North Coast Review: September 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021

New Wind Warning issued for North Coast and Haida Gwaii with gusts of 110km anticipated Friday afternoon/evening

Fall storm season continues for the North Coast and Haida Gwaii
that as another Pacific weather systems tracks eastward
(Environment Canada Satellite imagery Thursday)

While the Prince Rupert area seems to have side stepped the last weather system of 24 hours ago, Environment Canada has returned with a new Advisory, with the National Weather Agency issuing a WIND WARNING on Thursday afternoon that will see strong winds develop on Friday for both the North Coast and Haida Gwaii.

Winds from the Southeast are anticipated with gusts of 110 km per hour from Friday afternoon to just after the midnight hour. The frontal system should be inland by Saturday afternoon.

click to enlarge

Precipitation that will accompany the system could bring up to 120 mm of rain through the weekend

As this latest systems moves in from the Pacific it will also churn the Hecate Strait, with a STORM WARNING now in effect, the conditions to bring winds of up to 55 Knots by tomorrow evening and seas building up to 5 metres through Friday afternoon.

Follow the Environment Canada website for any updates as the weather maker approaches.

A look at past Weather events can be explored from our archive page.

Calls for reflection on the past, commitment for the future mark the arrival of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Prince Rupert's Cenotaph at the Courthouse has been the
community space for commemoration of those who
survived the Residential School system and those who never came home

“Today, I invite everyone across the country to recognize and observe the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day to reflect on the painful and lasting impacts of residential schools in Canada, and to honour survivors, their families, and their communities. It is also a day to remember the many children who never returned home, and an opportunity for us all to learn more, and to affirm the need for reconciliation and commit ourselves to the work ahead." -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation has been marked by statements and calls for Canadians to use September 30th to learn more of the history of the residential school system and listen to the stories of the survivors and their families.

The Prime Minister marking the day first on Wednesday with a sunset ceremony on Parliament Hill to commemorate survivors and those who never returned to their families and communities.

For today, the Prime Minister's statement has a focus on the momentum of Orange Shirt Day and the story of Phyllis Webstad, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the ongoing efforts in locating unmarked graves at former residential school sites.

“The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation recognizes that at least 150,000 Indigenous children from across the country were forcibly separated from their families and their communities. Children were brought to residential schools where too many experienced abuse and were removed from their cultures, languages, and traditions. This federal day builds on the momentum of Orange Shirt Day, which was inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad and chosen by Indigenous peoples to remember the legacy of residential schools and promote the path of reconciliation.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established through legislation passed earlier this spring, and is a direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action number 80. As part of commemorations for this historic day, I was honoured to participate in a sunset ceremony to commemorate survivors and those who never returned to their families and communities, as the Peace Tower and other buildings near Parliament Hill were illuminated in orange, and a newly commissioned Survivors’ Flag from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation was raised.

This year, the tragic locating of unmarked graves at former residential school sites across the country has reminded us of not only the impacts of colonialism and the harsh realities of our collective past, but also the work that is paramount to advancing reconciliation in Canada. Today, we also recognize the harms, injustices, and intergenerational trauma that Indigenous peoples have faced – and continue to face – because of the residential school system, systemic racism, and the discrimination that persists in our society. We must all learn about the history and legacy of residential schools. It’s only by facing these hard truths, and righting these wrongs, that we can move forward together toward a more positive, fair, and better future.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I encourage all Canadians to take this opportunity to learn more about the history of residential schools in Canada, listen to the stories of survivors and their families, and reflect on how each of us can play a part in the journey of reconciliation. I also encourage everyone to wear an orange shirt today to help spread awareness, because every child matters.”

The Full statement from the Government of Canada can be explored here.

A message from Queen Elizabeth II is also relayed to Canadians through Governor General Mary Simon

Premier John Horgan and Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation issued a joint statement yesterday, the pair also first paying tribute to Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad

“Orange Shirt Day would not exist without the strength and courage of the campaign’s founder, Phyllis Webstad. Her story of residential school survival, as well as those shared by Vancouver Island advocate Eddy Charlie and so many others, sparked a national conversation on the true history of this country."

