Thursday, October 1, 2020

North Coast All Candidates Debates to span two nights next week, hosted by Chamber of Commerce

The 2020 Provincial Election campaign will ramp up some of the electioneering next week as the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce hosts two Candidates debates to be held on two consecutive nights.

The twin gatherings  set for Wednesday, October 7th and Thursday the 8th will explore  a range of themes and provide the first head to head opportunity to hear from the candidates. 

The Wednesday debate will be broadcast on CityWest Cable Channel 10/310HD, as well as streamed through the Chamber Facebook page and website.

The Thursday debate will be streamed to the communities up and down the North Coast and to Haida Gwaii.

Wednesday's Debate will focus on the issues of particular note to Prince Rupert/Port Edward and the immediate area, while the Thursday debate will explore topics of concern and interest to those living on Haida Gwaii, Bella Bella (Heiltsuk First Nation), Hartley Bay (Gitga’at First Nation)and other rural communities. 

Representatives from regional media will be providing for the hosting duties, with the forum on October 7th to be moderated by Matthew Allen, Associate Producer for CBC Radio’s Daybreak North. 

The October 8th event will be moderated by Mary Denton, Account Executive for the CFNR Radio Network. 

Questions for the candidates will be formulated by the Chamber of Commerce to illuminate candidate perspectives on topical themes in the riding. 

Members of the public are also encouraged to submit questions in advance of the Forums. 

Those can be submitted and upvoted at www.candidatequestions.ca, with the most popular questions being raised during the Forums. 

In case time does not permit all questions to be considered, a list will be generated for the candidates, to allow them to address the themes through their own communication options.

The Chamber as it has often in the past, has taken the lead to help provide for the forum for the discussion and while this years version is just a bit different from the live events of the past, the virtual process will give voters on the North Coast a good measuring stick for the campaign and the vote on the 24th of October.

"The Chamber provides support and advocates for businesses located throughout our coastal economy. We’re all connected, but our priorities may differ depending on where we live and do business. As we prepare to choose our representative in the BC Legislature, we believe it’s important to respect the diversity of our region by giving a voice to every type of community. "-- Michelle Boomars-MacNeill, President of the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce.

With one day to go until the deadline for nominations, the list of candidates for the North Coast remains at two to date; with incumbent NDP MLA Jennifer Rice taking on the challenge from the BC Liberals candidate Roy Jones Junior.

Though to this point, only Ms. Rice's name has been officially registered with the Elections BC website


Updates on the Debates can be found from the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce Facebook Page.

For more notes on the 2020 North Coast campaign see our archive page here.

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Prince Rupert Garden Club looking for helpful hands for Sunken Gardens winterizing this Saturday

The spectacular colours of the summer are fading from view
and this Saturday the Prince Rupert Garden Club has some 
late season work ahead to winterize the Sunken Gardens

With summer over, fall underway and winter just over the horizon, the gardening season is all but over, with just a few odds and ends for local gardeners to attend to before they rest.

This weekend features one big item on the To Do list for the Prince Rupert Garden Club, as they look for some volunteers to help out with the annual winterizing for the Sunken Gardens behind the Prince Rupert Court House.

In a post to their Facebook page, they make note of the work ahead for Saturday, October 3rd, when they will be pulling up the annuals and preparing the garden beds for the winter.

Work gets underway at 10 AM, you can find out more from their Facebook page here.

More items of note on Community events around Prince Rupert can be explored here.


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Maternity leave will make room for contract work for Tourism Prince Rupert

A Joyful life event for the current Executive Director for Tourism Prince Rupert will make for a temporary career opportunity at the Atlin Terminal offices; with Ceilidh Marlow about to take some maternity time off from her duties as of December.

Before she begins the nesting process, Ms. Marlow is putting out the Help wanted sign, posting a temporary contract position for a Marketing Coordinator for Tourism Prince Rupert, a part-time 20 hour a week career opportunity in support of the Tourism Prince Rupert mandate to increase visits to the region.

