ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022 | VOL. 78 NO. 49
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Liudmyla Polyvana and her daughter Amelia, with neighbour Nadiia and Edward Stanford and Jesse Postnikoff of Urban Systems, which recently donated a TV to help the family settle into life in Fort St. John.
‘A beautiful situation’: Ukrainian family begins new life in FSJ Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca Ukrainians fleeing war in their home country continue to start their lives anew in Fort St. John. Liudmyla and Oleksandr Polyvana are among the most recent arrivals, landing with their two young daughters Albina and Amelia on Oct. 22. But it wasn’t a quick and easy journey for them to get to a land blessed to be called Peace. Originally from Kharkiv, a city near the eastern UkraineRussia border and one of the first to be invaded, the family had no choice but to find safety on the other side of their country when the conflict began in February. “It is a very dangerous situation in our town because there are many bombs every day,” says Liudmyla during a conversation over lemon tea and pear pie at the family’s apartment near the mall. “There are many weapons, there are very many soldiers, our soldiers and Russian soldiers,” she says. “The situation was very bad for us.” The war and the missiles soon followed the family to Lviv, where they had sought safety in western Ukraine. That prompted them to leave the country altogether, first to Poland and then to Berlin.
They stayed in Germany for seven months volunteering their time helping other Ukrainians, and as their daughters struggled to adapt to new schools. The language barrier eventually proved too big of a gap to bridge. “If you don’t understand any German it is very difficult,” explains Liudmyla, herself a university economics professor with a doctorate in accounting. “One day I decided we must go to a country with English because English I understand, my husband understands, and my daughters understand, because we learn English from our first class in school.” The family was eventually persuaded to come to Fort St. John by a friend who had moved here several months earlier. So they filled out the paperwork and arrived in Canada on a visa from the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program. Fort St. John and its people have been quick to make a lasting impression. With the help of local residents and businesses, the family was quickly put on their feet with an apartment, internet, and plenty of donated furniture and winter clothing. They’re already raving about the generosity to friends and family back home, who are
waiting for their own paperwork to be processed so they too can leave. Liudmyla says the situation in Ukraine gets worse by the day — still many bombs, and now no gas or electricity in many places. She would like to bring her mother and father to Canada, and her oldest daughter who is living and working in New York. Oleksandr, a mechanical engineer by trade, would like to bring the employees from his construction business he had to leave behind. “We say, in Fort St. John it is a beautiful situation and they must come,” says Liudmyla. “The Canadian people give us very big support, very big help… That’s why we stay here.” But the family still faces barriers, particularly when it comes to finding qualified work, getting a new driver’s licence, and finding a doctor to get a required medical exam. Helping them navigate the challenges are Jane MalcheskyDrew and Jen McInnis, who met the family through their work in the school district’s Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program. Albina, 11, is attending Robert Ogilvie elementary school, while threeyear-old Amelia is still being cared for at home. Continued on A11
A Fort St. John man will spend 90 days in jail over the next three years for fleeing the scene of a fatal hit-and-run that killed two pedestrians in 2019. Anthony Norman Burke pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday, Nov. 28, for failing to stop after an accident causing death, a case described to the court as “tragic” and “unavoidable.” According to facts agreed to by Crown and defense lawyers, Burke turned his pickup truck west off 100 Street onto 98 Avenue in the early evening of Sept. 18, 2019. As he accelerated down the road, he “immediately collided” with Samantha Hunter and Jared Tompkins, who had been crossing the street from a hotel parking lot. Both were killed on impact, and Crown prosecutor Joseph Temple said Burke had not seen them in the middle of the road because he was “blinded” by the glare of the sun, which was setting at the time. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen a case where somebody turned off our northbound-southbound streets onto a westbound avenue at sunset and was blinded, literally just blinded, by the sun, and then hit somebody in a crosswalk or hit somebody who was crossing the street,” Temple said. However, Temple noted Burke was also “well aware” of the accident and that it may have caused death. The incident was captured on dash cam video from a vehicle parked near the scene. A witness also told police he saw Burke exit his vehicle and had spoken with him briefly before Burke said, “I’m out of here,” and got back in his truck and drove away. Burke surrendered himself to police several hours later after RCMP put out a news release searching for witnesses and calling on the suspect to turn themselves in. Defense lawyer Jay Michi said the circumstances of the collision were “tragic” and determined to be “unavoidable” by accident reconstruction experts. “Two people are dead and there’s no escaping that,” Michi said, adding Burke was “ashamed” and received counselling to deal with post-traumatic stress. “He’s prepared to take responsibility for his imprudent and unfortunate and craven decision not to remain at the scene that day,” Michi said. Continued on A11
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