Robin Austin makes Legislature pitch for new hospital for Terrace

Robin Austin the NDP MLA for Skeena was fairly busy in the British Columbia Legislature last week, offering up a note of celebration on the Nisga'a  New Year and speaking out on a number of issues of importance to the Northwest.

Included in his work last week were some thoughts on LNG development, forestry and mining concerns and for good measure, he also advocated for a project much desired by the folks back home.

Using the discussion of the surge of development in his riding and around the Northwest, Austin put in a word to the Ministry of Health to give some serious thought and get to work on plans for a replacement for Mills Memorial Hospital.

His comments for the Health Minister can be found in the Legislature Draft from Wednesday February 26, his commentary on the issue takes place at around  the 1520 point of the draft pages.

You can view his discussion in the Legislature from the House Video Archive from Wednesday, Mr. Austin offers up his hospital commentary at the 109.10 mark.

The key aspects of his notes for the Health Minister can be found below:


It is good to hear that the Health Minister is in favour of building hospitals. By the way, while I've got the Health Minister's eye here, I'm hoping that Mills Memorial Hospital is at the top of the list in northwestern B.C. 

This is not a laughing matter. I think it's true to say that both sides of this House recognize the huge potential of economic activity in the northwest of B.C. I think I'm right in saying that Mills Memorial Hospital was built in 1956-57, around the time I was born. 

Definitely in need of not just an upgrade. They've upgraded it many, many times before, to the point where the kind of money that's being put in upgrading it…. I think they've now decided it's sort of good money after bad. 

Finally, I think the business case is being made and hopefully during this term, with this Health Minister, we will see a yes to actually having a new hospital in Terrace. That's certainly something that we would like to see.

As Austin outlined for the Legislature, Northern Health has done pretty well all it can do as far as renovating the existing structure, with Austin calling for the Ministry to begin the process of providing for a replacement for the decades old facility.

It's a topic that both North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice and Prince Rupert City Council will wish to keep an eye on and perhaps offer up some thoughts of their own for the Ministry of Health.

As the North Coast is also expected to see increased economic growth over the next decade, providing for more services at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital should also become a priority..

Beyond that, there is the danger that should Mr. Austin prove to be a more than capable advocate for a new facility for his riding, the danger of Northern Health moving towards more centralization of health care services in the Terrace area could arise.

And while no one in Prince Rupert will begrudge Terrace a new medical facility, the onus is on the North Coast MLA and city council to ensure that Terrace's potential gain, doesn't become an eventual loss for Prince Rupert.

Commercial Pub Fire makes for the latest on the list of downtown fires

Early Sunday evening brought Prince Rupert Fire Rescue and the RCMP to the Commercial Pub site,  responding to a fire call at the long time North Coast fixture at the corner of First Avenue West and 8th Street.

Upon arrival, the Fire Department worked into the night to contain the blaze, while RCMP controlled traffic and kept interested observers to a distance to allow the fire fighters to do their work.

Sunday's fire at the Commercial was not the first for the structure in recent months, with Prince Rupert Fire Rescue  having been called to the location a number of times previous to put out small fires which were started around the exterior of the building

The Commercial Pub, a favourite local haunt of Rupertites through the eighties and nineties, had not been in use in recent years and had been on the real estate market for a number of years now.

The Sunday night fire at the Commercial Pub adds to the list of place names for the latest of old downtown fires.  Making for a collection of structures that has been engulfed in flames in that same small are of the city over the last ten years.

In 2004, fire fighters have responded to a major fire at the Elizabeth Apartments building on 1st Avenue West. A particularly challenging blaze owing to the nature of the building's location to the water side of the harbour.

More recently, Prince Rupert residents have seen fires break out at the Inlander Hotel in 2009, and most recently in 2010, at the location of the old Epicurean restaurant, both of those buildings were located on 2nd Avenue West, not far from the scene of Sunday's fire.

All three buildings were destroyed during the course of the incidents.

As of yet, no details have been released, as to the cause of the fire.

Update: Fire Chief Dave McKenzie has confirmed that the fire that engulfed the Commercial Pub building was set fire, with the investigation continuing into the incident. The damage to the building has been deemed a safety hazard and that considerations are now in place to make the building stable or to have it removed.

You can find further updates on this incident or on other items of Emergency response on the North Coast from our Emergency Files feature

Blog Watching, Week ending March 2, 2014

As part of a weekly feature on the blog, every Sunday we offer up this weeks recap of the top five items viewed over the course of the last seven days.

