Prince Rupert Council members face busy September of meetings and conventions

The next three weeks of September are going to be rather busy ones for members of Prince Rupert City Council as the city's Mayor, Council and Administrative staff take to a number of challenges ahead until the end of the month.

Besides the upcoming City Council Session and Public Hearing of September 14th, Prince Rupert is playing host to the Southeast Conference, the gathering of southern Alaska communities that hold their conference on a rotating basis among member cities.

Prince Rupert's turn to host comes starts Tuesday, September 15th and continues until Thursday the 17th, with some of the delegates expected to arrive with the docking of AMHS vessel Matanuska on Saturday.

The majority of those attending however, most likely will be making use of some special flights from Taquan Air which will be flying from Ketchikan on the 14th and 15th to deliver delegates to the North Coast.

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain will provide for one of the opening addresses at 8 AM on Tuesday, launching the three days of panel discussions, workshops, policy sessions, field trips around the region and an International Business Expo.

The majority of the Conference events will be taking place at the North Coast Conventions Centre on 1st Avenue West.

The one session that is expected to attract the widest interest will that of Tuesday's featured speakers from the Alaska Marine Highway System, who will provide background on some of the challenges currently facing the system and what plans the Service has for the member communities of the Conference.

Conference organizers have pencilled in a spot for Alaska Governor Bill Walker on the Tuesday.

However, while invited, the Governor has not as of yet, committed to attend the event.

Back in July, we outlined some of the potential discussion points under consideration for the gathering.

A glimpse of the most recent version of the Agenda for the Southeast Conference can be found here.

Following those discussions and shared goodwill across the A-B line, City Council members will be off to the provincial UBCM convention, the annual gathering of municipal and provincial politicians that explores a range of issues affecting cities across British Columbia.

The five days of convention events also provide local politicians with the opportunity to touch base with Provincial ministers and provide updates on developments in their home community and address some issues that the municipal officials wish to raise.

This years event is taking place at the Vancouver Convention Centre from September 21st to 25th.

You can review some of the background on the 2015 convention here.

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