Friday Oct 24th

An hour long discussion of the news of the day.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Tim Power Show on your VOCM. The
views and opinions of this program where not necessarily those
of this station.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's Tim Well, good afternoon, everybody, Richard dug and hanging
out with you here in the VOCM studios this afternoon.
Claude Atte Burns producing the program today on what is
a very wet and drizzly afternoon here in the Metro region.
When I was out getting ready to come to work
this morning, got caught in a big downpour while I

(00:31):
was out driving around and you know, had to turn
the wipers up on full blast. And yeah, it's been
just wet and drizzly. But you know what, I think
we've needed some of that, especially over the last couple
of months. I mean, with the extremely dry summer that
we had, and now, of course we're seeing stories coming
out it seems almost almost once every couple of days

(00:52):
lately of you know, water levels and lakes and ponds
and other water sources are you know, at very low levels.
So a little bit of rain, I think we'll take it.
I think we need it, although I think that we're
gonna need quite a bit more than this to restore
some of the water levels. In some of those areas
coming up in a little bit on the program, we're

(01:12):
gonna speak with David Neil of the Gander Weather Office,
and he's going to break down for us some of
what has fallen already in some of what will fall
in just a general look at the weather now as
we go in to the weekend, last weekend before Halloween.
I can't believe I'm about to say that last weekend
of October. It seems like a flu just flew by,

(01:35):
just like that. But we have quite a number of
other things coming up on the program here today as well.
Of course, as I mentioned, David Neil of the Gander
Weather Office will be joining us. Lisa Hanlon vo CM's
Linda Swain spoke with her about a very special donation
that she's making, so we're going to get to that
as well. I have her hurricane expert doctor Athena mass

(01:57):
and she's based out of Florida. We're going to talk
about hurricane season coming up a little bit, and more
so about the fact that we really haven't been seeing
too many storms actually making their way up the coast
and toward us. It seems like, you know, there have
been a lot of storms forming and I looked at
the hurricane map earlier today and there's a lot that's

(02:21):
been happening, but they also have come up and then
curve back out to see and we don't see really
much of the impacts from them. So I'll be speaking
with her about why exactly that is and why we're
seeing that sort of trend this year when over the
course of the last couple of years, you know, we've
been having you know, a couple of major hurricanes coming
up our way once a year. So we'll break that

(02:44):
down for you in a little bit as well. It's
a sad day and happy values paid today. They are
mourning the loss of one of the founders really of
their community, Ronald Perrout. We're going to speak with former
mayor Wally Anderson about that as well. Lots going on
that we're going to be getting to before we get

(03:05):
to our first guest though. Checking in on today's VOCM
News Question of the Day. Today, we're asking the next
phase of nation building projects will be announced on November sixteenth,
and do you expect to see any Newfoundland and Labrador
projects such as Strange Lake, goll Island and Bata Nord
to be included in that. The results of the poll

(03:27):
so far fifty nine percent saying no, they don't expect
to see any of those projects in the next round
of nation building projects, forty one percent saying yes they do,
so a bit of an interesting split there. Of course,
there's still loads of time for you to have your
say on today's VOCM News Question of the Day. Just
head on over to VOCM dot com. All right, now,

(03:50):
we will get to our first guest here on the program,
And if you're any bit of a sports fan or
you know anybody who is the big talk of the day,
and the big talk of the last couple of weeks
has been the Toronto Blue Jays. The World Series begins tonight.
They're going to be playing up against the Los Angeles
Dodgers and it's the first time that the Jays have

(04:11):
made it to the World Series in three decades. Now,
someone who is always watching sports as VOCMS, Brian Madoor,
will bring him in now and Brian, how are you
feeling ahead of tonight's game?

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Well, all I'm thinking is going to be a tough
one for me. Five am rise or four thirty whatever
have you to catch that whole game. I don't know.
I just hope that the adrenaline kicks in somewhere along
the line and you managed to stay.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Awake for absolutely And I mean as you know, as
the game progresses, hopefully progresses the way that we wanted to,
then you will.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Get that little jolt of adrenaline.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
But Brian, just for our listeners, I'll just get you
to set the stage here, talk about you know what's
on the line here, and you know the fact that
it's been over thirty years since the Jays were last
in the spot.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yeah, they had a chance ten years ago, that twenty
fifteen team they kind of sold the farm really to
get to that spot, to have a chance to get
into the World Series and kind of failed at the
rate in the last series and didn't make it. So
this version here, they had a couple of good teams
along the way. A couple of years ago. Last year's
team was good but didn't show it on the field.

(05:17):
This year's team had somewhat of a slow spot there.
But our colleague Brian Callahan came in in what June
July when they were really in that five hundred range
and didn't look like they were going to make the playoffs,
much less get this far. And he said, no, no, boys,
this team's going to catch fire. They're going to win

(05:38):
the American League East.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Trust me.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Sure enough, not long after that they did catch fire
and win the American League East and had play some
darn goood baseball to get it. But they they're a
different looking team. They had the young fellows came up
and some not so young, you know, like spending Lucas
what ten years in the minors and then all of
a sudden come up and read he does some things.