Included in the countdown, we will provide links to the articles in question, offering up with one click of the mouse, those items of the week that you may have missed.

This week, municipal politics leads off  the list with our review of the Budget Discussions of Monday night finding a fairly interested audience.

Other items that found an audience this week, our two reviews of the travels of the Charles Hays Junior Girls and Boys basketball teams at the provincial tournament in Langley.

Wrapping up this weeks review,  our look at word that the BG Group may be delaying their final investment decision by one week, as well as our note from council over the prospect of more travel on the topic of LNG for our municipal council.

Those were all among the items to complete the top five items of the week.

The top item of the week:

Council Budget discussions offer up flashes of anger, a bit of confusion and the desire for a workshop!--  Our review of the Budget Discussion at council proved to be the most popular item of the week just passed.   (posted February 26, 2014)

That item was followed by:

Charles Hays Junior Boys in Langley for Provincials --   Our week long update on the Provincial tournament found its audience grow much through the week  ( posted February 26, 2014 )

Charles Hays Junior Girls Provincial Tournament underway at Langley--   Much like our boy's tournament portal, our review of the Girls side of the provincial tournament attracted a large audience as well. (posted February 26, 2014)

A BG Delay on a final decision on LNG for Prince Rupert? -- Readers of the blog found our review of reports on the possibility of a one year delay by BG on its final decision to be of much interest this week.  (posted February 27, 2014)

Two for the road?--  Our reviews of Monday's council session this week, included a look at some of the discussion on a possible trip to Trinidad and Tobago by members of Prince Rupert City Council. A topic which seems not only of interest to council members, but to those that read our blog. (posted February 26, 2014)

You can find our Blog watching featured posted every Sunday morning by 9AM, a handy way to catch up to the week that was, at a leisurely weekend pace.

The Permanent link to the feature can be found above our Blog Archive section, found on the right hand side of the title page.

For those looking for updates to items as they are posted to the blog, don't forget about our email alert access.

A daily review of the latest items on the blog can be delivered to your email in box, simply by entering your email address into the information bar, items posted to the blog will be delivered to your e-mail account each day.

You can find the link to that feature on the upper, right hand side of the blog.

Junior Boy's Rainmakers take their Provincials experience to the last seconds

For the Junior Boy's Ranimaker squad, the final two games of their Provincial Tournament provided for their best performances and a sample of some of the energy that took them to Langley.

After a sluggish start to their tournament on Wednesday, Kevin Sawka's Rainmakers found their game as the week came to an end, battling it out in close contests on both Friday and Saturday.

Their final match up of the week,  this morning's showdown with Yale provided for some exciting back and forth basketball, which saw the lead change hands a number of times before the final horn sounded.

In the end, the Rainmakers couldn't find the range to squeak out a last minute victory, Yale having taken a four point lead in the final sixty seconds of play, held the furious Rainmaker attack off to secure the 48-44 victory.

While the loss left the Rainmakers without a win over the four days, the games on both Friday and Saturday could have gone either way, such was the pace of the action and the bounce of the ball.

For those boys that will return to the Junior program in the fall, the tournament provided them with their first glimpse of the nature of the provincial competition and should help to spur them on for hopes of a return in the Spring of 2015.

For those that head off to try outs for the Senior program in the fall, the experience of high tempo basketball and the atmosphere from their provincial travels will be part of the path ahead for their travels ahead with the Senior team.

The full results from the week long tournament can be found below:


Saturday, March 1 
Yale 48 vs Charles Hays 44

Friday, February 28 
Southern Okanagan 44 vs Charles Hays 38  

Thursday, February 27 
Lord Tweedsmuir 53 vs Charles Hays 39 

Wednesday, February 26 
Kelowna 83 vs Charles Hays 30 

The Provincials are clearly the Big Show when it comes to Basketball in British Columbia, the calibre of the competition impressive, the enthusiasm of the players and fans in the stands rather infectious.

For those back in Prince Rupert, the opportunity to view the games from the Langley Events Centre is a bonus opportunity to track the home side on the road, the streaming feeds charting the course of the Junior Rainmakers for the week.

And the basketball may not be over yet for Charles Hays boys, the Senior team is in Smithers this weekend taking part in zones.

Looking to punch their ticket to the BC High School Boys AAA Provincials in the very same Langley venues in the week of March 11-15.

