Mixing oil and water

Peter Lozinski
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Mixing oil and water

Oil and water usually don’t mix, but the combination has proven successful for one local art group.

Shades of Oil and Water is the latest show from the Oil and Water Art group, and it’s now on display at Amy’s on Second.

The group consists of four artists, Fred Bahr, Ursula Brons, Bonnie Denny and June (Lycyk) Ricklefs. The group is named because its members paint primarily in watercolour and oils, though they also work in acrylics.

The group members spend a lot of time out exploring or sitting at home on acreages or at cottages, so they paint a lot of landscapes. But those won’t be the only subjects on display at this show.

Bahr, who often paints landscapes, decided for this show he would display some still life, as well as some more abstract pieces.

“Every now and then I have to give my landscaping brain time to rest,” he said,

“I’ve dabbled in (abstract) work too, it’s more impressionistic work.”
Bahr explained that his impressionistic work is an exercise in simplification.

“You start with a very detailed project and you keep simplifying it,” he said.
But even when Bahr is painting still life or abstract pieces, he keeps taking inspiration from the world around him.

“It’s peony season and rose season out here, so just looking out the window, and then I go to the Salvation Army or Value Village and find weird vases and set them up,” he said.

“Then I just paint how it should be to me. It’s an interpretation, a feeling.”

That process of interpreting what’s in front of him is also an approach used by Ricklefs. She paints from a lot of photographs, but instead of recreating exactly what she sees, Ricklefs likes to see the piece take on a life of its own.

“Once I’ve got the initial washes in and the planning done, then to me, it’s kind of a journey,” said Ricklefs, who has a fine arts degree and prefers to work with watercolours.

“I make a composition from (the photos). I’ll change the composition to make it better. Sometimes, I never really know how it’s going to turn out. For me, it’s kind of exploring the painting. I kind of take a journey into them.”

For Ricklefs, the use of watercolour really lets her blend colours together. She also likes using vibrant colours, with dark darks and bright brights. She’ll also let the watercolour paper peek through to add some white and some negative space to her work.

“That’s a nice part about watercolour, using the white of the paper as another colour,” she said.

“You have to plan it more, and then use masking fluid sometimes so the white of the paper doesn’t end up being lost.”

While the group members take some similar inspirations, the works themselves are very different, which is good in a show like this, Ricklefs said.

“You’re not going to go there and see all kinds of the same thing from each of us,” she said.

“I think the variety is good. It adds more interest to the group.”

The show was hung Sunday. It was a chance, for the first time, for the group to see each others’ work.

“It will be a surprise to see what Fred’s doing with the abstracts he just did,” Ricklefs said prior to the weekend.

“Ursula, I’ve seen some of her work but not a lot of it. Bonnie I’m more familiar with because she and I had a show at the John V. Hicks Gallery.

It’s just quite interesting … to see what we’ve accomplished and to see what the others are doing because we are so different from one another.”

Bahr agreed.

“It’s always exciting to hang a show,” he said.

The work will be on display until October 13. The group is holding an opening reception from 2-4 p.m. Sunday. There is no admission to the opening reception.

Photo gallery – Canada 10, USA 3

Peter Lozinski
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Photo gallery – Canada 10, USA 3

Canada got off to a winning start at the World Junior Softball Championships in Prince Albert on July 7 by defeating the Americans in six innings, 10-3.

Semi driver in Humboldt crash facing 29 criminal charges

Peter Lozinski
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Semi driver in Humboldt crash facing 29 criminal charges

The driver of the semi-truck involved in the deadly April 6 Humboldt Broncos Bus crash has been arrested and faces 29 criminal charges, the RCMP announced Friday.

Jaskirat Sidhu, a 29-year-old from Calgary, is facing 16 charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

The incident took place as the Broncos, a Junior A hockey team, was headed to a playoff game in Nipawin. The 16 people killed include head coach Darcy Haugan, and captain Logan Schaltz. Ten of the deaths were members of the team, with the remaining six including a broadcaster, team staff and the bus driver.

