New Search and Rescue aircraft begins to roll in for RCAF

Shiny and new are almost ready for service, air crews from
CFB Comox are now training on the newest acquisition for the
RCAF, the Airbus Kingfisher SAR aircraft
(photo from Airbus)

Sometime in the future, hopefully just for show and not for service, residents of the North Coast may see the newest addition to the Fleet of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with the military taking possession of the first of their new generation of Search and Rescue aircraft.

The new aircraft, known as the Kingfisher is part of a growing list of procurement for the military, with the new SAR plane set to replace the workhorses of Search and Rescue in Canada of the Buffalo and Hercules, both aircraft which have more than served their time with distinction.

When the roll out of new CC-295 aircraft is complete, the RCAF will take possession of sixteen of the new planes, on an ongoing basis until the fall of 2022. 

Manufactured by Airbus at their facilities in Spain, the value of the replacement and support program is 4.7 billion dollars.

To get a glimpse of what the new SAR craft will offer flight crews,Airbus offered up a tutorial on what the RCAF is getting and its capabilities with this video.

Air crews are now training on the newest planes, with the Armed Forces anticipating that they will be in full service early next year, with a steady stream of planes to come for Comox and other Air bases across Canada.

19 Wing at Comox is responsible for all of the British Columbia coast and responds to Search and Rescue missions and other calls for assistance from the Vancouver Island base. 

Working in concert with local Coast Guard ships and members of North Coast Marine Rescue groups, planes and helicopters dispatched from Comox have been key participants in past North Coast calls for assistance.

You can review the work of Emergency Responders in the Northwest from our archive page here.

Rupert Lawn and Garden gain strong reaction for Pumpkin Patch plans

October will bring pumpkins to a patch of the Seal Cove 
location for Rupert Lawn and Garden

With October 10th circled on their calendars, Rupert Lawn and Garden are anticipating a good turn out for their latest community initiative, that being the hosting of a Pumpkin Patch event for families in the Prince Rupert are.

In a note posted to their Facebook page over the weekend the Seal Cove Greenhouse and retail store observed of the strong and positive reaction that their planning has received so far, providing a refresher on what they have in mind for the Pumpkin Patch next month, including the measures that they will have in place as part of their COVID-19 response plan

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You can learn more about the October 10th event which takes place from Noon to 7PM, from the Event Page, created by Rupert Lawn and Garden.

In their update of the weekend, Rupert Lawn and Garden also hinted that they are considering another event closer to Halloween, with more to come on that should the move ahead with the plans.

For more notes on community events around Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

Tax Sale project could be blueprint for wider COVID era community engagement for City Council

If the members of City Council are looking for ways to bring such initiatives as the Official Community Plan and other community engagement projects forward during these times of COVID, the may want to just review the rules that they put in place for this years Tax Sale.

The Tax Sale which took place yesterday was shifted to the Civic Centre Auditorium and included a cap in participation at 45 members of the public, along with other COVID related measures such as social distancing, the wearing of masks and collection of contact tracing information.

That may be the approach that Council could make use of to seek out some wider feedback as they move forward on large community themes such as the current OCP program, which recently had the City take bookings for one on one meetings with the Mayor, a project that Mr. Brain had observed recently was well received.

Still, if the Council Members want to get a wider overview of how the community views their plans, a larger in public session might offer them the best feedback and using the Tax Sale planning as their guide may provide the path to follow.

It may require two separate sessions on the same day to accommodate as many participants as possible and provide for a wider  cross section of the public. A process which would see residents interested in attending having to reserve a spot which still might limit the attendance to those accepting of the COVID measures required. 

Council could also offer a work around for those that couldn't get a reservation or have concerns about attending such functions even with precautions in place; that would be by the use of the CityWest community channel, or the City's social media options to stream each session, with both the Civic Centre and Lester Centre both already wired for CityWest stream casting. 

Council could follow up on each session with the use of the city's Rupert Talks portal and YouTube page, providing for rebroadcasts of the presentation and to allow for further comments or questions to get as wide a range of opinion as possible for the initiative.

The ambitious OCP overview is the new centrepiece for the current city council and administration and every opportunity to make the community aware of and to comment on the public record should be a welcome addition to the dialogue.

The theme of adding to the conversation made for a valid comment to one of our stories of last week on Transportation opportunities and the OCP, with one of our readers seeking a wider forum to provide feedback to the city.

The Tax Sale Model with modifications, could also be used for Public Hearings on some of the current and percolating land questions that are being addressed or have yet to be addressed by City Council, something which seems to be a topic that generates quite a bit of interest by the public.

City Council sends PRPA back to the drawing board on proposed Park Avenue Land use
BC Housing plans for Kootenay Avenue set for forward progress tonight

If required, City Council could even shift their Regular Council Sessions to the larger venues to allow for larger attendance and take advantage of City owned CityWest's connectivity until we return to more normal times. 

It may even give Council opportunity to devote more than just a quarter of an hour to civic issues.

Earlier this summer, Councillor Barry Cunningham noted for Council that they needed to guard against letting COVID become a barrier to wider engagement with the public; in their recent Tax Sale the template for such engagement is available for the Council and their senior staff if desired.

If it's good enough for collecting tax revenue, it probably is worth a shot when it comes to a nod towards local democracy and community engagement.

For more notes on City Council see our Council discussion page here. 

