Zhiibaahaasing murder and obstruction cases will proceed to trials

by Margo Little

GORE BAY-As the Island's annual hunting season swings into high gear this week, many Manitoulin families are remembering a sombre anniversary. It was during last year's whitetail hunt that a shooting tragedy occurred in Zhiibaahaasing First Nation.

In the early morning hours of November 27, 2005, members of the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) tribal police responded to a 911 call in the tiny community located adjacent to Sheshegwaning First Nation. The body of 25-year-old Maryann Davis was discovered at her residence at 340 Sagon Road. A post mortem examination determined that the mother of two died from a gunshot wound.

After an investigation by Manitoulin Anishnaabe Police and the Ontario Provincial Police, the victim's common-law spouse, Brent Jeremy Kells, age 21, was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. Several months later,  on April 18, 2006, the father of the accused, Robert William Kells, was charged with obstruction of justice.

A preliminary inquiry into the incidents was scheduled to take place June 5, 2006; however, it was postponed until November 14. The four-day hearing took place in the Ontario Court of Justice, Gore Bay.

The proceeding was over an hour late getting started Tuesday since the van transporting the accused was delayed.

Outside the court house, a drum group and a traditional elder from M'Chigeeng First Nation demonstrated support for the Kells family.

Inside the court room, Brent Kells sat in the prisoner box with his head bowed. He wore a black shirt with red and blue stripes and held an eagle feather (a symbol of guidance) in his hands. He glanced frequently at his parents, Zhiibaahaasing Chief Irene Kells and Robert Kells, as they sat nearby in the front row.

At the request of the defence, represented by James Weppler and Ted Conroy, Justice L. Serre imposed a ban on publication of the evidence in the case.

All witnesses in the matter were excluded from the hearing except during their individual testimony. They were instructed not to communicate with each other.

In addition, members of the public, including the press and court room observers, were ordered not to discuss the case in the community. The names of all spectators were recorded by the Crown, represented by Lorraine Ottley, to ensure that they would be eliminated from the potential jury pool.

Although it remains a challenge to avoid gossip and rumour in a small community like Manitoulin, the Crown is taking steps to ensure a fair and impartial hearing for the accused.

Since Sudbury attorney Ted Conroy was only available for day one of the hearing, he spoke on behalf of Robert Kells on Tuesday. After cross examining several witnesses, Mr. Conroy asked Justice Serre to commit his client to stand trial in Superior Court in Gore Bay. Mr. Kells has elected to be tried by a judge and a jury of his peers. A date has yet to be set.

On the second and third days of the inquiry, employees of the Zhiibaahaasing First Nation band office and relatives of the accused were called to the witness box. In addition, tribal police officers and OPP investigators presented their evidence. A firearms expert and a DNA specialist travelled from the regional forensic lab in Sault Ste. Marie to testify as well.

On the final day of the hearing, Mr. Weppler, lawyer for Brent Kells, asked Justice Serre to make a distinction between first-degree and second-degree murder. He pointed out that first-degree murder involves calculated planning and deliberation. He argued that the evidence presented at the inquiry does not support the capital murder charge.

The Crown, however, maintains that there is ample evidence to proceed to trial with the original charge. The father and son are being tried together at present, but a request for severance may come at a later date, the Crown indicated.

Justice Serre will consider the submissions and render her decision on November 29 at 9:30 am.

Missing link in L. Huron food chain threatens health of salmon, whitefish

by Michael Erskine

ONTARIO-The latest issue of the Georgian Bay Association's newsletter sounds a trumpet alarm about the Great Lakes food chain, but the sheer scale of the current problem seems to mock the meagre efforts of man.

"You can try to nudge a system like Lake Huron, but you will never steer it," is a quote that Ministry of Natural Resources fisheries biologist David Reid says sums up the problem being faced by people who want to tackle the complex probems on the lakes.

The issue, as outlined in the GBA Update, is that zebra and quagga mussels, both invasive species that are rapidly spreading across the Great Lakes basin, are wreaking havoc on the delicate eco-system.

