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Chit Chat BY MURRAY JOHNSTON & ANDREW DOUGLAS SOMETIMES TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Two weeks after Rod Googoo successfully convinced Indian Affairs to investigate the results of last fall’s Waycobah Band election, 10-term Chief Morley Googoo got himself elected as regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Presumably, the election investigation will be scuttled and a new election will be called, so the federal government will never be able to answer runner-up Rod’s allegations that something hinky was afoot on that October day. Among his complaints: electoral officer Melinda Young failed to mail ballots to every one of the 700 or so eligible voters, including some of Rod’s own family members (Frank 604). Ultramar Canada is currently embroiled in talks with the Membertou First Nation over a $1.2 million lawsuit the band filed against it last December, according to Membertou finance guru Mike MacIntyre. But a spokesthingy with the fuel giant, Michel Martin, says the lawsuit is “dormant,” and the relations between the two parties are very good. “Their real litigation is with a third party, the Canada Revenue Agency,” Michel advises. According to a Notice of Action filed at N.S. Supreme Court in Sydney, the band says Ultramar, which has a station on Maillard Street in Sydney, miscalculated its profits by failing to take into account that native customers don’t pay tax (Frank 603). Mike says it’s been a frustrating issue, but both sides are talking now. “We took action to protect the interests of the band and at the end of the day, no money will exchange hands. Canada Revenue will be the beneficiary.” McInnes Cooper tax specialist Bruce Stewart Russell is handling the matter for the Membertou Band. 10 FRANK MAGAZINE MAY 24, 2011 Morley Googoo In other Membertou news, construction of the new Hampton Inn, adjacent to the Membertou Trade & Convention Centre, is behind schedule because of a particularly harsh winter. The motel is now projected for a Christmas opening, just in time to accommodate the hundreds of fans expected to attend the Canadian Amateur Boxing Championship in January. Rodney MacDonald isn’t the only Inverness County fiddler who’s been trotting around with a new gal in recent months. I’m told Rannie MacDonald, formerly of Southwest Margaree, is often spotted cavorting at the local square dances with a P.E.I. stepdancer more than 20 years his junior. I understand the comely lass, whose name unfortunately escapes me, made Rannie’s acquaintance while visiting relatives in Scottsville. She began taking fiddle lessons from Rannie, and their romance blossomed from there. Rannie, 59, is estranged from his wife Irene (nee Kennedy), and I understand he’s currently calling a trailer in Kenloch, near Strathlorne, home. I see where the Schwartz family-owned Seaside Communications has turned to Halifax media guru Jim Meek to peddle influence in the corridors of power. Now Noel Sampson’s partner in the Public Affairs Atlantic Inc. consulting biz, long time Chronically Horrid columnist Jim is busy as a beaver, lobbying MLAs, the Treasury and Policy Board, and the Economic Development office, on behalf of Seaside’s rural broadband interests. So far the province has contributed $900,000 to Seaside coffers, to bring highspeed internet to the sticks. Port Hawkesbury RCMP say there’s nothing to see here, but I can’t help but wonder what in the hell was going on at Paul and Jean Dorton’s Tamarac Drive abode on Easter morning. One of my Strait Area sources says a male in his 20s, presumably one of the couple’s sons, was taken out of the home in handcuffs at about 8:45 a.m. on April 24. It would seem, judging from RCMP Sgt. Shelby Miller’s contention that the “matter is closed,” that no charges were laid. You might remember that Paul and Jean, both of whom toil in the maintenance department of the NSCC’s Strait Area Campus, won the grand prize dream home in the 2008 QE2 Lifestyles Lottery. Instead of moving to the big city, the couple opted to unload their 492 Voyageur Way, Hammonds Plains abode, pay off their mortgage, and enjoy the (usually) quiet life in Port Hawkesbury. It appears 81-year-old molar polisher Royden Trainor is going through Adult Diversion after being charged with mischief in connection with the keying of a vehicle belonging to Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean’s son-in-law Jeremy Gillis (Frank 608). Royden was scheduled to be arraigned on the charge in Provincial Court on April 14. Court documents now indicate that he’s scheduled to return to court September 26 for a “status update,” which is generally indicative of admittance into Adult Diversion. The program offers offenders the chance to avoid a conviction while still accepting responsibility for their actions and making reparations to their victims. In relation to the case, RCMP Sgt. Shelby Miller would only say that “there are many alternative ways that the courts deal with charges.” CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Has anybody else had enough of LeRoy Peach? If the Port Morien denizen isn’t spouting tired cliches during his regular bits on Information Morning (spring must be here, the Leafs are out — ed.), he’s nattering on about nothing in his weekly Cape Breton Post column. I nearly flipped my lid when I spotted a letter to the editor to the Post the other week, during which he, for some unknown reason, felt the need to enlighten readers about a conversation he had