The Province of British Columbia's Vision Zero program has aded some investment money for 59 communities adding to safety features in every corner of BC.
The Vision Zero announcement event from Tuesday was hosted by Minster of Health Adrian Dix
"Safe and equitable road access for all road users is critical to the well-being of people in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. That's why the Vision Zero in Road Safety Grant program is so important.
By supporting local road-safety improvements, we can help prevent injuries and save lives, while making active transportation more accessible in our communities and preventing burden on the health-care system."
The funding is provided through regional health authorities to local governments, Indigenous communities and governments and non-governmental organizations, such as school districts and road safety advocacy groups, to support them to plan and implement projects that will directly improve the safety of the roads in their communities.
A dedicated stream of the program is for Indigenous communities and governments to set and direct their own road-safety priorities.
As share of the money distributed to the 59 communities was five thousand dollars for the Prince Rupert lions Club, that to be put towards their high visibility medallions and reflective snap bracelet program which adds to visibility for pedestrians, particularly in the months of less daylight from November to March.
The Lions Club success was hailed by North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice
A large number of participants were in Terrace earlier this month as part of a engineering competition (photo from CMTN)
Should we ever decide to build that bridge to the Digby Island Airport, we can probably find the engineering team locally to take if from design to completion.
Students from Charles Hays Secondary School have taken top spot in the annual Popsicle Stick Bridge-Building Competition hosted by Coast Mountain College.
The event took place in mid-May with over 800 students from Grade 3 to 12 participating in the Northwest regional competition. 200 of then in person at the Terrace Coast Mountain College campus where their projects were evaluated and they could tap the knowledge of local engineers in the region.
"We would like to thank all the students and teachers who participated, the volunteers who put in many hours to make this competition happen, CMTN for their support in hosting and helping to organize the testing day, and all the local sponsors who showed their support by donating prize money and services to help keep the contest running smoothly,” -- Stuart Toop, Vice-Chair of EGBCNB and current instructor of the CMTN Engineering Certificate program.
Putting the pressure on, one of the submissions is put the weight test (photo from CMTN)
As for the creative works, the Charles Hays Students have the bragging rights for the year, that after their project was named "Strongest Overall Bridge".
The CHSS team's bridge was able to hold 303 lbs before the structure dropped.
Sunday will be a rest for the staff at the Prince Rupert Library, so loading up on your summer reading will be a six day project for the weeks ahead.
The Shift to Summer hours comes this weekend with the Sunday Closure to run through to the Labour Day weekend in September.
The remaining days of the week will bring all the regular programs that have made the Prince Rupert House of Reading on Sixth Avenue West a popular destination.
As well, once the School's shut down for the summer, the Library will be a place for some summer reading and activities, so keep an eye on their Social Media stream for updates as the summer months move along.
After almost eight years, the Metlakatla Wilderness Trail is once again open for exploration, with the Official opening coming last week in the community.
As we outlined on Friday, the extensive repair work on the 8 kilometre trail came with some assistance from both the Prince Rupert Port Authority and Northern Development Initiative trust.
A review of some of the work that went towards the reopening can be explored here.
As part of the Grand Reopening of last week, the Metlakatla Nation announced its own initiative to reintroduce their popular trail, by offering Free Transportation to the community.
The Charter Service which will start on June 6 will leave the Metlakatla Ferry Dock below the Crest Hotel on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. and return from the dock in Metlakatla at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Those on the charter will be asked to sign in to ensure those on the trail can be tracked for safety purposes.
Yesterday, the Metlakatla First Nation provided some additional details towards their Free twice weekly travel program for Tuesday and Saturdays to the community and back from Prince Rupert.
The two sailings are limited to the first 20 hikers.
The Booth Building meeting space is the venue for tonights information session on changes to how Student reporting will look next year
How students are assessed at Report Card time is about to change in British Columbia and tonight two officials from School District 52 will be hosting an event at the Booth Meeting Space to explain what it all means for the path forward, staring with the 2023-24 school year.
Superintendent of Schools Andrew Samoil and Director of Instruction, Sandra Pond introduce the topic at 7 pm on tonight.
For those not familiar with the Booth building you can access the meeting through the entrance at the back, second floor, behind Lax Kxeen Elementary School.
The School District has posted some background information on the changes, providing for an opportunity to attend tonight's session with some knowledge of the plans and help to form any questions you may have towards the implementation.
A look at the work taking place on First Avenue East as part of the city's infrastructure replacement efforts
With infrastructure the word of the year at City Hall, the City of Prince Rupert is on the search for an engineering technologist for the Operations Department, with just one of the responsibilities for the successful candidate that of inspection of ongoing public infrastructure construction.
The CUPE Local 105 post pays $37.57 per hour with additional premiums.
click to enlarge
The full Job Description, and what the City is looking for in applicants can be reviewed here.
