![]() |
Ready for the return of the Roar, the CHIL's Prince Rupert Rampage launch there 2023-24 season tomorrow night at 7 against Hazleton Wolverines |
Friday, September 29, 2023
Prince Rupert Rampage drop the puck on new season Saturday, as Hazelton Wolverines come to town
Lax Kw'laaams Band sets date for official 'Ground Breaking' for 11th Avenue East apartment building
![]() |
An image of what the Lax Kw'alaams apartment building on 11th Avenue in Prince Rupert will look like upon its completion. Ground breaking for the project takes place Oct 12 |
It's been delayed a bit longer than had been hoped, but next month, Lax Kw'alaams will make for a big moment for additional housing in Prince Rupert.
The Band Council and Lax Kw'alaams WAAP Housing Society setting October 12th as the date for the Official Ground Breaking for their much anticipated 70 unit apartment project in the city.
The official invitation went out this morning from the Lax Kw'alaams WAAP Housing Society, with the event to take place at the 11th Avenue site from Noon to 2PM on the 12th.
The importance of the event is noted in the invitation notice which highlights that Everyone is welcome to attend this event. Lax Kw’alaams members are encouraged to wear their regalia to this event.
The location which was provided by the City of Prince Rupert, has been a very active site in recent weeks as land preparation began towards development of the project.
The October 12th ceremony will mark the next milestone for the Band Council and its housing plan for members who live in Prince Rupert.
As we noted yesterday, the Lax Kw'alaams led housing project is one of the few initiatives in recent years to actually get to a putting a shovel in the ground situation.
Once complete and opened, it will help to reduce some of the housing pressures in the community which has been in the midst of a housing crisis for a number of years.
Follow the Lax Kw'alaams Social Media page for updates on the way to the Ground breaking ceremony.
More notes on housing in Prince Rupert and the Northwest can be reviewed from our archive pages below:
Smithers officials celebrate expansion of Air Canada service to community
Polling Underway at two locations for Metlakatla First Nation Council positions, with voting to close at 8PM
It's been just about two months of campaign time for the candidates that made for the final list of those contesting the Metlakatlta First Nation Election and today they will see if their message resonated with the membership to propel them to the posts they are seeking.
Of those seeking election today, five contestants are looking to replace departing Chief Councillor Harold Leighton.
Five have put their name forward for On Reserve council positions, while nine others are seeking office for the In Territory Council positions.
Voting in the General Election began at 9 AM this morning at two locations.
Ballots are available at the Metlakatla Administration Office in the community, or at the Coastal Training Centre at Dunsmuir and Sixth Avenue West in Prince Rupert.
Voting remains open until 8 PM this evening.
There were also provisions in place earlier for electronic and mail in balloting.
Follow the Metlakatla First Nation Social Media stream for updates later tonight as to how the vote count turned out.
Past notes on Metlakatla themes can be reviewed through our archive page.
Safeway/Sobey's workers find progress at negotiating table with tentative deal reached with Local 1518
The prospect of a strike at Canada Safeway locations in British Columbia has been reduced heading into October.
That as the membership awaits further word towards a tentative deal between their union the UFCW and Sobeys, the parent company for the Safeway employees in the province.
An information release from UFCW local 1518 charts the latest progress in the negotiations, which had seen the membership deliver a strong strike mandate a few weeks ago.
The negotiations began on September 20th with the announcement of the tentative deal coming on September 28th.
The union leadership noting of the work ahead before taking it to the membership.
With over 75 pages of agreed items, there is a lot of work to do in preparation for a vote. In the leadup to the vote, the Bargaining Committee will connect with the Sobeys Advisory Committee and Shop Stewards and carefully review the agreement with Union Reps.The general grocery workers union also notes that they continue to stand aligned with UFCW 247 which has yet to start its negotiations with Safeway/Sobeys, that local represents Meat, Deli and Seafood employees.
UFCW 1518 is also committed to standing in solidarity with workers in the Safeway deli, meat and seafood departments, members of UFCW 247, who will return to the bargaining table shortly.
UFCW 1518 has worked closely with UFCW 247 throughout bargaining, including taking strike votes within the same time frames. Now that an agreement has been reached, UFCW 1518 will continue to support 247 in their fight for a fair deal.
Trigon Pacific Terminals, Prince Rupert Grain show significant shipment increases; challenges continue for DP World Fairivew in latest Port stats
The latest release of data from the Prince Rupert Port Authority is offering up a glimpse at the state of the industrial waterfront footprint as of the end of August.
Wth the overall volume of shipping up from last year, that increase mainly as a result of strong numbers from two terminals.
Prince Rupert Grain and Trigon Pacific Terminal contributed over 9 million of that 16 million tonnes of volume with strong results through to August.
Metlakatla residents next up for an information session on Heat Pumps
An opportunity for residents of Metlakatla to hear more about what Heat Pumps may be able to provide for their homes is coming next month, with a session set for October 4th for community residents.
The gathering will be at the Metlakatla Administrative Building from 9 to 11 AM and will feature a presentation from an advisor from Prince Rupert's Frosty Refrigeration with the 411 on heat pump technology and how it would work in community homes.