The charges were sworn Thursday. Sidhu was arrested without incident in his Calgary home. He is set to make a first appearance in provincial court sometime next week. The exact date and location of his appearance are not yet known. The Criminal Code defines dangerous operation of a motor vehicle as operating “a motor vehicle in a manner that is dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances, including the nature, condition and use of the place at which the motor vehicle is being operated and the amount of traffic at that time is or might reasonably be expected to be at that place.”

If convicted, Sidhu could face significant jail time. Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison, while dangerous operation causing bodily harm carries up to 10 years.

During a press release held in Regina Friday and streamed live by the Regina Leader-Post, Superintendent Derek Williams, officer in charge of the major crime unit, gave few details as the matter is before the courts.

“There are significant and serious charges,” he said.

He refused to provide any details about the collision itself, apart from what was already known — that the bus was travelling north on Highway 35 and the semi-trailer unit west on Highway 335. There is a stop sign at the intersection on Highway 335, but Highway 35 is a thoroughfare, with traffic passing at speeds exceeding 100 km/h.

“It’s the circumstances … that led to the charges,” Williams said.

“There is a marked departure of the standard of care expected from a driver, in this case, a semi driver.”

Williams said families were informed in Saskatoon and Edmonton Friday morning that charges had been laid.

“We’ve looked at every aspect of the collision,” he said. “Our investigators were thorough in their systematic analysis of this evidence,” adding in response to a question, “there are no impaired driving charges.”

A core team of 20 investigators, supplemented by an additional 200 investigators assisted in the investigation. That included forensics, major crime and collision reconstruction units. Over 60 interviews were conducted, 6,000 photos taken and all documents analyzed. A reconstruction was done at the scene, and 3D modelling was completed using drones. The investigators were assisted by Transport Canada, the provincial coroner’s office and SGI.

Williams said he appreciated that the public wanted answers sooner, but an investigation this complex takes time.

“We can appreciate this is a mass casualty event,” he said. “A number of aspects had to be investigated. It takes time to gather all that evidence and facts.”

Everything gathered then had to be put to experts.

“The time it took to do this work — this important work — was necessary,” said Saskatchewan RCMP commanding officer, assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki, who also declined to provide further details.

“We must protect the integrity of the evidence gathered and respect the judicial process as this matter is now before the courts.”

 

 

Charges laid in Humboldt Broncos bus crash

Peter Lozinski
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Charges laid in Humboldt Broncos bus crash

The RCMP has announced that it has made an arrest and laid charges in its investigation into the deadly Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash.

RCMP are expected to give further information at a press conference in Regina later this afternoon.

The April 6 crash killed 16, including head coach Darcy Haugan and captain Logan Schaltz. A further 13 were injured. Over $16 million was raised to benefit the families of those involved in the crash.

More to come.

Shooting now a homicide

Peter Lozinski
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Shooting now a homicide

The victim of a shooting in the alley of the 200 Block of Ninth Street East last week has died in a Saskatoon hospital.

It’s the city’s first homicide of 2018. There were two homicides in 2017.

The 28-year-old was shot in the face on June 28 at about 9 p.m. Police identified a residence believed to be related to the incident.

The motive is unknown, but the shooting is not considered to be random. Suspects have been identified but no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Prince Albert Police Service at 306-953-4222.

Give them space — National Park urges patrons to take steps to reduce wildlife encounters

Peter Lozinski
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Give them space — National Park urges patrons to take steps to reduce wildlife encounters

While it may be tempting to give your dog some space to run around in Prince Albert National Park, or to get a little bit closer to that animal to get a neat photo, or to leave your empty cooler out at your campsite for convenience, all three of those things can lead to unwanted conflict between humans and the park’s animal residents.

Those three examples are just some of the behaviours people like Kevin Ferrie try to educate the public to avoid.

Ferrie is the Prince Albert National Park visitor safety coordinator. As a part of his role, he works to keep interaction between visitors and wild animals at a minimum.

“It can be anything from squirrels to moose. Everything should be considered as a wild animal,” he said.

“They might look cute and be in our community, but they’re still wild animals, so we do recommend that people regardless of the animal they’re interacting with, keep a distance. Be respectful of them.”

