Nathan Cullen Expands on LNG discussion points

With NDP MP Nathan Cullen preparing to relaunch his "Let's Talk LNG" Discussion session in the Northwest,  the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley has delivered to his constituents some more material to review on the theme.

"The rise of LNG in the Northwest is an opportunity to broaden the conversation, and to remind governments and industry of what we all want: a  smart approach to resource development. One that respects people as citizens, not as some inconvenience who just happen to "be in the way". -- NDP MP Nathan Cullen, from his "Getting things right LNG household mailer

In a household mailer arriving in Northwest mailboxes this week, Mr. Cullen has provided two pages of talking points on the theme of "Getting Things Right when it comes to LNG", outlining the NDP vision on energy production in Canada.

Included in that vision statement:

Sustainability: to make sure that polluters pay for the pollution they create instead of leaving those costs to the next generation and the public at large.

Partnership: communities and First Nations should all benefit from resource development and the value-added jobs they bring us here in Canada.

And, most importantly long term prosperity: the time to invest in modern, clean energy energy is now. This keeps Canada on the cutting edge of energy development.

Towards the discussion on regional development, Mr. Cullen reviews his commitment to making sure communities are consulted and voices are heard.  Adding that, any development projects need to have the social licence from the people who live there.

As we outlined on the blog back in the fall, Mr. Cullen first introduced that concept of the Social Licence in a previous household mailer, you can review the point by point on that proposal here.

The MP resumes his Let's Talk LNG discussion tour in February, with a pair of make up dates from the first round of the fall.  Mr. Cullen takes the tour to Smithers on February 19th and Prince Rupert on February 20th. Previously scheduled sessions in the fall had to be re-scheduled owing to conflicting schedules of the participants.

More on what his Let's Talk LNG project is all about can be found on the MP's website.

For those that have not received the mailer this week, or perhaps somehow put to the recycling pile, a  version of the latest talking points can be reviewed from the items below.

Prince Rupert Port Authority Expands popular Environmental incentive program

A dedication towards sustainable shipping is proving to be a rewarding to shippers through the Port of Prince Rupert.

And for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the Green Wave Initiative is paying dividends as well, as word of their efforts spreads and the accolades begin to come in.

The Green Wave program was introduced earlier this month, building on the strength of the 2013 Environmental Incentive Program for Vessels.

That project (which we reviewed on the blog last summer) was very much an instant success and set the template for this years expansion.

This year the Port Authority has increased the scope of it's efforts in environmental stewardship, including more qualification standards for arriving vessels that provide consistency across the global shipping industry.

"We're proud to be accelerating the industry's movement toward greater efficiency and sustainability through programs like Green Wave. As more members of the worldwide port community launch similar initiatives, common systems of measurement and reward are vital to wide adoption and success."-- Don Krusel, President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, speaking on the Green Wave Stewardship program

The program provides incentives to shipping lines that meet a number of benchmarks for environmental sustainability, with a focus on environmental certification, fuel quality, technological implementation and management practices.

The Port of Prince Rupert uses an A to G rating scale, with financial incentives provided to those ships

arriving at the Port of Prince Rupert that have the cleanest ratings.

On Monday, Michael Gurney, the Manager of Corporate Affairs for the Prince Rupert Port Authority outlined for the Globe and Mail how the "Green Wave" program is expected to provide 100,000 dollars in discounts through 2014.

Some of the background on the program can be reviewed from this media release that the Port issued on Tuesday.

For a more detailed look at what the Green Wave Initiative is all about, the Port has prepared a helpful guide that provides a fair amount of information on the program.

You can also review more on the Port Authority's commitment to Environmental Sustainability programs through the snapshots of the programs in place that are listed on their website.

Of note to the success of the program is the work the Port is doing with two marine consultant groups,  Right Ship and Carbon War Room, the latter an organization founded by famed British Industrialist Sir Richard Branson.

Sir Richard, offered up some thoughts on the program to the Globe and Mail and had this to say about the commitment of both the  Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Vancouver towards a more sustainable environmental direction.

"These Canadian ports are the very first ports in the world to work with us on this, and it's just great," ... "We can now use this as an example and roll it out around the rest of the world."

More on the work of Rightship and Carbon War Room can be found below.

Rightship
Carbon War Room

With their initiatives towards a more sustainable industry, the Port has already received feedback from some major participants in the environmental and shipping industries, much of which offers praise for the direction that the Port is taking.

Some of that feedback and reviews of the program can be found below:

Marine Link-- Canadian Ports Offer Financial Incentives for Energy Efficiency
Port and Technology-- Canadian Ports first to reward green vessels

You can review more on developments at the Prince Rupert Port Authority from our archive pages.

Ministry of Highways activates traffic lights at 9th and McBride

The much delayed debut of a new traffic control device on McBride Street has finally taken place, with the Ministry of Transportation and Highways activating the traffic lights at McBride and 9th Street.