The deadline for applicants to forward their resumes and such is June 14th.
The Engineering Technologist post is just one of a number of positions with City from a busy May hiring call, you can review some of the previous job opportunities from our archive page here.
Coast Mountain College is asking residents of the Northwest to keep an eye on their mailbox over the next few days, that as the roll out of what they hope will be an annual publication makes its way to home across the region.
Titled "CMTN Connection" the 24 page gloss paper publication takes us on a tour of what Coast Mountain College has to offer the communities that it serves.
Among some of its highlights include a Message from Coast Mountain College, President and CEO Dr. Laurie Waye.
As part of the first edition, there is a feature look at the student housing building in Terrace that is capturing attention for its design and function.
Also inside the publication is a review of the economic value for students (and parents) of attending the college with a number of campus locations across the Northwest beyond that of the main campus in Terrace.
One of those locations of course is the Prince Rupert Campus on Fifth Street and a number of the local instructors and programs are included as part of the debut edition for the new publication.
Features for this edition is the Marine Science program, Education Assistant program and the Course offerings related to the Indigenization in Business program.
Taking a look at the publication could also win you an iPad, the college is hosting a contest and all you have to do is log onto the website and enter here. You cab also use that page to learn more about some of the programs offered by Coast Mountain College.
With plans to make the CMTN Connection part of your regular reading routine, Coast Mountain College is seeking some feedback from their debut edition.
You can contact them at communications@coastmountaincollege.ca to share your thoughts
So far there does not appear to be an online version of "CMTN Connection" available, so be sure to check your mail before dropping the week's worth of recyclables into your Blue Bin or making any recycling runs.
Otherwise a trip to the Coast Mountain College library may be an option to catch up on the latest themes from the College.
An opportunity to put your artistic flair at the centrepiece of the city's new RCMP detachment is now up for application, with the City issuing a call for artists towards Art to be placed at the new detachment currently under construction at McBride and Third Avenue East.
“The new police detachment is a project that will serve our community for generations to come, and will be a real anchoring development at the entrance to downtown. We wanted to take the opportunity to showcase a local artist and also to celebrate what makes Prince Rupert unique with this opportunity.” -- Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond
The City is looking for artwork that addresses one of the following themes:
Community safety and Restorative Justice; Celebration of our Natural Environment, Area Wildlife and/or Heritage; City of Rainbows/diversity and inclusion; Healing and Reconciliation (Artists interpretation).
What the City is looking for towards applicants is relayed below:
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Following the selection of a top 3 pieces by a select committee, Council will select the preferred artwork.
The top 3 artists will receive a cash award.
The full overview of the call for artists and what's expected from the work is available here.
The Closing date to receive applications and artwork submissions its 4 PM July 31st.
Today's information release also provides residents with what is the first real look at what the building could look like once completed.
To date the City has not provided for much in the way of background information, or any visual looks as to how the Detachment may look once the last of the concrete and finishing touches are done.
Artists rendering of New RCMP detachment currently under construction (click to enlarge)
Some Hydro infrastructure replacement is going to make for some lengthy power interruptions through the rest of the week for residents of a number of communities along the North Coast.
Through their planned outages listings, BC Hydro has outlined the scope of the work ahead that will have an impact Lax Kw'alaams, Metlakatla, Dodge Cove, Crippen Cove, Kitkatla and Oona River to name a few.
Work is now underway and continuing through to Friday, June 2nd, power outages will take place between 9:30 AM and 5:30 PM
BC Hydro also includes Prince Rupert and Port Edward in their advisory but with no specific street or area mentions towards the work.
This link to the BC Hydro Page (here) will also provide updated information as the work moves along.
Both Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams have provided updates for their residents towards when the interruptions are to have an impact on their communities.
Follow their Social Media streams for updates as the work takes place in their communities.
It was a quick and seemingly at times, an uncomfortable ten minute session for the members of the Board of Education on May 23rd, with those participating at the Booth Building gathering space and by remote means from near and afar moving the Budget Bylaw forward to adoption for 2023.
Former Trustee Tina Last was in attendance on the night and made inquiries as to how the Board had reached the point of adoption on the night, observing that they had 'put the cart before the horse and how the procedures used this year had never happened before'.
"I would want somebody to check into the validity of that process... because I came here, as I'm sure as anyone could have to see what the Budget is. And the budget looks for anybody who didn't know that you did it last week just like a rubber stamp, I don't know what the budget is" -- Former SD52 Board Chair and trustee Tina Last.
"What's been presented and we've had a couple of meetings now presenting various aspects of the Budget and various analysis of the Budget and then at this meeting you have the actual Ministry template with the full document for the three readings.
That's actually quite normal, you would look at it in different views, different analysis. Because the Ministry template is fairly hard to understand.
