To screed, or not to screed, that is the question!

When we last read the collected works of the Publisher of the Northern View, Prince Rupert's weekly editorial offering had provided a less than subtle request that Councillor Jennifer Rice relinquish her place on Prince Rupert City Council..

Todd Hamilton, the Northern View's publisher, seems at the moment to be providing for a one man campaign to provide some oversight on the newly nominated NDP candidate for the North Coast.

Weighing in on the theme of Prince Rupert's industrial future, mainly in the form of LNG terminal development and what he believes will be the moves of the NDP to slow that tide of forward momentum for the local economy.

For the most part, his approach has been to try to flesh out a declaration or two from the would be heir to Gary Coons seat at the Legislature, a task that to the moment, doesn't seem to have been particularly successful.

If nothing else, thus far his efforts have surely provided the Councillor/would be MLA the opportunity to learn the difference between the rather safe and secure environment of our municipal scene, where rarely a word of controversy is seen or heard, compared to the rather toxic at times atmosphere of the provincial scene.

In the last few weeks, the approach of the weekly paper's publisher taken has been a rather strident review of Ms. Rice's environmental leanings and how in Mr. Hamilton's thinking, they will run counter to any hopes of improving the Prince Rupert economy.

From the February 12th editorial of the weekly paper, we were offered up this synopsis of the Councillors current status compared to her hopeful ambitions for larger political glory in Victoria.

February 12th-- Prince Rupert City Councillor Jennifer Rice should resign her seat

Jennifer Rice should resign her seat on Prince Rupert City Council. Rice, or as some refer to her as, the-woman-who-never-met-a-megaphone-she-didn’t-like, recently defeated Prince Rupert District Teachers Union President Joanna Larson to capture the NDP nomination for the North Coast riding in the upcoming B.C. provincial election. In a nutshell, Councillor Rice and NDP nominee Rice can be one but not both.

Needless to say the description of Ms. Rice as "one who never met a megaphone she didn't like, didn't hit a particularly popular chord with a number of the Councillor's supporters.

The Letters to the Editor section providing for one participant who was less than thrilled with Mr. Hamilton's typecasting of the candidate.

February 20-- Hamilton's comments show bias

Two weeks later, the Publisher is back to the topic, this time with a Shakespearean theme it appears. Perhaps setting the stage himself  for what would seem to be some kind of ongoing regular feature.

One that surely offers up any number of Shakespearean offerings as a title page, though depending on who you are talking to, the options are either from the genres of comedy or tragedy.

At the moment however, one thing seems pretty certain, the direction of any work would seem to be very much that of a soliloquy.

His latest contribution to the editorial pages takes to asking questions of the local union memberships and if they are inclined to see Prince Rupert's future stalled by the leanings of the local candidate and the NDP.

February 27-- Time for Prince Rupert to write the play

And again, the hyperbole meter was banging into the red for another week.

Or to quote MLA-in-waiting Prince Rupert city councillor Jennifer Rice, “[not a damn thing on LNG]” 

 To be fair, outside of “no” to any development, and a fear-mongering, near-hysteric, megaphoned diatribe against a long-proposed oil pipeline without an alternative solution, the 15 months into a 36-month term rookie councillor has not weighed in on what could be the LNG lynchpin of Prince Rupert’s economic life.

And as was the case from February 20th, the letters are starting to arrive, though in the early returns, they will serve to provide comfort to the Publisher that he's on the path of righteousness perhaps.

February 27-- Rice is in conflict of interest

We imagine other letters pro and con, are in the mail as we write this.

While there is a case to be made for the Councillor to surrender her seat on Council, something we have explored on the blog a few times now since her nomination victory. It would appear that the Northern View's editorial approach, may only serve to steel the resolve of the Councillor and her supporters in the community and within the NDP.

Likewise, as we have mentioned here more than a few times, the need is there for her to provide a clear presentation of her thoughts on the LNG industry in the region and how, or if, Prince Rupert should benefit from that development.

On that message the Publisher is correct in seeking more information from the NDP nominee, though one imagines that the nature of his methods certainly don't seem to provide for the opportunity for much of a conversation.

