'Wandering' Manor resident found dead on Goat Island

Albert Beaven, 66, missing since Sunday midnight, found after massive police search

by Alicia McCutcheon

LITTLE CURRENT-The search for a man reported missing from the Manitoulin Centennial Manor early Monday morning ended tragically when the body of Albert Beaven, 66, was found on the shore of Goat Island near the site where Highway 6 used to cross over to LaCloche Island via the defunct 'silver bridge.'

The tragedy, while highly unusual for the long-term care sector on Manitoulin, marks the second time this year that a resident of an Island nursing home has died after eluding staff.

At 12:30 am on Monday morning, staff at the Manitoulin Centennial Manor phoned the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to notify them that a resident of the facility was missing after performing their own search of the premises.

Constable Al Boyd, communications officer with the Manitoulin OPP, explained that officers on night duty were immediately dispatched to the Manor where the search began.

In what Constable Boyd calls a "bizarre twist of fate," officers and staff of the Manor began a search-and-rescue pattern eerily similar to the one conducted only weeks earlier as part of a mock emergency exercise at the institution. The mock emergency featured a scenario involving a resident with Alzheimer's, whose absence prompted Manor staff to contact police.

After conducting a preliminary search of the grounds, police fanned out over a broader area, with several cruisers combing the streets throughout the pre-dawn hours. Manor staff were also vigilantly scouring the nearby properties; at about 3 am, acting administrator Elizabeth Brownlee could be seen searching up and down Robinson Street with a flashlight.

Although it has not been confirmed as to whether or not the deceased, Mr. Beaven, suffered from Alzheimer's, the OPP's canine unit, search-and-rescue team and helicopter were also called in to assist the Manitoulin OPP with the search early Monday.

As with the mock rescue, officers were met at the Manor with a photo of Mr. Beaven and a description of the clothes he was last seen wearing, as well as a description of the make of his running shoes. An information sheet providing a profile of the resident had also been filled out as the deceased had a history of leaving the facility.

A recent Manor visitor who wished to remain anonymous said that near the end of last week a sign had been posted at the main door on the inside of the facility, asking for people to prevent Mr. Beaven from leaving the building. That same week, the visitor also reported meeting Mr. Beaven between the doors leading into the facility and on the outside of the coded door. Another visitor (also wishing to remain anonymous) was approached by Mr. Beaven, asking to be let out of the Manor and, upon telling Mr. Beaven that the staff would have to be notified first, he decided to drop the subject.

A gentleman who often kept Mr. Beaven company said that the resident was friendly but unpredictable, and given to "paranoid thoughts."

Constable Boyd said it is typical for people who have wandered away to have a history of straying and noted the importance of keeping track of the incidents, as police may find patterns in the wandering which can assist in the search.

The search began at 1:30 am with officers from the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin Tribal Police assisting Manitoulin OPP. Constable Boyd explained that the officers asked staff questions regarding Mr. Beaven's emotional state and any factors that may have caused him to leave the facility.

Similar to the mock rescue, officers first did a search of the shoreline surrounding Low Island, which the Manor overlooks, and by 3 am, the canine unit and search-and-rescue team from Sudbury had arrived. The officers searched the area surrounding the Manor, including Low Island, Robinson Street and neighbouring blocks.

Police cars cruised slowly by, shining their spotlights into yards, hoping for a glimpse of Mr. Beaven, while Manor staff joined the search with flashlights, peering into the bushes near the property.

At daybreak, the helicopter was dispatched and began a search of the town.

At approximately 8 am, Constable Boyd and investigating officer Dave Rosser returned to the Manor to further question the staff. Constable Boyd said that new information gleaned from the interviews caused the OPP to change their search patterns and expand north. The marine unit and helicopter began to search north of Little Current after the police learned Mr. Beaven's home was originally in Espanola.

At around 10:30 am, an officer scouring the shoreline on Goat Island located the body of the missing resident, his clothing a perfect match from the report issued by the Manor. The OPP would not speculate as to how Mr. Beaven reached the opposite shore, or whether the resident was attempting to return to his home in Espanola. Nor would they speak to the cause of death, pending the results of a post-mortem which was to have occurred yesterday (Tuesday).

"Our investigation will now focus on the Manor," said Constable Boyd, explaining that why and how the deceased left will be topics of investigation.

"The staff knew exactly what to do," he continued. "There was no indication of any wrongdoing."

"When you put these mock emergencies in place, you hope you never have to use them-you hope this never takes place," Constable Boyd added.

Roz Raby, editor of Espanola's Mid-North Monitor newspaper, was struck by the tragedy of Mr. Beaven's death, having known him personally for many years.