The project was first announced in 2013 and was supposed to be up and running to be timed to the start of the school year, however a few delays put the project further down the completion list until this week.

The lights which began to go up prior to Christmas received their finishing touches last week, with this week the first week  that the pedestrian controlled lights have been in operation.

The traffic signal faces both directions of McBride and for the most part will flash Orange until

activated by those wishing to cross the intersection at 9th, the installation was in answer to concerns of parents who have children attending Prince Rupert Middle School on 9th Avenue West.

As part of the project, the Speed indication sign which was located close to 9th Avenue has now been relocated to the McDonald's side of the Hays Creek Bridge, it advises traffic coming into town as to their speed with a warning that they are entering a 50 km/h zone.

Drivers travelling along McBride will also notice a sign indicating that the traffic light is "new" to the intersection, providing them with warning that the traffic situation could possibly change quickly.

You can review the background on the story from this item from August on the blog,  for more items on School District 52 issues consult our archive page.

You can also find other items related to developments along the Highway 16 corridor from our Transportation archive page.

Prince Rupert Hospital first outside of Lower Mainland to host student led rehabilitation clinic

A program introduced through Northern Health at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital is offering rehabilitation services to residents of the North Coast, while at the same time training and hopefully introducing future medical professionals to the region.

All of it with the goal of attracting medical professionals to the community on a more permanent basis.

The program known as the PRISM Clinic makes use of medical students from the UBC Masters of Physical Therapy, UBC Masters of Occupational Sciences and Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Assistant programs.  A full time physiotherapist clinical instructor supervises the students as they provide the variety of rehabilitation services to patients.

The program is the first of its kind held outside of the Lower Mainland and is based on a model that was introduced to New Westminster's Royal Columbian Hospital in 2008.

“A goal of the program is to help increase recruitment and retention of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation aids to rural and remote locations ... It is known that if people train in the north, they are more likely to stay in the north. That is the reason these programs are important to ensuring smaller communities are successful in attracting specialized medical professionals.” Health Minister Terry Lake, speaking to the focus of a medical program for the North Coast

The student led clinic had its first exposure to the North Coast from November to December of 2013, the next group of students took up their duties yesterday and will continue on with their work until February 7th.

Funding for the program was provided through Northern Health, the Northern and Rural Cohort of the UBC Department of Physical Therapy in partnership with UNBC.

The North Coast project may just be the start of similar partnerships for the future, with plans in the works to expand the process to include students from nursing, social work and other medial professions.

You can find more background on the program from this media release from Northern Health, as well as this item from the UBC Faculty of Medicine.

Arbitrator rules in favour of faculty at NWCC campus locations

“Unfortunately, the administration at Northwest decided to follow an expensive and time-consuming litigation that has undermined labour relations at the college,”  --- Kevin Rose, national representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, one of two unions representing faculty members at Northwest Community College

A long running  arbitration battle between Northwest Community College and two unions representing faculty at the college has come to an end, with the arbitrator ruling in favour of the union over layoff notices delivered in 2012.

At the time, the contentious layoffs were announced as the College sought to address some of its financial issues of the day.

However at the time, the two unions held firm to their position that the layoff notices violated the terms and conditions spelled out in the collective agreement. An impression that now seemingly has been upheld by the Arbitrator.

According to a media release from CUPE, the arbitrator has ruled that in a number of instances the employers actions towards individual faculty members not only violated their rights under the collective agreement, but that those employees also suffered material losses and under the arbitrator's award, those employees are now entitled to additional relief.

The College responded to the arbitration process decision with a brief note on their website outlining their respect for Arbitrator Rod Germaine and confirming that they would take measures to address the conclusions of the arbitration ruling.

For its part CUPE once again expressed their disappointed that its members had been put through the strain  and stress of the process, adding that considering the budget pressures that NWCC has faced, that in the opinion of CUPE, it all has raised serious doubts about the approach that senior administrators took during the dispute.

You can review further details on the decision and the fall out from it from the CUPE press release.

And while the union states that labour relations are a bit contentious at the college in the wake of the arbitration process, the rebuilding of relationships will perhaps have to fall to later and upon the arrival of a new President for the College.

As we outlined yesterday on the blog, Dr. Denise Henning the President of Northwest Community College has accepted a new position in Alberta, she is to leave her NWCC post by May 1st.

River Kings Sweep Rampage in Home and Home series

2014 did not provide the kind of start that the Prince Rupert Rampage might have been hoping for, as the Rampage found themselves on the wrong of the scoreboard twice over the weekend in a home and home series with the Terrace River Kings.

It was a rare Friday night home date for the Rampage as they hosted the River Kings in a thriller at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre. An end to end kind of game that required a shoot out to declare a winner, with the Terrace squad prevailing by a total of 3-2, in front of 502 fans at the Jim.

