon, sleigh or skiff, black bag in hand. "Hopefully I'll be cycling to a lot these appointments," he says with a laugh. And if so, he'll probably have his stethoscope in a back pack.

Not just anyone is eligible for a home visit. "It's mainly the very old and disabled older patient that we're looking at," says Dr. Jeffery. "It is a more time-consuming way of delivering care, because of the travel and spending more time with a visit, and by those necessities it will be a fairly small practice."

Still, for those who are hampered by age and mobility issues, it will add a considerable degree of convenience and comfort to have the roving MD available for house calls, while those who are accustomed to visiting the clinic will still have the same level of service available there.

Dr. Jeffery's replacement, Dr. Meikleham, is leaving her practice in Espanola to join the Little Current team, and the current crew is confident that she will make a fine addition. "She came by here 10 years ago after graduating and was thinking of practising out of Little Current, but we didn't have the community incentives at that time," notes Dr. Jeffery. "But we all really liked her. She graduated at the top of her medical class, and her patients love her."

While Dr. Jeffery's main focus in the new year will be house calls, and he will no longer have an office in the clinic, he notes that he'll still work ER shifts and conduct rounds at the hospital. Covering the emergency room is an ongoing struggle, since it's not always easy to find doctors to serve on a locum basis, but "now that we'll have seven physicians, it will be easier to cover off," notes Dr. Jeffery.

Indeed, the level of medical service in the Northeast Town is quite remarkable compared to other areas, both rural and urban. Dr. Jeffery notes that his mother recently underwent surgery in Ottawa, and "it's chaotic there-the ER is full, the hospital's packed, the nurses are worn out." With an excellent local hospital and a half-dozen physicians working out of the clinic in Little Current, "I think our little community would be the envy of a lot of places," surmises the physician.

Just wait until some of these beleaguered, doc-deprived burghs get wind of the new house-call healer we'll have making the rounds of our back streets, seniors' apartments and side roads. Dr. Jeffery will concentrate on the municipality, but will also range beyond its borders to some extent, paying visits to Birch Island and providing long-term care support in Wikwemikong, for instance.

He's looking forward to the new assignment, noting that the house-call work he has done in the past for geriatric patients has always been personally satisfying. "It's not for everyone, but it's always been a part of my practice that I like," he says. "Visiting someone at home, you can identify what they're really like as human beings, whereas in the office you don't really know as much about their lives. The stories that old people tell me can really make my day."

It's also effective in a medical sense. "When you have elderly people with complex problems, it's hard to get a handle on their issues in the context of a short office visit, and it's bothered me that we haven't been doing as much as we could be," says Dr. Jeffery. But when a client is encountered in their home, "you get more of a sense of their lifestyle and the limitations of their environment," he notes, while the patient is simultaneously more comfortable, and consequently more apt to be forthcoming about their concerns.

Moreover, the home context can allow a physician more insight into what types of alternative treatments might be appropriate. "I'd like to focus more on nutrition, exercise, and other non-allopathic (non-drug-related) strategies," Dr. Jeffery notes. "And seeing where and how people live helps you focus on alternatives."

While house calls have always been part of the doctoring profession, particularly in earlier decades, Dr. Jeffery is, in many ways, blazing a new trail among his contemporaries. He notes that he's been corresponding with one other physician in the Gatineau Valley area north of Ottawa (where he himself grew up, coincidentally enough), who is trying to incorporate a similar facet into his practice, but, otherwise, "there's not very much of a blueprint for this," he concedes.

This, "in itself, is exciting" to him personally, the doctor says. Primarily, though, he believes the new outreach emphasis "is neat for the community, because most communities are struggling to get any type of medical service."

Strawberry light could be part of new Ontario park

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-While it is not apt to make a bid to become the next owner of the Strawberry Island lighthouse, the nature organization that owns nine-tenths of the land mass on which the historic tower is situated would definitely like to see the structure preserved.

"It's not the sort of property we would divert resources towards acquiring, but we would be supportive of local efforts to see that part of the island's heritage protected," said John Grant, midwestern Ontario program manager for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

In 2005, the NCC acquired all but 316 of Strawberry Island's 2,570 acres, with the province chipping in $250,000 to the $1.6 million purchase price. The lighthouse itself occupies just two acres of federally-owned property at the northern tip of the island, with an additional buffer of 23.5 acres of Crown land surrounding it. The remaining acreage on the island consists of two small parcels that are privately owned.

