City staff have started moving forward on the City's plans for an Indigenous Relations Committee putting out the call for applicants to sit on the Committee for their work ahead.
The invitation was issued through the city's social media stream on Wednesday, noting of the partnership with Kxeen Community Services that will work towards the objectives that are guiding the process.
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The call for applicants is looking to fill spots for three 'at large committee' members.
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City Council advanced the initiative in December as part of their focus on Reconciliation, that with a presentation from Veronika Stewart, Manager of Communications, Engagement and Social Development which charted the path forward towards the Committee development.
Conservative MP Damien Kurek from Alberta introduced a petition from Skeena-Bulkley Valley, a presentation that set of some Parliamentary fireworks earlier this week
The introduction of a petition signed by residents of Skeena-Bulkley Valley has made for some fascinating political theatre in the House of Commons, with calls for apologies and some making for some positioning for the upcoming election campaign all part of the narrative.
The drama-a-rama of the Commons began with the introduction of the Skeena-Bulley Valley petition by a Member of Parliament from Alberta, with Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek stating that the petition had been refused to be presented by the NDP MP for the riding Taylor Bachrach.
"Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to stand in this place and present petitions. I am presenting a unique petition today, because this particular petition was offered to the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, but he refused to present it in this place.
Therefore, I stand on behalf of the people of Skeena—Bulkley Valley and present this petition that calls for a number of things, highlights the absurdity of Liberal gun rules and calls upon the Government of Canada to stop any and all current and future bans on hunting and sport shooting firearms.
It is an honour to stand in this place on behalf of the people of Skeena—Bulkley Valley and represent them, because their MP certainly is not. "-- Battle River-Crowfoot ConservativeMP Damien Kurek
To get a better understanding of the Tuesday tempest in the House of Commons, The North Coast Review reached out to the Member of Parliament's Ottawa office, seeking some clarification on the situation.
The reply from Legislative Assistant Margaret Crew noted that the MP "never received a request to sponsor the petition, but he did have an odd in-person interaction with a Conservative Party activist in Smithers who asked him to sign the petition (which, as a parliamentarian, he doesn’t do)."
A further observation charts some of the political temperature both in Ottawa and in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding as the election speculation period heats up this year.
"It’s simply political game playing on the part of the Conservatives. Taylor is focused on priorities like securing federal funds for Prince Rupert’s water infrastructure, delivering dental care and building affordable housing."
The correspondence also observed on some of Mr. Bachrach's past work on the issue of firearms.
Noting that the MP "is proud of his work pushing back against the Liberal government’s ill-advised amendments that would have affected people in the northwest who use hunting rifles and shotguns."
To highlight that theme, a presentation in the House of December 8th by the MP in the House of Commons was included in the reply.
Mr. Bachrach's spokesperson also noted that from the day's proceedings that the MP's were made to apologize by the Speaker, though from the day's proceedings you have to parse a lot of words to find any Conservative versions of mea culpa.
So far, the Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP has yet to respond to the theatre of earlier this week in the House through his Social media platforms of Facebook or Twitter X.
The Conservative focus on the Northwest riding from this early start however should serve as a preview of more to come as the Parliamentary session moves forward.
As we saw and heard last month in Prince Rupert, the Conservatives clearly believe that with Ellis Ross as their nominee, the prospect of toppling the NDP in Skeena-Bulkley Valley is something that they believe is doable.
And from that, we imagine that this riding will see much more attention, a lot more rhetoric and much more political theatre in the House and away from it as a pre election narrative.
It's been a rough few months for Shames Mountain with rain making for challenges for their ski season in the Northwest (image from Shames FB)
The 2023-24 ski season in BC is going to be a memorable one, mostly for the lost opportunities to hit the slopes pretty well wherever ski and board enthusiasts may live.
The arrival of El Niño conditions this winter for BC while making for less snow and warmer temperatures have also meant that Ski resorts have thrown out their financial forecast for this year, with repeated closures owing to a lack of snow or heavy rains.
That's the situation facing Shames Mountain, which saw much rainfall earlier this week and yesterday announced plans to Close the resort for today and tomorrow with hopes of better conditions for the weekend.
The ravages of El Niño have been less intrusive to operations at Hudson Bay Mountain in Smithers, though they too have had reduced operations at times this season.
British Columbia's Projected Population change from 2022-2046 Map from BC Data Report
Those forecasts from Prince Rupert civic officials of a population of 24,000 residents by 2030 may need a new a review and an eraser.
That at least if the latest population forecasts from BC Data holds true to its predictions for 2046.
The population of British Columbia as of today is noted as 5.5 million, that will jump to just under 8 million in the next 22 years.
The report released this week notes that while all of British Columbia will see some in migration as we reach 7.9 million, the moving vans will largely be heading the way of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island regions.
British Columbia’s population is anticipated to reach 7.9 million (+49%2) in 2046. While
population is anticipated to increase across all of British Columbia’s development
regions, growth will be concentrated in the Lower Mainland/Southwest region, which is
projected to reach a population of 4.9 million in 2046 (+51%). Growth will continue to be
driven almost entirely by migration.
Few of those 2.5 million newcomers on the way however seem destined for the Northwest region.