Animal attacks in the national park are exceedingly rare, but that doesn’t mean that other negative interactions don’t happen. One of the common ways those negative interactions can happen is when a visitor has a dog.

“We see trends, like people not respecting wildlife by letting their dogs off leash. Dogs then interact with the wildlife and sometimes can create some panic or defensive response from the wildlife,” Ferrie said.

“We’re always trying to make sure that we understand what happens in an off-leash dog park in the city isn’t comparable to here in the park.”

One of the reasons dogs, even on a leash, can cause conflict with wild animals, is the presence of a domestic animal can instil a defensive response from wildlife, especially mothers with their young.

That doesn’t mean don’t take your dog with you in the park. All it means is you should keep a respectful distance, Ferrie said.

“What we mean by a good distance is if (an animal) is raising its head and looking at you, you’re a little too close. If you’re far enough back where it’s not really paying attention to you, that’s more of a respectful distance. Stay back, use your zoom lens to get close rather than physically approaching and stay in your vehicle.”

While interactions can occur with just about any wild animal, one species in particular campers and hikers need to be aware of is the black bear.

Even if it looks blond, brown, reddish-tinged or jet black, if you’re hiking or camping in the national park, the species of bear you’ll encounter is the black bear.

For hikers, the main safety tip is to make lots of noise when you’re walking and staying alert by listening and watching your surroundings.

“Bears don’t like to be surprised,” Ferrie said.

“If they hear you coming they’ll get out of your way and you’ll never see them. Most of the time they’re not looking for trouble either. They’ll get out of the way.”

While you can carry bear spray as a defence mechanism, Ferrie said you’ll rarely need it.

“It’s very rare we’ve had anyone charged or even bluff charged,” he said. “It’s more precautionary.”

If you do come face-to-face with a bear, Ferrie said the best thing to do is back away slowly and speak in a calm voice. Don’t run. In the rare case you are attacked, fight back.

While Ferrie advises hikers or drivers to just make their presence known, give bears their space and pay attention, there are a few other safety tips for campers to avoid having a run-in with the furry, four-legged creatures.

“We’ve got hundreds of campers in the park, especially on a weekend, so it’s really important people keep a clean campsite,” he said.

‘When they’re down at the beach, it’s easy to get complacent and forget a cooler out or forget to take the bag of garbage hanging on the trailer hitch. A couple of interactions where bears get into food or garbage is all it takes sometimes for the bear to actively seek that out, and it often ends badly for the bear.”

It’s not just food and garbage you have to be cautious about not leaving out. Anything scented — soap, toothpaste, shampoo and even empty coolers and used cooking equipment — can attract bears.

“Things like coolers are not necessarily (what) people think of as being a bear attractant,” said Veronica Kmiech, a member of the park’s interpretive staff who helped design a bear smart-themed float for the Canada Day parade.

“Anything associated with food and smells bears will find, and because they’re very curious creatures, they’ll come to check things out.”

A bear rummaging through a campsite can do damage to tents, trailers and awnings. Too many human-bear encounters and the animal will be trapped and relocated, or in serious situations, put down.

But people don’t just have to worry about bears. Even more docile creatures, such as elk, can pose a safety risk. People tend to let their guard down around elk, especially the ones grazing by the side of the road. But it doesn’t take much to startle the creatures.

“They get used to traffic and they get used to people because they’re always in proximity, but they still have trigger points,” Ferrie said.

“They’re still unpredictable, something can spook them and they can jump out onto the road. If you see wildlife, we recommend drivers slow down and go a little bit wider around them.”

Startled elk can cause other safety risks, too. If a herd of elk is spooked, they can cause a mini-stampede, which may run through other groups of park visitors.

“That’s another reason to make sure pets are well-managed and people are being respectful,” Ferrie said.

Elk in town cause another hazard. Communications officer Shannon Bond said, especially in the spring and early summer, elk travel around Waskesiu with their newborns in tow, and people can get closer than park staff would like.