Comment period currently Open on plans for electricity corridor to Ridley Island Quarry
Plans to put in an electrical corridor on the Ridley Island Access Road to service the nearby Quarry site are in the comment stage with the Provincial Government.
Colas Western Canada outlined its proposal to add power to the Quarry, noting in their application that if approved it would have the potential to reduce the carbon footprint for the quarry operators.
Noordam visit today heralds last of the Big Ships for 2023 Cruise Season
![]() |
The Noordam at the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal this morning, it's last call on the city for 2023 lasts until 4 PM today |
The cool air of the early morning period provided notice that Fall is here and as the sun began to peek over the mountains, the final days for the 2023 Cruise season began to to countdown.
Today featuring a port call from the last of the larger ships that have called on Prince Rupert this year.
The Holland America ship Noordam pulled into port around 7AM, the day ahead one of exploration for a potential 1,924 visitors to the city.
Today also makes for a doubleheader on the waterfront with the much smaller cruise ship L'Austral anchored just off of the Cow Bay Marina, though it is on station for a much shorter time on the day.
![]() |
Those taking a walk along the Atlin Terminal area this morning had a double vision experience with two cruise ships in view in the harbour |
Once they depart, there will be but one day left on the 2023 calendar, that being October 10th, which is when the Seabourn Odyssey brings the curtain down on a very successful cruise season.
To give us an idea as to how fast the industry has grown in the bounce back from the COVID era shutdown, the August notes from the Prince Rupert Port Authority indicating a significant surge in visitors walking across the pathway to the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal this summer, more than doubling the volume from 2022.
This year also saw new ventures launched to service that growing amount of visitors to the community; among them the Olde Tyme Trolley that has been a hit for the year.
Some local businesses have also embraced the cruise sector this year, one of which was Arabisk Mediterranean Cuisine.
Management and staff at the local restaurant and lounge welcomed a recent tour from the vessel Odyssey to their Seal Cove location for one of their mixology Master Classes.
Initiatives such as that at Arabisk, should help build the Prince Rupert Brand for the 2024 season and those to come in the future.
More notes on the Cruise season for 2023 can be reviewed here.
Water lines may be leaking, but City Hall's information sharing at times is lacking
![]() |
Mayor Pond with a piece of aging pipe (from Mayor's FB) |
![]() |
Screen shot of yesterday's story in the Northern View available for its subscribers |
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Nisga'a observance of return of Totem Pole set for 1PM Friday in Laxgalts'ap
City West reveals 2024 Phone Book Cover winning photo
![]() |
The winning submission from Jeff Easingwood from this years CityWest Phone book cover contest (image from CityWest) |
The voters have spoken and with their votes, Jeff Easingwood has claimed the CityWest phone book cover for the year ahead. The artistic talent behind Clearly Coastal's submission above made for the eye catching vote getter claiming the top spot by a large margin in the voting this year.
CityWest announced the winning submission yesterday through Social Media.
CityWest issued the call for Submissions back in August, with local photographers having until August 31st to deliver their photos for consideration.
Voting began began in mid September, that after CityWest had whittled down the list of options down to seven finalists, two of them from Mr. Easingwood.
The list of seven that made for this years competitoncan be reviewed here,
All of them were worthy contenders and make for a showcase of the photographic talent of the region.
The vote winner, which gained 70 percent of all the votes, is set to be on display in homes and businesses across the city once the delivery of phone books comes later this fall.
More notes on CityWest can be reviewed here.
SD52 celebrates success of Oolichan Moon, as local authors hear much praise for their award winning work
School District 52 has taken some justifiable pride in the accomplishment of two of their employees, celebrating the success of the Book Oolichan Moon, which is the creation of Lucy Trimble and Samantha Beynon.
SD52 paid tribute to the work as they continue to observe Truth and Reconciliation themes at local schools this week in the lead up period to Truth and Reconciliation Day on Saturday.
You can add to the growing list of congratulations here.
Harbour Publishing provides a thorough synopsis of the project which was first published in October of 2022.
Our look ahead to what's planned locally in observance of Truth and Reconciliation Day can be reviewed here.
Masking to make a comeback at some Health care facilities this fall
![]() |
If you have plans to visit a health care facility in October and beyond you may want to keep one of these handy |
There is no official statement to relay to the public just yet from Health Officials in the province, but a leaked memo that was obtained and reported on by a number of Vancouver and Victoria news organizations has indicated that there are plans to re-institute some masking requirements at Health Care facilities starting this fall.
The latest data on respiratory infections, including coronavirus is serving as the advice for health officials towards their planning.
The memo which has been relayed by the media notes of the reported call for:
"Continuous masking by health-care workers, visitors, contractors and volunteers in all patient, client and resident care areas" starting Oct. 3.
Masking will also be required in physician offices and outpatient clinics but says "patients, clients and residents will mask when directed by a health-care worker or based on personal choice."
The media accounts (which you can review from our Blog D'ArcyMcGee) note that the word mandate is not being attached to the latest wording for the measures ahead.
The official announcement with the details is to come over the noon hour by way of a briefing from Health Minister Adrian Dix and BC Provincial Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry.
The BC Government Social Media stream likely will have the information session live at Noon today.
The full statement, and links to additional information is available here.
More on Health care in the northwest is available from our archive page.