They followed the tribute to the tireless efforts of Ms. Webstad with comments on the occasion of the First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“This year, Sept. 30 is also a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The new federal statutory day responds to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action for a national day to honour those affected by residential schools.

We will consult with Indigenous leaders, organizations and communities over the coming months on the best and most respectful ways to commemorate Sept. 30 here in B.C. We will also bring the business community, employers and labour groups into the conversation, so that they can participate in the planning in meaningful ways. While we continue this engagement with the aim of formally recognizing this important day in B.C. in the future, this year, public service workplaces will be observing the statutory day of remembrance and reflection.

Public commemoration of our shared history is just one of many steps we can take in our work to advance reconciliation. We must also face the truth of the harms perpetrated by colonial policies and the residential school system. As government, we will work to deconstruct the colonial systems that are still in place and continue to harm Indigenous peoples. We owe this to the future generations. “We encourage every British Columbian to wear an orange shirt to proclaim that every child matters, and that we are all committed to working together with Indigenous peoples to create a better future for all of our children, for the province and for the entire country.”

You can review the full text of the Provincial statement here.

More themes towards the First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are being shared by the Provincial government through their Social Media streams.

As we noted earlier this week, North Coast Regional District also commemorated the occasion of this First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The North Coast Regional District (NCRD) applauds the federal and provincial governments for establishing this statutory holiday to honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis Survivors and their families and communities to ensure that public commemoration of their history and the legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

The NCRD continues to build strong and meaningful relationships with its First Nations partners and is fully committed to truth and reconciliation. With this in mind, the Board has resolved to formally acknowledge September 30th as a day for truth and reconciliation throughout the region.

The full statement from Regional District can be reviewed here.

In Prince Rupert, Mayor Lee Brain has shared a Facebook message from Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Today marks the beginning of true acknowledgment of atrocities committed across the country & over the course of history. And now with 6509 lost children being found thus far & counting, and many more to still yet to be found & returned home, this bears an opportunity to also pay our respects & grieve collectively.

We as a society need to continue to find a better way forward, beyond the phases of accountability & justice from all levels of government. And I firmly believe that we do so in loving relationship with one another, our communities, our fellow neighbors, and especially, ourselves. -- Prince Rupert Councillor Reid Skelton Morven

As we come across more statements and notes of observation, we'll update this archive with further links of reflection on the day

Statement from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice

Northern Health -- Phyllis' Story

Statement from Coast Mountain College

Statement from Prince Rupert Port Authority

School District 52 -- Reconciliation Walks

BCTF Statment

Statement from Union of BC Indian Chiefs

Statement from Assembly of First Nations

Some Resources for the Day

National Film Board

CBC Indigenous

Aboriginal People's Television Network

Coverage of events across the province and nation can be reviewed from our Ottawa Observations feature from our political blog D'Arcy McGee

Through the week, we've highlighted some of the work that has been done locally towards observing this day, you can explore those themes from our item of Monday.

Included in our piece from this week are a number of links towards further study on the themes we are observing today, those contributions make for a good starting point to explore a harmful past and begin the discussion for our shared future.

You can review all of the coverage of events across the Northwest from our archive page here.

Northwest Notes from Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

An archive notes related to the lead up and observation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation across the Northwest.

October 1 -- Prince Rupert Reconciliation Day (video)
October 1 -- Prince Rupert Friendship House holds community walk for Truth and Reconciliation Day
October 1 -- Prince Rupert residents shatter goal at Truth and Reconciliation walk
October 1 -- Hundreds turn out for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Smithers
October 1 -- Prince Rupert walks in solidarity and support
October 1 -- Walk held in Kitamaat Village on to honour residential school survivors

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

COVID cases rise the further east of Rainbow Summit you travel

Today's Local Health data release from the BC CDC shows that the concerns over the Northern Health region are quite valid, with communities along the Highway 16 corridor shaded in the darker colours of high case counts for the last seven days.

For Prince Rupert the week was once again a mostly positive one, with only five cases to report from the information period, that amount an increase of three from last week.

But travel ninety minutes east and the rising count of COVID is on display from the Terrace/Kitimat region through the Bulkley Valley and on to Prince George, with the North's largest city recording 280 new cases in the last seven days.