(06:01):
So we got that great infusion of energy this season
with the youngsters. Bargery, you know, there's quite a few
of them, just savage.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
What can you say about that?

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Started the season off in a ball and here he
is pitching the first game of the World Series. But
you know, it's you can talk all you want about it, Richard.
You could say, well, you know, we can, we have
the better chance at this we out perform them here,
we look better in this category. But in the end,

(06:35):
that's why you play the game. You have to play
the game. Doesn't matter what who has the best offense,
who has the best pitching, who has the best defense,
or whatever whatever You gotta play the game and you
gotta win it on the.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Field, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
And one of the other factors that some people sometimes
don't often think about is that feeling in the stadium.
I mean, when you have that thousands of Jays fans
that are, you know, hanging off of every pitch, every hit,
you know, whatever. You know, that adds a little extra
something to to the performance when you know you have

(07:13):
that team down in Rogers Stadium and that crowd is
just going nuts for every hit, and you know it's
going to be quite the atmosphere down inside the stadium,
you know, given you know, when the Jays won their
last series to get to this point, and just the
anticipation that there was just for even the tickets to

(07:33):
go on sale.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
So I think that's.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Sort of the factor that you can't really measure, is
how the team is going to feed off of that
energy and atmosphere inside the stadium.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
I don't know if.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Home field makes that much of an advantage. The advantage
would be in having last bat in the last up
in the ninth inning. That would be the key advantage
of course of home field. Just the electric atmosphere, well,
that can work for you against you depends on your
opponent how they that just might infuse them as much
as it does anyone on the Toronto Blue Jays and

(08:05):
vice versa. When you get into Chavez Ravine, you know
it's going to be electric. Just that can go both ways.
It still comes down to the performance on the field,
and you know, the good players, they'll that won't really
affect them one way or the other, whether you're a
Blue Jay or a Dodger fan, but having the last

(08:26):
ad bad in the ninth inning would be the main
advantage for with home field.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Now, Brian, we were having this conversation in the newsroom
the other day. The last time that the Jays were
in the World Series back in nineteen ninety three, I
hadn't even been born yet, so it's been quite a while.
What was the atmosphere like back then? And you know how,
I guess does it compare to this time around now
that the Jays are finally back in the spot.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
And that wasn't the first time, by the way. It
was in the early eighties Montreal Expos all of a
sudden became a powerful team and it was before social media,
and I was in the media at the time. Eighty
one when they were facing the Phillies that beat the
Phillies in that the strike shortened year, and then came
up the Dodgers and were leading two games to one,
and the Dodgers asked the Rick Monday Blue Monday if

(09:13):
he will game when Monday stepped up and finished the
Expos off in that comeback against Steve Rodgers, their ace pitcher,
and just broke our hearts.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Ricky, you just won't.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
You couldn't understand how a nation was so devastated after
that game the Expos had they won that they were
in the World Series against the Yankees. And by the way,
the Dodgers did pull off the upset and beat the
Yankees in that eighty one series, So we could have
had a team in the World Series way back in
eighty one. And it was the very same in ninety

(09:47):
two to ninety three with the Jays. Everything was Jay's
Cado Gast and the manager you had, Joe Carter. They
just pulled off that trade with San Diego to get
Fernandez at short and get rid of George Bell, kind
of a great player, but I don't know the best
influence on the team. And when they pulled that four
player trade, I forget everybody who was involved there, but

(10:08):
that was the difference. That's what made them catapulted them
into the World Series those two years. And it really
caught me funny when I came in I think it
was Monday or Tuesday morning, and you and Sarah told
me that you had not even been born in the
ninety two ninety three series, and I got to thinking,
my gosh, they had played their first game fifteen years

(10:31):
before that in nineteen seventy seven, and I was a
seventeen year old kid in Grade eleven who pipped off
from school that afternoon to watch their opening day game
seventeen fifteen years before that. So how long have I
been in the newsroom. It struck me so odd, because
you know, every once in a while, something happens like

(10:52):
that and I reel or I see an old picture
and I say, gee, I even predate that person or
that situation. And when you guys told me that, I said,
my gosh, I'm kind of ancient around here.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
But full of all the wisdom we need.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Vo CMS Brian Madore, thank you so much for this,
and I know that the nation will be watching tonight
now for Game number one, right you are all right again.
The OCMS Brian Madore breaking down the Blue Jays. They're
run to the World Series and yeah, a lot of
people are going to be watching that one tonight and
checking out just to see how they're going to do.

