Plan of action for Venables

There might be new life for an old building, now that Oliver Town Council has a plan of action for the future of Venables auditorium.

"Council will write to the school board and regional district seeking a memorandum of understanding on the basis that the auditorium should receive substantial renovations and that a community-based organization could be formed to run it on behalf of the community, including school functions," said Coun. Jack Bennest, after a recent meeting of a newly-formed group called Friends of Venables Auditorium.

"The memorandum of understanding would be an understanding between the school board, the regional district, and the Town of Oliver without any financial commitments, just an understanding that (the auditorium is) a valuable asset for the community, that it’s a heritage institution and that it should be properly maintained and perhaps operated in the community," said Bennest.

Recently, School District No. 53 announced three options for the rebuilding or renovation of Southern Okanagan Secondary School (SOSS). None of the three options include any funds for upgrading or renovation of the auditorium.

It’s caused some concern among people of Oliver, who are now putting their heads together to try to find a solution.

Bennest called the meeting to bring together parties interested in the future of the facility, and the inaugural meeting was Wednesday, July 26.

About 27 Oliver citizens showed up to participate in the discussion. Most attendees were graduates of SOSS, and there was no shortage of fond memories thrown around at the meeting. Three members of town council - Ron Hovanes, Pat Hampson and Jack Bennest - were present. Others included Ernie Dumais, chair of the heritage society, Darryl MacKenzie, from the Oliver museum, Carolyn Madge, Jean Rattray, JoAnn Turner, chair of the Oliver Arts Society, Gordon Hahn, Vance Potter, and Brenda and Norma Shaw

The auditorium was renamed in 1970, becoming "Frank Venables Auditorium," to honour the contribution of Venables to the local school district. Venables had been on the school board for 42 years, 37 of them as chairman, and his efforts played a large part in the approval of the auditorium. Venables’ daughter, Yvonne Moore, and his granddaughter, Tara Hovanes, both attended the group meeting.

Trish Soare, school board trustee, was also in attendance – but when audience members began to besiege her with questions, she explained that she was not there in her role as school trustee, and therefore could not answer. Several people persisted in trying to get Soare to answer questions about the refusal of the Ministry of Education to fund renovations to the auditorium.

Jean Rattray is concerned the public is being left out.

"Planning has been going on behind our backs," she said later. "They are planning with our dollars; it’s time for us to be included at the planning stage. We must insist. If you build a house you tell the architect what you want. If you build a school … you tell them what you want. They don’t tell you."

Rattray was also critical about no official trustee presence at the meeting – but Soare said the board wasn’t invited.

"If we had received an invitation, quite possibly we would have had a board member in attendance," she said.

The meeting is a good indication of the interest of townspeople in seeing a strong future for the auditorium, and Bennest said it’s essential to have that kind of support.

"Whether this (memorandum) will happen I can’t predict. We are not in charge of the process. The friends of Frank Venables Auditorium must seek out, advocate, and pressure the provincial ministry of education, the government of BC, MLA Bill Barisoff and the local school board. They must be convinced of these two themes: that the school should be preserved to the greatest degree possible, and that the Frank Venables auditorium should be funded and renovated, and maybe operated by the community."

"If you can get a lot of people talking that way then that becomes the best way. The more people talking about a plan, the more likely the plan will pass," he said. Anything’s possible if you can get everybody onside. In the end it’s up to the people to decide one way or the other… whether they are willing to commit any money to the plan downstream."

Bennest said the concept being considered by the Town also has the tentative backing of Area C director Allan Patton. As well, discussions have also been held with one of SOSS’ alumni, Senator Ross Fitzpatrick.

"He has indicated his willingness to help (at the federal level) by getting his staff involved in seeking out possible grant programs."

Mexican workers pick up slack in Oliver

Farmers bring in Mexican labourers after proving lack of local help

There are more Mexican workers in Oliver this year, mostly due to a shortage of Canadian labour.

"I’ve got 22 Mexican workers picking for me," said Diana Covert, owner of Covert Farms in Oliver, who’s been in business for 45 years. "We also have a family of Hondurans who’ve been with us for 18 years, and a French-Canadian crew."

Covert believes there is a shortage of pickers in Oliver, especially French Canadians. That and the challenge involved with finding good pickers, which is why she ended up bringing in Mexican workers.

"The last couple of years have been really tough," she said. "It goes in waves and cycles. Sometimes we have motivated pickers, who then grow up and get their own farm or do something else. Then we get a wave of new (beginner) workers."

Bev Deets, an employment counsellor at Workzone in Oliver, agrees with Covert.

"There is a shortage of people right now," she said. "There are fewer French Canadians than previous years. We keep track and our numbers have dropped." She adds that there aren’t many Oliver residents who want to pick fruit and vegetables. "There are lots of jobs right now and there’s no labourers. I talked to a farmer, and he couldn’t get workers so he just let the crop go—let the fruit rot off the tree," she said.

Deets said that more Mexicans have definitely been brought in than last year. The Coverts aren’t the only farmers to explore this option. "The experience has been positive."

