Alex Debogorski- Riding the Ice Roads

     My father has been a trucker for a few years now, and he loves it. As he says, “I get paid for sitting on my butt and not doing to much else”. The thing is, I know there's more to it than that. Trucking can be really difficult some days, especially when operating on busy Canadian highways such as the 400 series. Cars can get in your massive blind spots, and you have to remember when you last saw a vehicle to recall if it's still there or not. You're responsible for thousands upon thousands of pounds of machinery and cargo (sometimes explosive, sometimes living) and some days you could be working on a deadline that seems impossible to make. Your days could be long, and although you want to keep driving, you're legally forced to sleep. It's not like the road is going to disappear or anything.. it'll still be there tomorrow, next week, and months down the road. But.. wait, what if some days, it wasn't? If one person would understand that experience, it would be Alex Debogorski, from History Channel's hit show, Ice Road Truckers.

Alex Debogorski with his truck!

Photo Retrieved from http://johnburridgephoto.com/alex-debogorski-ice-road-trucker-toronto-editorial-photographer/

     So, I sent an email and we arranged a call. He wasn't in his home city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories at the time as I expected him to be, but in a city called Williams Lake, British Columbia (about 550 kilometres north of Vancouver). I caught him while he was setting up for the 2013 Williams Lake Stampede (starting this year on June 28^th), in which he had a booth. Once Alex answered the phone, something happened in the interview that I had never experienced before.. Alex started explaining some views on Canada he had, before I even had the chance to ask a question. The thing was.. it was so interesting! He discussed his views on Canadians living in a “fishbowl paradigm”, his views on Canadian arrogance, the idea that our nation is like a large park were we're nothing but administrators and many tidbits of family history that relates to how he views the nation he now lives in.

     But, after about twenty minutes, I decided to ask some questions about his experiences with the show that helped him become a name known worldwide. For him, I guess it all started around 1972, when Alex Debogorski first started his career as a commercial truck driver.

     Alex first attended the University of Alberta for a year after high school, followed by him entering straight into the work world. I completely understand what he meant by saying getting a job out of school was impossible, his year being a pattern of “last one hired, first one fired.” Jobs came and went, sometimes on an oil rig, or occasionally in a tire shop. Then in 1972, he started driving at a coal mine for a company called McIntyre Porcupine in the Northern Alberta community of Grande Cache. His profession of a truck driver moved with him to Yellowknife four years later, and yet another four years brought him in first contact with Canada's ice roads.

     So, I didn't really know what roads were. I sort of just thought that they were roads slicked with ice. Was I ever wrong! It's actual bodies of frozen water, as in lakes and rivers, that these massive trucks are driving on to resupply mines, quarries or aboriginal settlements. Not that it wasn't there before, but after hearing that I for sure had much higher respect for drivers like Alex. Driving a couple tonnes on sheets of ice is as daring a job as any, and as Alex explains, takes just as much patience. Back when he started out, there weren't too many rules out on the ice roads, and Alex was trekking in some areas that were hardly ever trekked before to ensure supplies would get to those in need. Although to this day some road “scare the pants off of him”, rules make things a bit more predictable. Predictable down to the kilometre, to be exact, which leads the drivers to need extreme amounts of patience.

Alex signs copies of his autobiography at home

Photo Retrieved from http://alex-debogorski.blogspot.ca/2010_10_17_archive.html

     Most roads may be down to a 25 kilometre an hour limit, no more or no less. The concentration needed could be the difference between driving on a road.. or having the lake below break through. Alex explained to me on the phone how he could get radio calls in saying he needed to increase or decrease his speed by a half kilometre rate, I don't think I could make that fine of a difference if I tried. He knows that truckers can die on a normal, straight, paved road. He's heard many stories of log truck drivers getting in fatal accidents out in British Columbia. He doesn't want to be one of those statistics.

     But I mean, how boring is focusing on a half kilometre difference for hours a day? Following one of the greatest laughs ever, Alex informed me of the magical things you hear on Channel One of his radio, which is supposed to be kept clear when driving up North in case of emergencies. The men and women create makeshift talk shows with each other, discuss politics or marital issues, spread rumours, question alien abduction or write poems, among many other things he's heard. Alex has even learned how to properly grow marijuana from a couple other drivers sharing techniques.

     While the truckers were laughing away or engaging in political discussion in Northern Canada and Alaska, History Channel in the States was airing a documentary on the Denison ice road. They realized whenever this aired, their ratings went way up. With this in mind, they contacted the production company who covered the show Deadliest Catch to head over towards Yellowknife to see if any drivers had interested in being on television. Some did, well most didn't. The general idea expressed was “if you want a real character, you should get Alex Debogorski.” That's what the company did, tried to find Alex.. who just so happened to be trapped in a snowstorm on Great Slave Lake. When he came back, he sort of thought the production crew was a joke, so he wasn't to serious. It seemed they liked him though, and surprisingly, “Debogorski” started becoming a household name.

