Rose's Cantina

  On April 2, 2017, a family friend of Ashley Simpson opened her Facebook Messenger and got the surprise of her life.  Cathy MacLeod had been trying to correspond with Ashley's boyfriend, Derek Favell, who was the last person to see the St. Catharines native before she disappeared from her home in Salmon Arm, B.C. a year before. She wanted to know more about what happened to Ashley, and why Favell had refused to take a polygraph test when many others close to the missing woman agreed to do so. "I wanted to poke the bear," she said, and sent several messages to Favell pleading with him to talk to her.  " Please help us," she wrote. "It's been 10 months of pure hell. A lie detector would help if you have nothing to hide. I beg of you, help us, take the test to clear your name if there’s nothing to hide." Many, including members of the Simpson family, found Derek's behaviour, at least, curious. Ashley had disappeared on April 27, 2016. Yet it took...

On the 5th anniversary of Ashley Simpson's disappearance, I stand with my cousins Sindal Simpson , Cindy Mcgean Simpson , Amanda Langlois , Amy Simpson , Tara Simpson , her grandmother Elsa Halden , her aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. On this Day of Action for Ashley we demand justice, more transparency from law enforcement, and better and more dedicated efforts to find her remains, and her killer(s). The federal government should allocate more funds for search and rescue in rural and remote communities and to the RCMP who are overburdened with their case loads (particularly in B.C. and Alberta) to ensure a rapid and thorough responses to calls about missing women, men and children. SAR often goes home in a day or two leaving grieving and distraught loved ones to pay for their own searches. It's not enough to assume that the person "took off" on their own when family members know better. No parent should have to bury a child. And in the unfortunate circ...

  Five years ago, Deanna Wertz and Ashley Simpson lived a stone's throw from each other on Yankee Flats Road in the community of Salmon Arm in British Columbia. They disappeared within a week of each other, and neither has been found. And they weren't the only ones who vanished from the picturesque logging and tourism community. Caitlin Potts and Nicole Bell also disappeared that year. Traci Genereaux, 18, was found dead during a police search along the Salmon Road River in 2017. This, in a community of 17,100 residents.  British Columbia has a terrible track record when it comes to missing and murdered women, particularly Aboriginal women and girls. According to a fact sheet from the Native Women's Association , almost one third of all of the reported cases in their database involved women and girls in British Columbia. To date, the number of cases in BC is substantially higher than any other province or territory in Canada (Alberta follows with 16 percent of the cases). B...

There is no shame in the way you left us  Ashley You made the world a better place You healed hearts Sang songs And led the small children Like a pied piper And made tears turn from sadness to laughter. You have earned your wings.   There is no shame in running home Ashley There is no more pain and sadness Only cool lakes Frosty drinks And skies that go on forever.   For five years, we have cursed and cried Ashley Damned the injustice  And sought reason  While you consoled us  With your lovely eyes And magical smile Shining back at us from all those selfies On your Facebook page.   You are 32 forever Ashley Beautiful, strong and joyful And we cannot wait Until that wonderful day we meet you again. In the meantime, we will keep your place warm Right here at the bonfire Eating mom and dad’s good cooking And telling stories about you. We'll play all of  your  greatest hits. And hope you  will  hear us. But know  that  despite...

Ashley Simpson was looking forward to spending one of her final afternoons in Salmon Arm, B.C. at Margaret Falls, a picturesque and rocky tourist attraction not far from the town where she and her boyfriend called home.  Ashley had messaged her friends and family that she was done with the place, and would soon be heading home to St. Catharines, Ontario, her hometown. She was dead broke, so broke she didn't have phone service, so she was waiting for an unemployment cheque to arrive that would get her back home to celebrate the baby shower of her sister, Tara. Ashley was tired of fighting with her boyfriend Derek Favell, and she was so troubled by his demeanour that she posted a chilling meme. Ashley, Derek and their friend Mike loaded up on cigarettes and libations and headed for Margaret Falls later that afternoon. Little did she realize that her final afternoon in Salmon Arm would also be her final day on Earth.                 ...

  Embed from Getty Images I walked through the inside part of my neighbourhood mall the other day for the first time in nearly a year. It's one of those places that was built especially for seniors back in the day and was once populated with older couples lingering over coffee watching new moms negotiate with toddlers who want to ride the mall horse, or grab a toy from a machine with a claw that hauls in a fortune but never gives a kid a decent toy. In recent years, the mall has lost its way. There are still small shops indoors, like a unisex hair place, a tailor, a dry cleaner, and a couple of medical professionals. But there's no place to sit anymore, and people have to go outdoors and cross the mall to get their coffee at Starbucks, so most oldsters say, "just never mind" and they either walk home or get in the car and go to Timmies. I haven't been in the indoor part of the mall because of Covid. All the little shops were shuttered for months,...

  In December 2020, John and Cindy Simpson's German Shepherd, Gypsy, gave them an early Christmas gift -- five glorious little puppies. She sadly lost three -- not an unexpected event in a litter.  Five were still enough, and their busy Niagara-on-the-Lake house was filled that Christmas with joy mixed with the scent of mama's milk and puppy poo. The pups were a welcome addition during a pandemic where it was difficult, if not impossible, for the Simpsons to gather their large extended family which now included another great-grandchild. John settled with being a surrogate mum to the little pups who snuggled with him in bed after they filled their tummies with mother's milk.  Like most grandparents, John and Cindy missed the constant chatter of toddlers and rowdy adults who arrived on cue every Sunday for a feast of mashed potatoes, veg, and roast beast.  But quiet was probably why they needed.  Both John and Cindy were recovering from emergency surgery. In Augus...