The full review across the region looks as follows:

Nechako -- 95 cases
Smithers -- 68 cases

Burns Lake -- 31 cases

Upper Skeena -- 24 cases

Terrace -- 23 cases

Kitimat -- 17 cases

Prince Rupert -- 5 cases

Bella Coola Valley -- 3 cases
Snow Country-Stikine- Telegraph Creek -- 3 cases
Nisga'a Region -- 1 case

Haida Gwaii -- 1 case

Central Coast -- 0 cases

Wednesday's provincial report lists 182 new cases for Northern Health, 915 Active cases.

There are currently 81 residents of the North hospitalized from COVID , with 13 listed as requiring Critical Care.

As well, as Health Minister Adrian Dix outlined earlier this week, the pressures on the Northern Health system have resulted in more than 25 transfers of patients to points south and the cancellation of other surgeries at many of the health facilities in the Northern Health Region.

BC CDC COVID data results for Wednesday September 29, 2021

The full report from the Province for Wednesday can be accessed here.

The larger BC CDC Data release is available here.

Past information statements on COVID and other notes on the Northwest response can be reviewed from our archive page.

Deadline looms for Prince Rupert Adult Ice hockey

Adult Hockey Players can grab some ice time with the
Prince Rupert Adult League this fall and winter

Local hockey players looking to play in the CARHA Prince Rupert Adult League have just a few days left to register for the 2020-21 season.

The local group affiliated with the national organization is accepting registration until October 4th, with the full season registration fee set at $450 paid by cash or cheque.

Of note for the 202-21 season all players must be double vaccinated by October 24th and be in possession of a COVID 19 vaccine passport.

The league will take to the ice at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre and sign up and registration is taking place through the Civic Centre.

The National organization has a range of information on adult hockey to review through its website and Facebook page.

To learn more about the Prince Rupert plans contact the Civic Centre at 250-624-6707.

City of Prince Rupert reminds residents of Civic Closures Thursday and changes to garbage collection service for this week

The City of Prince Rupert has outlined which civic services will be impacted by tomorrows Day of National Truth and Reconciliation, making note of the Closure of Prince Rupert City Hall and the Recreation Centre for the day, as well as a revision to the Garbage collection cycle for this week.

The City's Map of Garbage collection areas can be accessed from the City of Prince Rupert website.

More notes on past City Council themes can be reviewed from our archive page.

City of Terrace outlines its plans for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and well beyond

The City of Terrace is flying an Orange Flag as part
of their observance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation,
part of the community's larger discussion towards the topic in the Northwest

The City of Terrace has provided a bit of a blue print for other Northwest communities this week, providing a fairly extensive overview of its plans in observance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation tomorrow, with the City and its council members touching on a number of areas of note when it comes to this first observance of the day.

As part of their information sharing themes of earlier this week, Terrace officials provided for the foundation of what they describe will be their guide to future action and decision making related to reconciliation.

“The City of Terrace values the Indigenous peoples of the area and seeks to build strong relationships founded in trust and respect. We are committed to reconciliation, founded on understandings of truths experienced through colonialism, residential schools, and systemic racism.” -- Some of the text to the City of Terrace Statement of Reconciliation from September 27th.

Through their statement, the City of Terrace also outlined a recent initiative that it had put in place with the purchase of a flag in observance of National Truth and Reconciliation Day, which was raised last week.

The flag was raised on Tuesday, September 21. In future years, the City’s flag policy will be updated to include raising this flag for the entire month of September.

The Terrace Council found itself in the spotlight earlier this year, when City Councillor Jessica McCallum-Miller, the First Indigenous resident to take office, resigned her position, the Councillor citing systemic and Internalized Racism, as well as sexism as her reasons for taking leave of her seat at the Council Table.

At the time, Ms. McCallum-Miller penned an Open Letter which outlined the physical and emotional toll that her experience in elected office had delivered to her and led to her decision to resign her post.

With that past history part of the current Terrace narrative, the remaining Council members clearly heard a view that some change was required and their moves of this week would seem to be the start of renewal for the community.