      I was informed by Alex that no road is too dangerous for him, especially if some of the women drivers were doing them.. then he kind of felt he had to at least try! The beauty on the stretches of highway never fail to impress Alex, or the thousands of viewers who see him on Ice Road Truckers. Sunsets hitting mountains, eagles flying en masse above his head.. these are inspirations that will keep Alex, as he told me, driving the ice roads as long as he can.

Alex Debogorski wonders what his future holds...

Photo Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ice-road-trucker-eyes-federal-election-run-1.1016182

Jeremy Hansen- Canadian Astronaut-in-training

     Growing up, little Jeremy Hansen looked up at the stars in his tree house decorated as a spaceship, going on daring outer space missions. When he made it to high school, Jeremy was granted the same view of the stars as I was, seeing as we both hail from the same small town of Ingersoll, Ontario. The view of space from the Southwestern Ontario countryside wasn't good enough for Jeremy though, and as a child he was fascinated by astronauts, dreaming that one day he might become one.

            The road to space is not always a clear one, and Jeremy didn't know quite how he would go about becoming an astronaut. When he was young, an aircraft captured his interest: the CF-18 Hornet fighter jet. He knew flying these fighters was a career path that could be easily mapped out, so after his final year at Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute (the high school we both attended), he enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he would learn to fly their CF-18 Hornets. On the academic side of life, Hansen went to the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, Quebec and then continued onto the Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston, Ontario.

            While in Kingston, he heard Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire (now a Canadian senator) speak of the tragic Rwandan Genocide only shortly after the atrocity took place. Hearing this forthright and honest talk on an event of that magnitude was a very powerful moment in his time there, yet two other speakers would effect his life more--Canadian astronauts Julie Payette and Chris Hadfield. He had a few opportunities to meet with Chris Hadfield, and during this time he was able to grill Commander Hadfield on all manner of space-related queries. Through asking Chris questions, he learned that he in fact could get into a space career through his current one. Hadfield himself was in fact an CF-18 Hornet Fighter pilot, and Jeremy had the qualifications that the Canadian Space Agency tended to look for.

            Yet, as Jeremy became more educated, he realized how slim the odds were that he would become a Canadian astronaut and decided to never get his hopes up. When applications came around for Canada's newest batch of astronaut recruits, Hansen and his wife had discussions about what the future of the application could be. Although the chances were low, and he would probably never be chosen. He was confident that, and thought to himself, that he would be able to do the job (and do it well) if given the chance. But he also realized that there were several others who could do it just as well, possibly better. Upon learning about Jeremy's impressive education (Bachelor of Science in Space Science--First Class Honours and Master of Science in Physics) I would personally have been surprised if he didn't get in. Despite this, Jeremy was shocked when he heard the news that he had been accepted in the Canadian astronaut training program alongside David Saint-Jacques in May 2009, making our small town of Ingersoll proud.

            Feelings of disbelief, privilege and honour went through him after hearing the results. Imagine: achieving your wildest childhood dream in real life. I had asked, simply, why he had wanted to be an astronaut. He told me that as the years went by, there had been many different reasons. At first it was the excitement of the exploration and the challenge of dangerous space missions. But after growing up a bit, that's only one small factor. Now Jeremy is considering the importance and possible benefits to humanity that his missions could offer, and the privilege of looking down upon Earth as he's leaving.

            How do you even train to be an astronaut? He agreed that it was a concept that was hard to grasp, seeing as there was no definitive skills required to be an astronaut. He's learning a variety of things, some that seem obvious and some that he didn't expect he would need to learn. He's learning fine and broad points of robotics, partaking in spacewalk training (which includes wearing an authentic spacewalk outfit in a pool of water), and now...geology? That one confused me a bit, and indeed it confused him at first as well. This summer Jeremy will be heading to the Canadian Arctic to research a meteor impact crater. This will help them with regard to potential future Canadian Space missions (which may happen in the span of his career), if and when Canadian astronauts leave low-Earth orbit again. What this could mean is that Canadians would possibly have the chance to research and explore the moon or even “another planetary body in our solar system." Trust me, if the first person ever to go to Mars is from Ingersoll, I'll be bragging. Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed yet, so I suppose Jeremy and the rest of us will just have to wait and see.

            Waiting is something that Jeremy expected, and understands. At this point, he has no idea when or what his first mission to Space may be. The thing is, as Jeremy said, there are other options now for Canadians to go into space. With the birth of the space tourism market, some wealthy Canadians could make it up there around the same time that he does (Quebec's Cirque du Soleil creator Guy Laliberté has already been a Space tourist, for example). More than likely, his first mission in Space will be similar to Hadfield's. It would be half a year in Space, doing scientific experiments and generally maintaining the International Space Station (ISS). Upon asking Jeremy what he felt the Hadfield mission provided for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), he mentioned that one thing for sure was increasing public awareness. Awareness of Canada's involvement in space, the fact we even have a space agency, and the idea that there is an International Space Station that is regularly inhabited by astronauts around the world. Another lesson that he believes Hadfield taught was the idea of how we may be a world split into several cities, provinces, countries, and continents, but from up in Space it's more noticeable than ever that we're a global society. A powerful lesson very relevant to our modern world.