“Around town, we’re seeing several of them have sets of twins and everyone wants to get photos. We have to keep reminding people to keep a distance,” she said.

“We’re the ones that can modify our behaviour to make sure we’re safe, but also that they’re safe.”

While many of these safety tips are well-known by those who frequent the area, aside from teaching newcomers best practices for safety, park officials have to also remind experienced hikers and campers to avoid becoming complacent. It’s that complacency that can turn an uneventful trip into one with an unwelcome animal encounter.

“People say they haven’t seen any wildlife, then five minutes later, it’s a whole new ballgame,” Ferrie said.

‘What you haven’t seen all weekend can show up when you’re least expecting it. That’s why we ask people to be prepared and not let their guard down.”

For more tips about staying safe around wildlife, visit https://adventuresmart.ca/

Don’t feed the animals

Another concern park officials have is with good-intentioned folks who see an animal they think is in distress.

‘There’s a good reason not to feed wildlife,” Ferrie said.

“People think they look hungry, but they’re very well adapted to surviving in this environment without intervention.”

Instead of feeding or intervening with an animal that seems weak or hungry, Ferrie recommended people call the experts on staff. The park employs biologists and other specialists to look after issues such as conservation and animal health.

“If there is any concern about the animal’s health,” Ferrie said, “get a hold of the park here and we’ll look into it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artists at Waskesiu show thrive making unique pieces

Peter Lozinski
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Artists at Waskesiu show thrive making unique pieces

Paul-Emile L’Heureux may have found woodworking kind of by accident, but that hasn’t slowed down the retired teacher, especially during those frigid winter months.

L’Heureux is an organic farmer in White Fox, Sask. In 2000, he had broken his leg, and his daughter-in-law from Sweden had given him a little cup made out of birch.

“I thought, ‘maybe I could do this,’” L’Heureux said. ‘And when I broke my leg, I needed something to do, so I started making spoons.”

From there, he moved on to toaster tongs and salad forks. He later expanded to cutting boards and saltboxes, and now, into larger objects such as tables and benches. He’s also made wooden spoons designed to be played as a musical instrument, a nod to his French Canadian heritage.

“I use Saskatchewan wood, some of it is from the farm,” he said.

“I have a sawmill where I’ll bring in the trees, saw my own lumber and let it dry, looking for the coolest stuff, Birchwood with the spalting and the bird’s eye.”

He also used apple, poplar and pine.

So far, cutting boards, saltboxes and salad forks are very popular. L’Heureux also sells a lot of bows cut out of the natural curve of the tree. As he’s moved into bigger projects, he’s found some interest in his tables and benches.

Saturday, a variety of his work, from little spoons to large tables and some plain, stained planks, was on display as a part of a three-person art show at the Hawood Inn in Waskesiu. L’Heureux was exhibiting alongside two other local artists, potter Gail Carlson and folk artist Tom Gertz.

L’Heureux found some unexpected simpatico between his work and Carlson’s. Carlson had two-dozen ceramic bison on display for $20 each. While setting up a joint display, the artists discovered that the bison looked right at home on some of the stained wood pieces L’Heureux was selling. They collaborated, selling the works together as one.

L’Heureux had some other, more experimental work on display, including some wooden tables incorporating stained glass, and a metal chair made out of discarded railway ties, a horseshoe and what appeared to be an old metal seat from a tractor. He hopes to explore more of those unique projects in the future.

“I tried to combine some stained glass in this chair,” he said, pointing to one of his creations. “I want to do more of that in the future.”

The eclectic collection made one thing clear — L’Heureux doesn’t like to do the same thing twice.

“I don’t think you’ll find too many things that are exactly the same,” he said.

“I get into making things you won’t find anywhere else. It’s fun to do that. I’ll take orders if somebody wants something, but I’d rather make it myself, and if you like it, buy it, and if you don’t, that’s fine.

L’Heureux wasn’t the only one with a row of one-of-a-kind pieces for sale. Tom Gertz takes the same approach with his folk art. He makes birdhouses out of recycled and found items.

“Even the nails I use have been recycled,” he said.

