End of an era for Shutter Shack as local business makes plans to close operations

Another locally owned business in Prince Rupert is about to close,
as Shutter Shack begins to sell off its stock leading up to the store closure

It's been a fixture in the community for decades and as the next thirty days wind down, Shutter Shack will bid its farewell to Prince Rupert.

With the long time photography store which at one time processed many of Prince Rupert residents most treasured memories set to close its doors for good at the end of December.

The Closing Out and Sale Signs are making for the final goodbyes, though the business itself had been on the realty market for a number of years as ownership looked to move out of the retail sector.

The changing times of the world of photography, changed the focus for Shutter Shack as the years went by, that as a new era of cel phones an digital cameras turned photographers into their own processing units, with less and less need of Shutter Shacks core services.

As that photographic revolution continued on the store began to add a range of gift items, tee shirts and other mementos to try and capture some of the city's tourism business, while still providing for passport photos and other community photo projects such as class photos and other requests from their loyal base of customers.

Shutter Shack will join Farwest Sports now as another local business to wrap up their business, leaving the main floor of the building at McBride and 1st Avenue East vacant come January.

Those with fond memories of Shutter Shack can drop in through December to offer their best wishes and perhaps find a few bargains for Christmas as the Closing Out Sale continues.

For more notes related to the city's Business sector see our archive page here.

Tsunami risk being evaluated as 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes near Anchorage

No Risk for British Columbia from today's quake in Anchorage, Alaska

See updates below:

There has been a large earthquake north of Anchorage Alaska, with 7.0 magnitude seismic event striking the Alaskan city at 9:29 BC time  this morning.

Original recordings had listed the quake as a 7.2 event, but it was subsequently downgraded.

The event was located 10 kilometres North of Anchorage, with a depth of 38.5 kilometres.

Some background on the event can be found here.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued an advisory for tsunami activity for a number of Alaskan cities and towns so far, while the risk to points south including British Columbia are still be assessed by officials.

So far there have been no additional warnings issued, we shall update this item should that situation change.

The City of Prince Rupert issued a notification through its mobile app program at 10:07 advising of the earthquake and noting that Emergency Management BC has not issued any warning related to the event at this time, adding that the City is monitoring the situation.

The City also posted updates to their website and Facebook page

Television station KTVA  is streaming live through their Facebook page providing the latest details from Anchorage following today's quake.

At just before 11 AM BC Time, the Tsunami Warning Centre cancelled its original Tsunami Warning

For more items of note related to seismic events see our archive page here.

City seeks temporary Recreation Centre manager

The Prince Rupert Civic Centre offers up the latest opportunity to join
the staff of the City of Prince Rupert

The City of Prince Rupert is looking for a Temp, though one with a bit of experience in facility management and human resources requirements as they seek the services of Recreation Complex Manager for up to the next eighteen months.

The position has opened up to cover a temporary leave period.

The job posting which was delivered to the city's Careers page on Thursday provides for an extensive list of duties and responsibilities, as well as educational and past experience requirements for the position.

Communication skills, leadership and conflict management make for some of the elements that the City is looking for as part of their list of attributes for the position.

Notes related to the job opportunity can be reviewed here.

The deadline for applications is December 28th.

For a look at some of the past employment opportunities with the City of Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

Senate report calls for Coast Guard to stand alone with focus on Search and Rescue funding

Increases in staffing, better funding and making more use of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and exploring the use of private contractors make for some of the recommendations from a Senate report which has reviewed the capacity of Canada's Coast Guard and it's Search and Rescue duties.

Should the Federal government follow through on the recommendations, the West Coast services of the Coast Guard could see some significant improvements and funding increases, something which could expand the Coast guard footprint on the North Coast out of the Seal Cove base in Prince Rupert, as well as for First Nation coastal communities along the British Columbia Coast.

The 71 page document with the title of When Every Minute Counts provides an extensive review of the services and resources available to the Coast Guard and finds that the Federal government needs to deliver more attention to the needs of the Coast Guard to attend to its duties across the nation.

The report digs deep into the way that Search and Rescue duties are tasked in Canada, making note of the partnership between the Coast Guard and Armed Forces and how the division of duties between the two is handled.