"Bert was well-known for being a kind man," she said fondly. "He was genuinely a wonderful man."

Hailing from Espanola, Mr. Beaven was known throughout the community for his passion for the outdoors, tending to many a home's flowerbeds, including Ms. Raby's. He was a favourite handyman of many in the community, she said.

"We're going to really, really miss him," Ms. Raby said. "We missed him when he left for Manitoulin, but now...."

She said that she does not pretend to know the circumstances surrounding Mr. Beaven's departure from the Manor, but said, "the point is, he got out. The government will have to look at this case seriously," she said, suggesting the solution may be a better ratio of patient-caregiver care in long-term care facilities.

"He'll certainly be missed in Espanola," she continued. "I can definitively say that."

Among those grieving Mr. Beaven are his wife, Sandra, and brother Peter, both residents of Espanola.

Representatives of the Manitoulin Centennial Manor could not be reached for a direct comment, but the facility did issue a statement. "Our sympathies and those of all of our staff go out to the family of Albert Beaven," communicated Ms. Brownlee in a press release. "We hoped and prayed that our search would find him alive but, tragically, that was not to be. We are extremely grateful to the OPP for their prompt response and thorough search."

Lakeview School begins 'balanced year' schedule

Students will go back to school on August 14

by Alicia McCutcheon

M'CHIGEENG-The children of Lakeview School will be getting an early start to school this summer as the first bell marking the beginning of class is set to ring on August 14.

For Lakeview students, class would have normally began on August 27, but again this year the M'Chigeeng elementary school is daring to be different and trying something new and unique which principal Neil Debassige hopes will be of benefit for both the students and the staff.

The earlier start is an extension of the balanced school day (introduced last year) and draws from the four components of the medicine wheel-physical, spiritual, emotional and mental.

The balanced school day, which started as a trial and deemed a success, will continue again this year. The day is broken up into three, 1.5 hour periods.

While the year may start earlier, students can look forward to extra breaks throughout the year, the first of which will be a week long to coincide with Thanksgiving, followed by the regular two-week break for Christmas holidays.

The students will receive their regular week for March break also, as well as one week in May following the long weekend, with school finishing on June 26.

"We find a drop in energy levels after two months," Mr. Debasssige explained. "We hope that the energy level after a break can be sustained throughout the whole year."

He explained that the school hopes to eliminate both teacher and student burnout with this trial experience.

"Because we're technically a private school, we can try and modify the things we see as not working for us,' the principal continued.

The school is also changing its three-term system to a two-semester system, similar to that of Manitoulin Secondary School, and is also changing its system of grade reports.

The mid-term report will coincide with the first week long break in the fall, followed by one week of parent/teacher interviews. Mr. Debassige felt it important to stretch the interviews out, as opposed to the traditional one evening method, so parents may gain as much as they can from the process, learning what they can do to help the child at home.

"We're hoping for better home/school communication," said Mr. Debassige.

In January, the children will receive their first evaluation or report card. It is the hope of the school that by spreading the mid-term report and report card times out, the students will have that much extra time to work on any areas needing improvements before the final report. Another mid-term report and parent/teacher interview week will happen in April, with the final evaluation in June.

Lakeview conducted an information session for parents and, although not well attended, Mr. Debassige said he heard from many parents that their children were usually looking forward to going back to school by mid-August.

He talked about the excitement students feel leading up to a break from school and how refreshed they are when they get back to school after a little time away.

"Now they will have that excitement four times a year," he said.

The principal admitted that there were "no unanimous agreements" with the students but "students are the easiest people to convince. They're so flexible they will adapt to just about any change."

Because the students will be back earlier and the weather will still be warm, Mr. Debassige said students could expect more outdoor educational activities and classes will now be taught in air-conditioned comfort.

"We're trying to set the standard and set the bar," he said.

Chris Brown

Carl's Trading Post,

South Baymouth

I'm your neighbour

Chris Brown married into the Brown family of South Baymouth 20 years ago and ever since, and according to family tradition, has been an employee at the family store, Carl's Trading Post.

The Trading Post is the one-stop shopping centre of the small community, offering groceries, movies, gas and all you need for the perfect fishing trip. And Chris does it all.

As the community is a busy stop for Chi-Cheemaun traffic, Chris says she gets to meet all kinds of interesting people in the summer. "I get to meet people from around the world," she said.