The occasion of the first Day of National Truth and Reconciliation the moment of note that indicates that their work on reconciliation has seemingly begun, though many residents of the region will be watching to ensure those commitments are kept and built upon.

More notes on the approach Terrace is taking towards reconciliation can be explored here.

The District of Kitimat also took some action earlier this month in recognition of Truth and Reconciliation, flying their own Orange Flag, which will remain part of the District's Flag Display until the end of the day on September 30th.

Earlier this week we also took note of how the North Coast Regional District has observed the currents of the Day of National Truth and Reconciliation.

"We are located on the traditional territory of the Haida and Tsimshian and we benefit from the rich First Nations cultures that we are surrounded by. We will continue to prioritize building relationships with First Nations governments in the region and support truth and reconciliation efforts" -- Barry Pages, Chair, North Coast Regional District from a statement from September 1st

Some further notes on how the week has been observed in the Prince Rupert area and what may be planned for Tomorrow can be reviewed here.

A Digby Tower Reveal

Peeking over the trees at McClymont Park, the Digby Towers has had
its protective wrap removed and now looms large on the landscape
just off McBride Street

Whether by design, or perhaps by way of recent winds, residents of Prince Rupert have been getting a snapshot of the progress on the Digby Towers renovations this week, with the work to date, now on display from the work site overlooking McClymont Park and the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

The renovation project for the city's second tallest building, had up until this week been wrapped in a protective cocoon since April, with Marcan Construction and a range of sub contractors taking on the challenges of remediation for a building that last had tenants decades ago.

A closer look at the latest view of the Digby Tower project
The Sherbrooke Avenue apartment building that is set to deliver another
60 units of rental space to the community whenever the finishing touches
are in place on the large scale overhaul of the building

As we noted earlier this year as work got underway, the prospect of up to sixty new rental spaces in the community is a topic that has made for comment from City Council and the community at large since the news was delivered late in 2020 that the long dormant building was to have new life.

In February of this year Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain indicated he believed the project would be complete by the end of 2021. And with three months to go until the end of the year, it will be worth watching to see if the progress now in view is on pace towards that goal.

So far the investor in the project, a property owner from Victoria has yet to provide for an update on that timeline. Once the For Rent sign goes up, it's more than likely that the Digby Tower will once again be a destination address for those seeking rental accommodation in the city.

More notes on the city's housing themes can be reviewed from our archive page here.

Prince Rupert City Council members to meet in Special session tonight

Members of Prince Rupert City Council will be hosting a special session later this evening, a 5 PM gathering of Mayor and Council that is closed to the Public, with little information to share with the public related to the topic of the night other than a short advisory posted to the City website today.

Those notes indicating that the focus will be one of labour relations and seemingly some legal advice that Council has received but notes themes that they can't share at this time.

Tonight's closed session marks the 15th such identified CLOSED session held this year that has been noted by Prince Rupert City Council.

You can review some of the previous reasons for the closing of the doors from our Council Session archives.

Some Notes for resumption of the 11th Avenue East Public Hearing shared on City of Prince Rupert website ... sort of

The Suspended Public Hearing related to the rezoning of land
required for a proposed Apartment complex on 11th Avenue East
will resume on Monday night

When we last left the discussion on the plan to resume the suspended Public Hearing for the Lax Kw'alaams led 11th Avenue East Apartment proposal, Mayor Lee Brain had been outlining the city's plan for information sharing on the topic in advance of the proceedings, with Council planning to pick up again in October, from where they left off on August 23rd.

"Given that what we heard at the last public hearing about information not becoming available to residents. I would appreciate if, we can make the effort to make sure that this information gets to those who have raised concerns hence... So, what I don't want at the next public hearing, people to come and say that they never had access to this information and don't want them to have to dig around in a council agenda to try to find a technical memo.

So what I would request is if we could potentially extract this memo put it on our city website and the, we have emails of individuals who are interested in this project and make sure that they are given this directly and that we accommodate this information" -- Mayor Lee Brain speaking during the September Council session on the process of getting information to those with an interest in the proposed 11th Avenue housing development.

And so far, the City has made some progress towards that sharing of information, though finding it may still be somewhat of an Easter egg hunt for those that require it most.