(11:27):
All right, we're up against our first break here today
on the Tim Power Show. When we come back, got
a couple of interviews for you. We're going to be
talking about the weather situation with David Neil from Environment Canada.
And we're going to be going to another story with
VOCMS Linda Swain about a woman who has made quite
the donation and memory of her young memory of her son.

(11:51):
We're going to have those stories and more coming up
in just a little bit and welcome back to the program.
Richard Duggan in with you here this afternoon. And yeah,
it's wet, it's gross, it's rainy. I got caught in
a downpour earlier today. It's not nice looking out there,
but certainly for many areas of the province, some well

(12:14):
needed rain is falling throughout the province or throughout the
metro region, at least this afternoon. Earlier today, I spoke
with David Neil, a meteor algis with the Gander Weather
Office to talk about some of our rainfall totals so
far here today and also about just the overall general
outlook for what's to come now over the weekend.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
Well, as we we've kind of seen there, Yeah, there
were certainly some some pretty good pockets of rainfall that
hit the Avalone Peninsula. Kind of looking looking at some
of the numbers here, it seems like one of the
higher hourly amounts actually fell in our Gentia. There's thirteen
millimeters in one hour there this morning. In terms of

(13:00):
total rainfall so far across the Avalon Peninsula, as I
mentioned our Gentia, of the official stations we have seems
to be on top right now, it's around forty seven
millimeters in total that's fallen really since the main event
came in. There's a little bit of later precipitation yesterday
and last night, but really once the main area of

(13:20):
rain moved in, it's been about forty seven millimeters or
so across the remainder of the Avalon Peninsula generally, looking
a lot of amounts generally in the twenty to forty
millimeter range so far today as we're feeding right now
about mid afternoon, looking at the radar and stuff looks
like we are in a little bit of a vault
right now. Just a few a few scattered, scattered areas

(13:44):
pepitation and some patchy drizzle on the avalon, but we
do expect a bit more steady rain to move in,
likely sometime late tonight before kind of tapering off into
Saturday afternoon. So still not quite fully done, but seems
like we've got a little bit of a reprieve for now.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Anyway, how much do you anticipate we'll fall when we
get that second blast later tonight.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
And once we kind of get that other little bit
generally looking really on the low end, probably somewhere around
around ten millimeters or so, but a few areas could
see could still see upwards to another twenty so generally
in that range for tonight, and then a few millimeters
into tomorrow Tomorrow morning as well, So still another little

(14:38):
bit of rain to rain to come, so we'll certainly
keep an eye on that as we go through today tonight.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
Now, a lot of folks looking to make some of
their weekend plans. Let's look at I guess how the
weekend is going to look now across the province. What
can you tell us about how things are going to
shape up once that rain kind of moves off?

Speaker 4 (15:00):
Well, really that this area arain is main we can
find really to eastern Newfoundland, and that will gradually taper off,
uh kind of through the day tomorrow, some areas it
might be more towards kind of late afternoon even to
early evening for fully kind of being done. So so
that Saturday, for for part of the eastern Newfoland's going
to be a little on the wet side. Still, western

(15:23):
half of the island looks looks pretty good for Saturday,
generally anywhere kind of mixed sun cloud mostly cloudy, but
generally uh, staying staying quite dry and as we get
into in the Sunday, actually not a bad day across
the island, uh for for Sunday, might be an isolated
shower or too in parts of the west, but generally, uh,

(15:46):
not too too bad of a day on Sunday. So
you know, once this, once this area rain moves out,
it shouldn't be it shouldn't be too bad of a
day at least at least half the weekend that h
looks like it should be should be pretty decent.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
And I think we'll take half the weekend over, none
of the weekend being decent weather. That was David Neil
with the Gander Weather Office given us a little update
on the rain that was moving through. The problem moving
through the metro region. Still going to move through through
to later tonight as well, and look at what the
rest of the weekend has in store. All right, Shifting

(16:22):
gears a little bit here now. A family who suffered
an unimaginable loss is using their loved ones legacy to
do something positive in the community. Lisa Hanlan lost her
twenty five year old son Maxwell Canning in a workplace
road accident that claimed his life and that of two
other people in June of twenty twenty two. The family
today made a major donation to Octagon Pond Elementary in

(16:43):
Maxwell's memory. Lisa Hanlan speaks with VOCMS Linda Swayne.