In fact, on the morning of her interview, a man came into the store from Italy and could speak no English. Chris explained that the employees of Carl's see themselves as tour guides as well as their other titles of fuel attendant and cashier. At Carl's, they make a point of always welcoming the visitors they see with a friendly smile and hello, and Chris says it's not unusual for a person to look taken aback after being addressed, as though they've never had a friendly word spoken to them before.

She said one of their most popular requests is recommendations on what to do in South Baymouth while waiting for the ferry to dock and the employees are always glad to give out suggestions.

Chris also acts as the store gardener and likes to tend to the flower bed to the side of the store. The store's large dahlias attract many comments from admirers. The gardener said her own garden at home is smaller than she would like it to be because she is too busy to tend to it. Like most Islanders, summers are Chris's busiest time of year.

When she does get a break, she enjoys crafts such as needlework and knitting but will always make time for her morning walk. Chris is also an active member of the St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea United Church.

Shopping at local businesses like Carl's Trading Post provides lasting employment for people like Chris Brown and her family.

EDITORIAL

Gore Bay, Mindemoya should be planning for new arenas

The ice is long gone from Manitoulin's community arenas. The outcomes of the Manitoulin Minor Hockey Association's divisional finals are history. Individual community minor hockey banquets are nearly forgotten.

Similarly, for those involved in figure skating programs, the tests have been taken, all of the club figure skating carnivals were the best ever, and everyone who participated in Island Skate learned a great deal.

So the ice palaces in Gore Bay, Mindemoya, Providence Bay, Manitowaning, Little Current, M'Chigeeng and Wikwemikong are shut up until the ice goes back in the fall, right?

Of course, that isn't even close to being accurate.

The community arenas in all of our communities are becoming, more and more, year-round resources and important cultural venues.

In Gore Bay, the annual "Meet the Artists" event in June grows more popular every year, and from the May 24 weekend on, the Gore Bay community arena is a hectic place every Friday morning as one of Manitoulin's busiest farmers' markets draws hundreds of people to the community.

Similarly, the J.H.  Burt Arena in Mindemoya is the focus of the annual Central Manitoulin Lions Club's Homecoming Weekend, also hosts a busy farmers' market every Saturday through the spring, summer and fall and is also used for a myriad of other events in the "non-skating" seasons.

The focus of this commentary is on the arenas in these two communities. The hectic Northeast Manitoulin Recreation Centre is only 30 years old this year and Wikwemikong Cultural Centre and the M'Chigeeng arena are also modern buildings, only slightly older. The Assiginack Arena in Manitowaning, although older, is structurally sound.

And while the barn-style arenas in Mindemoya and Gore Bay may also qualify as "structurally sound," this is because they were reinforced with a complex bracing system when this type of structure was condemned by provincial statute over 30 years ago.

The bracing reinforcement was offered at that time as a temporary option.

To their credit, and following much community debate, the old councils of Little Current and Howland were the only ones to opt for a complete replacement of their respective facilities in Little Current and Sheguiandah and, with the added support of the Little Current Curling Club, built the Little Current-Howland (now Northeast Manitoulin) Recreation Centre. That was in 1977.

Gore Bay toyed with the idea a year or so later when the Gore Bay Curling Club, with a building that was also condemned, courted the town to mount a joint venture similar to the Little Current model.

In fact, the issue became the main one in Gore Bay's mayoral race at the next municipal election many years ago, with incumbent Mayor Larry Lane opting for the "fix it up" option and his opponent and former Gore Bay Councillor Mike Brown (now our MPP and Speaker of the Legislature) carrying the banner for a new arena in co-operation with the Gore Bay Curling Club.

Mayor Lane carried the day, the Curling Club built the new facility members enjoy today, and the bracing option became the future of the Gore Bay Arena.

In Mindemoya, there is an ongoing divide between that Central Manitoulin community and the municipality's other centre, Providence Bay, which revolves around the arenas in these respective communities.

In Mindemoya, there may be the possibility of a combined new project in conjunction with the curling club in that community which has in recent years expressed interest in a new facility, and the arena building in Providence Bay can continue to play an important role for the Providence Bay Fair and other community events.

The fact is, these keystone structures in two important Island communities, Gore Bay and Mindemoya, are well over a half-century old, and because of the super-imposed timber bracing employed as a stopgap measure in each building, they are living on borrowed time.

To our knowledge, neither the Town of Gore Bay nor Central Manitoulin council has begun to set aside funds with a view to replacing (and in the process upgrading) these most important cultural centres within the communities of Gore Bay and Mindemoya. And in the case of Gore Bay, the arena serves all of Western Manitoulin.

Whether it comes as a provincial order, or simply because the community determines that the time has come, these significant facilities, important to people of all ages and in use throughout the entire year, are obsolete by modern standards and need to be replaced.

