The weekend events in the national capital have made for much in the way of news coverage as the trucker convoy that sprang from points west and east finally arrived in Ottawa, with few indications so far towards any kind of departure date.
The much promoted event, is now one which subsequently has morphed into a much larger group with many agendas, and a gathering that seems to have taken on themes that have overshadowed any of the points that the truckers may have originally wanted to make.
Among the more distressing, if not despicable images from Saturday and Sunday ... the dancing upon the tomb of the unknown soldier at the National War Memorial, the use of the Terry Fox Statue as a prop by protesters, along with the unruly behaviour by some that has brought chaos to residential areas of the nation capital adjacent to Parliament Hill.
Perhaps the most disturbing was the imagery of swastikas and Confederate flags, symbols that should not be part of any civil discussion on issues in Canada.
The use of such, a sign that perhaps the protest has been hijacked by elements of society that seek to bring their own agenda to the forefront, leaving any legitimate discussion of those who may have had good intentions in their travels lost in the cacophony and tumult.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach was in Ottawa for the restart of the Winter session of Parliament on Monday, and yesterday he shared some thoughts on what he had observed over the weekend.
Not surprisingly, the MP's commentary has become a bit of a lightning rod for both sides of the spectrum on the merits of the convoy to Ottawa and how it has been perceived.
Some mixed messaging on COVID restrictions has made for a change.org petition from parents and supporters of High School athletics, with the petition a call for the Ministry of Education to relax its current rules on High School sports play.
Last week, the Public Health Officer released new guidelines related to amateur sports, though the relaxation of some of the guidelines hasn't yet made it to the high school level, where the Ministry of Education has chosen to hold to the ban on tournament play, while allowing for for single team contests.
As we outlined in January, that's the current state of affairs for Charles Hays athletes and others across the Northwest, where individual play dates are still a go, but weekend tournaments still not allowed, an are of note for basketball fans with the run up to the Provincial championships normally held in late February and march now underway.
For the Senior Boys Charles Hays Rainmakers, the restrictions make for challenges for their own tournament set for the upcoming weekend, which should the rules not change, would be limited in scope and again without any number of spectators allowed in to view the contests.
To try and encourage the Ministry to change its rules, the change.org petition was launched over the weekend, with the originators making note of the cross messaging in place at the moment on COVID related restrictions.
On Tuesday, Jan.25th provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the restriction on youth sports tournaments would be lifted as of Feb. 1.
During the live briefing Dr. Bonnie said "I know this is an important time of the year for many different sports, especially team sports, and we’ve been working with organizers and with viaSport to make sure that this can be done in a safe way,”
While in the moment it appeared to be exciting news for all, we have now since learned that the Ministry of Education has decided to keep the addendum of K to 12 guidelines in place without changes, meaning that all BC High School Sports tournaments are still prohibited from taking place, even though Dr. Bonnie Henry said herself that this was "an important time of year for many different sports"
The reasoning behind the Ministry of Education's decision is unclear, which makes it even more frustrating for the schools, the coaches, the athletes, the parents and the fans. If community sports tournaments of all kinds can resume on Feb.1st there should be no reason why BC High School Sports Tournaments cannot resume as well.
The initial goal for the petition was listed at 15,000 signatures and as of the non hour, the total count of signatories to the call to the Province is just under the 12,000 mark.
Prince Rupert's current RCMP detachment at the corner of McBride and Sixth Avenue West
A couple of high profile weapons case reports in recent weeks for the Prince Rupert RCMP should be catching the eye of the city's elected officials and perhaps giving cause to follow up on the oft suggested, but rarely delivered plan for a community update on policing in the community.
Both are somewhat startling for residents of the city, not quite used to such things, but more than likely such things are not an unlikely concern, or potential scenario for the local members out on patrol day after day, night after night.
The opportunity for the Detachment to share some background towards that work is something that the Council should pick up the pace of trying to follow up on.
"I wanted to reflect on the fact that up until about I think probably about a year ago, not often, but with some regularity we would get a chance to talk to people from Emergency Services. Whether that's with the Fire Chief, or Paramedics, or the RCMP.
We haven't really done that for some time and I'm wondering whether it would be appropriate to ask that we, explore the possibility of renewing that.