Speaker 5 (16:48):
Well, this year, we have decided that we were going
to make a donation to Ochgen Pond Elementary. Maxwell had
one needs someone nephew, Dylan and Abbey, and they attend
Octagon Pond Elementary, so we decided to go with that school.
So what started out to be a five hundred dollars

(17:08):
donation was actually from myself, Maxwell's dead Rick and his
only sibling Alicia, and my daughter. She is the head
over the breakfast program at the Octagon Pond Elementary. So
I guess when the words started traveling, the donation started

(17:30):
flowing in and as of today we raised over twenty
five hundred dollars to donate to the school program in
memory of my son Maxwell, and his birthday is Saturday,
October twenty fifth. Maxwell would have been twenty nine, and
back in June twenty eight of two thy twenty two,

(17:55):
Maxwell had gotten killed in a work vehicle accident near
Hodgewater's line of Madison Macasins. They were coming home from
work and the work truck and the trailer in tow
left the road and crashed into the concrete wall the
medium out there and exploded, and himself and his co

(18:18):
worker and another lady that was traveling with them, they
lost their lives. So what we decided every year now
on Maxwell's birthday because Maxwell was so loving, caring and
kind and so giving that we wanted to reach out
and continue his legacy and we wanted to give back

(18:39):
in his memory. We've been doing this now for a
couple of years. I think it was the first year
we donated over two hundred books to the Octagon Pond
Elementary School library and his memory. Last year we decided
to go with anyone that was in the school that
had birthdays the same day as Maximione. We had two children,

(19:00):
so we ended up doing this was just between ourselves,
our family. We gathered up five hundred dollars and we
had given the two children cakes, gifts, squishy mellows, gift cards,
so it all got loved to be, you know, two
hundred and fifty dollars each for each child. So this

(19:21):
year we just thought that we wanted to go with
something different and we went with the school breakfast club.
And like I said, what started out to be only
five hundred for myself and his sister and his dad
has escalated like over twenty five hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
That's amazing.

Speaker 6 (19:43):
How does it feel to know that his legacy will
help so many kids?

Speaker 5 (19:51):
I am beyond overwhelmed, you know what I think about it.
I actually sit down and cry to know that this
is going to help so many children that don't have
time or their parents just can't afford to give them breakfast,
and this is I can just summon up in one word,

(20:16):
it's overwhelming, and we want to say thank you so
much to everyone that has part in this to help
us go and be of beyond our goal.

Speaker 4 (20:30):
And we're just.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
So appreciated of all. And we know that Max is
looking down on us, and he's smarting, and he's happy
and proud of what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
And there you have it.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
That's v o CM's Linda Swayin speaking with Lisa Hanlin.
Certainly an emotional interview there, but you know, in her
son's memory and Maxwell's memory, doing some good for the
kids at Octagon Pond Elementary. And I know that Linda
has been working on that story over in the newsroom
and at least actually sent some pictures along for us.

(21:07):
So watch out for that story on VOCM dot com
at some point now over the weekend, and you'll have
a look and see some of the see some pictures
of the impact that that donation is going to be making.
So keep an eye out for that here on VOCM
dot com. All right, we have a couple of minutes
now to go before we go to our second break

(21:28):
of the day here on the Tim Power Show. I'm
going to bring VO CM's Claude app Barns into the conversation. Now,
Claude at, how you doing.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
I'm doing good.

Speaker 6 (21:37):
A lot of buzz about what people are doing tonight.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
Hey, oh my gosh. You know what, There's so much
on the go. Everybody has something. I mean, whether you're
watching the Jays. For myself, we just got two new
dogs or new to us dogs in our house, so
I'll be going home, playing with them, taking them for walks.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, there's so much to be doing.

Speaker 6 (21:56):
You know when you first told me today that you
had two new dogs, and you first we're talking to
me all about all these news stories, and then at
the end just casually mentioned I said, why didn't you
get to the good stuff first? Because you know me,
I got to hear an animal story. So tell us
a little bit about your bumps.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah. Absolutely, So they're six and seven years old.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
We're doing a forever foster situation with them. So we
literally just got them the other night, and they're two
of the sweetest dogs that I think I've ever met.
And it's going to be interesting for us now, Claude
at because in my adult life we haven't had any
dogs in the house. They had dogs growing up, but
never as an adult. So even just last night to

(22:37):
hear the clicking of the pause or on our floor,
or to hear them running up and down the stairs
and things like that. So it's a bit to get
used to, but it's a lot of good to get
used to as well.

Speaker 6 (22:48):
It's actually one of the things I missed years ago
when I lost my pop, you know, like you missed
the sound of the clicking in the hall, so that
it's funny that you're going.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
To just get used to it.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Anyway.

Speaker 6 (22:57):
I'm so thrilled for you.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
It's going to be so so much fun. And I
went home over the lunch hour to see them, and
of course they ran up to me and just just
so happy to see and like that's that there's something
special to be said about puppy affection and when you
can see that happening, and when you get that, it's just,
you know, it hits the heartstrings just right.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
So that's what I sure.

Speaker 6 (23:17):
Yeah, you want you want to leave early, you want
to go home now, just so you can be home.
That's what Richard told me earlier.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, and any excuse to go and spend time with
those pups that I think I'm going to be doing so, Claudette,
That's what I'm doing.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
What do you have on tap for the weekend?

Speaker 6 (23:34):
Well, I have Christmas at the Glacier, maybe brunch with
a friend and just.