And so in the previous meetings you've had the Budget presented, you've had some discussion around it, made some decisions around it and from that then Britney has prepared the Ministry template which is included in this. That's the actual Budget document in the bylaw so I hope that's helfpul'
Ms. Last added to her commentary, that the process that was used was a disappointing one for her, as there was no actual budget to review.
"This is just very different from twenty years of doing a budget and I can only speak for me but I'm pretty disappointed that I don't get to see a budget"
To follow up on some further commentary from Mr. Slykhuis, Ms. Last shared her thoughts as to how it had been done in the past.
"I'm a former trustee, I was the Chair for thirteen years and we've never done it like this. We've had it where you know you could come to the Budget meeting, where the budget's going to be passed. And you get to see your trustees look at what was presented as options, and they would debate it ,they would discuss it and you didn't have to actually partake in the previous five public budget meetings because this is where we would pass the budget. So this is just very different from the last twenty years that Prince Rupert has passed budgets"
The School Board's Budget helper from the Fraser Valley offered up some further notes on how the process of adoption of the budget works, observing on how it is accomplished in other jurisdictions.
Mr. Slykhuis then observed, how there had been opportunity for comment and input in the previous sessions used by the SD52 Board over the last few months.
"If you get it all in one meeting it's a lot to absorb and this gives everybody time to think about it and in fact a decisions' changed quite a bit over these two or three meetings in what the Board finally decided on for a budget. So I think it was a really good exercise because they did have that time to review it. Recognizing that may be different than what's been done in the past"
Ms. Last had one last thought on the process used for this year's budget planning.
"Different than what Prince Rupert would be expecting would be my view of how to phrase that"
None of the Board of Education Trustee members weighed in on the back and forth over the process during the course of the session.
Superintendent Andrew Samoil noted that the Budget document would be available for review by the public on May 24th.
You can review the full ten minute session from the SD52 Video Archive below
The next steps for the Board as they look to implement their financial planning will include the reassignment of staff or potential cutting of support positions. As well as the potential for layoffs for teaching staff, all of which we should be in motion before this month comes to an end.
A two night information sharing experience is about to start with the City of Prince Rupert hosting two sessions towards learning more about the rights and responsibilities for both landlords and tenants.
The City's announcement of April outlining what to expect at tonight's session.
Are you a new or existing landlord in Prince Rupert and want to understand more about your rights and responsibilities under both the Residential Tenancy Act and the City’s Rental Maintenance Standards Bylaw?
Come to this free information session to be held in Council Chambers, City Hall (424 3rd Avenue West) on Tuesday, May 30th at 7 pm. City staff along with the Prince Rupert Unemployed Action Centre Legal Advocate will be on hand to present information and answer questions.
Light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tomorrow the focus shifts to the rights of tenants and the location shifts as well, with the Wednesday night session to take place at the Prince Rupert Library.
The event hosted by the City, Library and Prince Rupert Unemployed Action Centre.
The genesis towards the twin information sessions came out of the last few years of discussion related to the acute shortage of affordable housing in the community and the growing issues of renovictions.
Image of camp bound cadets from RCSCC Captain Cook Cadet program
Members of two Northwest Sea Cadet units were on the road this past weekend as members of the RCSCC Captain Cook Sea Cadets in Prince Rupert and those from RCSCC Babine in Smithers travelled to Vernon for some training on the lakes of the North Okanagan.
The weekend one of a fast pace to learning the safety rules and operational themes of sailboats in a pretty nice setting.
The Northwest Cadets had previously conducted their training at a facility in Smithers, however it has not reopened since the time of COVID, with the facility facing maintenance and equipment challenges.
The BC Bush North departing from the Highliner in Prince Rupert
The British Columbia Government has announced some new funding for a pair of transportation options that serve the Northwest.
On Monday, the Government outlined that 5 million dollars would be delivered to Northern Development Initiative Trust to continue the BC Bus North and Northern Community Shuttle Program until 2026-27.
“We understand how critical BC Bus North and the Northern Community Shuttle program are to meeting the needs of people in northern communities who may otherwise have limited transportation options,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Extending these northern programs will ensure people can continue to access safe, reliable and affordable travel options to connect to family and industry in larger centres.” -- Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
The Province will also be adding 250,000 dollars towards the development of a new easy to use web based platform to be used for travel planning reservations and customer service for transportation needs in the region.
The new, booking system will include multiple service providers and allow people to book various travel options using one platform. The platform should be ready to use by fall 2023.
“Passenger transportation services in northern B.C. will benefit greatly from this investment by the Province of B.C. The $5 million to extend the Northern Passenger Transportation Service funding program will support the operations of shuttle buses between rural and remote communities, while also benefiting the BC Bus North service that travels between regional centres. This additional funding will support mobility for those who live and work in B.C.’s North, allowing them to visit family and friends and access services using reliable transportation.” -- Joel McKay, chief executive officer, Northern Development Initiative Trust.
