Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 05, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 Are you Painfully Shy? Are you bothered by: Blushing Sweating Dry Mouth Racing heart Do you have difficulty: Eating in public Writing in public Maintaining eye contact We can help. Call 925- 0600 or 1( 800) 805- 8885 www. adam. mb. ca AUTO PICTURE LISTINGS as low as $ 49 14 Call Classified 6 9 7 - 7 1 0 0 # P3F248 2011 1717 WAVERLEY 1- 877- 432- 8670 mymidtownford. com $ 19 , 888 or $ 249 / month Price & payment plus freight, fees & taxes OAC. 0% 48 month lease 54 MPG RATING 2012 FOCUS SE 2.0 GDI I4, 6 spd auto, power group, cruise control, perimeter alarm, heated seats/ mirrors. Purchase or lease with 0% 72 month purchase financing @ 0% APR with 10% down 0% 72 month purchase finance ABORIGINAL DAY LIVE AT LUNCH AT THE WINNIPEG FREEPRESS NEWS CAF� Get a sneak peek of Canada's most exciting National Aboriginal Day celebration as The Winnipeg Free Press Cafe hosts performers from Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration. Thursday June 7 Indian City featuring Pamela Davis and William Prince Thursday June 14 Indian City featuring Don Amero and Ray Stevenson Thursday June 21 Adam James Presents aboriginaldaylive. com # ADL2012 For more information about Aboriginal Day Live and Celebration, June 23 at The Forks visit THURSDAYS AT 12 NOON TO 1PM JUNE 7 - 21, 2012 237 McDermot Ave. 943- 0682 wfpnewscafe@ gmail. com TOP NEWS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012 winnipegfreepress. com A 3 LORD Selkirk School Division trustees go behind closed doors tonight to hear allegations Grade 8 students from Grand Marais were tricked into chewing on moose droppings while on a school canoe trip. The alleged incidents happened May 25 when about two dozen students from Walter Whyte School were on a two- day canoe trip accompanied by teachers and other adult chaperones. Some of the children later told their parents one of the adults had tricked two children into putting moose droppings in their mouths while other kids watched and laughed, after telling them it was a nutritious mixture of wild berries and grass. Angie Jonski said Monday her nephew was one of the victims, and one of her two nieces on the trip was also offered the droppings. " They all laughed - he ran to the river to wash his mouth out," Jonski said. Her niece later turned down the droppings, Jonski said, but her niece's friend accepted. " She was told it's nutritious, it's berries and grass. She was chewing it, and it got stuck in her braces." Jonski said some parents have not allowed their kids to go back to school since the canoe trip. " The parents will be there tonight," she said. Lord Selkirk superintendent Scott Kwasnitza confirmed he has been conducting an investigation, but would not discuss any details of what he will tell the school board tonight. " We are investigating an incident. It's a student and personnel ( situation)," he said. " It was a field trip that involved the school, and there were staff along on the trip. It's an annual event; it's a canoe trip. " We will be involving the board," Kwasnitza said. " We're trying to deal with it internally." Jonski said the children reported one group went hiking while the rest were at the camp. On the hike, an adult picked up fresh moose droppings and told the students the material would be used to play an unspecified joke on the kids who weren't there. Jonski said the school is dismissing the incident as a poorly considered joke, and no one was supposed to reach the point of putting the material in his or her mouth. " If it was a joke gone bad, why would you offer it to a second kid?" she asked. A mother named Polly said her son was not directly affected, but she could tell he wasn't his normal self after the trip. It was only this past Saturday that he told her what had happened, and she's been hearing accounts from other parents all telling basically the same story. The kids were told not to tell about the incident, she said: " I'm really annoyed with that. " How utterly disgraceful - I'm embarrassed by the whole thing. If no action is taken, there'll be a lot of upset parents," she said. nick. martin@ freepress. mb. ca O TTAWA - Eight of the world's top aquatic research scientists will release a letter this morning, asking Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reconsider the decision to stop funding the Experimental Lakes Area near Kenora. The area, known as the ELA, is a unique research program using 58 lakes in northwestern Ontario to test the effects on aquatic ecosystems of various pollutants and toxins and determine ways to repair damage to water bodies. Because the lakes are self- contained, the research can be conducted without affecting other habitats. Once research is completed, the scientists return the lakes to their original state. There is no other such program in the world and international scientists have used research conducted in the ELA over the last six decades to drive environmental policies on everything from acid rain to mercury and coalfired power plants. Research is underway to help solve the problem of algae blooms that plague Lake Winnipeg. The program and most of its scientists are based in Winnipeg. The federal government announced May 18 it will no longer fund the program, part of an $ 80- million budget cut to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The program received $ 2 million a year but a spokesman for Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield said the program no longer jibes with the government's mandate. Diane Orihel, founder of the group Save Experimental Lakes Area, said that is simply not true. " The government's mandate is to study and preserve aquatic ecosystems," shesaid." That'swhatwedo." Orihel is completing her PhD at the ELA. She said the letter, which will be made public today, will help show the government why it is wrong to stop funding the project. The federal NDP will hold a series of news conferences today on the subject. Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Pat Martin said he thinks the government is surprised at the amount of backlash it has received for the ELA decision. " I think the Conservatives underestimated the amount of push- back they were going to get," he said. Since the decision was announced, scientists from around the globe including Israel, Europe and the United States, have spoken out against it. The scientists who work at the ELA haven't spoken up because the government has told them they are not allowed to speak publicly about it. There are about 17 scientists and others working on the ELA program as employees of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Martin said the government may have rushed to judgment but said for $ 2 million a year, it is a bargain considering the international prestige and the unique qualities of the program. Orihel said the government also claims to be trying to find someone to take over the ELA but if there is such an attempt underway, nobody connected with the ELA has been contacted about it. Martin also said the federal government is bound by law to remediate all 58 lakes and return them to their original state if the ELA program closes. That could cost much more than the $ 2- million annual ELA budget, he said. mia. rabson@ freepress. mb. ca Trustees hear allegations of ' disgraceful' trick on students By Nick Martin Big- name plea for project's life Top scientists unite to ask PM to save Experimental Lakes Area By Mia Rabson ' I think the Conservatives underestimated the amount of push- back they were going to get' - NDP MP Pat Martin MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin says Ottawa is legally bound to return the Experimental Lakes Project to its natural condition, which may cost more than the ELA costs each year. A_ 03_ Jun- 05- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A3 6/ 4/ 12 6: 29: 38 PM ;