From its look at the history of the Coast Guard dating back to its creation in 1868, the review examines the various shifts in responsibility for the service, which in 2005 was merged into operations of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans,  something that a number of those providing background to the Senators suggests isn't working to the benefit of the Coast Guard.

To address the need for a better approach towards delivering on its core duties of providing for Search and Rescue and Safety on the water, the Senate Committee made two recommendations:

That the Canadian Coast Guard be established as a separate statutory agency reporting to the Minister of Transport.

That Capital planning for the Coast Guard be extended to 20 years to reflect the need for the fleet's renewal, upgrade and modernization.

The Senate Committee travelled across Canada as well as to Europe to see what does and doesn't work when it comes to Coast Guard services and mission statements and how the Canadian Coast Matches up with some of the other services that they examined as part of the findings of their report.

Some of those discussions with the European agencies helped to shape some of the findings, including the final recommendation to return the Coast Guard to the oversight of the Transport Canada Ministry.

It was noted that a separate statute for the CCG along with a transfer to the TC portfolio would better align with its mandate and the approach taken by other jurisdictions, such as, for example, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Solutions at home were also explored, with the Senate Committee noting that improved funding for Coast Guard Auxiliary services and expanding the relationship with First Nations communities could help to increase the ability to respond to incidents.

In British Columbia, the Senators recommend more training opportunities for Coastal First Nations, observing that often it is their members who are the first on the scene when a call for assistance issued.

Given the valuable experience gained to date by members of coastal and Indigenous communities as part of this course and the high demand for this training, the committee sees the Coastal Nations Search and Rescue Course as an excellent opportunity to improve maritime SAR response on the West Coast. The committee heard remarkable stories where Indigenous peoples were actively involved in maritime SAR incidents. Similar courses could be provided in other regions, including, for example, coastal communities in the Canadian Arctic that are experiencing an increase in maritime activity. 

Indigenous peoples living in remote coastal communities are and will continue to be the first responders to marine incidents in their waters. It is the view of the committee that the time has come to meaningfully develop the capacity of local peoples willing to help respond to maritime SAR incidents in their regions as they arise.

With the coast guard facing staffing challenges today and the prospect of a twenty five percent turnover with retirement in the years ahead, the committee has called for an aggressive recruitment and retention strategy to address those shortages, recommending the Coast Guard target a wider pool of potential  employees.

The committee recommends that the Canadian Coast Guard, in collaboration with the Canadian Coast Guard College, expand and intensify its human resource recruitment strategy to target a broader audience. 

The committee recommends that the strategy have a particular focus on attracting and retaining Indigenous cadets and employees within the Canadian Coast Guard organization.

The report also offers praise for those who participate in the Canadian Coast Auxiliary program, recommending that the Canadian Coast Guard establish a maritime Search and Rescue Fund to support the purchase of equipment and services needed by regional Coast Guard Auxiliary organizations.

The report also recommends that assistance be provided to Regional Coast Guard auxiliary organizations so they can diversify their funding sources.

The Report also urges the Government to provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the ability to increase and diversify its search and rescue workforce to respond to the increased demand for search and rescue.

The prospect of making use of private contractors was also explored in the report, with the Senators reviewing how the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Australia make use of private resources to compliment their own services.

And while they don't recommend that Canada follow the lead of the us of private contractors as found in some of the services that were studied, they do see an opportunity for public/private partnerships.

The committee does not believe that privatization of aeronautical SAR (like in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia), or another large government capital expenditure project for additional SAR aircrafts (or to rebuild the older ones), fit Canada’s unique requirements. 

However, the committee believes that alternative service delivery – in the form of public-private partnerships that leverage the best of both public and private capabilities/resources – could offer, in the short- and medium terms, an innovative and cost-effective solution to supplement SAR resources in regions with little or insufficient coverage.

As part of the review, the Senate report also called attention to the risks involved in the commercial fishing industry, noting that it hosts the highest fatality rate among employment sectors in Canada.

