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Do you know this missus? Newfoundland folklore archive hopes to give women their due

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – For decades, folklorists at Memorial University have had a Mrs. W. R. King to thank for sharing the local superstition that a lid left off a kettle as tea was steeping was a sure sign a stranger would soon come knocking.

But it was not until a project dubbed Missus Monday took off that researchers at the Newfoundland and Labrador university were able to put a full name to their mysterious source. They now know Mrs. King’s first name was Myrtle, and she worked as a switchboard operator in St. John’s, N.L.

The project of the university’s Folklore and Language Archive aims to find the first names of women who contributed remedies, recipes and local beliefs, but were only credited as a “missus,” with their husband’s last name and often his first name or initials. Nicole Penney, an assistant archivist at the centre said men and unmarried women had their first and last names included, but the tradition was to identify married women with their husbands’ names.

“We wanted to put it out there that these women had lost their names, basically,” Penney said in a recent interview. “They’re all amazing pieces of folklore, and these women deserve the recognition.”

From fairies that lure berry pickers over cliffs to “charmers” that can heal toothaches, Newfoundland has a rich folklore tradition that began with the English and Irish fishermen who began settling on the island in the 17th century. Fascinated, an American anthropologist named Herbert Halpert established the folklore archive at Memorial in the 1960s.

Researchers and students began collecting tidbits from people across the province, writing them down on index cards along with the name of who supplied them and where they were from. Over the next three decades, more than 120,000 cards were filled out with wisdom and anecdotes from many of the far-flung fishing villages dotting Newfoundland and Labrador’s shores. The cards now sit in a towering filing cabinet at the archive office in St. John’s, organized chronologically in 25 drawers, Penney said.

The cards map out the beliefs, expressions and rituals that informed everyday life in these communities, helping scholars better understand the social history of the province.

Mrs. Lloyd Head of Carbonear said a spruce bow tied to a gatepost would ward off evil spirits and keep crops safe, according to a card from 1977. Mrs. L. Hynes of Bishop’s Falls would make cough drops she called “bull’s eyes” by boiling together molasses and Vicks VapoRub, according to another, from 1984.

Mrs. M. E. Breen in St. John’s heard it was good luck to blow a kiss to a crow, said a card from 1985.

In 2019, wanting to know who these women were, staff at the folklore archive began posting the cards to Facebook and Twitter (now known as X), asking if anyone might be able to identify the “missus” in question. They posted the cards on Monday, and called the effort Missus Monday.

So far, they’ve posted 165 cards, and identified 21 contributors, she said.

Last year, Marilyn Butt saw a Missus Monday post about a Mrs. Thornhill, who said people would describe dancing as “(putting) the leather to the lumber” in Pool’s Cove, N.L., a remote community of about 150 people along the southern shore of Newfoundland.

Butt is from Pool’s Cove, too, and she’s part of a Facebook group where residents past and present collect information about their roots in the community. With help from group members, she was able to confirm that the dancing missus in question was Rhoda Thornhill, who died in 2015, at the age of 92.

“Rhoda’s husband and my dad are first cousins,” Butt said in an interview, adding that Thornhill was “very musical.” She’s happy Rhoda Thornhill will get proper credit for her contribution to the province’s folklore history.

Penney said she plans to keep the Missus Monday project going for as long as she can.

“We know that we’re not going to identify all these women, but we want to just put it out there. It’s good to know who they are and give them their credit,” the archivist said.

“These women’s names might have been completely lost had it not been for this.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2024.

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Safety board calls for changes two years after Nova Scotia fisherman’s death at sea

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HALIFAX – An investigation into how the Canadian Coast Guard responded to a Nova Scotia vessel in distress two years ago raises questions about why one fisherman died after a towing operation went awry. 

In an investigation report released Thursday, the Transportation Safety Board says the fishing boat Mucktown Girl was returning to Canso, N.S., with five crew aboard on March 11, 2022, when it was disabled by electrical problems. 

The captain called for a tow from the coast guard as a storm was closing in.

After a seven-hour voyage, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Jean Goodwill reached the drifting boat and attached a 300-metre tow line to the smaller vessel’s bollard. But as the weather turned rough, the bollard broke off six hours into the recovery mission.

At that point, the decision was made to let the fishing crew ride out the storm aboard the Mucktown Girl rather than attach another tow line that could damage the boat.

By 6 a.m. on March 13, wind speeds had reached 70 to 90 kilometres per hour. The waves were as high as 10 metres — twice the height of the fishing boat, which was then taking on water. Crew aboard Jean Goodwill relayed the mayday distress call from the fishing boat, which was 44 kilometres from shore.