Covert agrees and said there are many reasons to bring Mexicans into Canada. "They (Mexicans) always put in a full day. They start early in the morning and work until early afternoon, and they stay for the whole season. They’ll walk out to the field rather than wait for stragglers, and they don’t complain. That’s why we hire them." She said that in her experience, some French Canadian workers wander in and out of the fields and aren’t that motivated. "Having said that, my French Canadian crew has come back year after year and are hard workers."

Ariel Morgan, an Oliver resident runs a website, called www.okanaganpicking.com for both pickers and farmers. He feels some farmers are hiring Mexicans because they are better workers.

"They’re good workers. I’ve seen them pick two to three times (more than) the average beginner pickers," he said. "A lot of the Canadian workers are lazy; many only want to work for a day then go out partying, then you won’t see them the next day. Mexican workers will pick every day and work hard."

Covert said that in general, the Mexicans are motivated to sending money back home to their families.

"And in general, the French Canadian transients come here for the experience. They love the climate and want to party…but when you find ones who are motivated, they’re very, very good," she adds.

Covert said that they had a lot of worry about having sufficient workers.

"We might have 400 people on the payroll, but I bet only 50 people do all the work, so we were proactive in saying we have to jump through hoops to get us a strong core of workers to get us through the year." Bringing in Mexican workers does entail some planning, as Covert explains.

"First you must advertise for workers in the paper and on the Internet a certain number of times (without success), then you apply to Service Canada, requesting to be a part of the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program, which the Mexicans come under. Then I tell them how many."

Covert said that Service Canada liaisons with the Mexican Consulate in Vancouver, and the Mexican Government has a program to screen workers on their end.

"Not just any Mexican (person) will be sent to me," she said. She pays a $120 worker fee for each Mexican (which she can collect back from the workers) and airfare to Vancouver and back home (unrecoverable), and of course, wages and four percent holiday pay once the Mexicans are working.

Accommodations are inspected, Social Insurance Numbers are issued, and dates are set, but can be expanded. December 15^th is the latest any Mexican can stay in Canada.

"Mexicana (airlines) will fill up a whole airplane with Mexicans," said Covert. "They get worker’s compensation and health insurance. And if you don’t treat a Mexican (worker) right, they can complain to the government, and then the government will refuse to send workers to that employer. Some employers are rotten son of a guns, and they give us a bad name," she said.

Since the majority of the Mexican employees cannot speak any English, Covert relies on the help of Sandra Martinez. She’s originally from Mexico City and does all the translating, along with other jobs. Her father-in-law, Rigo Perez (from Honduras), is the crew boss for the Mexican workers. His entire family works on the farm and has been living there for 18 years.

"If you don’t take care of your people, they won’t take care of you," said Covert. "We try to help out by buying tortillas across the line (tortilla factory) so the Mexicans can have a cheap source of food that they really love. And they certainly don’t lack for vegetables," she laughs.

Ellis brothers captured, found under beds

After several attempts by RCMP to locate them, a tip to the whereabouts of brothers Michael Edward Ellis and Christopher Wayne Ellis led to their capture on Wednesday, July 26 at 11:35 p.m.

"We received some last-minute information as to these individuals’ whereabouts," said Cpl Mike Field from the Oliver detachment. "The tip led directly to their capture."

Field said the men were found inside a residence on 87^th Street in Osoyoos, hiding under the beds.

"They were arrested without incident," Field said.

Christopher, 29, was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant for suspension of his statutory release (for previous convictions of dangerous driving, causing pursuit, possession of break in instruments, and theft over $5,000). Michael, 32, was arrested for an outstanding warrant for breach of probation.

Field said they suspect the two men were responsible for a significant portion of the crime that has taken place in Oliver since Michael’s release from jail.

"They are suspected to be involved in at least half of the incidents since his release on June 11," he said. Since then, there have been 18 F-series Ford pick-ups stolen (14 from the Oliver-Osoyoos area), a number of break and enters, and petty theft.

The arrest was partially a result of involvement by the district general investigations section out of Kelowna, dog services, and Penticton’s crime reduction department.

"We wouldn’t have had the resources otherwise, to successfully resolve this situation."

The subjects appeared in Penticton provincial court on July 27. They are in custody and appear again Aug. 14.

Christopher was charged with escape and being at large. Michael faced posession of a weapon, theft, and possession of stolen property over $5,000.

Bringing news from the battleground

In some parts of the world, when a community faces a challenge their first instincts are to dig up the weapons buried in the backyard. Here in Canada we form a committee. Dull, yes, but very comforting.

At the first hint that someone might have plans that would mess with our beloved high school and auditorium, one could sense that a fight was brewing.

Soon press releases and letters-to-the-editor were being fired off, meetings scheduled and resolutions formulated. The friends of our high school and auditorium have assembled their troops and have planted their flag on the school lawn while the school board remains hunkered down in their bunker hoping that the ‘public consultation process’ remains peaceful and under control.

Meanwhile, Councillor Jack Bennest is shuttling between the school board, town council and the committee attempting to broker a deal that will see the end to hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Oh, the joys of conflict resolution in a small Canadian town. We and our brave journalists look forward to bringing our readers the latest each week from the war front.