Cops down under Docudrama filmed on Manitoulin and

in Australia features Wiky policewoman and her Australian counterpart sleuthing it out on two continents...and two hemispheres

by Michael Erskine

MANITOULIN-The sun had yet to crest the bluffs above the small community of M'Chigeeng First Nation as the cast and crew of 'Extreme Beats' gathered in the parking lot of Kasheese Studios, but darkness fled the bright smiles which greeted the tiny snow flakes accumulating on nearby tree branches.

"Snow-finally, we have snow," enthused executive producer David Brady as he emerged from his car, the broad-rimmed hat protecting his head oddly congruent with the red polar-expedition parka he was wearing.

Mr. Brady's enthusiasm is understandable, despite coming from a man who normally avows an active antipathy for winter. The program his production company is filming is, after all, centred on the challenges facing police workers in extreme climates like Australia and Canada.

While Australia's current heat wave co-operated beautifully for the film crews earlier in October, the unseasonably warm weather gripping the Island could hardly have come at a worse time for the production schedule. If you are filming Canada's extreme wilderness-ya gotta have snow!

Extreme Beats has a lot of local connections, both in cast and crew. Veteran M'Chigeeng film director Shirley Cheechoo is working on her first collaboration with Mr. Brady's company.

"She is a truly remarkable person," said Mr. Brady. "I am thrilled to be working with someone who has her level of professionalism and dedication to the work."

At the other end of the camera there are the two 'stars' of the show, Senior Sergeant Diane Nadjiwon of the Wikwemikong Police Service and Senior Sergeant Lindsay Greatorex from the Kimberley Police District of Australia, and Debajehmujig stalwarts Joe Osawabine, Elisha Sidlar and Eli Kavanaugh filling in the smaller roles as local ne'er-do-wells.

The only downside of the snowfall was the cancellation of an appearance of an OPP helicopter. "I have never been chased down the road by a helicopter," said Mr. Osawabine wistfully. "Maybe someday."

The film sequence being shot when the Expositor caught up with the film crew involved a mock domestic dispute which had escalated into an armed stand-off-a thankfully rare enough occurrence, but also one which happens often enough to highlight the day-to-day co-operation between Manitoulin Island's various police services with legitimate dramatic effect.

"I remember the second stolen car report I saw after coming to the Island," said Manitoulin Detachment Commander Bruce McCullagh, as he and UCCM Tribal Police Chief Albert Beaudin watched the filming behind the cameras. "Sergeant Jim Bock and I were headed up Highway 6, the UCCM came across the Bidwell and Wikwemikong were coming the other way down the Highway. We boxed him in from all sides."

The inter-force co-operation continued that day, with one force staying with the car, another transporting the prisoner and a third beginning the paperwork.

Sergeants Nadjiwon and Greatorex took a few moments out from their busy schedule to reflect on the experience of working in each other's environment.

"In some ways Diane had it harder than me," said Sergeant Greatorex. "It's easier to put on layers. You can always put on more to keep warm."

The ubiquitous availability of central heating in Canada (a completely unnecessary household accessory in the Tanami Desert) was one pleasant surprise for the Aboriginal officer. "I was wondering how I would stay warm while I was here. It's actually quite comfortable; I go from warm buildings to warm cars."

Sergeant Nadjiwon recalled the humour with which her obsession with air-conditioning was greeted in the desert. "I would be cranking up the knob while Lindsay would be hanging his head out the window," she laughed. Despite the normal 45-degree Celsius daytime heat in Australia's South East Kimberly district, the locals rarely resort to the use of air conditioning.

Despite the heat she experienced while in Australia, Sergeant Nadjiwon said she truly enjoyed her stay in the outback. "If I had gone to Australia on my own, with my family, we probably would only have seen the touristy stuff," she said. "The places we went were communities of 100 to 150 people. A lot different than Wiky."

But one similarity did immediately strike her on arrival. "The whole community was so welcoming and friendly," she said. She also got an opportunity to meet many elders and to learn a little about their sacred medicines. "I found them to be very open."

As to cuisine, Sergeant Nadjiwon had the opportunity to experience some very different meals while visiting in Australia. "I even had a chance to eat kangaroo," she said. "It has a distinct flavour that is hard to describe, but it definitely doesn't taste anything like chicken. It was good, though."