City staff have provided for a copy of a technical report from McElhanney Engineers, one which focuses on the traffic concerns relayed pervious, though accessing it requires a 'bit of digging around' the city website, with the document only available to this point so far from the Council Meeting archive page.

An even larger and wider in scope report from the city's contract planner Rob Buchan, has not as of yet been selected by the city for inclusion in the latest round information sharing, so to be helpful we've provided that report below taken from the September Agenda package for Council members.

click on above to enlarge

Also missing from the information rollout so far is a follow up on the suggestion to use Social media to highlight the research material, with no mention of the documents on the city's main page to the website or through the Social Media streams that are used for such information sharing.

City of Prince Rupert Facebook page

Mayor Lee Brain's Facebook page

Though as the Mayor noted at the September Council session, residents of the immediate area that have left their email addresses with the City should check their in boxes to see if a correspondence from the City staff has arrived.

As for the Public Hearing, the resumption of the Suspended Hearing is set for this coming Monday, October 4th.

And, with new measures related to COVID being observed by City Council, unlike the one suspended in August; it seemingly will not be an "In Person" session but rather a return to that of remote access and an online presence for the event.

"One of the challenges we have now is that we're not allowed to have, we have to have a limit of indoor gatherings and under legislation we actually can't limit anyone's ability to participate in a Public Hearing.

So what we don't want to be in is a situation where we have turn people away at the door ... if we're at capacity. And so at this stage what we've decided to do I think is have a Virtual Public Hearing" -- Mayor Lee Brain at this month's Council session outlining the City Council's intentions as to how they plan to move forward with the 11th Avenue East Public Hearing

So far however and with less than a week to go until the much anticipated session, the city has not released any details through the city Website or Social media on how those looking to participate in the hearing can gain access to the virtual event.

You can review the Council work on the 11th Avenue file from earlier this month from our Council Session archive page.

A wider overview of housing themes in the region can be explored from our archive page here.

A short sail past through Prince Rupert Harbour and Harry heads off into the Storm

The newest addition to the fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy made a short show of the flag transit through Prince Rupert Harbour on Wednesday morning.

That as the HMCS Harry DeWolf travelled across he Prince Rupert waterfront passing by Mariner's Waterfront Park about 9:15AM, reaching Fairview Terminal by 9:30AM before heading for points west and south.

By 10:15AM the HMCS Harry DeWolf
was heading for open seas and its ongoing travels

As we outlined yesterday, the vessel which joined the Royal Canadian Navy last year just completed the first navigation of the Northwest passage by a Canadian military vessel in over sixty years.

Two shots of HMCS Harry DeWolf in Prince Rupert Harbour
(From RCN, click to enlarge)

There was no port visit for the ships company of the Harry DeWolf, the vessel making a short detour of an hour into Prince Rupert waters, before continuing on its journey back to its home port of Halifax Nova Scotia.

Most likely they pulled into port to pick up some new crew members if only for the trip down to Victoria, yesterday the Prince Rupert Port Authority noted through Social Media of the arrival of two Naval official's in town, a visit that coincided with the transit of the DeWolf through North Pacific waters.

The Port of Prince Rupert played host to RCN officials here for the
arrival of the HMCS Harry DeWolf
(photo from PRPA Twitter feed)

As part of their stay in Prince Rupert Rear Admiral Angus Topshee and Chief Petty Officer First Class Tim Blonde from Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific fleet learned more about Port operations.

With the Harry DeWolf based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, it's pretty unlikely that Prince Rupert will see the vessel again anytime soon, however with five more of the DeWolf Class of ships on the way, at some point in the future the Pacific fleet may have a few of the Arctic/Offshore vessels based out of Esquimalt offering a chance for a longer stay and a close up look.

As they depart Prince Rupert, the next few hours should put the vessel through some new paces, with a Marine STORM WARNING now in place for Hecate Strait and down to the Central Coast.

Winds of up to 55 knots are anticipated along with seas building to 7 metres, something which may see stocks of gravel decline on the DeWolf before they next tie up in a port.

You can follow their travels through the HMCS HarryDeWolf twitter feed.

