The BC Ferry Commissioner has approved an increase for the next four years, though the final number likely will change to a lower increase when finalized in September
Travellers on BC Ferries got a glimpse of the scope of the financial challenges for the Ferry Corporation on Friday, that as the BC Ferry Commission authorized a potential price increase to be capped at 9.6 percent, though it's not likely to be the increase we will see as we board the ferries of the service through the next four years.
Ferries Commissioner Eva Hage noted of ongoing labour issues, rising fuel prices and a range of costs to go with an aging fleet in allowing for the near double digit increase.
“Facing labour difficulties and high inflation, BC Ferries is emerging from the current performance term (PT5) in less-robust financial shape than initially expected. And the next four years (PT6) will bring significant additional challenges.
Continued labour supply issues, rising fuel prices, escalating costs associated with maintaining an ageing fleet, and a 12-year, $5.2- billion proposed capital plan driven by a need to replace vessels will create substantial pressure. Given this, we believe that a price cap of 9.2% is appropriate and necessary to allow BC Ferries to meet the demands of the upcoming performance term.”
However, some financial assistance on the way, to be provided by the Province will likely make for a reduction in the proposed rate hike. The final rate on that is anticipated to be around the 3 percent mark for the next four years ahead.
As the BC Ferry Commissioner notes in the decision, the Province of British Columbia recently announced 50 million dollars in funding, the money will go towards core costs like fuel, as well as to support initiatives to move toward electrification for the BC Ferries fleet.
The final decision by the Ferries Commissioner won't come until September, when the final rate will be set for the next four years.
A shout out for Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and some notes on the recent visit to the North Coast by Premier David Eby made for some comments in the Legislature last week by North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice.
Ms. Rice used her time in Statements on Thursday for the tribute to Mr. Eby's journey north, the MLA noting of the many departments that the Premier had time to visit while at PRRH, as well as her own recent experience with the care from the Summit Avenue Hospital in Prince Rupert.
Some images of the Premier's visit to PRRH (From BC Gov't Flickr feed)
Among the stops that Ms. Rice called attention towards included: Emergency Department, various labs and service areas, kitchen staff, cleaning staff, Indigenous liaison worker, as well as his discussions with health officials at the facility.
The MLA also noting of the challenges to infrastructure at the hospital and some of the new equipment that is now in place at the Hospital.
The MLA while speaking with much enthusiasm on the Premier's time in Prince Rupert, did bury the lede as the newspaper business would say; actually, when we think about it ... it wasn't so much burying it, but to skip over it completely.
As part of his tour, in addition to the tour of the hospital the Premier was to take part in a fundraising event for the North Coast Constituency and to meet with some local officials.
So caught up in her themes of health care, the speaking time for statements came to a conclusion before she could recount any of the Premier's other stops during his time in the city.
The full statement to the House can be reviewed below:
A full portfolio of photos from the Premier's visit of March is available through the BC Gov't Flckr feed
Prince Rupert Mayor Pond was the subject of a feature Open Connection session on CFTK TV 7 recently (image from Open Connection video)
TV viewers in the Prince Rupert area recently had a chance to learn more about how Mayor Herb Pond views the work ahead, with the city's top elected official the subject of an Open Connection feature, which has now been posted to the Terrace based TV station's YouTube archive.
The session hosted by Robert Pictou, appears to have been culled from comments from the Mayor shortly after his election in the fall of 2022, that by way of references to the supportive housing complex Crane's Crossing as still under construction
The facility (opened in late January of this year) a reference, along with a few other themes noted in passing mostly through the city's quest for additional funding for infrastructure suggest of the time period that has passed from interview to posting to the You Tube archive.
Still, the twenty minutes or so of the Mayor's observations provide for a thumbnail view of how he is looking at the challenges ahead for the community.
Mr. Pond recounted the challenging times of his first administration over a decade ago and how the challenges of them differ to what is ahead for the community.
He observed on the development and success of the Container terminal and other stakeholders and how the community is still trying to catch up to that success noting of the mismatch between the Port and the community to keep up on infrastructure and housing.
"We are a small community that is being expected to host this international port complex, we're thankful for that, this is not by any means a complaint.
But there is a mismatch between the ability between of what a local tax base is able to do in supporting that and that's precisely what the next four years, with what the last eight years and beyond has been about, but also what the next four years and beyond are about.
Is attracting, building the kind of coalitions that can attract the funding that allows us to be that host community that the port needs"
Other themes Mr Pond explored included the need for housing, water infrastructure and how the city has fallen way behind on providing for such elements for the community.
"We need to grow our community, we've been pretty stagnant at 12,000 people, if we're gonna help the small businesses which have been really impacted by the carving out of, hollowing out of their workforce as people are attracted to those high end, high paying jobs we need to grow the community, if we're going to grow the community we need more housing"
The Mayor spoke of the need for partnerships with Local First Nations and various levels of government towards the many areas of shared interests for all in the region.