One thing she did miss, especially in the heat, was swimming. "I couldn't go swimming," she said. "There were too many crocodiles."

Apparently you can swim with freshwater crocs, and the locals frequently do, but the saltwater version will make a quick lunch out of the unwary. It was a distinction Sergeant Nadjiwon was not about to chance. "Some of them are quite large."

Other hazards included scorpions and a nasty little red-backed spider. "If you were bitten by one of those, you didn't have very long to worry about it," she said. "I shook my boots out really well every time before I put them back on."

Sergeant Nadjiwon said she found the beauty and wonder of the Australian outback incredible, for all the minor inconvenience of a few deadly critters, however. "It was breathtaking," she said. "The people, the scenery and the wildlife." Underlying it all, she suggests, was a sense of distinct connection that it is hard even for a modern Canadian Aboriginal to put into words.

Both sergeants agree on the distance factor though. "It was 30 hours getting here mate," said Sergeant Greatorex. "That's 30 hours non-stop, no sleep."

Sergeant Greatorex may serve as part of a two-man team in an isolated Australian outback post, but he is no stranger to the globe. He served as part of a UN police team in East Timor, among other postings, and it was there that he met the only two other Canadians he had ever met before Sergeant Nadjiwon and the film crew arrived in the outback.

"There were two Canadian blokes I served with in East Timor," he said. "We promised each other we would stop in some day. I will be dropping in on them in Halifax before I head home."

The chance to meet up with old friends was decided bonus to the trip, he said. "Thanks David," he quipped.

Although the basic rules of policing are very similar between the Australian and Canadian experiences, according to Sergeant Nadjiwon, the realities of the cultural and administrative situations are very much different, noted Sergeant Greatorex.

"We have nothing like the Aboriginal police forces you have here," he said. In Australia, the police forces are primarily white-a function largely of the educational gap. "That is one thing that surprised me coming here," he said. "Our chaps are not quite as civilized, you might say."

It is important to remember, he pointed out, that for many Aboriginal people in Australia, coming out of the stone-aged existence of life in the outback is very recent. "Our guys have only one, one-and-a-half generations removed from the bush."

"The level of formal education is much greater here in Canada," he said.

The positive side of that shows up in the number of Indigenous medical and administrative professionals working on the reserve. On the other hand, "We are in the process of losing our culture, but if we turn that around now, we don't have to go as far back to find it."

Where police here have an alternative justice system codified in place, he said, the dual system that exists in Australia is not yet recognized in the law, although steps are heading in that direction.

"Often the tribal justice system will have dealt with an offence before we get involved," he said. That system can be very brutal but effective because of its underlying legitimacy within the Aboriginal society. "The courts will sometimes take into account if someone has already received punishment through the tribal system.

Such punishment can involve spearing, where a barbed spear is lanced through an offender's thigh. The barb on the spear means it has to go all the way through to come out. Such a punishment might be meted out for crimes such as manslaughter. "The offence is rarely repeated," noted Sergeant Greatorex.

If a culprit chooses flight, the punishment could then be visited upon members of their family instead-such being the nature of a tribal and family sense of responsibility. It is the responsibility of the tribe and the family unit, as much as it is the individual's.

Police rarely hear directly about the carrying out of such sentences, however, as to complain could result in a family facing banishment from the community-ostracized by their friends and relatives. "Home is where the heart is," said Sergeant Greatorex.

Both Canadian and Australian indigenous communities experienced the impact of a residential school approach popular until the later part of the last century. "You have two groups of people: one guy who walked into the mission, and the other that stayed in the bush," he said. "I think things might be easier for the next generation."

There are some key differences in law enforcement that come out of the culture, and North American Indigenous peoples' exposure to non-Native society plays some role here. "Back home alcohol use is a big problem, just as it is here," he said. "But there it is right in your face. Here people drink in their homes or on their own back porch. You might drive down the street and see people drinking on the side of the road or having a few beers under a tree." Obviously Sergeant Greatorex has not experienced the phenomenon known as Haweater Weekend. Still, he argues, the difference is largely a matter of scale.

Petrol (gas) sniffing is also becoming a big issue in the outback communities.

But police in Australia also have a great advantage in the administration and enforcement of law in the differing interpretations of lawful search and seizure.

"We don't have to have a reason to stop you and check you for drunk driving," he said. "We can just pull you over and give you a test."

