New RCMP Build shapes the streetscape at McBride and Third Ave East

The view from McBride Street of the new
RCMP detachment under construction 

Progress continues forward towards the new RCMP detachment, with much of the facility now framed up  with a roof atop, the work to date providing a visual guide now as to the footprint of the structure at Third Avenue West and McBride adjacent the Provincial Court House.

At the October 23rd City Council session, a report for Council on the status of Major Projects indicated that the work on the new detachment to this point had reached the 25 percent completion rate.

The City used the Alternative Approval Process towards securing assent of voters for the 25 million dollar loan towards the cost of the project.

In early October, the City formally announced the details towards the art work that is destined for the new detachment. 

Occupancy of the new detachment is anticipated for sometime in 2024, though a specific date has yet to be set.

The RCMP detachment build was in the news earlier this week following an incident on October 30th which saw a decommissioned gas line struck.  

The situation one which resulted in a minor gas leak, it necessitated a small scale evacuation of neighbouring businesses until PNG and CT Northern Contractors Alliance the contractors on site had a chance to explore the damage, prior to issuing the all Clear.

The RCMP build incident was the second significant situation in recent weeks for civic infrastructure projects, an 'event' as Mayor Pond described that took place at the Montreal Circle Reservoir on October 17th.

The City has yet to provide for any expanded information on either of those situations through the range of information sharing options that they have available.

You can review all of the city's work on Major Projects and Infrastructure from our archive page here.

CN Rail Draft Pest Management Plan available for comment until November 12

The Northern Corridor is the focus for a Pest Management Plan
for CN Rail (image from CN Plan outline)

CN Rail has produced its Draft Pest Management Plan for the Northern corridor from Prince George to Prince Rupert, the notice of the document was issued on October 12th which started a one month period for comment.

Why the railway requires the Pest management program is outlined below:

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CN notes that if not manage properly unwanted vegetation can result in a number of potential hazards for railway operations. 

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The  proposed program will involve a range of pesticides and methods of delivery for them.

Products could be applied by ground baed methods, including backpack, wick/wipe applicator, power hose and nozzle, shrouded broom or radiarc sprayer. Mechanical or manual methods may also be used and include hand removal  or cutting, trimming mowing, brush cutters and chain saws.

Once approved, the Pest manage plan is proposed to be in effect from April 2024 and for an additional five years until 2029.

You can access the document through a google search using PMP Confirmation #: CN-24/29-BCW in the Search engine, that will bring up a downloadable document for viewing.

Those wishing to submit comments have until November 12th to do so.

The address to forward comment to is:

Public Inquiry-Pest Management Plan
935 de la Gauchetière Street West
Montreal, Quebec
H3B 2M9

For more information on the program you can call CN at 1-888-888-5909

or by email at contact@cn.ca

More notes on CN Rail can be reviewed through our archive page.

Port Tariff Information available for comment until December 11th

The Prince Rupert Port Authority has released its proposed
Tariff changes for 2024

The Prince Rupert Port Authority has put forward its proposed Port Tariff listings for 2024 a document which would see a number of existing fees increase, the majority of them to increase by about 5.2 percent over this years rates.

 This years proposed increase is slightly less than the 5.8% that was installed at the start of the year for 2023.

The proposed Fee increases for the year ahead look as follows:

Included in the information for rate payers is some background towards Harbour Dues and how the Green Wave Program could offer reduced fees.

The Green Wave Program, offers reduced harbor fees to vessels that have implemented emission reduction measures and/or other environmental practices to improve their environmental performance. 

The program focuses on environmental certification, fuel quality, technological implementation, and management practices. 

The aim of the Green Wave program is to incentivize Vessel Owners to increase their environmental awareness and continue to improve the performance of their Vessels.

The full documentation on the proposed changes can be reviewed here, the proposed tariff revisions would come into effect as of January 1, 2024.

Those that make use of the Port facilities and services can make representation towards the proposed changes, by contacting the PRPA in writing the address and phone numbers towards that are included in the link to the documentation above. 

The deadline for those correspondences is December 11, 2023.

More notes on items of interest from the Prince Rupert Port Authority can be explored through our archive page here.

Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery launches another season for Stream to Sea Program

Taking stock of the Broodstock, the Oilfield Creek Hatchery
Stream to Sea program is underway in local schools for another year

It's over to Mother Nature after the volunteers with the Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery successfully delivered their broomstick to local schools for a year long observation project called Stream to Sea.

The work began in mid October with the collection of the Broodstock by the volunteers who waded into Hays Creek to set the education program in motion.

Once collected, the broomstick was delivered to local schools in Prince Rupert, as well as the Library and the Lax Kw'alaams School. From there students will be monitoring the health and growth of the stock.

All images above from Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery FB page

Members of the public can follow the cycle from the Prince Rupert Library which is inviting the public to drop in from time to time to see how things are developing.