You can review some of the past items of note on the Rainmakers from our Archive page on Charles Hays Athletics

Provincial Tournament comes to an end for Charles Hays Junior Girl's Rainmakers

The five day festival that is the BC Junior High School Basketball Tournament is winding down, with the two Charles Hays Rainmaker teams having played their final games of the week long tourney.

Both Boy's and Girl's squads qualified for the big show through their regional zones success, however the competition of the premiere basketball tournament for the province clearly offered up some challenges for both teams.

The Girls wrapped up their week with this morning's game with Northern BC rival Nechako Valley, some early game problems gave Nechako Valley a lead and their girls never looked back, claiming the game with a final  57 to 28 victory.

The loss, left the Charles Hays girls without a win over their four games, however after shaking off some first game nerves, the Rainmaker squad put in some solid efforts over their four days.

With Friday's game against Prince George's College Heights, perhaps providing a glimpse of what the team brought to Langley for the provincials.

The results of the four days for the girls program coached by Anna Ashley can be found below.


Saturday, March 1 
Langley Events Centre Gymnasium

Nechako Valley 57 vs Charles Hays 28

Friday, February 28 
Langley Events Centre Gymnasium 

College Heights 60 vs Charles Hays 36 

Thursday, February 27 
Langley Events Centre Gymnasium 

Mark Isfeld 46 vs Charles Hays 10 

Wednesday February 26 
RA McMath 73 vs Charles Hays 7


The Junior Girls will have much to remember from their week in Langley as they make the trek back north

Of the many high school tournaments and events that take place in British Columbia, the Junior Basketball tournament in Langley is about as good as it gets.

Offering up much in the way of atmosphere, competition and in organization.

A tournament which provides much attention from the host community and the opportunity for streaming video of all games for the folks back home.

The experiences from their time at Provincials, providing something for the team to build on for the next season.

Up next for Charles Hays Girls basketball will be a trip to Langley for the Senior Girls, who will take part in the AA Provincial Tournament at many of the same venues as the Junior Girls did.

That tournament runs from March 4th until 8th.

For those interested in more background on the tournament and a full review of all the results, the tournament website offers a fair amount of material to look over from the week soon to end.

You can find more of our past items on Charles Hays sports from our archive page.

SD52 tests the real estate market with Kanata School opportunity

Perhaps with an eye towards the current high level of interest in real estate and the increasing values that sales are providing for, Prince Rupert's School District 52 has apparently decided to test the market themselves and see what value they could get for their Kanata School Property.

The east side school and its property which was closed in 2008, (the start of  a wave of controversial school closings in the city), has quietly been put up for sealed bid. With the School District seeking interest from the public by way of a small advertisement in the weekly paper.

In their request for bids, the School District highlights the availability of the 6.23 acre site and its access to services in a residential area. Advising that there is municipal support for single and/or multi family development for the site.

Should the School District find a buyer for its property, it still has to go to the province to seek the approval of the Ministry of Education to complete any sale arrangements.

There are currently two other school properties no longer in use by the School District.  Seal Cove School also on the east side of the city was closed at the same time as Kanata and the more recently closed Westview School, which shut its doors in 2010.

Neither of those are available for sale by the School District, with their eventual fate possibly to revert back to the control of the Crown.

Sealed bids on the Kanata opportunity are being accepted at the School Board Office until noon of March 24th.

There is no indication of the School District's interest in the real estate market on the School District website.

Neither from the minutes of recent School District meetings (most recent archive that of January) , or in any general information format from their media release section.

Those that may have an interest in the property or require more information are asked to contact Cameron McIntyre at School District 52.

We have more items of note from School District 52 on our Archive Page

MLA's week February 24-27, 2014

A snapshot of some of the talking points from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, during this week's proceedings of the Legislature.

It appears to have been a quiet week for Ms. Rice, as far as for contributions in the Legislature for the North Coast MLA.

At least in the more public aspects of her work at the British Columbia Legislature.

Through the seven sessions of the Legislature for the week of February 24-27, MLA Rice did not appear in the index for any of the question periods, or through the other conversations of the morning or afternoon sessions of the week.

As for the committee that MLA Rice serves on, the Blues (Legislature draft minutes) from the Standing Committee on Children and Youth make note of a Session on Wednesday, February 26th.

But according to those draft minutes, there was no contribution to that forum from the North Coast MLA on the day of the Committee session.

You can review our reviews of past weeks of the Legislature session from our Legislature Sessions archive page.

We have more background on the North Coast MLA from our General Archive on Legislature issues as well.