The total population of the vast district Sergeant Greatorix patrols with a single partner numbers around 750, and he is not from the area he patrols.

"I have a lot of respect for the work Diane and her fellow officers do here," he said. "I would find it very difficult to work in my own hometown. Too many people would expect favours- 'hey remember when we were young, you owe me one' kind of thing. It adds a lot of stress on the work we do."

Most of the economy in his area centres on cattle stations, but the advent of diamonds is also making huge changes. The Kimberly area is renowned for the quantity and quality of its pink diamonds.

Chief Superintendent Ken Miller stopped by to have lunch with the cast and crew, and to meet his fellow officer from Australia.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the Wikwemikong Tribal Police and the Australian police to see how the other guy works," he said. "You can learn what works well here and take it back home and vice versa. You don't have to re-invent the wheel if you find a program that works. A lot can be gained from the exchange of ideas."

The end product of this exchange will be three one-hour segments in a series to be viewed on the Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN) and an Australian network, as well as at least one network in the US, explains Mr. Brady, whose credits include working with the Discovery Channel and a host of top-flight film and documentary works that included the multi-Genie garnering Grey Fox.

Mr. Brady's roots also lie in Northern Ontario. Before following Hollywood's siren call, he was born and raised in Timmins and attended North Bay's Scholard Hall in the 1960s. After a number of university degrees and a successful Hollywood career that included a Malibu beach house, he returned to Canada to marry a Canadian girl two decades ago.

"At first I thought I was headed into purgatory," he laughed, recalling his first thoughts about returning to the snowbound winters of his native land. "But I am pretty happy about it now."

A good thing, because Canada's film industry seems to be much the richer for it.

New regulation on bait fish set to keep deadly

fish virus out of Lake Huron

LAKE HURON-Strict new controls on the harvest and transport of bait fish were announced this week in an effort to curb the spread of a deadly fish virus that has taken root in the lower Great Lakes.

As reported in these pages in July, viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), a fatal disease affecting at least a dozen fish species, has been discovered in lower lakes such as Ontario and Erie, and as far north as Lake St. Clair. Types of fish affected include yellow perch, northern pike, yellow walleye, round gobies, muskellunge, brown bullhead and rock bass.

"While not a threat to human health, it has been linked to the die-offs of at least four species of fish," noted Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay in a press release. "We're asking all anglers and bait fish dealers in the affected areas to help slow down the spread of VHS to protect fish species by observing the necessary restrictions on the transport and use of live bait fish this winter."

Effective immediately, the province has been divided into three zones: the infected zone, the buffer zone, and the virus-free zone. Areas south of Highways 401 and 402 comprise the infected zone, while Lake Huron falls within the buffer zone.

In the infected zone, commercial harvesting of bait fish and transport beyond the zone's border will be banned, while in buffer areas such as ours, live bait fish can be harvested and used locally, but cannot be moved farther north into the virus-free zone.

VHS exists globally but the version of the disease detected in the Great Lakes represents a new strain as well as the first time the virus has been located in Canadian freshwater.

The province, along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is currently working on a comprehensive plan to be in place by the spring of this year to prevent the spread of VHS to new areas of Ontario and other provinces.

The US has already been active in restricting the movement of bait fish, banning the import of certain live fish from Ontario and Quebec, as well as the transport of live fish within eight Great Lakes states.

The VHS disease was first detected in Ontario in association with a massive die-off of freshwater drum in the spring of 2005. Since then, the virus has also been found in yellow perch, muskie, and round gobies that went belly up over the past two years.

Emerald shiners and bluntnose minnows, both used as bait fish in Ontario, are among 37 species known to carry VHS elsewhere in the world, according to information from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

While trout and salmon have not been impacted to date, the spread of the virus to Lake Huron could have devastating consequences for the area's sport-fishing and cage-culture industries.

New CEO found for Health Centre

by Alicia McCutcheon

MANITOULIN-"Rural health care is what I love to do" is Derek Graham's enthusiastic credo.

On February 5, Mr. Graham will be leaving his post in New Liskeard, where he is manager of diagnostic services of the Temiskaming Hospital and also the North Eastern Ontario Network's privacy officer (a network representing over 12 hospitals). His next stop will be Manitoulin Island where he will head up the team as chief executive officer for the Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC), replacing retiree Jim Van Camp. Currently, the acting CEO for the two-site hospital is Cheryl Yost.