Expansive level of legal and social services offered by Prince Rupert's Indigenous Justice Centre

Prince Rupert's signature Capitol Mall building has a new tenant
with the Prince Rupert Indigenous Justice Centre relocating
its office and services to Third Avenue West just west of Fulton

An important legal and community resources continues to expand on its footprint in the city, recently making a move to a larger office space to provide for a suite of legal related services for Indigenous residents along the North Coast.

The Prince Rupert Indigenous Justice Centre which is one of three in the province (the others are in Prince George and Merritt) is part of a provincial government commitment to create 17 such centres in total across British Columbia.

The initiative is one that seeks to reduce the high level of incarceration for Indigenous peoples and to create the environment for consideration of alternative sentencing measures that will provide opportunity for a change in direction, or circumstances for those who use the service.

The local office began its operations in early 2020, working out of the Aboriginal Community Services space in Ocean Centre, the staff moved into its own office space earlier this spring taking up residence in the Capitol Mall at #200 - 515 Third Avenue West just above the Community Futures space.

The staff of the Prince Rupert office includes: James Leach, lawyer, Marie Gaste, Legal Assistant, Rudy Kelly, Community Outreach Coordinator, Brenna Innes, Gladue Writer, and Charlene McLean, Gladue Worker.

Mr. Kelly provided a snapshot for the North Coast Review towards some of the services that are offered through the centre.

The lawyer assists indigenous clients, at no charge, who are facing charges, with the goal (if he can not get an acquittal) being to avoid incarceration and consider alternative sentencing measures.

The Outreach Coordinator connects with the area First Nations communities, as well as relevant agencies such as Probation Services, Health, Hecate Strait, Transition Society, Friendship House, Counseling agencies, when they can be a part of/contribute to a client’s efforts to change or reintegrate into society (in the case of those coming out of incarceration).

The Outreach Coordinator also connects with the First Nations communities in the area to assist in their efforts to create their own justice program or help clients wishing to return to their communities.

When it comes to the work of a Gladue Writer, the task is one to implement the BC First Nations Justice Strategy with a goal of autonomy and self-determination for Indigenous people that are involved in the criminal justice System.

Click to enlarge

A larger overview of the Gladue principles and how they relate to the Justice system can be explored here.

You can find out more about what the program and the Prince Rupert office in particular has to offer the community from the BC First Nations Justice Council website here.

For further items of note on Community themes see our archive page here.

November hopes for Prince Rupert's newest recreation area at Seal Cove

The Seal Cove area is still off limits for the public, but that could
all change in just a few months as the Seal Cove Habitat Restoration
project nears a point of opening to the public

The prospects of a nice summer's walk through the Seal Cove area have since morphed more towards plans for a November opening, with the Seal Cove Habitat Restoration Project now a number of weeks delayed from ithe original opening target of August.

As we chronicled in recent months, work slowed down somewhat over the late summer period, though recently with a flurry of activity, the pace of construction has picked up significantly at the work site on the city's east side.

The work currently featuring much in the way of heavy machinery criss crossing the Bellis Road side of the site, while workers attend to other tasks in other areas of the expansive recreation area.

The North Coast Review contacted the Prince Rupert Port Authority for an update on the much anticipated project and in a correspondence from Monika Côté, Manager of Corporate Communications, Monika Côte, the cause of the delay and the path forward for the project was outlined.

The project has been delayed mostly due to supply issues with some of the equipment. The environmental rehabilitation work is complete, and the project is in its final stages with landscaping, lighting, and the installation of benches and picnic tables taking place in the coming weeks.

Some of the elements of the Seal Cove project now taking shape

The Prince Rupert Port Authority anticipates that the project will be completed in November.

The Seal Cove project was first outlined in the fall of 2019, and was one of the feature points from the 2030 Prince Rupert Vision presentation of December 12th that year.

It was designed as a way for the Port to mitigate some of the impact of the Ridley Island Connector Corridor Road which is still under construction between Fairview Terminal and Ridley Island.