To get there however there was three periods and an overtime of hard hitting and fast paced action leading to a 5 -5 tie at the end of the four periods of play.

Prince Rupert found goals from Kory Movald  and Thomas Robinson in the first. With Robinson picking up the assist on the Movald goal, while Justin Fontaine and Derek Baker claimed the helpers on the Robinson marker.

That gave the Rampage a 2-1 lead heading into the second, one that they quickly increased to a 3-1 lead a little over a minute into period two on a short handed, unassisted goal by Devin Palmer, while Kory Movald struck again at the fourteen minute mark with his second goal of the night, assisted by Jared Meers.

The River Kings however were busy clawing their way back into the game, picking up two goals of their own in period number two, making for a  4 to 3 lead for the puck drop to start the third.

In the final regular period the River Kings were quick to the offence with two goals in the first seven minutes of play, taking a 5-4 lead into the final two minutes when Jared Meers picked up an unassisted goal at 18:44 which set the stage for the scoreless overtime period and the eventual shootout where Terrace found their marks for the win.

It was a fairly physical game with the River Kings picking up 26 minutes of penalty time on 13 infractions, while the Rampage were penalized for 28 minutes on 14 infractions.

Garret Muir took the victory in the nets for the River Kings making 26 saves on 31 shots, Warren Hansen was tagged with the loss for the Rampage facing 37 shots on the night, making saves on 32 of them.

The full summary for Friday night's game can be found here.

Saturday, the Rampage took to the road for their final road trip of the regular season, a return engagement with the River Kings who once again found success, this time without the need of overtime or a shoot out.

Prince Rupert opened the night up on a positive note picking up the first goal of the game at 7:46 of the first as Josh Kierce found the mark with assists going to Justin Fontaine and Jared Davis, a goal that was quickly countered by the River Kings three minutes later, taking the teams to the dressing room tied at one after the first.

The second period belonged to Terrace as they scored twice to build their lead, a first minute goal and another at the eight minute mark adding to their lead, giving them a 3-1 advantage with 20 minutes to play. Terrace added to the lead at 6:27 of the third, scoring their fourth and final goal of the night, while the Rampage scored one more to round out the night, as Craig Munro picked up a power play goal assisted by Greg Sheppard at 16:55.

Terrace however guided the game home in the remaining three minutes claiming the 4-2 victory.

Devin Gerrits took the Rampage loss in the nets with 32 saves on 36 shots, while the Rampage fired off 29 shots at the River Kings Garret Muir who turned aside all but two of them.

The Rampage spent 14 minutes in the box on seven penalties on Saturday, while the River Kings were called on five infractions for 10 minutes of penalty time.

400 fans took in the game at the Terrace Arena.

Saturday's summary can be found here.

The Rampage close out the regular season this weekend when the Smithers Steelheads come to town for two games, a Saturday night match up with puck drop at 8 PM, while Sunday the two teams will take to the ice at 1:30.

Where the Rampage land in the CIHL West standings and where their playoff trek may take them will be revealed once the CIHL wraps up the regular season on Sunday, with the conclusion of the Houston Luckies/Williams Lake Stampeders game.

The Rampage however, could provide a boost to their options with a sweep of the Steelheads this coming weekend.

You can find more information on the CIHL from our Results/Schedule page and past items on the Rampage and the CIHL can be found from our archives.

Northern Routes spared BC Ferries increase in Fuel surcharge

North Coast residents can find one sliver of good news from all of the media releases from BC Ferries of the last few months.

This time around, both the Northern Route to  and Port Hardy and th e Haida Gwaii route will be spared the 3.5 fare increase destined for all other BC Ferries routes to the south, set to be put in place to cover rising fuel costs.

Last week BC Ferries announced the need apply the surcharge to all routes except the Northern ones as the cost of fuel has dramatically risen over the last few months, in 2013 the cost of fuel for vessels of the fleet was 121 million, by comparison in 2004 the entire fleet spent but 50 million in fuel requirements.

With fuel prices not expected to decline in the near future, BC Ferries outlined that it had no other alternative at this time to cover off the cost of keeping the vessels on the water. To address the issue into the future, the Ferry Corporation advised that they are giving some consideration to have any new vessels planned to be built for the fleet to have LNG capability.

The fuel surcharge comes on the heels of a string of service cuts announced by the Ferry Corporation last November.

The fuel surcharge takes effect on January 17th.

You can review the full scope of the fuel surcharge from this media release from BC Ferries.

Media reviews of what will no doubt be an unpopular announcement can be found below.

CTV-- Amid cuts, BC Ferries adds 3.5 per cent fuel surcharge
CBC-- BC Ferries hiking fares 3.5% to cover rising fuel costs
Global TV-- Ferries getting even more expensive: New fuel surcharge effective Jan 17
24 Hours Vancouver-- BC Ferries adds new surcharge
Victoria Times Colonist-- B. C. Ferries adding 3.5% fuel surcharge to fares