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m w u u v o u u j , m u j i4 > ( l y y y 11 ij_ wrvrv v u l ,a v i_,i\ 0 DOES YOUR CAR WAX GIVE YOU BEnER PROTECTION THAN YOUR CUT-RATE CAR INSURANCE? Don't trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: Wayne McGill 2345 Wyrcroft Rd. #21, Oakville 847-3671 F o c u s OFFICIAL M EDIA SPO N SO R O F T H E OAKVILLE W ATERFRONT FESTIVAL Oakville Beaver Focus Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 845-3824 (Extension 250) Fax: 337-5567 By W ilm a B lokhu is BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR 'THT""*'® rin M cKnight has come a long way B ^ j ' since christening her lightw eight yellow Kevlar canoe, Marigold, in B J Sixteen Mile Creek. Since kicking JBimmaaB off her 9,000-kilometre Canada by Canoe at Sharkey's in Oakville in April 1998 to raise awareness o f mental health issues, M cKnight has had to overcome obstacles to reach her goal. Determ ined to com plete 3,000 kilom etres, McKnight, 23, o f the Clarkson area o f M ississauga, pushed on alone for 20 days to paddle the rugged north shore of Lake Superior after her partner last year, M arie R oberts o f Kingston, was forced to leave the expedition in Marathon on July 5th due to a serious illness in her family. McKnight pad- died alone to reach Thunder Bay by the end of July, spend­ ing many nights on windswept, rocky beaches. "Lake Superior is very intimidating, yet beauti­ ful." She camped at Sleeping Giant National Park, and did some hiking. Roberts' departure was not the only setback - McKnight broke her foot. "When I broke my left foot, I was frustrated by it, but I - knew I wasn't going to stop the trip," said M cKnight upon her return from the first leg o f her trek M cKnight kept up the grueling pace paddling 10 hours a day dangling her foot in the water to help keep the swelling down. It would be another 10 days before she could get to a hospital in Sault Ste. Marie. By that time, the bone had begun to heal on its own, but it would take another few weeks to heal completely. "I didn't need a cast, but they gave me a cane." To cross the North Channel at that city, M cKnight and Roberts had to paddle hard, timing their crossing between the freighters which passed every 15 to 20 minutes. Alone in Thunder Bay, McKnight, her foot still healing, McKnight was forced to abandon the trek, facing the 14-kilometre Grand Portage to the boundary waters between Ontario and Minnesota. At that point, she decided to make her mission a three-year trek from the original two. Initially, she intended to cover 4,500 kilometres and reach The Pas, M anitoba, on the Saskatchewan River, by the end o f last summer. M cKnight hopes to paddle up the M ackenzie R iver to Tuktoyaktuk next year, the New Millennium. With a new partner, A lison Pick o f Kitchener, also 23 and an experienced canoeist, McKnight hopes to reach F ort Chipew yan on Lake Athabasca by September. Pick did a 50-day canoe trip through the North West Territories two sum­ mers ago, and recently com­ pleted her psychology degree in hopes of finding a career in the mental health field. "M y birth m other was m anic depressive," says M cK night, explaining her personal mission. "This trip is a great way to get my fam­ ily talking about it, and to bring mental illness out into the open and get other people talking about it. She took her own life when I was only eight years old." It is estimated that one in five Canadians will experi­ ence a form of mental illness at some point in their lives, says the Canadian M ental Health Association. One in four Canadians will suffer from depression serious enough to require treatment during their lifetimes. "A t the tim e o f my m other's illness, mental ill­ ness was not as well understood as it is today, but stigm a and ignorance remain the two greatest bar­ riers that prevent people from getting help," says McKnight. The pair left Saturday, May 5th, for Thunder Bay to continue the journey in the 17.5 ft, 56-lb yellow Tripper canoe. To get ready for the trip, M cKnight prepared dried food to take along, and kept in shape by running and swimming. Prior to her departure, KcKnight presented a slide/talk of the first part o f her expedition at the seventh annual Consumer-Survivor Conference of the Canadian M ental Health Association - CM HA Halton, in Burlington last Wednesday. (S e e 'P a d d le r . . . ' p a g e B 4) 'M y b ir th m o th e r w a s m a n ic d e p r e s s iv e . . . t h i s t r ip i s a g r e a t w a y to g e t m y f a m i ly ta lk in g a b o u t i t , a n d to b r in g m e n ta l i l ln e s s o u t in to th e o p e n a n d g e t o th e r p e o ­ p l e ta lk in g a b o u t i t . S h e to o k h e r o w n l i f e w h e n I w a s o n ly e i g h t y e a r s o ld . A t th e t i m e o f m y m o t h e r 's i l l ­ n e s s , m e n ta l i l ln e s s w a s n o t a s w e l l u n d e r s to o d a s i t i s to d a y , b u t s t i g m a a n d ig n o ­ r a n c e r e m a in th e tw o g r e a t ­ e s t b a r r ie r s t h a t p r e v e n t p e o p le f r o m g e t t i n g h e lp . " - E r in M c K n ig h t ts le a v e fo r se c o n d ]a n a d a b y C a n o e fo r l h e a lth a w a re n e ss Photo by Fred Loek Cross C anada canoeists Erin M cknight and A lison Pick (back) have left on the second leg of their trip to raise m oney for the Canadian M ental H ealth Association. 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