The 4 million dollar Seal Cove project wast taken on by the Coast Tsimshian Northern Contractors Alliance, once it opens to the public the recreation area will make for a natural continuation from the Rushbrook Trail which transits the eastern Prince Rupert Waterfront to Rushbrook Floats.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority information release of the time can be reviewed here.

You can trace some of the evolution of the project below.

2021

July 23 -- Pace of Seal Cove Recreation area construction slows somewhat, as work continues to provide much anticipated access to community NCR

May 31 -- Seal Cove Salt Marsh work approaches midway mark on timeline of mid summer opening NCR

February 23 -- Seal Cove Salt Marsh rejuvenation project progressing well NCR
February 3 -- Seal Cove revitalization project underway with target for public use set for July this year NCR

2020

--

2019

December 13 -- Port of Prince Rupert expands on plans for Seal Cove redevelopment NCR

For a wider look at the other elements of the Prince Rupert Vision plan see our archive page here.

More notes from the Prince Rupert Port Authority can be explored here.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Royal Canadian Navy to Showcase HMCS Harry DeWolf in Prince Rupert Harbour Wednesday

The HMCS Harry DeWolf in operation in Arctic waters, the vessel will
be on display as part of operations in Prince Rupert harbour tomorrow morning
(Photo from RCN twitter feed)

The first new Royal Canadian Navy Vessel to be built in Canada in almost three decades will be on display in the waters of Prince Rupert harbour tomorrow morning as the HMCS Harry DeWolf an Arctic/Offshore Patrol vessel makes a side trip to Prince Rupert on its way to Vancouver, Victoria and points further south.

The newest member of the RCN fleet will be conducting some local operations from 9 to 10 AM along the Prince Rupert waterfront.

The Halifax based vessel has just completed a transit of the Northwest Passage, the first Canadian Naval Vessel to do so in over sixty years, the transit of the Arctic waters included stops in far north communities and allowed the ships company to develop the operational capability that marks the increased presence that the Royal Canadian Navy intends to bring to the North.

During recent Arctic operations
From HMCS Harry DeWolf twitter feed

The 65 sailors aboard the Harry DeWolff will also get to enjoy the polar opposite in weather of what their last six weeks at sea offered; that with a transit through the Panama Canal, that will be followed by some work with a number of navies and Coast Guard vessels in the south on drug interdiction operations in the Eastern Caribbean region.

From there the vessel will sail north to its home port in Halifax.

Some notes on the planning for their journey can be reviewed here

Built at the Irving Shipyard in Halifax, the Arctic/Offshore Patrol vessel went into service last year and conducted a year of sea trials prior to this current tour through the Arctic and down the Pacific coast.

It is the first of six similar vessels that will add to fleet capacity for the Royal Canadian Navy, all six are part of the DeWolf Class of ships, named after the RCN's Vice-Admiral who commanded two vessels HMCS St Laurent and HMCS Haida during the pivotal years of the Atlantic campaigns of the Second World War.

The DeWolff Class make for the first large scale Canadian built ships since the late 1990's delivered the Fast Frigate HMCS Ottawa into service

You can learn more about the vessel here.

You can also follow the HMCS Harry DeWolf on its journey through its Twitter feed

Here comes the next wave of Storms! Environment Canada issues Special Weather Statement for tonight and on into Thursday

Fall Storm season is already in peak form with another two
weather systems set to arrive starting tonight for Haida Gwaii
and the North Coast bringing more than 36 hours of wind and rain

Now that we've rested up from last weeks deluge, we can batten down the hatches for another round, with Environment Canada issuing a Special Weather Statement at just before 5 PM alerting the North Coast and Haida Gwaii to the arrival of Back to Back Storms.

The Weather events start tonight and carry through Wednesday, bringing winds of up to 100 km per hour and another 40mm or more of rain before the final front moves through sometime Thursday morning.

With Environment Canada warning of potential power outages and damage to tree branches or the movement of loose objects.

Environment Canada's Special Weather Statement for
North Coast and Haida Gwaii
(click to enlarge)

The Weather system also means some rough Marine Weather is on the way, with a STORM WARNING now infect for Hecate Strait, with winds of up to 55 knots expected and seas building to 4 metres,

More notes on extreme weather for the North Coast and Haida Gwaii can be reviewed here.