This fall, the Coast Guard revealed that the lighthouse is on a list of federally-owned properties identified for possible divestiture, and local forces have been rallying to ensure that a plan is in place to preserve the landmark should the Department of Fisheries and Oceans decide it is a surplus holding.

Mr. Grant said that the NCC is more concerned with the preservation of ecological features than historic structures, but "since the island is protected for its natural values, we would support a scenario that provided for protection of cultural values, too."

He noted that the only concern the NCC would have regarding future use of the site would be "if there was more human activity that could negatively impact the property we have."

Although the conservancy acquired the vast majority of Strawberry Island two years ago, "we're at a point only now where we're starting to really look at the property and come up with ideas of how it can be managed in the future," noted Mr. Grant.

One possibility, he said, is that the province could take over responsibility for the island and manage it as a nature reserve class provincial park. "Wherever the NCC owns land, we will consider a designation as a provincial park," said Mr. Grant, adding that Strawberry Island was identified as a potential candidate for park status when it was acquired in 2005.

The NCC "has had discussions off and on for some time" with the province regarding a transition of this nature, but "at this point, nothing has been signed," said Mr. Grant.

Should negotiations reach the point where Ontario Parks is poised to take over responsibility for the NCC land, Mr. Grant said the public would be engaged in lengthy consultations regarding usage. "There would be input from local people to create a management plan," he said, adding, "the entire property wouldn't have to have the same designation."

He stressed that, with any of its properties, the NCC encourages "input from the community," and supports the idea of the land "becoming an asset to the community, beyond its ecological value. We support recreational use of a controlled, periodic nature and also think the land can have value for research and ecotourism."

If the Department of Fisheries and Oceans decides that it wants to unburden itself of the Strawberry Island lighthouse, the property will first be offered to other federal departments and then descending levels of government before reaching the open market.

While the hunch locally is that other layers of the federal government as well as the province would pass on the option, leaving the municipality to take on responsibility for the structure, Mr. Grant suggested that the province shouldn't be ruled out as a possible landlord.

"If the feds decide they are going to discontinue use of that area, I think going to the province would be a good idea," he said, noting that such an arrangement could dovetail with rest of the island becoming a provincial park.

"If not, it could go to the local municipality, and they could try the approach taken at Cabot Head, where a group of hard-working volunteers are responsible for the lighthouse," mused Mr. Grant. "But it would depend on the number of tourists who could be induced to take a nice boat ride and leave a contribution, or buy some mementos, to help pay for the operation."

Either scenario (provincial or municipal ownership) would be agreeable to the NCC, which would much prefer to see tourists interested in marine heritage disembarking at a properly maintained and managed cultural attraction than the property being sold off to a developer or other private interest.

Indeed, the conservancy would consider making a tourist trip to the tip of the island even more alluring by permitting use of some of its property for hiking and further sightseeing purposes. "We certainly wouldn't be opposed to having some kind of controlled, identified pathway," said Mr. Grant. "If the local community thinks something like that is a good idea, we'd be receptive to hearing from them."

EDITORIAL

Stephen Harper should rethink his social agenda

It seems a curious conceit peculiar to the post-electoral victory Conservative mindset that the vast majority of Canadian voters are really social conservatives in their hearts, and that, sickened with the liberal excesses of court and big-L Liberal governments, the Tory success was a quantum shift in the body electorate.

In a blinding flash inspired by a plurality of Conservative members being sent to Ottawa, the Tory collective consciousness is erased of all those carefully laid stratagems used to cloak the more socially conservative ideals ingrained in their party's soul-to be replaced with a righteous messianic fervour bent on turning Canadians back from the supposed path of inequity on which the Liberals have set the country's feet.

That vision might be pretty to some, but it is definitely not the Canadian reality.

It was the perceived lack of integrity of those in charge of the Liberal Party of Canada, coupled with an instinctive urge to sweep the inevitable corruption of a party too long in power from office, that led to Mr. Harper's recent less-than-overwhelming victory at the polls.

Mr. Harper is a very smart man, and he knew that truth as he ascended to the halls of power. That is why he muzzled his MPs and cabinet ministers from the outset, and also why he shook up the baying hounds of the long-spoiled Ottawa press gallery within days of taking office.