For the North Coast the report notes of a Population growth for Prince Rupert of a more modest number of 4,081 new neighbours to come by 2046, which would make our population 17,253 an increase of 31% from today
BC Data notes that the current population level for Prince Rupert is 13,172 as of 2022, that still a positive trend from the free fall numbers of just a few years ago.
Across the Northwest, Terrace will continue to dominate the population growth listings, the forecast for the Skeena Valley Hub City is for a population of 19,268 by 2046 a population spike of 44 percent from today.
Kitimat will see a jump to 10,743 by 2046, Smithers is anticipated to see 30 percent growth with a population. of 7,444 by 2046.
The full BC Data report on population growth and a range of factors and observations related to it can be explored here.
That information December session at the Lester Centre hosted by then Mayor Lee Brain and featuring Urban Planner Larry Beasley had estimated a population of 24,000 residents by the end of this decade.
The themes presented that night highlighting a range of elements that would transform the city with the growth that was anticipated.
Notable from the exchange between Port officials and city councillors, is that it seems that the pencil sharpening on population forecasts has already taken place.
The data projection from the provincial agency will be a valuable tool for both City Hall and School District planning for the years ahead.
For the city areas such as housing and commercial development and infrastructure timelines could be impacted by reduced expectations, while the School District will have to factor in how the new numbers related to potential enrolment numbers.
As well with a lower than anticipated in-migration, it also would bring a lower than expected tax base, which will make for future themes for discussion at Budget making time.
Provincially the population estimates will likely help shape plans for health care an other government services for the Prince Rupert area.
Some brush clearing on the west side waterfront in January (photo submitted by an NCR reader)
Some land clearing work on the Prince Rupert waterfront adjacent to the Drax Westview Pellet Terminal has been the talk of the neighbourhood on the west side of the city.
Work recently began in the area with light brush clearing machinery and other equipment creating a cleared area on Prince Rupert Port Authority land, leading to some speculation from area residents of some kind of new development percolating.
Such was the interest in the activity in the area, one of our readers forwarded some photos of the site to highlight the work that has taken place.
photo submitted to the NCR from a reader
To learn more about the work, the NCR contacted Olivia Mowatt, Senior Communications Officer with the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
Her statement puts the work in focus as that of preparation work for some upcoming remediation of an old industrial area of the waterfront.
"PRPA recently undertook a project that required the clearing of brush and trees on PRPA property adjacent to Graham Avenue and the Westview Wood Pellet Terminal.
The site has a historical industrial background, and there are several underground concrete tanks and related equipment that have been identified on the property.
To safely and properly assess whether it is a risk to public safety and the environment and design a remediation program
for the property, it was deemed necessary to clean up the site."
Ms. Mowatt also added that the Port had delivered letters advising residents in the immediate area that the work was about to take place.
Other than the remediation work, the Port spokeswoman notes that there are no other development plans for the site in question.
Claire Ratée is setting her sights on the upcoming BC election announced as the BC Conservative Party candidate on Tuesday
The BC Conservative's have attracted a well known Northwest politician and businesswoman towards their plans to gain seats in the BC Legislature; that as Kitimat's Claire Ratée was announced on Tuesday as the party's candidate for the next provincial election in Skeena.
Ms. Ratée who moved from civic politics in Kitimat to the Federal scene ran in two Federal elections in 2019 and 2021.
Her tireless work in the region helped to build the Conservative brand in the region, her travels across the northwest making for some favourable impressions for the party in the region and increased the Federal Conservatives share of the vote in Skeena-Bulkley Valley.
The Skeena Riding provincially is currently held by BC United MLA Ellis Ross, but as was announced last month, he too is making a shift, announced as the Federal Conservative candidate for the next Federal election.
The departure of the popular incumbent in Ross, (who at one time was rumoured to be considering a jump to the BC Conservatives) certainly puts the provincial seat in play come the provincial election.
The new BC Conservative candidate shared her enthusiasm for Ross's federal ambitions through Twitter X on Wednesday, as well as to outline her own plans for Skeena in the campaign ahead.
With the BC Conservatives currently the second most popular party in the province, the possibility of a seat gain for the party led by John Rustad could very well be part of the election day narrative when British Columbians vote in come October 2024.
The BC United Party will be looking to hold onto to their hard earned capture of the key Northwest riding, while the BC NDP has its own plans in mind towards recapturing what was once a strong part of a three riding block of Orange on election nights.
The last polling on the Skeena Riding from 338 Canadacame prior to the decision by Ellis Ross to move to Federal politics, the findings in December of 2023 indicating a tough three way race was already shaping up and that without any candidate announcements at the time.
The indication from that December poll notes of a potential BC NDP victory, though in politics the ten months from December to October likely will see many fluctuations ahead..
With Ross moving on to the Federal side and Ms. Ratée shifting to the provincial scene, the future for Skeena likely will be determined by who the BC United nominate and how he or she resonates with the voters.
Something which could make for a shift in those polling results by the time October comes around and make Skeena a riding to watch on election night.
Note to the above story: Skeena-Bulkley Valley Conservative Association President, Ralph Weick has clarified the nature of the nomination process in the constituency.
"It’s important to note that there is no direct affiliation between the Conservative Party of Canada and the BC Conservative Party.
Two separate parties.
Also, there was a constitutional restriction to Claire Rattée running as a federal candidate in our riding for the 3rd consecutive time."