"The Great Lakes ecosystem is going through a rapid change," agreed Mr. Reid, although he suggested that the issue is more complicated than the simple scenario outlined by author John Wilson in his GBA article.

The facts of the case are not disputed when it comes to landed fish, however. Until around three years ago, anglers landed about 75,000 chinook salmon each year on Lake Huron. Now those numbers have dropped to 11,500 last year-and what fish have been caught are reported as being "undersized and malnourished."

The key to the problem, asserts Mr. Wilson, is that zebra and quagga mussels are filtering out massive amounts of algae from the water of the Great Lakes. That in turn robs a tiny shrimp-like creature called diporeia of its food supply, and as the cycle progresses, alewives and whitefish which dine on those tiny creatures, in their turn go into decline.

It's a big deal, for while diporeia may be minuscule to us, but they make up as much as 75 percent of the diet of whitefish and salmon in Lake Huron. They don't make up any of the diet of whitefish in Lake Erie, however, as diporeia are all but gone from that ecosystem, according to Great Lakes Erie unit biologist John Cooper.

Both the Ontario government and the GBA are in step when it comes to what needs to be done now to deal with future problems. Both are lobbying hard for stricter controls over the ballast of ships entering the Great Lakes system.

Mr. Reid notes that even tighter restrictions on sea-going vessels may not be enough, as ballast discharges within the Great Lakes themselves help to transport species throughout the system-even if the ships themselves never leave the Great Lakes.

And although it is not quite closing the barn door after the horses are gone from the stable, since new invasive species could wreak even more unimaginable havoc, stronger ballast regulations and policing will do nothing about the nasties which are already here-although they might slow their spread.

Whether the arrival of the zebra and quagga mussels are responsible for the decline of diporeia (anecdotal evidence seems strong, their arrival coincides closely with the decline), or just exactly what mechanism is causing the decline at the bottom of the food chain (some theories suggest food or nutrient competition or perhaps some toxin released by the mussels is responsible), the break is definitely there.

Scientists describe the precipitous die-off of the alewife population (themselves an invasive species) as nothing short of astonishing, and the alewives were a critical food source for salmon. There are few tools in the management biologist's pouch to deal with these issues.

"The only thing we can do is stock more or less fish," said Mr. Reid. On the American side of the lakes, the decision has already been made to stop stocking salmon-there just isn't enough out there for them to eat.

The salmon fishery in Georgian Bay and the North Channel seems to be in better shape than it is elsewheere in the Great Lakes system, however.

Although the latest data on hand is concurrent with the alewife die-off, and therefore does not take its impact into account, salmon were reproducing in the wild quite nicely. But without the huge alewife blooms on which to gorge themselves, salmon are likely to remain smaller than what has been seen in the past.

Salmon are not crazy about smelt, but they do eat them, and smelt do seem to be on the rebound-so the scenario is not all doom and gloom for the fishery.

Another interesting development is that the round goby, which has officially arrived in our waters, seems to dine happily on quagga and zebra mussels, and their burgeoning numbers may eventually balance the equation somewhat.

There are other developments which seem to suggest a change in the smaller varieties of phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants) and zooplankton (the tiny creatures that eat phytoplankton) which may provide some relief.

Cormorants apparently eat round gobys, and a bottom dwelling botulism spore seems to cause the goby to lose both its marbles, (it ends up swimming erratically up toward the surface), and to change colours, thus losing its protective camouflage-providing easy prey for the voracious cormorant appetite.

Food chains, the impacts of invasive species and the adaptations of Mother Nature to the whole orchestration do make for very complex systems. That complexity is no excuse for inaction, asserts the GBA; however, they are demanding that all levels of government step up to the plate and begin studying what the impacts on the environment will be and what, if anything, can be done about it.

In the meantime, the barn door remains wide open due to inadequate regulation and policing of ballast water discharges in the Great Lakes-and that is something the GBA and the province say the federal government could do something about.

MNR deer check station returns this year

Open Wednesday to Saturday in Espanola

by Jim Moodie

ESPANOLA-After a five-year hiatus, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is reviving a check station for deer hunters leaving Manitoulin in the hope that a picture of herd health can be gleaned from the measurement of antlers and collection of other information.