The recurring finding of an average of 12 deaths per year in the commercial fishing industry is of great concern to the committee. The persistence of this number indicates that something must change. Along with witnesses, members of the committee believe that real and lasting improvements in fishing safety can be realized through changes to fishing vessel regulations, commercial fisheries management, and prevention.

Towards addressing those concerns, the Senate Report has recommended that Transport Canada amend its regulations to extend the mandatory use of Emergency position locating radio beacons, as well as to develop and disseminate user-friendly information regrading vessel stability to reduce unsafe practices in the commercial fishing industry.

The Senators also have set a three year timeline from the tabling of the report for Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard an the Canadian Marine Advisory Council to work with Fish harvesters to develop an action plan on safety in the commercial industry.

The Senators report provides for seventeen different areas for recommendations, with twenty two individual recommendations.

The twenty two recommendations from the Senate
Committee Report in Search and Rescue services in Canada
(click to enlarge)

You can review the full report from the Senate here.

For a look at some of the work of the Coast Guard and other Emergency Responders across the Northwest see our archive page here.

Collision on Highway 16 west of Terrace claims life of American man

Terrace RCMP have released some details into a fatal collision on Tuesday afternoon on Highway 16 between Terrace and Prince Rupert, an incident which saw members called to the scene near the 90 kilometre marker at Exchamsiks at 12:40 PM after reports of a single vehicle collision.

According to reports from the scene, the vehicle had been travelling eastbound when it passed another vehicle and then drove into the ditch, then hitting the rock face along the highway near the Exchamsiks River Bridge

The Terrace Fire/Rescue department was already on scene and had successfully extracted the driver from the vehicle, sadly the driver a 75 year old American resident, succumbed to his injuries while en route to hospital by ambulance.

 A single vehicle accident near Exchamsiks has claimed the life
of a75 American man

Driving conditions at the time of the accident were said to be foggy and wet, the highway was closed in both directions while traffic analysts investigated.

The RCMP's statement on the collision can be reviewed here.

For more items of interest related to Northwest Emergency Responders can be found here.

BC Legislature breaks for Christmas with NDP looking to showcase highlights; but trapped by public's view of chaotic end

With the fall session coming to an end, Premier John Horgan was trying
to keep the focus on the NDP's success on legislation, all while controversy
swirls around the electoral reform referendum and recent staffing
developments at the BC Legislature
(BC Gov't photo)

Premier John Horgan was looking to put the best light on the final day of the Fall session of the Legislature on Tuesday, and by most measuring sticks he should have been able to head off into the season of Christmas cheer in a fine mood.

Housing initiatives have seen the governing NDP making some headway on the long standing issue, with announcements made across BC delivering housing resources for a number of communities including Prince Rupert and Port Edward.

And with the government outlining the nature of an increasing surplus this fall, Finance Minister Carole James is proving to be a fairly steady hand with the province's books.

“We’re taking on the big challenges in our province, from the housing crisis to child care, while getting the Province’s finances in order,  ... The second quarter results show we can make B.C.’s economy work for everyone, while investing in people and providing strong fiscal leadership for B.C.” -- Carole James, Minister of Finance and deputy Premier. 

There were some success stories in education as well with a number of new school announcements made by the NDP (though none yet for Prince Rupert) and the health ministry has made some significant announcements in the Northern Health region for both Terrace and Smithers.

Of major note to the Northwest, when it comes to economic development, the Terrace-Kitimat corridor received some positive news this fall.

With the Final Investment Decision for the LNG Canada's terminal project for Kitimat, a the NDP government was able to share in the accolades for having successfully delivered on one of the many LNG proposals for the region.

Though for the residents of the North Coast, the celebrations of the Kitimat area were a reminder of that the once promising future for LNG development for the Prince Rupert area has been all but dashed with the cancellation of a number or proposed terminal developments over the last few years.

As the fall session came to a close, the government released its review of the successful ticks of the To do list for 2018.

All told as the final day of the Legislature came to a close, the final tally of Bills Receiving Royal Assent looked as follows:

Yet for all those positive developments and an energetic agenda, two end of session themes have pretty well knocked all of that good news out of the spotlight and for the most part have framed the end of the fall work with more than a bit of curious suspicion from the public.