I think particularly, in terms of my own interests, particularly RCMP. I understand that there has been some transition there in terms of the sort of who's leading that department.
So I'm not sure whether we're at a point yet where there is somebody we can call in" -- Councillor Nick Adey in September of 2021
Whether that transition in leadership is complete or not has yet to be updated by the City Council.
But there must be someone over at the Sixth Avenue West detachment who could be available for an overview of policing in the community and to receive some feedback on any concerns locally.
Mr. Adey's suggestion, was one that followed up on a number of previous calls of a similar nature from Councillor Barry Cunningham over the last few years.
Though with four months having now passed since the suggestion from Councillor Adey it would seem that neither of the Council members has had much success in getting the concept added to a Council Agenda.
The recent month of short Council sessions, where both the January 10th and 28th gatherings had little in the way of topics for discussion would have been a perfect opportunity to start the year off on the right foot when it comes to information sharing.
But both passed by without much interest it seems in taking the past requests for an RCMP visit to Council to the action file.
Considering the concerning nature of the recent RCMP case files, City Council should move their requests to the top of their list for community engagement and maybe even make it more of a community forum.
That in order to hear both from the RCMP on the challenge for policing that they are finding in the community and what if any resources they may need from the city to tackle them; as well as to hear directly from the public as to where they wish to see police direct their attention.
Beyond any potential get together, Council might want to suggest to the local detachment to increase the relay of direct information for the community.
Perhaps to follow the lead of both Terrace and Kitimat.
Where a regular report on what the detachment front line officers are dealing with, makes for a more comprehensive review of what's happening in the community.
A diagram from Robert Allan Architects of one of the components for the Fuel Barge System to be put in place by Wolverine Terminals in Prince Rupert (From the Robert Allan website)
Another milestone of note for the Wolverine Fuel Terminal project currently in the early stages of construction on the Prince Rupert Waterfront, with Robert Allan Architects having showcased the design last week for the Wolverine Fuel Terminal Barges.
The Marine architects firm noting that the work on construction of the twin fuel barges began in late 2021 at the Damen shipyard in Vietnam.
The work involves the construction of the 12,400 DWT, 142 metre x 30 metre rail/terminal barge design incorporates the loading and storage of multiple tank rail cars and in-hull storage of marine fuels.
The design incorporates a double hull, cargo handling equipment, tank heating, spill prevention and recovery equipment, onboard and shore power availability at the operating facilities.
The rail/terminal barge design solves many unique challenges in blending the rail and marine industries.
The 4,800 DWT, 78 metre x 20 metre distribution barge is very similar in design to other marine fuel distribution barges operating in the Port of Vancouver and other west coast ports.
The design incorporates a double hull, cargo handling equipment, tank heating, spill prevention and recovery equipment, on-board power generation, and operating facilities.
In their review of the design of the barges, Robert Allan Ltd, notes of the unique designs that they have come up with to be spefically tailored for the Prince Rupert site and operations.
Among the elements that they have considered included:
Transfer of tank rail cars on and off the rail/terminal barge at the existing Aquatrain Terminal in Prince Rupert
Tug assisted transport of the rail/terminal barge between the Aquatrain Terminal and a new Wolverine Terminals mooring site, a distance of approximately 400 meters
Transfer of marine fuel from rail cars into fuel storage tanks located within the rail/terminal barge
Transfer of marine fuel from rail/terminal barge to the distribution barge
Tug assisted transport of the distribution barge between the fuel service mooring site and approved locations within the Port
Transfer of fuels from the distribution barge into large cargo vessels
A look at what the project is all about including the drawings and some photos of some of the early construction complaints can be reviewed here.
The build for the Prince Ruper terminal has caught the attention of the global marine shipping industry and its media, some of the International press can be reviewed below
Wolverine Fuel Terminals hopes to have all the elements of the Prince Rupert operations in place in time for the start of fuelling operations in the early part of 2023.
It takes a bit of digging, but for those looking to explore the January SD52 Board meeting, the work of the Board of Trustees and Senior staff is available for review.
Close to one third of the night's work on January 18th was dedicated towards a Presentation from Erin Trask and Susan Kobza who explored reading and writing at the Kindergarten level to open the session on the night.