"We did a little bit of antler beam measuring in 2004, but the last time we ran a full check station was 2001," said Wayne Selinger, a wildlife biologist with the MNR.

The station begins operating today (Wednesday) outside the Price Chopper store in Espanola, and will continue to be staffed, from 10 am to 5:30 pm, through to Saturday, with help from both College Boreal students and volunteers with the local Quality Deer Management Association chapter.

Mr. Selinger noted that this year's operation has been scaled back from the round-the-clock checks that were held in the past. "Dollars are tight right now, so we're trying to make it as simple and painless as possible," he said, adding that a leaner version of the program will hopefully mean that it can be undertaken again in two or three years' time.

"We're hoping to see between 1,000 and 1,500 deer, which we'll sort by sex and age," said Mr. Selinger. Apart from measuring beam diameters, the MNR will also weigh carcasses and "see if yearling does are lactating."

The latter circumstance would indicate that fawns have been bred, which only happens if the young doe "is in good condition, weighing 80 pounds or so by the fall," said Mr. Selinger. "If the population is relatively low compared to the habitat, the females will be growing good."

His guess is that there wouldn't be a lot of fawns being bred on the Island now, but that assessment could change depending on the information the MNR gathers at the check station.

In general, the ministry hopes to gauge "the herd of the health in relation to the resources available on the Island." While the survey won't provide a solid picture of population, the data should give an idea of whether there are too many animals competing for limited food and space.

"Everyone pretty much feels that there are a lot of deer right now," said Mr. Selinger. "But are there too many? It depends on who you talk to. Certainly there are many deer, and that's why we've been ramping up the harvest over the past few years, extending the gun hunt to seven days and making second seals available."

Once the MNR compiles the data collected during this year's survey, it can compare it with the information on file from the previous check five years ago. "This way we can check to see if there's any difference in the health and condition of deer," said Mr. Selinger.

Participation in the check is voluntary, but hunters are strongly encouraged to stop in at the check site as they head through Espanola. Crests will be available for those who provide their animals for study.

EDITORIAL

Lakes' food chain crisis highlights volunteers' importance

News that the food chain in Lake Huron has been broken merely confirms what many fishing boat operators have known for some time-the salmon fishery is all but dead.

Begun three decades ago with great hopes, the industry had barely gotten out of its nascent stage before being crushed by the impact of a pair of invasive creatures whose full impact we have not even begun to appreciate.

Manitoulin shore dwellers are already having to deal with the impact of zebra mussels, whose clinging ways have clogged up numerous water intake lines and made barefoot travel on the shore a hazardous undertaking-now to learn that these unwanted visitors are also threatening livelihoods and are not likely to take their leave any time soon.

The scale of the problem seems insurmountable, given the size of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the sheer volume of creatures which are assaulting its ecosystem, but that is not the case.

While the salmon fishery is likely to remain less vibrant than it has in the past, and sports fishing in general has declined precipitously in recent years, there are people who are fighting back, and they are doing it successfully despite all odds.

On the local front, and perhaps most importantly, the Manitoulin Streams project has demonstrated how efforts by a determined group of volunteers can rehabilitate fish habitat to astonishing levels. On an even more grassroots level, the individual efforts of schoolchildren and cottagers banding together to build bass nests along the shoreline can have a long-lasting impact on the continued viability of that popular sport fish.

On a grander scale, the Manitoulin stewardship initiative will help to harness volunteers, corporate sponsorships and government into a united effort to improve the well-being of all of our natural resources.

On both the grassroots level and the larger political front, the efforts of individual fish and game clubs and the umbrella lobby group the United Fish and Game Clubs of Manitoulin have been fighting tirelessly to bring the issues of our precious natural resources to the forefront.

Many of these organizations are feeling the fatigue of fighting what seems to be a losing battle on the political front, as MNR budget allocations continue to decline and their efforts seem to bear little tangible fruit-but without them even less government attention to the sector would be forthcoming. They are the wheel that squeaks, and God bless each and every one of them for their far too unsung efforts.