Hailing from Arnprior, Mr. Graham, 48, holds an undergraduate degree in laboratory technology from Algonquin College and a Master of Business Administration (Health) degree from Independence University in California.

Mr. Graham has worked in hospitals in Ottawa, Arnprior, Perth and Smiths Falls and spent three years as a rural health-care director in Kansas, where he first had the opportunity of experiencing health care at a senior level.

"I am really looking forward to a long and healthy relationship with the Manitoulin Health Centre," Mr. Graham says. "I am looking to dedicate myself. This is not just a stepping stone for me."

Mr. Graham calls Manitoulin ideal, for both personal and professional reasons. He likes the strategic plan and the values of the MHC board. Mr. Graham understands the challenges of a two-site hospital as he worked at the Perth and Smiths Falls (two-site) hospital previously.

He says it is important the Manitoulin is not "lost in the shuffle" of the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), of which the MHC is a part of region 13, a huge mass of land encompassing many hospitals.

Mr. Graham is looking forward to moving to Manitoulin and becoming a part of the Island community.

"I'll be 'baching' it for the first while," Mr. Graham laughs. He'll be leaving his wife and youngest son in New Liskeard while his son finishes his final year in high school. His wife will join him, and search for a Manitoulin home, in the spring or summer.

It seems Manitoulin would be a perfect fit for the new CEO and his wife, who both have self-proclaimed loves of the outdoors and favourite pastimes of boating and fishing.

"We have a small cruiser which we use all summer long," says Mr. Graham.

"I think this is a really good fit."

EDITORIAL  

Environmental focus of two main parties welcome

Seriously: we now have the two main political parties trying to establish which one can present the greenest, most environmentally-friendly policies before the next federal election.

Newly-fledged Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the backpack-toting former environment minister in the Paul Martin government, appears to have laid down the challenge which Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to his credit, has answered.

In his bid for the national Liberal leadership that culminated in his come-from-behind win at his party's December convention, Mr. Dion was clear in his speech-making that he would set a green agenda with a time frame that would appeal to Canadians.

This was shortly after the Harper government had given Canadians a time frame that would take this country until 2040 to accomplish meaningful anti-pollution measures.

While this may not be unreasonable under certain circumstances, and the long time span could doubtless have the effect of causing minimal pain to the average citizen, the proposal was met by much jeering.

Canadians, it would seem, are set to pay their share of the price for "saving the planet," and they want to start the process sooner than later.

And all of this has led to the "we're greener than you" divide between the Liberals and the Conservatives.

Mr. Harper's cabinet shuffle, although it did bring a few new faces into cabinet as junior ministers of state, was largely a good show to relieve former Environment Minister (and Westerner) Rona Ambrose of her duties and assign them to John Baird, an Ontario MP.

Ms. Ambrose has not fared too badly in the exchange as she picks up duties for the important Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio which oversees national unity issues. (In the event that Quebec has an election this year and the Parti Quebecois takes power from Jean Charest's Liberals, she will have her work cut out for her, just as she has right now helping to make Mr. Charest look good enough to Quebecers to win a Quebec provincial election.)

Conservative spinners wanted the fanfare surrounding the significant cabinet shuffle to highlight the new environment minister.

He hasn't said anything yet, but the message is clearly that "it's a new day!"

And that, of course, is what Canadians wanted to hear with respect to environmental issues.

No matter who wins the next federal election, or the one after that, or the one after that one, Canadians have succeeded in making federal politicians understand that they expect action on their environmental concerns, and they expect it now.

Letters to the Editor

Citizen provides suggestions to new Northeast Town council

I will help in any way I can

To the Expositor:

An open letter to our new mayor and council:

First, congratulations on your election or re-election to office, and every good wish for a very successful, rewarding, and progressive four-year term of office and service to our communities.

Obviously, most of the electorate wanted change-and change we have! Hopefully, our new and incumbent members will quickly sort out any major differences, and reach consensus for the objectives and directions you are going to strive for on our behalf. Although I did not run for election, I am offering you any assistance I can provide, with experience gained from a quarter century of council committee involvement in the community we moved here from.

Now, if I may, I would like to make several suggestions for council to consider.

1. Make a major effort to reconcile the outstanding differences between the past administration and our municipal employees, both full- and part-time. We do not need to contract out work which can be done better and more quickly by our own personnel. It is imperative to recognize our staff as the good, hard-working citizens that they are, not some kind of lesser beings to be abused by their employer.