We imagine if Ms. Rice decides to provide for a manifesto of sorts on economic development and environmental concern, the recent temperature of Mr. Hamilton's approach, probably won't see the weighty tome of revelation delivered to the Northern View offices any time soon.

Nisga'a Lisims Government sees change at top

Prior to this weekends Hoobiyee celebrations, the Nisga'a Lisisms Government announced that it had accepted, with reluctance, the resignation of Frederic Tolmie from the position of CEO of the Nisga'a Lisims Government.

Mr. Tolmie had held the post since December of 2004, extending his original 4 year term into nine years of leadership and now looking to gain some balance to his work and life, he has advised the Nisga'a Lisims Government that he wishes to step aside.

Prior to his departure however, Mr. Tolmie will work with the Executive and Administration through the transitional period ahead.

The Nisga'a Lisims Government issued a press release to outline the change.

CFNR Radio provided this report on his planned departure.

City Utility Bills start to arrive in Prince Rupert

The first of two reaches into your bank account for 2013 is underway, as the City of Prince Rupert begins to mail out its annual City Utilities bills, the first of which began to arrive in mailboxes across the city late last week.

And with another year of billing arriving, the cost for most of Prince Rupert's taxpayers is going to go up, once again there is an increase in the cost of services to city's resident's the average uptick apparently hovering around the forty dollar mark for 2013.

The Utilities Invoice, is not to be confused with the Property Tax Invoice, that City bill comes around at the start of July, the February billing focuses on the Water, Sewer and Garbage services and provides the City with a bit of financial room to move for the start of the year.

The City Explains the reasoning of the split bills as such:

Why are Property Taxes / Utilities split apart? 

The Property Taxes and Utilities are split because the City used to encounter a cash flow problem each spring, which resulted in the City having to incur interest costs on borrowed money. By moving the payment of the Utilities forward, the cash flow problem was alleviated and interest costs were saved.

The City has a page of its website dedicated to all items of note on taxation you can access that page here.

Once again this year, those that pay their Utilities Invoice by March 28th will be available for a discount, reducing the total amount of the yearly, a residential taxpayer with an invoice around the 1,100 dollar mark for instance would qualify for a reduction of close to 110 dollars should they pay promptly by that March 28th date.

Which at least gives the Prince Rupert taxpayer bit of  financial reserve to draw on for the next phase of the billing in July.

However, if the omens from Prince George are any indication, that bonus reduction may soon be a thing of the past, that Community recently announced it was eliminating the Discount on payment before deadline, in its place adding a ten percent surcharge to those that did not pay on time.

The loss of the discount aspect of their utility bills would seem to have been a decision by Prince George Council that has not been particularly well received by the locals there.

Taxation issues are always a popular and sometimes controversial theme in the city, you can review some of the past discussion from our City Taxation Issues archive page.

Local Organization receives funding to help support immigrants in community

A Prince Rupert organization is about to receive a share of some Federal transfer money to help assist immigrants in adapting to life in Canada.

The Provincial Government has announced over 8.5 million dollars in funding across the province, designed to help support community organizations as they seek to support the integration of immigrants into communities across the province.

The funding under the Welcome BC funding supports locally focused projects through a number of partnerships that include, business, local government, post secondary institutions and community sectors.

In Prince Rupert, Hecate Strait Employment Development Society will receive 93,000 dollars in funding under the program, which is funded by the Government of Canada through a program called the Agreement for Canada-British Columbia Cooperation on Immigration.

The program was launched in 2008, and is designed to support the integration of new immigrants into 51 communities province wide.

On the local level, some of what Hecate Strait has to offer towards that program can be found from their website

After further review at Council, double duty for Councillor Rice is allowed

The soon to be  very busy schedule ahead for Councillor Jennifer Rice was the topic of some review at Prince Rupert City Council this past Tuesday, as Council sought clarification and further information on whether Councillor Rice could continue as as sitting councillor, while engaged in the soon to be launched provincial election campaign.

As we have noted on the blog earlier, Councillor Rice secured the nomination for the NDP riding of the North Coast last month and will carry the NDP colours into the May election campaign.