With Ms. Marlow having put down a pretty solid foundation this year under some challenging circumstances, hopes are high for a bounce back in 2021 for the tourism sector in the region and the contract position offers the chance to be part of what could be a busy and productive year for Tourism Prince Rupert.

The main theme of the position is as follows:

The position of Marketing Coordinator is a one-year temporary contract, with the possibility for extension depending on destination development opportunities at the end of the contract term. The position will work from a home office 20 hours/week, reporting weekly to the Tourism Prince Rupert Board Chair and/or Executive Director. Salary is commensurate with experience and will be negotiated accordingly with the successful candidate.

The full scope of the job opportunity can be explored further here.

With best wishes to Ms. Marlow for her exciting year ahead, we invite readers to learn more about Tourism Prince Rupert from our archive page here.



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BCTF take COVID in the School concerns to Dr. Bonnie Henry

BCTF President Teri Mooring 
has taken the teachers concerns to
Dr. Bonnie Henry directly
British Columbians teachers will be paying particular attention to the COVID-19 update later today from Dr. Bonnie Henry, watching to see if some of the themes of a recent correspondence from BCTF leader Teri Mooring may make for some of the narrative of the messages of the day.

Ms. Mooring forwarded a range of concerns from teachers to the Public Health Officer last week in a letter to Dr. Henry, the main thrust of the correspondence one of concern over the lack of up-to-date and full information on COVID-19 in the schools, with the teachers union noting that they are troubled by the lack of transparency and consistency when it comes to information sharing.

The teachers also outline their ongoing concern over contact tracing and how each of the province's health authorities are approaching the way that information is delivered to the community and the schools.

The correspondence closes with a request for the Doctor to report on the school based exposures and use her guiding themes of remaining calm, kind and safe as part of their call for the need for more information.

Dr. Henry, your frequent media briefings have provided excellent information to British Columbians and have helped citizens feel united around a common cause. If you were to report on, and contextualize the school-based exposures, it would go a long way to assuaging the deep concerns and anxieties of teachers and parents. Armed with the necessary information, people will—as you have so often reminded us—be able to stay calm, kind, and safe.

The teachers may get a public response to their request later today, it being Thursday, the COVID-19 report from Doctor Henry will be a public forum report, streamed live through the BC Government Facebook page at 3 PM today.

The letter to Dr. Henry is just the latest approach that the BCTF has taken when it comes to the launch of the school year in this period of COVID, in mid September the Teachers federation took the Ministry of Education to the BC Labour Relations Board, delivering a range of concerns over the restart to the year, so far there has been no indication as to the fate of that appeal

The full correspondence from the teachers can be explored below:

click to enlarge

As of today, exposure reports for the Northern Health region are noted for five school districts, with SD91 in Nechako Lakes and the Independent school in Fort St. James listed for the Northwest region.


Details on COVID reports in the schools of the Northern Health region from the BC CDC can be reviewed here.

The Northern Health School exposure list is available here.

A wider overview of education themes in the Northwest can be found here.

Further notes on the response to COVID in BC can be explored from our archive page here.
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Emergency Service Files: October 2020











Our Archive of items for the month of October, from the files of law enforcement and other emergency responders in Northwestern British Columbia.





From the North Coast Review


Prince Rupert Firefighters put wrap on week of training 
Sloan/Omenica area residents watchful for bear following latest sighting
Prince Rupert RCMP and DP World Prince Rupert look for your carved pumpkin creations
Nass Valley Police incident to be investigated by IIO and BC Coroner's Office
With trap in place, City of Prince Rupert posts Bear Advisory for the Omenica area
A trap is set ... and now they wait! BC Conservation Officer Service back in town following bear sightings
Land secured, City Council ready to move forward with RCMP detachment plans
Police/Fire investigation underway for Downtown Fire overnight
Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue to reinforce Home safety as part of National Fire Safety Week
One rescued, all accounted for as Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue battled downtown fire overnight
October 16 -- Be aware of Bear
October 6 -- Fire in Prince Rupert (video)
October 6 -- Landslide closes highway (RCMP Statement)