2. Rescind or modify our unnecessary and counter-productive garbage collection bylaw. I firmly believe that those who are able to are making a good effort at recycling, as much as they can. We must keep in mind that much of what we "recycle" actually goes into the landfill area anyway-glass being a notable example. I applaud the town for collecting aluminum cans for the Shriners, which go entirely to help children with health problems! Do away with the requirement for "clear" garbage bags, which advertise their contents to every sea gull, crow, raven, and dog in the town. Black, or dark-coloured bags, properly tagged as the bylaw requires, would be much more efficient and are easier to obtain. (These are still being used by many people anyway.)

3. Begin planning immediately for the placement and construction of an adequate water tower to provide a much-needed reserve of water and water pressure for times of emergency. As I understand it, we have a totally inadequate reserve of water should a major emergency occur, such as multiple fires at the same time.This structure could be attractively decorated to promote our community and welcome visitors. MPP Mike Brown assures me that both provincial and federal funds are available to defray most of the costs.

4. Begin immediate plans to upgrade and repair our water and sewer lines. There is no benefit to purifying water only to have it leak back into the channel through insufficient piping systems.

5. Take immediate steps to formulate new traffic flow patterns and speed limits, particularly on the highway approaches to the Town of Little Current. Speed limits of 50 kph should start at the end of the bridge, and at the Boozeneck Road. The 60-kph zone should be extended out to the curve by the Anglican cemetery. The Highway 540 Safety Zone, where a walking pathway was once envisioned, should be established with increased fines for offending motorists, most of whom blatantly ignore our present speed limits. There should also be a ban of the use of "jake brakes" within town limits.

6. Every effort should be made to expand our recreation centre/sports complex to make better use of our indoor facilities all year round, not just in winter. We also badly need an aqua-fitness and swimming facility for persons of all ages and abilities.

7. Total co-operation should be fostered with our law enforcement personnel, through our community services offiicer, to more adequately patrol our facilities and curtail littering and vandalism. Establishmnet of auxiliary police, as other communities have effectively done, would be a good start.

Yes, I fully realize that all of the above would be costly to accomplish, but some of the costs could be covered by provincial and federal funding. If we can find funding for a waterfront renewal, which I am far from convinced that we needed, we can find monies for things we very much do need! I firmly believe that if our new council, and their eventual replacement in 2010, committed their time, expertise, and support to these projects, while still efficiently running our communities, they would garner a lot of support and make favourable strides towards a better and more people-friendly community. Again, I will help in any way I can.

Robert G. Paxton,

Little Current

Bus routes take priority for snow removal

Keep in mind the rural tax dollars pay for plowing in town

To the Expositor:

This letter is in reply to the letter to the Expositor of December 20,  "Reader decries road plowing priorities in Assiginack."

Well join the crowd! It has happened to us all, especially on back country roads where the assessment helps to tar and chip your streets in town.

The writer of the letter to the Expositor must have been at the candidates' night in Manitowaning where an individual wanted the voters' support so they could represent the 'Township of Manitowaning.' Well, Manitowaning is the 'Township of Assiginack'. Keep in mind that approximately 65 to 70 percent of the assessment comes from the country. There is a very small percentage of the tax dollars that ever reaches the country roads. The money must have gotten lost in town.

Maybe we should get our priorities straight and realize the bus routes have always come first for snow removal. This means opening up the so-called back roads (before the back streets) in order to get our children to the public school, which helps to keep the enrollment numbers up.

The public works department takes their orders from council. They are on call 24/7 for winter maintenance. I'm sure they are doing a good job with the equipment they have. There are over 70 miles of road to maintain, mainly country roads.

Here's hoping the new council will see fit to tar and chip some of our back country roads. Maybe this will help our snowplows get back to the town quicker to get those back streets open.

Andy Bowerman

Assiginack

Reckman's location clarified

He's no prophet of ours!

To the Expositor:

In last week's letter, "God's wrath will pour but on the nations-rapture due in 2007," 'prophet' Hank Reckman signs off as a resident of M'Chigeeng. For the record, Mr. Reckman is not from M'Chigeeng and does not live in M'Chigeeng and he certainly is no prophet of ours.

Joseph Hare, chief

M'Chigeeng First Nation