267 Weekend case counts of COVID-19, three additional deaths in BC

Monday's British Columbia COVID review by Dr. Bonnie Henry, provided a data review that found a total of 267 cases of the coronavirus recorded in British Columbia over the course of 72 hours, though the number of active cases in the province declined from the last review of Friday.

"Today, we are announcing three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from Sept. 25 to 26, we had 68 new cases, from Sept. 26 to 27, we had 125 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 74 new cases. 

These represent a total of 267 new cases, including 10 epi-linked case, for a total of 8,908 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 1,302 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,372 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 7,346 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Currently, 69 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 22 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.  

There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, one in Vancouver Coastal Health, one in Fraser Health and one in the Vancouver Island Health region, for a total of 233 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Across the province the Break down by Health Authority is as follows:  

3,226 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,555 in the Fraser Health region, 206 in the Island Health region, 531 in the Interior Health region, 303 in the Northern Health region, which marks an increase of 14 reported cases since Friday. 

87 cases of COVID have been recorded in people who reside outside of Canada. 

The focus for the message for the day was the need to step back from the temptation to expand our social groups, with a dedication towards lowering the curve where we should be directing our attention to now.

“Public health contact tracing has shown the primary source of COVID-19 transmission continues to be through socializing with others – whether in your home or less controlled settings. That is why we all need to take a step back from our social interactions, see fewer people and travel less right now. 

We have it in our control to push our curve back down. You can make a difference by making safe choices in how you spend time with others. 

All we have to do is look to the many, many restaurants, retail stores, salons and other businesses who have shown us that by using our layers of protection and safety basics, we can keep ourselves, our customers, colleagues and communities safe. 

Let’s take a moment to appreciate our shared successes and use that to fuel and energize each other in the months ahead."

You can review the COVID-19 report for Monday here. 

The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories  can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee

Ottawa Observations

Victoria Viewpoints 

11th Avenue East roadwork to continue for a few more days

Detours for eastbound drivers on 11th Avenue East
remain in place as work continues on water main issues
in the area 

Residents of the Two hundred block of 11th Avenue East will have to be patient a few more days, as the City of Prince Rupert extends the end of work date for ongoing infrastructure work on a water main in the area.

Last Tuesday we took note of the work and the impact of residents as it reached the second week of repair and on Friday, the City delivered the news that road restrictions on eastbound travel were going to continue to be in place into this week.

As a result of the work on the city's infrastructure, residents in the immediate area have been on a Boil Water Order since the work began, that advisory remains in place until the work is complete.

For more notes on the city's infrastructure themes see our archive page here.

BC Ferries travellers now navigate a new website in quest of information

BC Ferries has introduced a 
new website for travellers to consult

A new look for customers of BC Ferries now greets those seeking information through the Ferry Corporation's online website, with the new mobile friendly site launched last week.

The bright appearance comes with some enhanced features, as well as with a range of options for travellers to access prior to booking or boarding.

Features of the new website include dynamically generated, real-time daily and seasonal schedules available for all routes, as well as travel conditions at major terminals to provide greater travel certainty. 

Enhanced account management capabilities let customers manage all their bookings in one place, and add, change or cancel bookings with ease on their own. The new trip planner tool helps customers find sailings and calculate fares on any route before travelling. 

 The BC Ferries and BC Ferries Vacations™ websites have been combined, so creating a customized vacation package with hotel and ferry in the same booking is now more convenient. Customers can choose from over 140 hotels and 35 activities in 65 destinations throughout B.C.

For those of us on the North and Central Coasts, as well as Haida Gwaii customers on the Northern routes can now book and pay for vehicle and passenger fares online, including Resident fares. 

On applicable Northern vessels, cabins and seats are also available to book online in advance, on direct sailings. 

Perhaps the most important part of the website, that of the Service Notices is easily found, located on the top task bar, which also features options to consult Schedules and Current Conditions as well as rapid access to any advisories that are in effect.

Today's Service Notice alerts will be of interest to residents on Haida Gwaii looking to access the MV Kwuna, which has cancelled its final sailing of the day, owing to crew rotation requirements.

You can learn more about the new look and what's available here.

For more notes related to BC Ferries on the North Coast see our archive page here.

North Coast dodges full impact of weekend weather, further inland the streams run high however

High water at Shames Creek is one of the visuals of a weekend
of strong winds and heavy rain across the Northwest
(from Prince Rupert Ground Search Rescue FB)

Considering the forecast of late Saturday, the North Coast handled the arrival of a very fast moving pacific front quite well, with the occasional burst of strong winds and periods of heavy rain, but not to the volume that any significant impact was felt around town, at least as far as any reports today would indicate.

While there had been predictions of up to 100 mm of rainfall in the twenty four hour period, officially Environment Canada observed 36.3 mm on Sunday, which we all seem to have weathered well if you will.

There have been some areas of note though from the burst of fall weather, the most dramatic visual coming from the Prince Rupert Ground Search and Rescue group which posted some video to their Social Media stream from near the Shames Creek area last night, offering a glimpse as to how high the rushing water gets to the highway and railway bridges in that area.

   

The Northwest returns to the theme of precipitation this week, with showers today and then periods of rain overnight and into Tuesday. Things settle a bit through the week with occasional showers, but another pacific front is on the way for next weekend. 

Whether the oncoming weather will reach the need for public alerts from Environment Canada won't be known until we get closer to Friday.

More weather related notes from the Northwest can be explored here.