With what is expected to be a rather hectic schedule ahead, some in the community have expressed the thought that perhaps Ms. Rice should surrender her position on council as she seeks higher office.

We touched on the issue earlier this week with a look at the subject of much discussion around town.

And the theme that she should remove herself from council, was the featured item of a rather blistering editorial in the Northern View earlier this week, one that focused more on her environmental beliefs, than on civic governance for the most part.

The topic of double duty however does seem to be a popular one around City Hall these days. Judging by the comments made to Council by Acting City manager Dan Rodin prior to his presentation, the local paper, as well as some local residents, have apparently made previous inquiries to City staff about the issue.

So, with some interest apparently percolating around the community, the City Council received a report from Mr. Rodin on Tuesday (page 20) that examined and explained the situation as best that staff and legal counsel's research could determine.

From the presentation by Mr. Rodin, we learn that as it is now, there is nothing that suggests Ms. Rice should step down from her council duties as she conducts a provincial election campaign.

Nor, as Mr. Rodin recounted, it seems (and in a bit of a surprise), that  there is actually no requirement that she should surrender her seat, even if she proves successful in that May electoral campaign.

Mr. Rodin, did advise Council that should Councillor Rice, (like any councillor) miss a number of scheduled sessions (the regular sessions as outlined from the start of the year, not any special sessions called through the year) she could face disqualification from Council as per the Community Charter.

He then relayed some of the options that Council would have to consider, should they be reduced to five councillors and a Mayor for the remainder of this current council term, dependant on the timing of any potential resignation.

Even with that possibility in mind, it seems that more and more council members are relying on technology to take part in Council sessions while away, so the practice of participation could seemingly continue over the telephone lines, without actually having to be in council chambers.

In the past other councillors have taken part in sessions while out of town,  Councillors Thorkelson and Ashley come to mind, mainly over the telephone.

And in a timely twist, Councillor Rice herself took part in Tuesday's session by phone, no doubt listening in with interest  as her status as the NDP candidate for the North Coast was discussed.

You can listen in to the review yourself from the City's website, the council session is available in both audio and video format, Mr. Rodin delivers his Report to Council check in at the 1:10:00 mark and it continues on until 1:17:00.

We did notice however that the new era of long distance participation from Councillor Rice didn't exactly provide for much content on this occasion.

For the bulk of the Tuesday session, not much was heard through the telephone link and in fact, the only contribution that the Councillor made on the night's proceedings, (coincidentally right after they discussed her situation) was to inform council that she could not longer participate in the council session, as she had to depart the meeting early, as she had to catch a flight.

Which probably won't help the cause of those that support the thought that she can combine both civic duties and provincial ambitions, with the same amount of dedication, at the same time.

Should the bulk of Councillor Rice's attendance with council in the future end up coming from a long distance phone line and in between flights, we imagine the calls for her to step aside may get a little louder as we get further along towards the provincial election campaign.


CFTK- Feb 20-- Can Rice Fill Both council and NDP Candidate Shoes?
CFTK--Feb 20-- Rice Council Conflict (video)

They May Fly, with a little help from you and your friends...

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The hopes for a Snowbirds show may not be quite extinguished yet, with word that while the  City is not at the moment inclined to fund aerial aerobatic shows for our entertainment and tourism potential, if some local groups, organizations and individuals wish to collect the cash required to put the even together, the show could go on.

The issue of civic funding for the Snowbirds came up at the January 14th City Council session, when Councillor Gina Garon spoke in favour of the city providing funding (15,000 to 20,000 dollars) to an ad hoc committee in the form of a Community Enhancement Grant, for a proposed show by the famed Royal Canadian Air Force demonstration squadron.

The Snowbirds, celebrating their 70th anniversary this year, had a previously scheduled appearance cancelled in 2011 owing to poor weather, they had hoped to make a return to Prince Rupert this year, having a space on their calendar to file a flight plan to the icy.