You can follow how the project evolves this year through the Oldfield Creek Hatchery social media page, as well as those of the area schools.

More community notes can be reviewed here.

First Nation's Leaders' gathering closes today after two days of relationship building in Vancouver

The eighth annual BC First Nations Leader's Gathering wraps up later this afternoon, brining a close to two days of engagement for Indigenous leaders from across the province with members of the BC Cabinet.

Premier David Eby, together with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Robert Phillips, Regional Chief Terry Teegee and Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, opened the two-day event Nov. 2, 2023. 

They committed to work together to build on the strong foundations of a government-to-government relationship and to advance meaningful reconciliation in the province, to uphold self-determination and create opportunity for everyone in B.C.

The event is taking place at the Vancouver Convention Centre and much like the UBCM gathering of September, the session of Thursday and again today provided for access to range of provincial government officials through one on one meetings.  

As well the event has a full agenda of plenary sessions and discussion forums on a number to themes.

More than 1,000 people registered to attend the event, which is the largest number yet for participation in the annual event.  193 First Nations from across the province are in attendance, scheduling more than 900 one on one sessions with provincial officials.

Among those in attendance from the Northwest was a delegation from the Nisga' Nation which shared some of their notes and discussion themes from Day One with the membership.

Some of the discussion themes for the gathering included Alignment of Laws in British Columbia, Homelessness and Encampment response,  Operationalizing Consent and New Decision Making Models, Anti Racism Legislation, The BC Tripartite Education Agreement and the Declaration Act Action Plan commitments, Forest landscape planning, Emergency Management and Distinction Based Approach discussions. 

Beyond the volume of BC Cabinet ministers and First Nations leaders in attendance, among those participating in some of those plenary sessions was Jody Wilson-Raybould the former MP and Federal Liberal Cabinet Minister.

As well, Thursday featured a keynote address from Leanne Enoch, an Australian cabinet minister who is in charge of a number of Aboriginal portfolios with the Australian government.

The two day event also featured a number of exhibits for conference attendees to explore

The full agenda for the event can be reviewed here.

What the Premier and the First Nation hosts hope to accomplish through the two days was outlined in a statement towards the event which you can review here.

With a full day of one on one sessions planned for yesterday, the Legislature took a break from its proceedings. Wrapping the week up on Wednesday, so as to allow for members to make the journey across to Vancouver for the event.

More notes from the Legislature can be reviewed here.

On your mark, Get Set, Go ... to the Rupert Runners AGM November 7th

Prince Rupert's dedicated community of runners is hosting their Annual General Meeting next week, with a Tuesday night session set to provide updates on the Rupert Runners Program on the North Coast.

Some of the information flow on the night could look at the major running events each year in the city, as well as hopes of rebuilding the Learn 2 Run Clinic program on the North Coast.

The AGM takes place  Tuesday November 7th at the Crest Hotel from 6 to 7 PM in the Rockwell Room

The Non-Profit is always looking for additional members to take on the duties of keeping the organization  moving forward, expanding on the membership and looking for ways to grow the sport.

Updates on the AGM can be followed from their Social media stream.

A glimpse into what Rupert Runners is all about can be found from their website.

Notes on the Running scene in the Northwest can be explored through our archive page.

BC United put Skeena MLA into the spotlight on Carbon Tax and Affordability push back

Skeena MLA Ellis Ross shares some notes in a video on the
BC United program on affordability in the province

Skeena MLA Ellis Ross appears to be one of the key members of the BC United Party when it comes to speaking out on the Party's concerns over Carbon Taxes and the impact on affordability for British Columbians.

As we outlined yesterday, the MLA had one of the highlight spots in the Chamber this week, to raise issues related to the Carbon Tax and the rising cost of living in the province.

On Wednesday the MLA had taken the Carbon Tax push back to Question Period with a number of questions for the Government.

Coming out of his appearances in the House, Mr. Ross took his message next to social media, relaying more details on the BC United program towards the Carbon Tax and other areas of household finances.

The Video seemingly taking some pages from the current Federal Conservative campaign on Carbon Taxes; that push owing to some recent moves by the Trudeau Liberals to reduce the impact of the tax on Atlantic Canada but not the rest of the nation.

In his commentary for his video, Ross notes of the BC United Caucus  plan to reduce the impact for British Columbians, with the focus for the MLA on the elimination of the cost for heating homes.

As was noted, the plan has four key elements including the focus on home heating costs, the full four point program the BC United would put in place looks as follows:

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The full BC United plan can be reviewed here.

As the Skeena MLA notes on his social media stream,  BC United leader Kevin Falcon has plans for a trip to the Northwest on Monday. 

No schedule has been made public as of yet, so there's no indication from the BC United North Coast riding association  if Mr. Falcon will bring his carbon tax reduction themes to the Prince Rupert area.

More notes from the Legislature can be reviewed here.