The pair outlining the background towards a program designed to reinforce skill development and how the School program goes about getting youngsters engaged in the reading programs. the overview included some pictures and video of the classroom work that took place at Lax Kxeen Elementary School.
Towards comments, Trustee Last noted how the program as outlined was game changing for kids and inquired as to whether the program progresses or has continuity beyond the Kindergarten level, to which she was advised it was hoped that the shift will take place into the future, with Ms. Kobza noting how things are moving in that direction.
Trustee Maier asked if other schools were taking up the concept and suggested that as a Board, if the District could find a way to expand the project to other schools. A number of other Trustees also applauded the work of the Lax Keen program, with Trustee Beil also calling for the District to expand the program to other schools.
"But we can't do it with just one school, we need to have a buy in from the whole District, so whatever you need from us, I think that it's time for the Board to step in and put our dollars in the right places" -- SD Trustee Beil on the Lax Keen reading program and the need to expand the concept District wide
As for some of the other elements for the night, the scope of the Board meeting included a range of correspondences from a number of stakeholders, the one that caught the most attention and made for the most discussion that of a letter from the BCFT to Minister of Education calling for designated trustee seats for Indigenous persons.
A correspondence from the BCTF to the Ministry of Education sparked an extensive overview over the concept of introducing an assigned seat for Indigenous Representation for SD52 (Click to enlarge)
Towards the BCTF letter, the extensive commentary to the topic ranged from full support for the concept, to a caution over the need to continue to remain an accountable by election forum on education.
Trustee Maier offered the strongest support towards the concept, while Trustee Last observed how on the surface the Board would want more participation from Indigenous people, noting however that she has concerns over designating seats.
"The reason for that is an election is democracy at its fullest, people feel the need to serve, they get someone to nominate them, they go through what can be a rather horrible experience of an election and they become a trustee.
And I don't want to mess with that, I don't think it should be messed with ... It it's an election, whether it's for School Board, MLA, MP what have you... It is the people who put their name up there for scrutiny, that is an election and I don't think anybody should just get a seat based on anything, that would be something different to me" -- Trustee Last
She also observed of the unique nature of the School District in Prince Rupert and how it hosts an Indigenous Education Council which provides for invaluable perspective on local issues on education. Ms. Last also noted of the potential for a slippery slope away from the democratic nature of the electoral process.
Towards defence of the concept Trustee Maier offered up.
"I would love to know what an election would look like if what BCTF is saying in this letter was put in, I can't even wrap my head around the logistics of it" -- Trustee Maier
Trustee Sanchez spoke in favour of the motion, noting of the demographic make up of the School District
"I have to say, that I am in favour of this motion, and the reason I'm saying that is, we have 60 percent Aboriginal students in our District and I hear what you're talking about, you know its different than you know voting.
However I feel strongly that we should have and Aboriginal representative on our board. I really believe it's good, because there are some times when we have a conversation, maybe a conversation like this.
That that Aboriginal person might be able to put her cultural understanding and bring that awareness in terms of why we would want to have that Aboriginal person there. Because they are aware of the culture and they might be able to bring to us and bring us aware of some of the subjects that we might take for granted " -- Trustee Sanchez
Trustee Kuntz also spoke to the idea of assigning a spot on the Board for Indigenous representation, finding some positive attributes to the concept, though offering a nod towards the existing process of elected officials, in the end not quite making a decision either way.
Trustee Horne spoke in favour of the prospect of adding an appointed seat for the Board.
"I'm also in favour of this idea of having a Trustee seat designated towards an Indigenous person. I think anytime we can encourage Indigenous people to be on the board when we have such a large representation in the public is an excellent idea and their input would be great". -- Trustee Horne
Before the conversation came to a close Trustee Last pointed out that currently there were three members of Indigenous background on the Board, herself, Chair Toye and Ms. Beil and because they don't vocalize their heritage doesn't mean that they don't have a perspective on the frame of reference.
For her part Board Chair Kate Toye observed how there is a lot of room available to look for mechanisms to ensure that Indigenous voices are involved in the School Board process.
The Board followed up their review with a decision to table the letter and reconsider the issue at some future session.