He also explored themes of employment in the community noting of worker shortages in the community, noting of the challenges found at Prince Rupert Regional hospital
"I'm told that the Hospital currently is now staffed roughly at fifty percent by travel nurses, people who come from away work here short term and then move on to other places.
That's costing the hospital a lot more I'm sure, but it's also not something that then helps us build a strong community.
We're thankful for the nurses that are coming, don't get me wrong, but what we'd rather get to is a place where we have the population that supports a) the services but also provides the workers into those services.
And what we've said about the hospital is equally true about the Car Dealerships, the School District and so many other industries"
The issues of labour shortages made for some review of how the lack of local workers is having an impact on moving forward on housing, the Mayor observing how he his pro immigration, an area that he would like to see Prince Rupert attract workers from.
"In Prince Rupert, we would love to attract some of those workers into our community, we see the need in all of our businesses, and our service suppliers even our government services for attracting those immigrants into Rupert, so we'll do everything we can to make sure we receive our fair share of the immigration"
A timely passage for this Budget period had the mayor noting the burden on taxpayers in the community and what has become the frequent refrain from the City of the need for more assistance from the provincial and federal governments.
A passage of conversation that clearly came well before the recent 65 million dollars in funding from the Provincial overmen for waterline infrastructure help.
"There is no possible way that the local taxpayers can pull off the success that Canada's Port requires to be successful. We can do a lot, and we have a great little community we love our community.
But there are major issues that need to be dealt with and people often refer to First World Port, second world, third world community.
We're definitely not a Second, Third world community but we're not all that the port needs us to be. And so if that port is going to be successful, if that port is important to British Columbia and to Canada ... we've been receiving good feedback from Senior levels of government hopefully that breaks through to some real funding opportunities, that's going to be the focus for the next four years, without a doubt.
Of this council, of the Mayor's office, of our staff, is securing the kind of investments that are required to make sure that the community isn't found wanting when it comes to delivering on the promises that are required for the Port to be successful"
Mr Pond reviewed some of the current initiatives such as the RCMP detachment build, a project that he had deferred on back in his first term of over a decade ago, he also observed of the need for a new fire hall for the community.
He also observed on the challenges for community groups who hare having problems attracting volunteers for their initiatives and how events are put on in the city.
"It just means that you have to rethink things, be a little creative. Those community festivals are vital to the sense of community and who we are, so we'll always have to find ways to put them on"
The Mayor had no new themes to share on the airport, reinforcing its importance to the community and with port expansion the need and opportunity that could come to move more cargo in years ahead.
"No news on the airport, it's an important asset for the City of Prince Rupert, I think it will play an even more role moving forward, the opportunity to move more cargo, particularly as the Port thinks about expanding into more Logistics parks and those kinds of things, the airport will play an important role.
We have a great airport, good landing opportunities out there, reliable airport, the challenge we have of course is getting people and goods back and forth to that airport.
We've got some thoughts as to how we can make some improvements there, but the ultimate solution that you mention of some sort of hard road access is many many years down the road"
The Mayor recounted of his past work with an LNG proponent in Prince Rupert noting of the massive capital investment that those projects could have provided and how they could have contributed to be a catalyst for the Prince Rupert airport, much like the Terrace-Kitimat airport has seen.
"As our industries are growing, they're not as capital intensive as an LNG terminal is and so the amounts of dollars that we're dealing with aren't quite the same level. But certainly for every expansion we see in the industries here in Prince Rupert it brings us closer to an opportunity to solve some of the issues we have in accessing the airport"
One final area of into from the interview was homelessness and social issues in the community. The interview noting at the time then, of the still to be completed Cranes' Crossing and the strong partnerships that the city has community groups.
"A large part of it is being able to house the people who currently live here in a manner that they can actually afford to have a life, that isn't the whole problem of homelessness there are of course all kinds of issues around homelessness. Every city in Canada is dealing with in some shape or form, nobody has found the silver bullet that solves it but there are things we can do.
I'm grateful as a leader in a small community is that we have some really effective partners in Prince Rupert, I look at the North Coast Transitions Society that they have done already ... "
He observes on the current state of the downtown area as well and the events that are shaping that situation.
"We need to be constantly thinking as to how we help those folks and at the same time still have a livable community for the rest of us.
I mean one of the challenges are you know when homelessness explodes and people are on the streets, and if the drug trade is part of that, alcoholism whatever, is people feel less safe on the streets, and citizens feel less proud of the community if there's litter and garbage and whatever from all of those things.
It's a multifaceted problem, we're not going to solve it overnight, but I think we've got some great resources that we can work with."
Some areas of note towards working own those issues made for a few more thoughts from Mr. Pond
"Unfortunately part of that is going to be, there's got to be an element of policing that is attached to that as well. This has to be a place where everybody feels safe, it's got to be a place where that business owner can successfully operate a business and not worry about somebody sleeping in their doorway, or damage to their windows, or whatever that may be scaring off customers.