North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice was part of Monday's announcement, the MLA sharing some of her enthusiasm for the project through her Social Media Stream.
Should Ms. Rice wish to check out the Community Shuttle aspect of the program, she will have to leave the riding she represents and hop aboard a BC North Bus out of Prince Rupert and travel to Terrace.
That as the Community Shuttle service does not serve her constituents.
The Community Shuttle program which links the Northwest to Prince George by way of local bus connections, currently starts and ends in Terrace.
That a legacy of the decision in 2016 by officials in Prince Rupert and Port Edward to not participate in the program when it first launched. A decision that seemingly holds to this day.
While not part of the popular and growing provincial transit service based shuttle program between communities, Prince Rupert is served by a few options.
That by way of BC Bus North, Northern Health Connections bus and a service operated twice a week by Friendship House, though that service has been sidelined until sometime in June owing to maintenance requirements.
VIA Rail also serves the Northwest, with trips three times a week between Prince Rupert and Prince George with stops at communities along the Northern main line.
More on Monday's announcement and future plans for the programs can be reviewed here.
The Cops for Cancer Tour de North takes place September 15-21 travelling along Highway 16 from Prince George to Prince Rupert
The three Prince Rupert participants in the Cops for Cancer Tour de North have seen their fundraising pages debut on the Canadian Cancer Society's Tour de North page, marking the start of their journey to September's travels along the Highway 16 corridor.
As we outlined last week, the 2023 Tour de North officially launched at a Prince George event, which released the names of this years participants, including three from Prince Rupert.
Two of those on the ride are from Prince Rupert Fire Rescue, along with a member of the City's RCMP detachment.
The donation pages are now available for North Coast residents to lend support:
We no doubt will see the same shortly from the Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue Department as they hail the summer training plans for their two members.
As for the participants, a summer of intense training will accompany the fundraising as they head to the starting line in Prince George on September 15th, the Tour ends and the homecoming for the Three Prince Rupert riders arrives on September 21st.
New arrivals at the Prince Rupert Container market were being lined up along the promenade today
The Promenade between the Atlin Terminal and the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal was a busy place this morning, as workers moved some newly arrived containers into place to add to the Container marketplace that has become the newest attraction for the Cow Bay waterfront area.
The break in the schedule for cruise ship visitors this week offers a few days to move things around without having to keep much of an eye on wandering locals and visitors.\
The cautious work of moving the container into place an incremental bit of pulling to line the new arrivals with those already into place.
As we noted earlier today also on site is the Exhibition space for the north Coast Ecology Society, that container showcase set to be one of the anchor location for the Container marketplace as it continues to evolve.
RCMP in Vanderhoof and BC Major Crimes Unit have updated the case file and investigation into the disappearance and now discovery of the remains of Madison Scott today
A tragic announcement into the disappearance of Madison Scott was released today by British Columbia RCMP, the Mounties noting of the discovery of her remains on a property east of the community of Vanderhoof.
The discovery comes twelve years since the then 20 year old was last seen, that as part of a celebration of a friends birthday.
Police are currently executing a search warrant at a rural property on the east side of Vanderhoof. The area has been secured and additional resources are anticipated to be on scene for as long as may be required.
We can confirm that the property is associated to the discovery of Maddy who has been positively identified by BC Coroner's Service. The Scott family has been advised and they have asked for privacy at this time. Many areas of support remain in place for the family.
This has been a priority investigation for the RCMP over the past 12 years. The discovery of Maddy is a significant development, however this investigation remains an active and ongoing missing person's investigation where foul play has not been ruled out said Cpl Madonna Saunderson BC RCMP Communications.
No charges have been laid. Anyone with any information is asked to call Tipline (778) 290-5291 or (877) 543-4822
The BC Major Crimes Unit will be updating their investigation as events move forward.
Today's announcement, has generated some significant media reviews, a few of the selections can be examined below:
The North Coast Ecology Centre Exhibition space is now in place at the Promenade between the Atlin Terminal and the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal
There's a new addition to the Atlin Promenade Container marketplace and for the North Coast Ecology Centre it marks phase one of their plans for the community, following up on their Pop Up Ecology Centre of 2021.
This summer, they have a fixed home in a converted container down at the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal marketplace area, the tourist season long education centre will serve to educate and inform local residents and visitors alike.
To launch their program, they are looking for volunteers and potential staff members as well, with tonight a night to learn more about their work as they host an information session to share more on their plans and to seek out those with an interest to help with their program.
Tonight's session in the Triton Building at 727 Second Avenue West (beside Naomi's Grill ) takes place at 7 PM