Speaker 1 (23:40):
Hang it out.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
Oh, the Blue Jays game, right, my parents are going
to want me to go down for that.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Well, there you go. So everyone's got something to do.
We are now at time to go to our second
break of the day. We'll be back in a few
minutes here on the Tim Power Show. Richard Duggan in
with you on this Friday after noon. Here on the
Tim Power Show, Tim is off. Hope you're all doing
well on this wet and rainy Friday afternoon, or at

(24:10):
least wet and rainy here in the metro region. We're
going to now talk about hurricanes because we have just
over a month left to the Atlantic hurricanes season runs
until November thirtieth of each year, even though hurricanes can
form at any point during the year, but this is
that's sort of the main peak time. And earlier today

(24:31):
I spoke with doctor Athena mass and she's a hurricane
specialist based in Florida who actually spend some time studying
here in this province at mun I spoke to her
about the season thus far, which has seemed to be
kind of quiet. I was looking at the map and
there have been a few storms, but for the most part,
they've all stored to stayed out.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
To see. What have you been seeing and is this.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
Sort of out of the ordinary?

Speaker 7 (24:57):
I wouldn't say out of the ordinary, because more often
than not, many tropical cyclones hurricanes, they do orbit around
our Bermuda high pressure system, and our high pressure system
is a semi permanent one. It's always in the Atlantic,
it's shrinking, it's expanding. At times, it likes to hang

(25:18):
out towards Europe. Sometimes it'll come closer to the United States.
So for this year it's been predominantly hanging out in
the central Atlantic and even outwards over towards Europe. This
is a saving grace for most of the hurricanes that
have been forming this year, so most of those hurricanes
have been staying well offshore. Now it's odd in the

(25:40):
fact that the last few years have been very active.
Areas have been impacted by not only just weaker tropical
storms or hurricanes, but major hurricanes. We saw this last
year with Helene and Milton hitting Florida this year. It's
particularly quiet. However, I would just say take it as

(26:00):
a lucky streak for us. We do need a break,
and we do have in part that Bermuda hide to
thank for being so offshore and away from the continental
North America.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
You mentioned we kind of always had that Bermuda hide.
But have there been any other I guess major differences
in the mitigating factors that are happening this year as
compared to the last couple of years that may be
helping to contribute to this.

Speaker 7 (26:28):
There's a few theories that are going around. The one
that I'm most passionate about is the energy that has
been hanging out in the Atlantic. So the atmospheric energy
we look at this year round where hurricanes, they do
need warm sea surface temperatures as well as minimal vertical
wind shear. So all winds throughout the layers of the

(26:51):
atmosphere need to be very calm, and you need to
have a tropical wave in order for these storms to form.

Speaker 8 (26:58):
Well.

Speaker 7 (26:58):
For this year, we haven't had enough energy throughout the Atlantic.
My theory is that most of this energy is now
shifting out into the Pacific basin. The Pacific has been
very active this year, especially the Eastern Pacific, whereas that
takes a lot of that energy away from the Atlantic.

(27:19):
I think we're just seeing a shift in that energy.
It's now moving away, giving the Atlantic a break, and
usually every few years it comes back towards the Atlantic.
So that's one theory. The other one that we're looking
at was the El Nino and Lanina, so the al
Nino Southern oscillation, and these goes about three upwards to

(27:41):
seven years time. We've been trapped in a lanina for
the past few years, and a Lannina favors tropical cycling
activity because the Atlantic usually has warmer sea surface temperatures
compared to that of an al Nina, which would see
lower sea surface temperatures. So we were thinking that ourin
you know, would stick around for the most part into

(28:03):
the fall season when we generally see the most amount
of tropical cyclones. However, we're not seeing that this year.
We're shifting now, we're trying to come out of that
La Nina, so we might be seeing just a wind
down and we haven't seen this the past few weeks.
Just to slow down of tropical activity.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
Hurricanes can form at any point of the year. But
is there a chance that you know, we could see
the Atlantic basin wake up for one last last before
before the season ends in just over a week.

Speaker 7 (28:35):
Oh absolutely, so bad news here. The Atlantic hurricane season
technically run through all of November, so November thirtieth, we
have a little bit of a ways to go. And
we've seen it before. We saw Hurricane Nicole in November
of last year that impacted the East coast of Florida,
and that was a very large storm that was our

(28:57):
last late season type hurricane. Even though it was a
Category one, it did produce massive flooding in many areas
across the East coast of Florida. So yes, it could
very well happen. We could see another uptick just briefly
of atmospheric energy producing maybe a couple more tropical storms
and hurricanes all throughout November. But just because November thirtieth

(29:22):
does come doesn't mean that the Atlantic just says, no,
we're not going to produce anymore. We've seen that there
are outliers with hurricanes that they form outside of the season.
They're rare, but they do happen. So no matter what,
we should always be on the lookout of what's going
on in the Atlantic. For this week, we're really focused

(29:43):
on tropical Storm Melissa, soon to be Hurricane Melissa, all
the way down in the Caribbean, and that's a very
slow moving storm. It's in a perfect location. I would
not be surprised if this becomes a major hurricane, so
a category three system and higher. The the areas of
Cuba and western parts of Haiti, as well as Jamaica.

