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| With the Legislature back in Session, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice had a pair of themes to address in the first few days of the fall session (Photo from Legislature Broadcast archives) |
With all the news coverage of the Kitimat LNG announcement of Tuesday, it might have gotten lost in the shuffle that the British Columbia Legislature has returned to its duties, as the provinces MLA's returned to their seats in the Chamber on Monday morning.
The elected officials made their way back to Victoria after a four month break from the rigours of debate in the Legislature Chamber, with the NDP government ready to deliver a fairly aggressive fall agenda, one which includes an upcoming referendum on how the residents of BC will vote in future provincial elections.
For her return, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice offered up a review of the long, hot summer fire season taking note of some of the major incidents which she had been part of during the summer period of the Legislature's suspension of duties.
Among her travels was a stop in the Grand Forks area where the worst flood in that community's recent history had washed through homes, business and farmland, with Ms. Rice taking note of local emergency responders, volunteers from the community and at one point the Canadian Army who all responded to the incident.
Closer to her home riding of the North Coast, the Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness also recounted the wildfires that have cut a wide swath through the Tahltan First Nation area, updating the Legislature on the efforts of those fighting the fires in Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake, as well as the recovery plans that are now being put in motion for the region.
I also had the opportunity to visit the residents of Burns Lake and those along the Highway 16 Corridor during this year’s unprecedented wildfire season. If you’ve never been, the Dease Lake–Telegraph Creek area has some of the most stunning landscape in our province. I was doing a flyover shortly after the Alkali Lake wildfire ripped through the community of Telegraph Creek. Over 100 homes and seven culturally significant structures were ultimately lost.
Besides smoke, through the window of the helicopter I witnessed kilometres and kilometres of charred earth. It pained me to see such a big black scar through the Tahltan First Nation’s territory. At one point, I hadn’t realized that we were actually hovering over what was once a neighbourhood until I could make out the distinct rectangular outlines of the foundations of former homes. The blackened forest merged into the blackened neighbourhood. Everything was gone. Now, our government is committed to ensuring that all British Columbians have the knowledge, skills, resources and supplies they need to prepare for, respond to and recover from an emergency.
She wrapped up her presentation of Monday to the Legislature with a reminder for residents to be prepared for all forms of disaster incidents and highlighted the work the province is putting forward to engage with local government and First Nations across BC to plan for the future.
You can review the full scope of her commentary from the 10:50 mark of the Legislature Minutes here.
The video review of her presentation to the Legislature can be viewed below:
The second appearance on the week was that of more of a celebratory mood with the North Coast MLA relaying some thoughts on the importance of Ridley Terminals to the region, that as the industrial terminal celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
Like our city, RTI has had to cope with the ever-changing ebbs and flows of commodity prices, which can be really hard on a company and, particularly, our community. Yet it was not long ago, during these challenging low times, that RTI persevered, and they did so in a way that preserved local jobs. Despite the downturn in coal prices, RTI deployed creative scheduling practices for worker shifts, which ensured that Prince Rupert did not experience massive layoffs. Where other companies would immediately cut labour, our local workforce was maintained. For that, I am grateful.
Furthermore, to better cope with rapidly changing markets, RTI is diversifying. An example of this is with the construction of the AltaGas propane export terminal, a first of its kind on the west coast of Canada, with operations expected to start early next year. AltaGas is providing skills training and employment opportunities to local First Nations and is creating 40 to 50 permanent jobs once the facility is operational.
Her full commentary on RTI can be found from the 10:25 mark of the Legislature minutes.
She has also posted her salute to the Prince Rupert industrial leader as part of her Social Media stream.
For more items of interest related to Ms. Rice's work at the Legislature see our archive page here.
A wider overview of the political scene in Victoria can be found from our D'Arcy McGee portal.
To return to our most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
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