Gertz is a potter. He teaches pottery in Prince Albert at the arts centre. But he found it hard to sell fine art pottery in the prairies, so he picked up folk art. Over the last two years, he’s been making the birdhouses, over 800 have been sold, each a unique piece.

“It’s impossible for me to make the same one twice,” Gertz said.

“There’s no way I could duplicate this.”

Gertz finds materials everywhere he can, including yard sales and flea markets. The birdhouses he had on display showcased several themes, including bicycle parts, a clock and little trinkets. But he also had several that are nature themed, using pinecones and other objects from the trail, supplemented by preserved moss from the store.

“I got that idea from walking my dog in the woods,” he said. “While he was out here doing his thing, I was out there grabbing sticks, bark and whatever I could find.”

Whether he’s working with birdhouses and found objects or with clay, Gertz is happiest when he’s creating. He also refurbishes furniture and antiques, and does work as a landscape artist.

“It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I get into the zone,” he said.

“I go within the subconscious, where that huge well of creativity lies and just tap into that.

“I’m the happiest when I’m in that zone.”

 

Stories of Prince Albert

Peter Lozinski
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Stories of Prince Albert

Fred Payton guides residents through the city’s early history through the stories of its former residents

No, Prince Albert didn’t choose a federal prison over a university.

The true story behind that permeating myth was one of many stories told by Fred Payton during the annual tour of the St. Mary Cemetery in mid-June.

The Anglican church began serving the community in the 1870s, serving as a parish church. In 1879, Emmanuel College was built by the Anglicans near where Saskatchewan Penitentiary now sits. In 1883, it received the Dominion Charter, incorporating it as the University of Saskatchewan.

With the formation of the Province of Saskatchewan, and with education falling under the provincial umbrella, a vote was held as to where the university should be set up. According to Payton, voters didn’t want to put it where the federal government had established the university (Prince Albert) and several provincial voters wanted to keep it away from the politicians in Regina. Ultimately, Saskatoon was chosen, and in 1909, the University of Saskatchewan was established, and both the university and Emmanuel College left for that city.

Wilfred Laurier’s ruling Liberals, with a strong presence in Prince Albert, later announced the city would be getting a federal penitentiary.

Payton suspects it as a political move, with the Liberals wanting to give Prince Albert a consolation prize.

“Don’t let anyone tell you Prince Albert chose,” to have a prison instead of a university, Payton said.

Though Emmanuel College moved away, St. Mary continued to be used as a parish church. As Prince Albert’s population grew on what was then Church Street (modern-day Central Avenue), St. Alban’s became more popular, and eventually, St. Mary seized to be used on a regular basis.

But while the church is only used a few times per year, it was home to many of Prince Albert’s early influential citizens, many of who are now buried in the adjacent cemetery.

Payton took a crowd of a few dozen people past some of the more prominent gravesites by St. Mary, including former mayors, a descendant of the kings of Ireland, and a member of Robert Peary’s exhibition to the North Pole.

Fred Payton stands by the grave marker for James Isbister, the first man to settle in Prince Albert, and a key player in the North-West Resistance (Peter Lozinski/Daily Herald).

He also stopped by a handful of men who played an important role in Canadian history, specifically, in the Battle of Duck Lake, the initial skirmish in the North West Rebellion.

Buried, almost side-by-side, are “Gentleman” Joe McKay, who fired the first shot, killing Isidore Dumont and Chief Assiwiyin; and James Isbister, the first man to settle in Prince Albert (predating James Nisbet by four years) and one of the men who went with Gabriel Dumont to bring Louis Riel back to Canada.

“There is a lot of history in this cemetery,” Payton said, adding that leading the tour was very “rewarding.

“I enjoy history. I’ve always enjoyed history. My father was at one time, president of the historical society. It’s a fit for me. My wife says it’s my happy place.”

Payton hopes more people take the time to explore the area’s history, as pivotal moments in Saskatchewan and Canadian history took place in the area.

“We tend to go to other communities and look at the history of those other communities, and think how fascinating it is,” Payton said.