The discussion over the proposed change to School Board composition, was by far much longer than any comments directed to the other correspondences, related to Climate literacy, increased funding for the facilities grant and others from the agenda.
When it came to the Reports from Staff for the Board, Council heard on the enrolment status for the District and attendance themes from Sandra Pond.
"As of December 31st our enrolment was 1,840 students, which was down by 12 students since November 30th. And so when I did a little bit of detective work, we've had 12 students move out of the District in December, so families on the move. I have noticed since we've been back in January that we've had quite a few new registrations so I'm hoping that the numbers at January 31st will have gone up again"
Towards the notes on SD 52 attendance, Ms. Pond outlined the following results for the first week of school
"As far as attendance, when we returned on the 10th of January, the first day in our elementary schools we had 71% percent of our students attending and in our middle and secondary school we had 80% of our students attending.
And the average last week turned out to be about 77% in the high school and the middle school and 73% in the elementary school ... this is very good compared to other school districts, many other school districts in the province"
Ms. Pond also provided a comparison between 2021 and 2022 attendance levels.
"Granted it was still the pandemic but what we noticed there was that for elementary schools in the first few weeks back last January we had 82% of our elementary students attending and 82 percent of our middle and secondary students attending. So we're not, we're down a little bit and I think Omicron is most likely the reason for that but it's not a lot different'
The Board were provided with a range of options for upcoming School Calendars for the years ahead for early review, which they were asked to be sent out for Consultation.
Superintendent Andrew Samoil provided for a COVID update noting of the preparations that the Board put in place prior to the school restart earlier in January, as well as to advise that the situation remains fluid and changes rapidly from the Ministry.
He outlined some of the measures in place at the moment towards the guidelines that have bee provided to the District by the Province He also updated the plans for COVID testing, the SD provision for masks and face shields and the element of Functional closures that could be put in place if the situation warrants.
The Superintendent provided the Board with an update on how the School District would approach the collection of vaccination data if requested by the Health Office in Prince Rupert.
"The Provincial Health Office, locally we call it the Medical Health Officer, or Health Office. Has also just recently issued an order whereby they may, this is not for certain, but they may issue a request to determine the vaccination status of employees from one of our schools, or from a worksite, or a department.
We are just starting today, now that we have this information, we are just starting on this, on how we can safely and accurately collect this data, if an order was issued to us. And my understanding is this would only be requested if there is some kind of outbreak or large number of people testing positive. And again this order has not been given, but we have asked to prepare for this"
Towards the work on the School District work on Strategic planning, Mr. Samoil noted of some delays, owing to COVID and the late start to the January school year.
The Secretary/Treasurer outlined some notes on a range of reports on Expenditures and Operations.
The Board reviewed a number of other reports from Committee and outlined the road ahead through February for District work.
The gathering also heard comments from the PRDTU President Gabriel Bureau, who spoke to the topic of the Indigenous representation conversation and COVID vaccination data gathering at the end of the session the union representative describing the concept as concerning.
Mr. Bureau putting forward the oft stated goals of the union towards, N95 masks, ventilation improvements and informing parents on vaccinations, all which he suggested would have a greater effect.
The PRDTU president adding how he found the call by the Ministry for the prospect of disclosure of vaccination status a bizarre approach.
The full video of the Board Session of January 18th can be viewed below:
The Beach at Prudhomme Lake Provincial Park (from BC Parks)
With more than a few complaints still echoing through the provincial system of parks and recreation sites, BC Parks is about to embark on a redesign of their reservation system, with the Provincial agency setting out its course ahed through an information statement from Friday.
“More people every year are getting out and connecting with nature and green space in our beautiful BC Parks. It’s key to our health and well-being. We’ve engaged with people over the past two years and we’ve heard the call for improvements to the reservation service and the need to build a more reliable, easy-to-use service system.” -- George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
The plans for the redesign include:
More flexible search options to find and book a campsite
Maps, calendars and lists of available sites for quicker navigation
Saved booking preferences and locations within customer accounts
As many as five large photos per campsite.
The new system is expected to be online and in operation in time for March 24th in time for booking park reservations for 2022.
The 2021 campaign experience made for a number of frustrations for those seeking space, with spots filling up quickly, systems crashing and in some cases reservations thought made, somehow not being recorded properly.