But somewhere along the way Mr. Harper has lost his cynical approach to attaining majority power and reverted to a more honest face. Perhaps his party's internal polls had already shown him that Canadians were set to forgive the Liberals, at least enough to allow them to return to their natural perch astride the levers of power, and that repaying favours to his core supporters was to be done now or never. Or perhaps hubris rose to blind Mr. Harper's eyes to the truth-that Canadians are by and large a tolerant people, willing to work together under a common set of civil principles that can allow for personal and cultural divergence within the polity.

Few among us really care about the sanctity of marriage as defined as a sacred union between a man and a woman. There are, to be sure, many whose zealotry would lead us to dictate the moral values of others for their own good and the good of all his church, but in truth most of us no longer fill the pews on Sunday, or even during high feast days such as Christmas and Easter. Disgusted by the intolerance of religion and those who deem themselves to be the voice of God, we have largely turned our back on his apostles.

We therefore tend to subscribe to the principle of live and let live. That quality of tolerance towards others is how we have learned to survive in this vast and dangerous land. It is a core Canadian value.

True, there are very strict limits to our tolerance, particularly where it comes to the safety and innocence of our children, and yet for brief moments we are generally willing to sacrifice our freedoms and civil tolerance in the name of collective security, even to the point of sometimes accepting the unthinkable-but that willingness to surrender our principles is not open-ended.

Mr. Harper seems to think keeping promises and commitments can be selective, and that it is perfectly all right to turn his back on Kyoto and Kelowna while at the same time cynically re-opening a Quixotic debate on same-sex marriage.

The fate of a decent and well-meaning Tory, Joe Clark, who made the same mistake-forgetting that it was a rejection of the Liberal Party's arrogance, and not an embrace of his own party's platform, which led him to victory- should hold a moral lesson for Mr. Harper. If he does not govern for all Canadians, he will soon find that most Canadians will turn their backs on his party-again.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Why are we not allowed to wear poppies?

Why are we not allowed to honour and remember veterans every day?

To the Expositor:

RE: "What do you do with a poppy after its day has passed?" (letters, November 29).

When are we allowed to wear a poppy?

I must have missed something. Who told us we were allowed to wear a poppy only on Remembrance Day? Are we going to be told next year that we are not allowed to celebrate Remembrance Day at all?

I was a little girl in Holland during the war and occupation and even if I wore a poppy every day for the rest of my life it would not be enough to remember the veterans who freed our country from the Nazis who starved and bombed and killed in concentration camps thousands of Dutch people, among whom were several of the Zylstra and Post family.

I agree with Sally Assinewai that someone should explain to us why we are not allowed to honour and remember the veterans every day of the year if we wish. It will not be enough to pay the debt we owe to the veterans who served and who gave their lives for the freedom we still enjoy but which is eroding day by day.

Ann Zylstra

Kagawong

Pitbulls run free in Sheguiandah

Writer feels compelled to ask why?

To the Expositor:

On Monday, December 4, I was in a vehicle on the Sheguiandah reserve and as we slowed down, a dog ran up to the car. An occupant pointed out to me that the dog was a pitbull. And, of course, the first thing that came to mind was the news reports I have seen over the years about attacks by these dogs on people, especially children. I'm sure there are some out there that would say that I should mind my own business but I am compelled to write this letter because if someone is attacked and I had knowledge of this possible occurrence and said  nothing then I am also to blame because of my silence. I don't know why this is allowed or tolerated, nor do I know what can be done about it. I just want documented what I saw.

Chris Tilson

Honora Bay

Strawberry lighthouse still has an important role to play

Do all within your power to prevent the destruction of this valued landmark

To the Expositor:

A draft letter on behalf of the members of the Northeastern Manitoulin Property Owners Association.

We hope that you will join with us in expressing concern at the process which appears to have already started which may lead to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans divesting themselves of responsibility for the lighthouse on Strawberry Island. Other lighthouses in the area that have suffered a similar fate were simply destroyed.

Both the light and the building are important navigational aids to the hundreds of boaters in the area who still depend on navigation by direct vision. Although Global Positioning Systems are an important advance, many boaters do not have them or rely upon them.

Strawberry Lighthouse is an historic building and a well-preserved example of the few that remain. It is also readily visible to visitors to Little Current and constitutes an important part of the Manitoulin landscape. This is a prominent feature of the tourist industry which is one of the main activities of the area.

The present arrangement has kept the structure safe and sound at minimal expense over many years and there seems no good reason for changing it.

Please do whatever is within your power to prevent the valued landmark from disappearing and being lost to future generations.

Jim Strong

White's Point