First there  is the final stage of an electoral reform referendum that has been marked more by the lack of interest that has been found among the voters, as wall as a significant amount of confusion of the process and the options that the BC NDP and Greens are hoping will find favour once the votes, whatever number they reflect are counted up.

The referendum campaign to this point has seen a twenty nine percent return rate,  (19 percent on the North Coast) and has also seen the Premier change one of the elements of the Pro Representation options at mid-referendum, something which provided the Opposition Liberals with more than a few talking points over the last  month.

You can catch up on the referendum notes from our archive page here.

The other issue that loomed large over the Legislature came last week, with a chaotic week at the Parliament buildings all after Speaker Darryl Plecas initiated an investigation into two senior Legislature officials, resulting in the surprising announcement that both had been suspended.

The story became even more controversial after it was disclosed that the investigation was conducted by a friend of the Speaker, hired to a newly created position by the Speaker in January.

Making the the situation even more confounding wast the revelation that Speaker Plecas had then recommended that his newly hired assistant be promoted to one of the suspended officials post.

In the end, more sensible heads prevailed and that did not come to take place, but the handling of the affair and the many unanswered questions related to it have clouded much of the final weeks of the Fall session.

The situation related to the Speakers' role in it all will remain unresolved over the holiday season, that as an RCMP investigation  also continues into the original concerns related to the two now suspended staff members.

The post holiday blues may follow the Premier upon his return to work in January when there will most likely be renewed calls for more transparency on the controversial events of November, a situation which may yet provide for more drama and a potential showdown with the Opposition Liberals over the fate of the Speaker.

You can follow all the latest twist and turns in that controversy from our political blog D'Arcy McGee.

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice has for the most part spent the bulk of the last few weeks taking to her social media streams to get out the vote in favour of Proportional Representation options in the Referendum campaign, with a large volume of messages to constituents to share the preferred NDP themes on the choices available.

As for the other major story of the last week out of Victoria, Ms. Rice has not had much to say on the current controversy over the decision of the Speaker to suspend two senior Legislative officials, or the hiring of a friend of Mr. Plecas to a newly created assistants role.

In a session ending post to her Facebook page, Ms. Rice did however make note of  some of the success of the NDP agenda this fall, and noted how they get "a bit silly" at the legislature as the Fall session came to an end.

Constituents will be able to catch up with their MLA in December when she and Skeena Bukley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen host an Open House at their Ocean Centre offices on December 7th.

For a look back at some of her work in the Legislature this fall see our Legislature archive page here.

British Columbia outlines Free Use Permit process for Christmas tree cutting

Residents of Northwestern British Columbia looking to head out into the woods to harvest their own Christmas tree are reminded that it's not a wild west of chain saws and axes out in the woodlands with the province reviewing the list of Not cut areas that you should be aware of.

As part of the annual free use permit for Christmas Tree cutting a list of rules and regulations provides for the guide for those taking to the Coast Mountains Resource District between now and Christmas.

Among the things to keep in mind when looking for your tree,

NO CUTTING of Christmas trees is permitted in the following areas:

Private Lands 
Treaty Lands 
Forest Plantations and Research Areas 
Parks, Ecological Reserves and Conservancies 
Community Watersheds 
Juvenile-spaced reforested areas 
Woodlot Licenses and Community Forests unless authorized by the License holder 
Any other areas alienated or reserved for a special use

The Free Use Permit authorizes the Permittee to cut 1 and only 1 Christmas tree for their own personal use.

Make sure it is the tree you want before you cut it. And be aware that any Christmas tree cut under the Free Permit Use cannot be offered for resale.

You can access and print out the Free Use permit from this link.

More background on the annual Christmas Tree Permit program can be reviewed here.

Contacts for questions for the Ministry of Lands, Forests and Natural Resource Operations can be found here.

For those that prefer that their Christmas tree come to them, Save On Foods has started receiving their annual supply of Christmas Trees, and next weekend the Prince Rupert Rotary Club will once again be selling their supply of trees, setting up in the Rotary Tennis Courts at McBride Street and 6th Avenue West.

For more notes related to Community events see our archive page here.