Together we can all make a difference, but it will require the kind of effort normally reserved for defending our way of life from those who would come and destroy it-for that, at this very moment, is exactly what is happening!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Charles C. McLean students sending treats to the troops

Mr. Demers is not alone

To the Expositor:

I am writing on behalf of my students with regard to the November 15 story, "Mindemoya man collecting for the troops." We think it is wonderful that Mr. Demers is collecting items to send to troops in Afghanistan. We were, however, a little concerned with his words that he was "feeling kinda irritated that there wasn't anybody here on the Island doing that kind of thing."

The Grades 7 and 8 classes at C.C. McLean have been involved with Canadian troop support for over six months now. In March of this year, students made Easter cards, and sent over treats to troops in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. In September of this year we began Operation Troop Support, and with the help of a very supportive Manitoulin community we collected enough items to fill 62 shoeboxes full of treats, reading material, puzzles and personal items. In addition, the Missionary Church in Spring Bay packed 11 boxes ready to be shipped with our own. These boxes will be shipped to members of the Royal Canadian Regiment as soon as we receive our shipping instructions from Lt. Col. Omer Lavoie, the Commanding Officer of the RCR, and our own "pen pal" for the last three months.

So, in conclusion, we applaud Mr. Demers for his efforts, and want him to know he is certainly not the only person spearheading a troop support operation on Manitoulin.

Heather Jefkins

C.C. McLean

Gore Bay

Reader defends mail-in ballots

More seasonal residents should subscribe to the Expositor

To the Expositor:

Having read Perry Anglin's recent letter about mail-in balloting ("Mail-in ballot system flawed, expensive," November 15), I would like to make a few points in favour of this system.

Yes, mail-in voters are voting a minimum of 10 days in advance of the main polling day, but this is also the case with many people who take the opportunity to vote in their advance polls.

It is not necessarily the case that "absentee" voters are not as well informed as year-round residents. All voters have a duty to become as well informed as possible, but we cannot limit anyone's right to vote on the basis of how informed they are. Unfortunately, many voters make choices based on factors that you or I might consider inappropriate, but this happens in all elections. More seasonal residents should subscribe to the Expositor.

I would be happy to vote in a summer election, but even then, it might not coincide with my plans to be at my cottage. Also, the province dictates when municipal elections are held, so I imagine that they will always be in November.

As for giving the vote to a property owner who is not a Canadian citizen, why not allow it? All property owners are equally concerned with their municipal services and property taxes.  Being a seasonal resident has nothing to do with it. At present, no-one may vote in a Canadian election if he/she is not a Canadian citizen. Again, here is an issue that is not dictated by the municipal government.

I hope we will be told how many mail-in ballots were spoiled. I am sure that the main reason was failure to enclose the signed voter registration form, and I hope this part of the system can be improved by the next municipal election in 2010.

Charles King

McGregor Bay and Toronto

Ontario Works should not be a haven for deadbeat parents

Parents rely on these payments every month

To the Expositor:

I am writing this letter concerning parents who do not pay their child support. It really upsets me to know that some parents purposely go on social assistance because they know they cannot be touched. The payer cannot have his/her monthly child support payments garnished from their social assistance cheques. How can our government let this go on?

There are parents out there who rely on these payments every month. When you are a single parent trying to make ends meet it is very hard. I know-I've been there. I don't think it should matter; it is your responsibility to make these payments.

Did you know that the Family Responsibility Office has a right to close your case if the support payer is on social assistance? They can also not give you any information on the payer, for example, a last known address. I think that the Family Responsibility Office should keep these cases open and let the support keep on adding up every month. If you can't pay in full every month then you should contact the Family Responsibility Office to set up a payment schedule.

To Mike Brown and Brent St. Denis, I hope this letter has opened your eyes to what is really going on and consider what I have said. If you are going to give free money from us, the hard-working taxpayers, to these people, they should have to take full responsibility for their actions and pay their child support.

Tara Reckahn

Tehkummah