“Then we come back here and we don’t look at our history. There is so much of value in the late 1800s, early 1900s about Prince Albert and area — the entire area, all the communities from Kinistino to North Battleford, down to Duck Lake, Rosthern even. Rosthern was a jumping off point for a lot of people who came to take the farmland in Saskatchewan. Many of those people had families who, later on, settled in Prince Albert.”

Payton said it was a joy to share just some of that history with members of the Prince Albert community.

“It’s a love for me,” he said. “So when I can share something that means so much to me with other people, it’s very rewarding.”

 

 

 

 

Organ tuner, builder and performer to play P.A. recital

Peter Lozinski
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Organ tuner, builder and performer to play P.A. recital

Warren Mack playing refurbished St. Alban’s organ Friday

When he was 15 years old, Warren Mack was invited to an organ recital at All Saints Cathedral in Edmonton.

Mack had no musical training, but he came out of that recital knowing something he didn’t know before – he was going to play the organ.

“I cam out of that recital knowing that I was supposed to play the organ and that I was also supposed to build it,” he said.

“It was like a revelation.”

Starting from scratch at age 15, Mack worked hard, getting himself into university for music in just four years. He’s been playing, building and tuning organs since.

This week, Mack is in Prince Albert to tune the pipe organ at St. Alban’s Cathedral. He’ll start work Wednesday, and take two days to tune each of the pipes to make the instrument sound like it should.

Friday, he’ll show off what the instrument sounds like, playing a pipe organ recital exploring organ music over the last 300 or so years.

Tuning an organ is nothing like tuning a piano. A piano can have as many as 236 strings for its 88 keys (treble notes have three strings each). A pipe organ can have about 1,500 pipes, each of which needs to be tuned by adjusting a collar up or down to make the pipe longer or shorter, adjusting the pitch down or up, respectively.

“I spend quite a long time… going through every single pipe, listening to each one in conjunction with the others and adjusting them up and down until they all agree,” Mack said.

“They’re physical things, they’re affected by temperature, and they don’t go much out of tune, but they just go enough that you want to bring them back.”

Mack’s offer of performing a concert came out of St. Alban approaching him to tune their organ.

According to Fred Payton, they had used the organ for a funeral last weekend when the North Battleford organist remarked that it was out of tune.

“Warren said he would come and do the organ tuning, and just for a matter of fun, he said he would do an organ concert, a recital on the Friday night,” Payton said.

“It was his offer to perform the recital.”

Mack has tuned the organ before, about three years ago.

“It’s a wonderful little cathedral,” he said.

“It’s not huge, but it’s beautiful, and it does have really nice acoustics for a pipe organ, where you (get) a little bit of a mysterious echo. It’s a wonderful building.”

People with the skillset to tune and play a pipe organ aren’t as common. As church attendance falls and churches close, pipe organs become less and less common.

The 1909-built organ at St. Alban’s is one of the few in Prince Albert that still sees regular use, Payton said.

“It’s harder and harder to find pipe organs,” Mack said. “There are a million of them on the market right now. You can buy a pipe organ for a song, but you have to have a place to put it. There are fewer organists and fewer organs. I’m not quite the last of the Mohicans, but I’m certainly part of a fading breed.”

While organs and organists are less and less common, the instrument enjoys a wealth of compositions written for it over hundreds of years. In his recitals, Mack tries to show a snippet of what’s available.

“When I do a concert, I do sort of a whistle-stop tour of organ music through the centuries, because the organ has a history that goes back a long, long time,” Mack said.

“My earliest piece is probably from 300 years ago, and I work all the way up to a toccata I wrote myself on ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God.’ It’s like a fast little tour of organ music through the ages.”

Mack’s program includes two works by J.S. Bch, a concerto by J.G. Walther, works by Alfred Hollins and Piertro Yon, and more modern pieces by Herbert Murrill and Samuel Barber, the latter being an arrangement of the composer’s famous Adagio for Strings.

For Payton, getting a chance to hear that repertoire will be a rare chance to hear what the organ is capable of doing.

“I always enjoy hearing it played in a recital because you tend to get a little bit more of the diversity of sound than you would get playing sacred music,” he said.