Terrace/Kitimat

Terrace RCMP Detachment website

Kitimat RCMP Detachment website

Terrace RCMP Twitter feed

Conservation Officer Service Facebook page


October 30 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report (October 15 -28)
October 28 -- Pedestrian Struck in Motor Vehicle Incident (RCMP statement)
October 23 -- Kitimat WorkSafe fatality (video)
October 22 -- Vehicle crash in Terrace (video)
October 22 -- Driving complaint leads to Explosion (RCMP statement)
October 16 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report (October 5-14)
October 15 -- Explosives destroyed in Thornhill (video)
October 15 -- BC RCMP notify IIO BC of New Aiyansh incident  (RCMP statement)
October 15 -- Police dispose of explosives (RCMP statement)
October 5 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report ( Sept 28-Oct 4)

October 29 -- Dispute between friends sends one man to hospital  (RCMP Statement)
October 28 -- Traffic stop uncovers guns, drugs and cash  (RCMP Statement)
October 6 -- Police investigate death of animal  (RCMP Statement)


Ketchikan and Southeast Alaska






Miscellaneous notes




Archive of month to month review for 2020






 To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.





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Road to the Legislature doesn't run along Highway 16 so far for the Greens

As of today the political map of NW BC has no green to take note of

Just past the ten day mark of the snap election call for 2020, the Provincial Green Party has yet to indicate if they plan to contest any of the four ridings of the Northwest, a wide swath of the province and area where one might think that their core messages would resonate well. 

A look at BC Green website today shows that all four ridings, North Coast, Skeena, Stikine and Nechako Lakes all are still Open nominations for the Greens and if some recent comments from Green Party Leader Sonia Fursteneau are any indication, there's a chance that may remain the case long after the final day for nominations arrives.

Yesterday, the Green leader noted that the party hoped to field candidate in all 87 ridings, but as of Wednesday had only nominated 44 candidates to date.

The prospect of limited competition across the northwest would seem to be of main benefit to the NDP candidates, for if there is any place where the Greens might find some success, it would be from some of the voters who may be disappointed in the environmental and industrial themes in the north that the Horgan government has taken recently.

Should the Greens not field candidates in the Northwest, there would be less chance of vote splitting giving candidates from other parties some room to capture the majority for the constituency vote.

BC's Political parties and Independents have until 1PM on Friday to file nomination papers for the October 24th vote.

You can keep up with some of the latest notes on the campaigns of the Northwest from our archive page here.
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COVID claims another community event, as Prince Rupert Rotary Cancel the 2020 Rotary Auction

Master of Puns and Mater of Ceremonies, 
Michael Gurney and the annual crew of local luminiaries
will not be hosting the Annual Rotary Auction this year,
the event has been suspended owing to COVID
(From a past CityWest Rotary Broadcast)

One of Prince Rupert's most popular community events won't take place this year, with the era of COVID once again impacting on community plans, as Prince Rupert Rotary came to the difficult decision in late September to cancel the 2020 Rotary Auction.

The three night celebration that made local celebrities out of a number of Rotarians usually see the bids coming in fast and frequent in mid October for good and services donated by local businesses.

However, as they explain in a social media post to the Prince Rupert Rotary Facebook page, the Rotarians did not feel comfortable reaching out to a struggling business community this year and with that as their guidepost announced the suspension of the tradition that spans many decades. 

As part of their update, they have urged the community rally around the local business sector this fall and shop local as much as possible.


The Rotary Auction serves as the Clubs prime fundraising event, the proceeds going towards the range of projects that they host in the community each year, so the cancellation of the annual auction may very well have an impact on their work into 2021.

Should residents wish they can donate directly to the Rotarians, they can sent the local members a message through Social media to find out how to contribute. They also have plans to continue with their 750 sales, though how that will move forward has yet to be outlined.

As well, the Organization still intends to host the annual Christmas Tree Sale at the Rotary Tennis courts at Sixth and McBride. Though it may look a little different as they look for away they sell the trees adjusting like all of us, to finding ways to adapt to COVID.

Updates on the Rotarians plans into the Fall and Winter can be followed through their Facebook page here.

More items of note on Community events can be explored through our archive here.



 

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