(30:07):
Jamaica especially, these are the places that we really need
to watch out for with this particular tropical storm.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
It's one we'll be keeping an eye on for sure. Athena,
Before I let you go, you know you've been really
interested in hurricanes your entire life. What drives your interest
in keeping up on hurricanes just in general?

Speaker 7 (30:28):
Oh boy, this is a long story. I'll give you
the short end of it. I've always been interested in hurricanes,
not just because I live and I have grown up
in Florida and we're constantly on the lookout for them.
But I went through Hurricane Andrew in nineteen ninety two.
This was a Category five hurricane that impacted South Florida,

(30:49):
and my mother took me out right as the eyewall
was passing through and we went in through the eye
of the storm, and I just remember seeing beautiful, clear sky.
It was nighttime. It was stars that I could see
a moonless night, and I could hear the roar of
that there was intense winds upon the outside. And the

(31:11):
very next day, when it was daylight and it was
safe to come out, it was flattened. My whole neighborhood
was completely flattened. And I distinctly remember going next door
and the whole property was completely gone except their swimming pool,
and at the bottom of the swimming pool the silverware
from their house was still there. And I just remember

(31:34):
that so clearly to this day. And from that point on,
I wanted to understand what these types of systems were,
Why do we receive these systems, how can we protect
life and property, and how can we forecast better within
the future. And from that point on, it's just been
growing up. I wanted to be a meteorologist. I wanted

(31:55):
to be a hurricane specialist, and I'm just fascinated every
single year with these hurricanes. No two are alike, and
it's just it's a wonderful life for me.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
And there you have it that was doctor Athena Masson
talking about this year's Atlantic hurricane season, and a little
tidbit there at the end in terms of her own
interest in hurricanes and where that came from. All right, now,
switching gears, a founding resident of the town of Happy Value,
USPE has passed away. Ronald Perrault, who was also the
town's oldest living resident, passed away on Thursday at the

(32:27):
age of eighty eight. His family settled in the community
back in nineteen thirty seven, and Parou was heavily involved
in the community throughout his life. I speak with former
mayor of Happy Valley, USPE, Wally Anderson, about his memories
of Parole Well.

Speaker 8 (32:42):
Ron was a member of the three families, the Saunders,
the Brumfielos, and the Pearls that moved here and wor
we're the first people to to live in Happy Valley
Goose Bay. They traveled by open old fashioned wall ball

(33:07):
from the north coast. They stayed at Otter Creek just
down the river here Aways and then they moved up
to Happy Valley, Goose Bay. And I can remember Ron
telling stories when I was the mayor about in somewhere

(33:30):
between two Thoy seventeen and twenty twenty one that we
had Happy Valley Goose Bay. Then he was there and
he told stories of they moved here and they came
up over the river bank that night and they was
getting dark, and so the three family started to set
up tents and being young by eight years old, he

(33:55):
went into the Saunders tent. I think it was the
first one to our south. He fell asleep. He and
he may have known that he didn't sleep in his
own tent that night. But Ron was a kind person.
Uh he Uh he played softball, he was His father

(34:16):
was a Scout leader and Ron assisted him with dad.
And uh you know Ron was a humble man, a gentleman,
and uh you know he he loved life. He loved
his family very much. His wife Mina, and there are
three boys, and uh you know he it was some

(34:36):
of the simple things in wife that you know that
he drew comfort from. And I know one evening at
Saturday evening, shortly after supper, I had a supermarket here
in North Mark and I ran into Rond and his
wife and we had a little chap and he said, boy,
I got a run. The cabin party is coming on

(34:57):
and Uh, you know, he enjoyed, listened to the him
and the cabin party. Uh and then uh you know
he then uh became ill. He moved into the long
term care. Uh auntil he's passing, and uh I know
that he uh he he was just happy like uh

(35:18):
he didn't want to feel that he was somebody because
uh he was one of the the founding members of
this community. He was glad that he was a part
of it. And uh, I think that's the kind of
person that that Ron was. And uh you know, uh
he's a part of our culture and a part of

(35:41):
our our history. And so many times we lose our
elders and uh their knowledge and and and and their
wisdom you know, is not passed on. But uh you know,
I know for his family and for his friend, he
his friends, and for his wife Nina, that you know, Richard,

(36:04):
there's no saying that memory is one gift of God
that death cannot destroy, and as hateful and as painful
as death is, that we will hold fast the loving memories.
And I know that his wife Nina, for the fond

(36:25):
memories she had of a lifetime with her husband Ron,
and for their three boys, that the memories that they
share of their dead and for me, and a lot
of love of the other friends. You know, we will
always remember that the kind of person that Ron was,

(36:45):
and we'll hold we will hold these memories and look
yours come and go, and yet it will always be
documented one hundred years from now that Ron Parole was
eight years old when the three families came ashore and
crawled up over the river bank, and and and shot

(37:08):
their tents and founded the town of Happy Valley, Good Bay.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
While you mentioned that the stories that Ron used to tell,
or there any stories that stick out in your mind,
or even just stories of just you guys as friends
that you would like to share.