with his nephew about something or other. The guy’s an old woman’s arse, there ain’t no two ways about it. CBRM residents interested in the upcoming Utility and Review Board public meeting dealing with the future size of Council would be wise to get their hands on a board consultant’s report which recommends that it be reduced by four seats before the next election. The report says municipal democracy will not be seriously altered by a change from 16 to 12 councillors. A smaller council, it argues, will not lead to the loss of localized identities, but can help place greater emphasis on the larger regional identity. The document is also highly critical of the way council went about gathering public input on the issue. The consultant says public meeting minutes reflected not what was said by citizens, but the supposed “accomplishments” of the gatherings. It also blasts council’s blind refusal to listen to its own consultant, who likewise recommended culling the herd. The truth is this decision should have been made years ago, but a cabal of backward-thinking councillors were able to stem the tide of change. It won’t work again. The meeting is scheduled for May 30. John Morgan, aka the prophet of gloom and doom, is spreading his message of despair again, this time to the local Chamber of Commerce. The CBRM mayor was singing his same tired tunes — out-migration, lack of cash from the other levels of government, etc. — at the Chamber’s meeting at the North Star Motel in North Sydney last month. I’m ashamed to say that not one member of the business community asked for the mayor’s solution to the problem. Three softball questions and he was off the hook. Disgraceful. “You tell me why kids do the things they do,” thundered Cape Breton University athletics department communications honcho Doug MacKenzie when I asked for LeRoy Peach, shown here prior to boring a pair of lobsters to death. a comment to explain the alleged behaviour of former varsity basketball star Phillip Nkrumah. As you’ve likely heard, the Brampton native is set to appear in Provincial Court on May 19 to enter a plea on charges including assaulting a police officer, resisting and obstructing an officer, and causing a disturbance as a result of an incident at the Capri Club on Charlotte Street in late February. At presstime, I was still waiting for CBU Community Studies professor Jane Connell — or anyone from the knowledge box, for that matter — to answer a fresh allegation that she, like Sociology professor Joe Parish (Frank 609), missed an inordinate amount of classes this school year. I’m sure Jane, the wiferoo of CBU vice-president external Keith Brown, will get to me sooner or later. Could the “erosion of staff morale” at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, recently referred to by departing thoracic surgeon Dr. Russ Gowan (Frank 608, 610), have anything to do with this individual’s heartless comment? An acquaintance tells me that an elderly patient ended up with severe chafing after soiling herself and being forced to sit in it all night. When she complained to a nurse the next morning, the nurse commented that, “This is a hospital, not a nursing home.” Nice. More than a decade after court action began, a medical malpractice trial addressing the plight of a severely paralyzed Louisbourg woman begins on May 24 in Sydney. Victoria Renata Anderson, 37, has been a prisoner in her own body, only able to move her eyelids, for 14 years, following a 1997 visit to the VG Hospital for treatment of her recurrent inflammatory bowel disease. The plaintiffs, Victoria and her parents, Mildred and Victor Anderson (Ray Wagner and Michael Dull, Wagner & Associates), are accusing the defendants, the Queen Elizabeth Health Sciences Centre, Dr. S. Wagner and Dr. S.A. Gee (Dan Campbell, Cox & Palmer) of botching attempts to insert a catheter into one of Victoria’s central veins, causing a stroke which led to her condition. The court has set aside an astounding 49 days to hear the evidence. Gotta love the spanking-new Cape Breton tourism slogan: No Wrong Turn. Anybody familiar with Marketing 101 knows you never use a negative when seeking a positive response. But the geniuses at Destination Cape Breton and the Extreme Group managed to cram two negative words into a three-word slogan. Nice work. Of course, this Herculean effort is at least partially financed by your friends at Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation. Destination C.B. has received $1,267,743 from the corporate welfare specialists since 2007. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE MAY 24, 2011 FRANK MAGAZINE 11
Page 1 and 2: Convicted molester moves to Bedford
Page 3 and 4: Letters Just testing... Dear Frank:
Page 5 and 6: BY ANDREW DOUGLAS WITH ALL DUE RESP
Page 7 and 8: BY NEAL OZANO GERALD KEDDY’S CONS
Page 9: ELECTION 2011 Is Karlheinz here yet
Page 13 and 14: The case of the Crown and the court
Page 15 and 16: Lonely at Rowan BY DAN WALSH ONLY T
Page 17 and 18: One hopes former Chief Justice Lorn
Page 19 and 20: Jumpin’ Judy Hare makes more than
Page 21 and 22: Jim Smith’s budget siesta BY DAN
Page 23 and 24: Mental Health Court news BY JACOB B
Page 25 and 26: COAST KISSES KUTCHER’S ARSE BY NE
Page 27 and 28: By now I hope you’ve had the plea
Page 29 and 30: RALSTON, FROM PAGE 18 courses. Rich
Page 31 and 32: Tweets of the Week Follow Frank on
Page 33 and 34: Charles: The forgotten man By Roy A
Page 35 and 36: OH NO! WITHOUT OUR PRECIOUS X-WOMEN

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