The municipalities of Central Manitoulin and the Town of Gore Bay should each strike appropriate committees with the specific responsibility of researching, planning and recommending for the eventual replacement of the community arenas in Gore Bay and Mindemoya.

It is far more important to enter into a major project with a plan, rather than be forced to make a plan in a hurry because of an unanticipated emergency, and the new four-year council term is ideally suited to this kind of long-term planning.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Why were elected officials removed at Wiky council meeting?

Haven't First Nations people been oppressed enough?

To the Expositor:

Since Wikwemikong conducted its chief and council election pursuant to the federal government's legislation of the Indian Act, why were two federally elected officials of Wikwemikong removed at the band council meeting of July 3, 2007?

The band members of Wikwemikong elected 12 councilors and one chief. The intention of this democratic process was not to sanction a dictatorship-a dictatorship that would allow Chief Robert Corbiere to arbitrarily remove elected band councillors from the band council meeting. The removal of these band councillors contravenes the democratic election of August 26, 2006.

Is it within the authority of Chief Robert Corbiere to hand select or hand pick the band councillors to attend a band council meeting as he deems fit?

For your information Chief Robert Corbiere, during the election of August 26, 2006, the Wikwemikong band members elected 12 councillors: Hazel Fox-Recollet, Arthur Eugene Manitowabi, Cecilia Pitawanakwat, Tilly McGregor, Bernadine Francis, Mary Jo Wabano, Rolanda Manitowabi, James Simon Mishibinijima (quit), Margaret Tish-Manitowabi, Raymond Jackson, Ron Wakegijig, and Duke Peltier.

Haven't First Nations people been oppressed enough that we don't need to be subjected to more by the actions taken by Chief Robert Corbiere in the removal of band councillors?

Linda 'Kitty' Bell

Wikwemikong

Federal support for markets pumped back into local economy

But need exists for longer-term program funding

To the Expositor:

As a representative of the Manitoulin Farmers' Markets Association, it was a privilege to be present when the Honourable Tony Clement awarded a number of FedNor grants to several organizations in the region. Our association received a grant of $34,400 to be used for the upgrading of market operations in Mindemoya, Little Current and Gore Bay. A significant amount of this money is being used to support our move to improved market facilities at the NEMI Recreation Centre in Little Current and to spread the news about our new Market Tuesdays there.

Because our association believes strongly in supporting the Island economy, we would like Islanders to know we are putting virtually all of the FedNor grant money back into the local  economy.

For example, our new signage comes from a local sign maker; various materials and supplies have been purchased at local hardware stores and lumber shops; the Market Tuesday shuttle service in Little Current is provided by a local bus company; and extensive advertising is being done through the local radio station and newspapers. We will continue to spend as much of our grant money as possible here at home.

The same philosophy of helping to build the Island economy applies to the operations of the farmers' markets. More than 90 percent of what is sold at our markets is created by the vendors themselves. Our slogan is: "We Grow It! We Bake It! We Make It!" In this way more of the dollars spent at our markets stay in the local economy. And we find that our customers prefer locally grown, baked or crafted items.

At the gathering with Mr. Clement, we had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion. During this time we expressed the need among volunteer organizations like ourselves for the type of support from governments that allows us to plan and implement long-term programs. We have seen a number of good programs on the Island falter or fail after a year or two because short-term support did not allow them time to become well established.

For example, most intern programs run for no more than a year or two and then the person who has been trained by the organization moves on. Many volunteer-driven programs cannot succeed without an ability to plan and count on government support further into the future. Having longer term support would also mean that more of our young people could find work here at home.

We were pleased that our suggestions were well received by Minister Clement and he discussed the possibility of creating some programs that would run as long as five years. I would like to suggest that other groups and organizations on the Island contact our government representatives to reinforce this message.

Chuc Willson

Manitoulin Farmers' Markets Association president

Ice Lake

Reimbursement for health travel isn't as generous as it sounds

I do think we have been ripped

To the Expositor:

RE: "Northern health travel grants hiked," July 11.

In the article it states that rates will increase from 34.25 cents per kilometre to 41 cents per kilometre. But when I've travelled to Sudbury to access specialist care, a round-trip distance of 366 kilometres from Gore Bay, the rate has been far less than 34.25 cents. Because the first 100 kilometres of a trip aren't covered, I was receiving $92.48 for that distance, or 25.30 cents per kilometre. We should have been paid at least $125.35 for that trip. I do think we have been ripped. I guess that's the price we pay for choosing to live in Northern Ontario.

Blair Johnston

Gore Bay