Speaker 8 (37:26):
Well, he would tell. He would tell stories of the
first when they moved here, and and and before they
they got together and build the church that they would
hold Sunday service in in in different houses, and and
and he told a story that you know that the
houses were only small, and uh, when all the other

(37:48):
families moved in for for some disservice and evening he
said there was no place to sit down, so he
said he used to have to stand up. And uh,
he talked of the beautiful singing and stuff, and I
remember a reporter asked him about him and his favorite

(38:10):
him was a stand up, stand up for Jesus. And
that was a hymn that we sung many times in
the Moravian Church. And you know it's it's little things
like that that ron took comfort and it made him happy.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
And that was former Happy Valley Goosebe Mayor Wally Anderson
speaking about the life and times of Ronald Peirout, who
passed away earlier this week. He was a founding resident
in the town of Happy Valley, Goose Bay, and at
the time of his death, also the oldest resident of
Happy Value Gousebe all right, we're going to take one
final break here now on the Tim Power Show on

(38:51):
your vo CM. When we come back, we'll take you
back to an interview this morning from your vo CM Mornings.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
The Tim Power Show, Joining the conversation weekday afternoons at
four pm on your VOCM.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
And welcome back to the program. Richard Duggan in with
you here this afternoon. Well, commercial fishing is known as
the most dangerous industry in the world, with injury and
death rates significantly higher in other sectors. While safety training exists,
getting new practices adopted can be a slow process. A
new and unique research project is now looking at this
problem from a different angle, exploring a potential link between

(39:28):
empathy and how fishers perceive risk. The study is one
of the first of its kind and researchers are currently
seeking participants from the industry project leave for this research.
Tony Whittell was on your VOCM Mornings this morning with
jerry Lynn.

Speaker 9 (39:41):
MACKI so an overview. Well, first of all, the research
is made possible because funding was given from the Vice
President's Office of Research at Marine Its Fisheries and Marine
Institute of Memorial University, so they funded this project. So
without that funding, it wouldn't be I wouldn't be here,
the research wouldn't be underway. And I'm currently working under

(40:02):
the supervision of doctor Stephen Mallam, who is, you know,
one of the leading experts in human factors and he's
a research professor at Marine Institute in the School of
Maritime Studies. So that's sort of like the initial piece
of where this research came from. And really the question
that we're asking, the central question is does empathy influence

(40:23):
risk perception? And then how does that influence safety outcomes
in commercial fishing is the idea of what we're really
looking at is what role does can empathy play a role?

Speaker 1 (40:34):
Does a play a role?

Speaker 9 (40:35):
And what does that look like?

Speaker 10 (40:37):
How do you define empathy in the context of a
phishing vessel and why do you believe that it might
influence safety?

Speaker 9 (40:45):
So empathy is not necessarily defined in terms of a
fishing vessel itself, but you know, we have two working
definitions of empathy, which we'll be defined in the research.
One of the first things we have to do is
make a definition of empathy, and I mean defining empathy
has been going back for a very long time and
trying to understand it. One of our most common definitions

(41:05):
will be what we would consider effective empathy, which is
feeling with someone with you. So basically, you know, do
I feel what you feel at the same time? So
you hear people talk about that a lot I felt
with the person they're going through something. And then the
second definition that we work with is cognitive empathy, and
that is really do I understand someone's perspective. I may

(41:26):
now feel the same way that they feel, but can
I have a deeper cognitive mental understanding of what a
person's experience is So those are the two working definitions
that we'll be working with in terms of defining empathy.
And then both of those things are going to make
a difference. And when we look at, you know, what's
happening at sea for fishers, for fish harvesters, and what
they're actually dealing with when it comes to crew relationships,

(41:49):
crew dynamics, do you feel what someone else feels? You know,
what's happening from the wheelhouse to the deck to you know,
these kinds of things. So we're not just looking at
do you feel with someone, but you know what is
that dynamic and communication and connection between people that then
may influence how people perceive risk and ultimately the behaviors
that then they will engage in that could determine safer practices.

Speaker 10 (42:13):
Okay, I totally am picking up what you're laying down,
ty yet, But the fishing industry has a reputation for
being so dangerous. So in your view, what are the
biggest barriers to adopting safer practices?