            Our shared hometown of Ingersoll, Ontario also taught Jeremy a valuable life lesson--respect for community. Ingersoll may not provide us with an abundance to do in our free time, but we do have people. People we can rely on and with whom we can learn about the reliance of neighbours and friends. He told me sometimes people can forget how important it can be to be able to depend on the integrity and kindness others, but Ingersoll has made sure he'll never forget.

            At the end of our interview, I asked if he had any advice for people who may want to be astronauts, and I found out that he asked the same question to Chris Hadfield when he was on his way to his future career. What Hadfield told Jeremy was, in Jeremy's opinion, the best advice he could have given. He was told to follow his passion. You could learn how other astronauts made it to where they are now, but that isn't likely to be your path. By doing this, following your passion, no matter where you end up career-wise, it will have been an incredibly worthwhile journey in itself.

                One final note: although I asked, he wouldn't tell me his favourite IDCI teacher, so in case one decided to read this, tough luck.

Joseph Arvay- A Lawyer Fighting for Canadian Rights

     It's not a very big secret when I say I paid very little attention to my grade 12 law class. It's not that my teacher was boring, I just didn't find the material all that interesting. That is, all but one case study. In that lesson, we were told about a place in Downtown Eastside Vancouver called “Insite”. Insite is the only location in all of North America where you can legally inject yourself with illegal substances (most commonly used there being heroin, cocaine and morphine), be provided medical care or first aid from wounds or overdose, mental health assistance, and resources to break your habit. Personally, I felt this was a great centre, valuable to the future of many suffering from addictions in that part of our country. Unfortunately, several people (our Prime Minister included) did not think this was a good idea, and Insite found itself threatened to be closed in a Supreme Court Case. In the final decision, greatly aided in the work of Joseph Aravy, Insite has remained open.

     What were the chances that my university roommate Jaime would be the nephew of Joseph Arvay, the lawyer who defended Insite in the Supreme Court? Probably very low, but needless to say, that's how it happened to work out. Upon hearing this, I knew I wanted to speak with Mr Arvay. One night Jaime and I sent an email to his law firm in Vancouver (Arvay Finlay Barristers) and to my surprise, he said yes. While doing my pre-interview research and actual interview, I found out just how much Joseph Arvay had done for our nation, and I was glad I had the chance to share it.

     Joseph was born in Welland, Ontario in 1949. While there, he would work in his fathers' store, deliver papers and do assorted yard work as some of his first jobs. In high school, he realized that he might want to be a lawyer, and upon actually getting into law school he realized that he was certain in his career choice. After teaching in law school and working in the Attorney General's office in British Colombia, Arvay Finlay Barristers was opened in January, 1990.

     Upon reading some things about Joseph Arvay, I realized that there were quite a few important cases that he represented (even some more that I now remember hearing about in school). One of which, which I was surprised to hear that he represented, was the well-known case “Egan v. Canada”, which when concluded led to the Supreme Court decision that sexual orientation constitutes a prohibited basis of discrimination under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In other words, that means it's illegal to discriminate someone in Canada based on their sexual orientation (regardless if it's employment discrimination, the decision of letting someone buy and rent a property or not, and receiving certain governmental services).

     So, due to his work, two parts of the Canadian Constitution were altered in their interpretation. Then I read that there are even more amazing things aided in Canada, thanks to his work. Joseph Arvay has aided in the fight of sperm donor babies having the same rights to information as adopted children, and has fought to allow books promoting tolerance of same-sex relationships to stay in classes of K-1 children. Currently, Joseph Arvay is working on a case that's up there as one of his most difficult, whether there is a “Constitutional Right to Die” (so cases which could include physician-assisted suicide). These cases are the ones that draw attention and have people all across our country interested in the result, so I asked if there were any (in his eyes) that were the most important he's been involved in. To him, they are “all important, but not of equal importance. Certainly the cases that have advanced the rights of gay, lesbians and transgendered stand out.”.

     So, with all of these cases that have come up, does that mean our Constitution is flawed? I decided to ask. In his opinion,

     “There is nothing flawed about the Constitution as far as it goes. That does not mean that it is always interpreted by the courts correctly. But that is just because judges, like all humans, are flawed and don’t always get it right. But even that is a bit of glib statement. Who is to decide what is a correct or incorrect interpretation? Books have been written on this. The Constitution may be flawed in that it doesn’t go far enough. For instance it does not expressly provide for a right to minimum welfare or housing or food or education or health care or the environment although each of these “rights” might be implicit. Time will tell.”

     Back when he was in high school, “just slightly later than the time of the dinosaurs”, nothing law related was taught in the classrooms. The fact that some of his own cases are now being taught “warms his heart”. The thing about Constitutional cases, Joseph told me, was that they have far-reaching rewards. They reach people and times past his own client, and that in itself is rewarding.

     It was interesting getting the chance to speak to someone I had learned about in a high school law class, and someone who has aided our country in a different way than I'm used to hearing about- fighting in our courts, occasionally our Supreme Court.