“It’s so fitting in sacred worship to have the pipe organ, but when you get it in concert, it has such a variety of sound you can’t get when it’s accompanying hymns on a Sunday morning.”

Mack’s recital gets going at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Proceeds from a goodwill offering will go towards the organ fund.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child abductor to learn fate on August 1

Peter Lozinski
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Child abductor to learn fate on August 1

Jared Charles, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl last summer, told police he didn’t care what happened to him and that he gave up on life two years ago, according to a statement read in court Wednesday.

Warning: Story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.

The Crown painted a picture of a man who had given up on life and didn’t care what happened to him, while the defence told a story of a troubled young man who might have done better if raised in a more structured environment, during the sentencing for Jared Charles Wednesday in a Prince Albert courtroom.

Charles, who just turned 20, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl on July 4, 2017.

He will learn his fate on August 1 at 11 a.m. The Crown has asked for nine years, while the defence argued for five.

Wednesday, exactly one year after that incident, Crown Prosecutor Cameron Scott recounted the day’s events, culminating in a powerful police statement given by whom he described as an intelligent little girl.

Throughout the proceedings, Charles, no longer sporting the long hair seen in pre-trial photos, sat silently, occasionally nodding or shaking his head. He was perched on the edge of the bench in the prisoner’s box, leaning back against the wall, staring straight ahead, occasionally shifting his eyes to peek at the gallery to his right.

In the gallery sat four members of Victim Services, apparently there to represent the victim’s family.

Scott began by handing Judge Hugh Harradence victim impact statements from the girl’s mother and father. Neither wanted their statements read in open court.

The court moved to the first matter — a breach of probation charge unrelated to the abduction.

On behalf of his client, defence lawyer Greg Chovin entered a plea of guilty.

Charles had missed an appointment with his probation officer. He was on probation after serving a sentence for sexual touching of a minor under the age of 16.

The system stopped hearing from him in mid-May, 2017.

Charles was also under conditions not to have unsupervised contact with a minor, or to be in a place where children play.

Yet on July 4, 2017, he was at a school playground, shortly before 3:30 p.m. An eight-year-old girl was playing there, supervised by her grandmother.

They lived close by, and the grandmother stepped away for a few minutes to grab a drink.

Scott played surveillance video showing Charles getting out of a dark-coloured vehicle and walking towards the camera.

He flipped to a second clip. It showed the girl walk away from the camera and disappear around a corner of the school building.

Charles, wearing a red shirt, followed a few steps behind. The pair reappeared and had a brief conversation. Charles picked her up, placed her in the back of his vehicle and drove away.

Seconds later, the grandmother returned walking towards the camera. Minutes later, the call came in to police.

By 8 p.m., police had visited the school, obtained security footage and issued an Amber Alert. Tips, Scott said, immediately began coming in, including from probation officers and others who had previously worked with Charles and knew of him.

Officers identified the car. It belonged to Charles’ roommate. The roommate’s mother received a text that evening – they were smoking hookah at Selena’s Donair.

At 11:15 p.m., Charles was placed under arrest. A search of his home revealed a large amount of female children’s clothing.

He was charged with a pile of offences, including kidnapping and sexual assault. A charge of aggravated sexual assault was later dropped.

About an hour earlier, at 10:20 p.m. a family on a rural property near Highway 302 east of Prince Albert saw a little girl coming up the walk. They recognized her from the Amber alert and called the police.

The victim was taken to the hospital to be examined. There, the victim told the doctor she had been sexually assaulted.

Officers retracing the girl’s steps found tire tracks in a sandy area in the Nisbet forest. From there, little footprints led to a river road, where a large gift bag was found. In it were a knife, a rice crispy square and a partially-drunk root beer. Charles had given it to the girl.

The prosecutor described the victim as intelligent before reading portions of her police statement to the court, a statement that contained “horrendous” details.

She told of how her grandmother stepped away for just a few minutes when the man came up and asked her questions. She didn’t answer.

Then, she said, “he stole me.”