Speaker 9 (42:25):
So treading So yes, right now, the fishing industry, there
are some recent studies that are indicating that fishing has
commercial fishing on a global scale, has you know, forty
times a higher rate of injury and death than other industries.
So depending on where you're looking the research, the statistics,

(42:46):
the data, you know, things like that. But what we
do know for sure is that in Canada, commercial fishing
has been on the tsb's watch list since twenty twelve,
and regulations are slow to uptake. Safety culture practices have
been slow. It is a danger industry. But what I
want to also, you know, say, is that people are
there are lots of great things happening. Safety is updating

(43:07):
in the industry, and I don't want to make it
sound like it's not. There are harvesters that go out
every single day that are making commitment to coming home
at the end of the day, them and their crew
and their vessels. You know what's happening at the Fish
Harvesters Safety Association, They're doing really great work. The Marine
Institute is doing great work. The Offshore Safety and Survival
Center is really doing great work with safety practices. And

(43:27):
Newfoundland itself has one of the most regulated and safest
industries in the country. So there is safer practices happening.
But really, I suppose when I say what would it
take to you know, what are we looking at in
terms of what do I believe. You know, there's a
lot of factors that influence things that are out of
people's control, like weather, weather systems, people fishing alone, short seasons,

(43:48):
regulatory issues that you know, may make people feel that
they have to take a risk in order to get
out and catch their fish. You know. So some of
these things are probably what as indicating. But you know,
when I say, you know, what do we believe, I'm
a researcher, so we really try to focus on the
facts and what the data really tells us when it
comes to that. So that's really part of what this
study is looking at is human factors that are involved,

(44:09):
you know, things that are not in a safety manual,
that are not in a technical course, which is why
we're looking at that emotional piece and you know, the
end user and what their experience is.

Speaker 10 (44:19):
So you're measuring empathy levels before and after safety training,
but also conducting interviews. So just walk us through how
the study is going to work or is working.

Speaker 9 (44:28):
So we've actually just watched we we got full ethics
approval from the Interdisciplinary Committee in September in order for
us to do this with human subjects, so that was
really a very exciting turning point in the project and
what has happened in the surveys is basically everything is optional.
You know, obviously anything is voluntary for people to participate.

(44:50):
So the Offshore Safety and Survival Center and Marine Institute
run courses on site, but they also do community based courses.
So instructors go out into the community and they'll run
the basically fishing safety courses that people have to take,
and we ask people if they will participate. So the
instructors will bring survey packages with them and ask if

(45:10):
people will be willing to participate. So what that initial
survey is kind of like yes and no questions. We're
measuring based on generalized empathy quotient that was adapted for
the fishing industry. So we're asking specific questions that are
going to be yes or no. We're going to measure
before the training, and then after the training we basically
give a similar survey to see what changed. And basically

(45:32):
that's just kind of a yes and no thing. That's
real data. You know, we look at that the interviews
are more subjective, and in the interviews, this is where
you know, we're hoping certainly that even today if anybody
hears that they'd like to, you know, participate. What we're
really looking for is fish harvesters to have a conversation
with us, and they're you know, relaxed interviews. It's conversational style.

(45:53):
It's basically open questions where we're looking at people's experiences
onboard fishing vessels and what they perceive as risk. But
also we're looking at that team dynamic that you know,
like we're measuring empathy and asking these questions, you know,
in terms of like communication, connection, you know, these types
of things on board the vessel. And so this is

(46:13):
the second So there's two parts of that. So we're
really using a mixed mesthod approach to make sure that
we're doing as much as we can to get a
good picture.

Speaker 10 (46:20):
This is this is really interesting. Well why is it
important to you to do this research? What do you
hope will come from this?

Speaker 9 (46:26):
I would say that what we really hope that will
ultimately come from this is one is you know, empathy
is not widely researched, even though it's a big topic
lately in safety critical industries. There's a big interest in
empathy right now, but the only place is where there's
real studies is some in medicine and a very tiny
few in aviation. So we are innovative at Marine Institute

(46:47):
and researching empathy in this field. So we're adding to
the knowledge base that already exists in the literature that's
out there on empathy. But then I hopefully we hear
from what the user is actually experiencing. When you're creating
any kind of a thing, you know, whether it's a
product or a regulation or policy or training program, it's
really important for us to understand the user's experience. And

(47:08):
that's the benefit of human factors is we're not just
looking at technical but we're really looking at what was
traditionally called soft skills. We could argue whether or not
emotion is a soft skill. I would argue with that
it's not. But you know, we're really measuring things that
we're not really seeing in a safety manual, but that
ultimately influence risk and risky behavior and whether or not

(47:31):
that can influence safety outcomes.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
And that just about does it for us here on
the Tim Power Show. I want to thank everybody for
tuning in and for spending part of your afternoon with us.
Thank you to Claude app Burns, from behind the Glass
for producing the program. Thank you to Linda Swain and
Brian Mador in the newsroom for their contributions as well.
Thank you so much. Have a great weekend everybody, and
we'll talk to you again on Monday.