But it also needs to be a safe place for the person that finds themselves in that homeless situation, sometimes we get that balance really well and right and sometimes it falls a little bit away.
Often times its linked to one or two individuals that sort of tip the scale one way or the other, so often from a policing point of view it's been effective to focus on one or two individuals, who are the real problem makers and deal with them. It's something we're very cognizant of, something we will be working very closely with all those agencies to make sure we do the best we can"
As we've noted, the majority of the interview appears to be from the fall, so residents can check through the list to see how much progress has been found to date on the issues noted by the Mayor and what steps City Council may have taken so far to address them.
Prince Rupert Rotarians saluted the Prince Rupert Ramapge this weekend, paying tribute to the CIHL team's community involvement (Photo from PR Rampage FB)
The Prince Rupert Rampage have been applauded for their community involvement with the CIHL hockey club honoured by the Prince Rupert Rotary Club over the weekend.
At a Saturday event, the Rampage organization was awarded the Rotary's Paul Harris Fellow Award, one of the highest awards that the community service organization has.
The Rampage made note of the honour through their social media stream over the weekend.
The local Senior Men's hockey club is a leader when it comes to community involvement and is rewriting the text book for hockey teams to follow in giving back to Community.
The CIHL team has launched a number of initiatives over the years, causes that have been embraced by their large fan base and taken to some impressive levels of community involvement.
The most recent initiative that generated both financial reward and community spirit was their month long January Fight against Cancer which raised money for three scopes for the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital.
As things turned, out we were a tad over generous in our anticipation of a even split of that 45 million, with North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice relaying the funding amounts destined for the Prince Rupert Library and Vancouver Island Libraries (which include Haida Gwaii) on Friday.
The MLA noting of the vital nature of libraries to the communities which they serve and how the funding will assist in their work.
“Public libraries are incredible assets to our communities, that provide not only accessible information, but also a place to connect .Libraries serve all members of our community from all walks of life and for many different purposes. Its more than just books, its access to knowledge which is obtained in many ways. I am thrilled to see this funding going towards something so impactful.” -- Jennifer Rice, MLA for the North Coast.
As noted in the funding announcement the Prince Rupert Library will receive $207,543.05 for its share among the 71 libraries.
Libraries on Haida Gwaii will receive a share of the $2,044,280.72 that has been directed towards the Vancouver Island regional library program to which they belong.
The Prince Rupert Library at Sixth Ave West and McBride
The Library funding is delivered through a range of parameters that include census population count.
The full documentation on how the Province allocates its grants for libraries can be reviewed here.
The Gitxaala First Nation is at the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver today launching a challenge towards BC's mineral staking process
What is being described as a landmark mining case is underway in a Vancouver Court room, with the Gitxaala Nation making for the first Indigenous Nation to put the enforceability of the BC Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in the spotlight.
Mineral claims on Banks Island are at the forefront of the Gitxaala First Nation case being heard
The hearing underway is related to a Gitxaala Nation challenge against the provincial government's 'free entry' mineral claim staking regime. The first challenge in BC that seeks to overturn multiple mineral claims granted by the Province for the Lax kana dzol, known as Banks Island.
The Gitxaala Nation has stated that those claims were granted without consent, consultation or even notification to the Nation. Observing that by giving away mineral rights that are part of their territory, the Province has "broken both our laws and their own"
“Gitxaała smgyigyet (hereditary leaders) have the responsibility to manage and protect our territories and resources according to the ayaawx (Gitxaała laws).
Our ayaawx expresses, among other things, the sacredness of our territory, and the need to treat the environment with the greatest respect and to ensure proper treatment of our resources.
By giving away the mineral rights that are part of our territory, the Province has broken both our laws, and their own,” -- Gitxaała Sm’ooygit Nees Hiwaas (Matthew Hill).
Gitxaala Chief Councillor Linda Innes noted of the Nation's concerns over how the province is handling mining rights in the territory.
“Despite the reported progress and new relationships promised when the government signed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act into law, the Province continues to give away mining rights in our territory without our consent. This impacts our ownership, governance and use of our
lands, and interferes with our right to make management decisions and to choose our own priorities.
While proudly announcing its commitments to reconciliation, the Crown continues to argue in court
that they have no legal obligation to make good on those commitments – and that is a problem that should be of serious to concern to all residents of British Columbia, not just Gitxaała"
In addition to the quest to setting aside existing mineral claims, the Gitxaala Nation is the court to suspend claim staking in their Territory.
The hearing will take place from today until April 14th.
This is a four day work week for the city's workforce, as we head towards Good Friday and Easter weekend. And that means there is a change for many when it comes to the weekly garbage and recycling collection scheduled.
The City outlined how the calendar has shifted as part of a social media message from Friday.
You can review all of the city's notes related to the Garbage and Recycling collection program from the City's Website.
If you need more information on the program contact the City's Operations office at 250-624-5482.