She said Charles told her he was bringing her to a place where she wouldn’t be found. He drove her out to an abandoned house, climbed in through the window. The attack lasted for three hours.

She tried to fight back.

Charles left the girl in a remote section of a trail in the Nisbet forest. Police determined she walked about 7.3 km, in her words, two to three hours, to find help.

In his police testimony, Charles showed little remorse.

“I abducted someone,” he told police, according to a statement read out in court by Scott.

“I abducted her knowing I would get caught. I did it because I hate my life. I did exactly what you think.”

He refused to talk about what happened in the abandoned house.

He said he took the girl because she was weak.

“I wasn’t worried about her,” he told police. “I’m one step closer to hell. I don’t care what I did. I stopped caring two years ago.”

He insisted he wasn’t attracted to her, and what happened in the house hadn’t happened before.

When asked by police if he had anything to say to the family, Charles had a chilling message:

“See you in hell.”

***

The Crown and defence do agree that Charles upbringing wasn’t ideal. He came from a family where substance abuse and neglect was an issue, bouncing in and out of foster care for the first few years of his life until his mother died when he was 5. Later, his sister died by suicide.

While he had a few good placements, Scott brought up the concern that Charles has impulse control problems, and has shown a past of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

He had a good placement in 2016, until he was found guilty of touching a minor, and had to leave the home.

Charles would “need significant treatment” if he were to function in society again, Scott said.

He referenced other cases, and the need to severely denounce the crime and protect the public from Charles.

The Crown recommended a “significant” federal incarceration, about nine years in federal prison, with credit for time served. They also called for Charles to be labelled a sexual offender for the rest of his life, and to be handed a 10-year firearm prohibition upon his release.

“I can understand the parents’ feeling,” Judge Harradence said. “I think all of us can. The mere thought of something like this disturbs me.”

While Chovin had no comment about the orders of a weapons prohibition and a sex offender registration, he did disagree on the length of the sentence.

“We don’t take issue to this being a fairly horrific set of facts, because it is,” he said.

Still, Chovin argued there was context to how Charles offended that were important in his sentencing.

“I think it’s important there be some context,” he said.

“To say he has had a difficult life and a torturous path of his own is an understatement.”

On top of his bouncing from foster home to foster home and dealing with family members who died from suicide, Chovin said Charles has diagnoses of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and ADD, which may impact his ability to control his impulses.

Eventually, he was placed at Ranch Ehrlo Society, which operates a youth residence for teens with social, psychological, behavioural and cognitive difficulties.

Discharge documents from that facility detail how Charles is emotionally immature, relating better to younger children than to people his age. The society suggested that could lead to issues with Charles as he also matured sexually. The report also found he did well in a structured, well-supervised environment.

Other documents cited by Chovin indicated that, as a child, Charles yelled and screamed when people tried to take him to his mother’s house, and that he may have been sexually abused.

It’s hard to ascertain exactly what happened, Chovin said, as Charles has not been forthcoming about his own past.

Chovin argued that with federal programming, it would make more sense for Charles to serve five years, with credit for time served. If he wasn’t ready at that point, Chovin said, the Crown could take other measures to ensure his continued supervision within the prison system.

He cited cases of the Court of Appeal to back up his argument.

Harradence, though, took issue with one of the cases, noting that the Chief Justice said the court system has to rethink its sentencing on child sex crimes, and the factors Chovin presented would all be taken in Charles’ case as aggravating factors.

Chovin, though, argued the factors impact “the moral culpability of the offender.”

While Harradence agreed, he said the factors raised by Chovin don’t serve to discount the length of the sentence. While Harradence said he must show restraint and consider reasonable alternatives, “there are no reasonable alternatives to incarceration here,” he added.

He told Chovin the Crown’s argument has more to do with the “horrendous nature” of the crime in asking for a nine-year sentence.

Chovin said a five-year sentence would still suffice.

“Protection of the public can still be given without giving a long jail sentence,” Chovin argued.

Harradence thanked the lawyers and indicated he would need some time to consider their arguments.

He is scheduled to give his ruling on a sentence on Aug. 1 at 11 a.m. in courtroom one.

 

 

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