Minutes later, amid heavy rain and dense fog, the five fishermen donned immersion suits and jumped into a life raft. In response, the coast guard crew lowered a scramble net — a type of rope ladder — over the side of the 77-metre medium icebreaker. 

But the water was so rough, the net was washed back onto the ship several times. And as the ship rolled in the big swells, two coast guard crew members were injured and a number of others were almost swept overboard.

“As a result of the environmental conditions, communications broke down and affected the co-ordination of the (rescue effort),” the report says.

At the time, the air temperature was about 12 C, but the water temperature was only 4 C.

Four of the fishermen, including the captain, jumped from the life raft into the frothing water and managed to climb the ladder to safety. But the fifth crewman, 35-year-old Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S., drifted to the stern of the coast guard ship and disappeared.

The father of two boys was pulled from the water five hours later by the crew aboard a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter, but he was later declared dead at a Cape Breton hospital.

The report from the independent safety board says there are no Canadian regulations for the towing points on fishing vessels.  

“Without specific guidance for assessing the risks to the towed vessel and its crew, the (coast guard) may underestimate risks and tow vessels with crew on board in hazardous conditions, resulting in an increased likelihood of injuries and loss of life,” the report says. 

But the report does not call for any changes, aside from updating the coast guard’s towing waiver, which explains the responsibilities of those involved and the risks.

More importantly, the report highlights the fact that once the bollard broke, it became clear there were no plans in place to remove the crew from the fishing boat.

“Without comprehensive contingency planning for towing disabled vessels, risks to rescuers as well as crews of vessels under tow may be increased,” the report says.

The safety board’s investigation found that the coast guard’s search and rescue (SAR) training typically involves the use of small, fast-rescue craft rather than larger vessels like the Jean Goodwill. 

“There is limited vessel-specific SAR training such as the use of scramble nets,” the report says. “(This) training does not reflect the realistic conditions and equipment in a rescue operation, where factors can change unpredictably. For example, training is carried out in good weather only, and in … overboard exercises, only one person at a time needs rescue.”

As for the scramble net, the report says it was not suitable for the deplorable conditions that faced the coast guard crew in 2022.

“Although scramble nets do not have specified restrictions for use, they are difficult to climb in rough conditions,” the board says. “They are also difficult to climb in an immersion suit, even in calm weather, and are not usable if a person is injured or incapacitated.”

That’s why the coast guard has already installed a so-called rescue scoop on the Jean Goodwill. The hydraulic device uses an extendable arm to dip a scramble net into the water on its side, allowing the operator to scoop up victims.

The device has been used on other coast guard vessels in the past, and the federal agency is looking at acquiring more. 

“Without emergency drills using realistic scenarios, and their subsequent evaluation, vessel crews may not have the most effective equipment and may not be well prepared to use it in the safest and most effective manner,” the report says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.



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Alberta pitches new rules for auto insurance, including rate hikes, no-fault claims

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EDMONTON – The Alberta government is making changes to auto insurance, including rate hikes and switching to a predominantly no-fault claims model.

Premier Danielle Smith announced the changes at a news conference in the legislature.

Under the new system, car accident victims in most cases won’t be able to sue the party responsible for their injury and, instead, insurers would pay compensation at rates set by the government. 

By cutting down litigation costs, the government estimates that when the new system is in place in 2027, it could lead to savings of up to $400 per year for the average insurance premium. 

It’s also promising better support and benefits for those hurt in collisions. 

Until the new model kicks in, insurers would be allowed to raise rates for good drivers up to 7.5 per cent each year, starting in January. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Third deer infected with chronic wasting disease in B.C.

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VICTORIA – A new case of chronic wasting disease, an incurable illness that has the potential to decimate deer populations, has been identified in British Columbia. 

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the discovery of the infection in a white-tailed deer hunted in the Kootenay region last month brings the total number of confirmed cases in the province to three, after two cases were confirmed in February. 

It says testing by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency lab confirmed the latest infection on Wednesday.

The ministry says the new case occurred within two kilometres of one of the earlier infections in a white-tailed deer near Cranbrook.

Wasting disease affects deer, elk, moose and caribou. It attacks their central nervous system and causes cell death in the brain.

The ministry says there is no treatment or vaccine and the disease is always fatal.

The ministry says there is no direct evidence the disease can be transmitted to humans, but Health Canada recommends people do not eat meat from an infected animal, since cooking is not able to destroy the abnormal protein that causes the illness. 

In July, the B.C. government introduced mandatory testing for the disease in deer, elk and moose killed in certain zones in the Kootenay region.

The first two cases identified in B.C. were a male mule deer killed by a hunter and a female white-tailed deer killed in a road accident.

Other steps included removing urban deer from Cranbrook and Kimberley.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. 

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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