After a short discussion around the council chambers (see our timeline of Council for that night) the motion to approve the funding from Councillor Garon, seconded by Councillor Kinney was voted down. The majority of council deciding that having previously scaled back or turned down local community groups for their funding requests, they couldn't at this time and in the city's current financial situation, provide the requested grant to set the stage for the Snowbirds. (the council discussion can be found on the City's audio archive from the 51:45 to 1 hour five minute mark)

With that decision against the city participating with direct financing having been made, the prospects for a Snowbirds return seemed to have faded from the horizon.

However, this week as CFTK reports , the Mayor has floated the idea that perhaps local groups, organizations or individuals may wish to make donations towards staging such a show, with the City issuing tax receipts in recognition of their civic mindedness.

He outlined his thoughts on the topic in this interview on TV 7, hopeful that there will be a way to find the money locally to bring the air group here.

Most likely the Mayor is thinking that the usual large corporate groups in the city may wish to step in and save the day so to speak. The Port of Prince Rupert, Ridley Terminals and other local employers have in the past provided funding for community events or activities, it may be that he's hoping that one or more of them may provide the seed money to get the air show plan rolling.

The Snowbirds must be optimistic that locals will find a way to put together the financing, a look at their schedule for 2013 has a tentative date pencilled in for Prince Rupert on August 14th, whether they make the trek north from Abbotsford (where they will appear on August 11th) will depend on whether the community can raise the funds to put on the show.

Northern View-- City of Prince Rupert turns down funding request for Snowbirds show

You can pay for the potholes now; or pay for them later!

With the spring thaw about to arrive in many communities, this may be one year where a pothole report to your local city or highways yard will find prompt attention.


The CBC has an interesting piece on how ICBC has taken to the civic legal action to get recalcitrant road maintenance groups to be a little quicker on the maintenance side of their job descriptions.

Weary of insurance claims from unfortunate motorists who have been swallowed by potholes on the Coquihalla Highway, ICBC has filed a civil claim against VSA Highway Maintenance.

In it, the Insurance provider is seeking reimbursement for claims money paid out to 19 policy holders, who had their cars damaged after hitting some very large and unmarked potholes near the toll booth of the Coquihalla.

ICBC has claimed that the road maintenance company was aware of the pothole situation, but had failed to deal with it or to warn the public about the dangers of the road conditions at the time.

The issue of road maintenance is always a hot topic across the province, especially in the winter months, the Coquihalla in particular, owing to its heavy volume seems to be a road that is frequently mentioned when it comes to road maintenance.

But there are issues in the Northwest as well. One year ago, the District of Port Edward outlined it's concern over road conditions in the Terrace region, expressing disappointment at the work provided by Nechako Northcoast, which is the contractor providing road maintenance on the eastern side of the O'Brien's service border, roughly the last sixty kilometres or so on the way from the West into Terrace.

We're not sure if this is a one off by ICBC to get the attention of the province's road maintenance companies, but we're pretty sure that this is one time that the majority of BC residents are on the side of the insurance provider, especially in their quest for better maintained roads across the province.

If in the weeks to come we notice the City of Prince Rupert work crews and the folks at O'Brien's road maintenance are quick to their potholes, one would imagine that the goal of keeping off of ICBC's bad list, might be playing a bit of a role in all of that proactive pothole filling.

5th Annual Science Fair set for late February

Attention class, Attention, all scientific minds are invited to take part in this years Science Fair at Charles Hays Secondary School.

The next few weeks could see local students working hard in their school labs and perhaps even the home garage as they put together their submissions a much anticipated scientific event on the local calendar.

Budding scientists of the North Coast will be exhibiting their creations later in February, as the Northwest Science and Innovation Society hosts a Science Fair at Charles Hays Secondary School on February 23rd.

Student registration is free, however pre-registration is required from the online registration portal.

The timeline for the February 23rd event is as follows:

8:30 - 9:30 Students set up projects

9:30 - Noon Judging of projects

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch and Science Activities

1:30 - 2:30 Awards Ceremony

2:30  Take down of projects

The February 23rd event is but one of two events that local students could be involved in this year, the 2013 Pacific Northwest Regional Science Fair is scheduled for April 5 and 6 at Northwest Community College in Terrace.

More details on that Science Fair are to be provided on the Society's website as we get closer to April.

You can learn more about these and other events sponsored by N(Si)S from their website.