Prince Rupert Library set to celebrate 100 years of reading and lending

They're holding a celebration this weekend at the Prince Rupert Public Library, sharing memories of 100 years of service to the community.

And in an ironic twist of history, those celebrations take place while the City discusses and debates how best to keep funding in place for the Library, in the wake of recent budget discussions.

CFTK TV provided the ironical historical talking point for this weekend, with a report on Thursday night that provided the review that when the library opened in 1913, they only offered newspapers and magazines as the City couldn't afford books.

CFTK-- Prince Rupert 100th (video)

Fast forward some 100 years and recent comments at Council about it's budget situation.

In particular the need to perhaps seek out alternative forms of funding for the Library and other community services, and well everything old seems new again doesn't it.

During the Budget approval discussion on May 9th, Councillor Thorkelson, returned to a common theme of hers of late, that of the city's Industrial partners sharing some of their wealth with the community.

In the case of the Library's needs and the Budget discussion night, she wondered aloud, if perhaps some of those Corporate Citizens might wish to provide some funding for the Library, suggesting 60,000 dollars as a helpful amount for a donation.

City Council Timeline (video portion from City video archive from 30 minutes to 33:30 minutes)

That however is a discussion for another day (not too far down the road though we imagine), this weekend it's all about 100 years of service and a chance for Prince Rupert residents to tour the place and see just what the Library has to offer.

The celebrations get underway from 2 to 4 PM on Sunday May 26th.

You can learn more about the Prince Rupert Library from their website

Another contentious Commercial salmon season ahead

The first of the salmon have yet to be landed at the processing plants, but already the summer of 2013 is looking to be a controversial one between those that fish for a living and those that watch over the stocks.

The line across the water seems to have been drawn on the issue of tracking their catch, by way of a new monitoring program.

A system of information gathering that has clearly annoyed members of the North Coast fishery and a system that will cut into their income.

An income that is already at risk owing to management plans, reduced fishing opportunities, fluctuating remuneration from fishing companies, as well as rising costs to boat owners.

The backlash to the new requirements was quick this week, as UFAWU's representative on the North Coast Joy Thorkelson (also a City of Prince Rupert councillor) held a media opportunity to highlight the concerns of the fishing fleet of the North Coast.

At her gathering, she was joined by Mayor Jack Mussallem, who lent his name and office to the cause of the fishing fleet.



CFTK-- Prince Rupert Fishing Conference (video)
CFNR-- Northern Fishermen Can't Afford New Monitoring Program (audio)
The Northern View-- Fishermen in Prince Rupert say new monitoring requirements are too costly
The Northern View-- DFO Bent on crushing fishery: Thorkelson (N View E edition pgs 1 and 2)

The NDP Member of Parliament for the region, Nathan Cullen also weighed in with commentary on the latest edicts of the Department of Fisheries, declaring that the Conservative government is "hell bent" on destroying the commercial fishery.

Northern View-- Government 'hell bent' on destroying commercial fishery, says MP

What seems particularly unfair to the Northern fishing fleet about these new requirements for monitoring, is that they are seemingly only to be in place on waters surrounding the North Coast.

Another flashpoint on the issue is that while the Commercial Fishing fleet is required to take part in the monitoring program at their own cost, the recreational fishery is not required to have a similar program in place.

That discrepancy could very well set the stage for further controversy as the fishing season gets underway.

There was no declaration of future intent on the issue at this weeks gathering, but clearly the local fishing fleet is not happy with DFO, something that is not an uncommon theme at this time of year.

What their next move is remains to be seen, however, it would appear that this summer is shaping up to be another controversial one when it comes to issues of the Fishing industry.

Background on the policies and procedures of DFO can be found at the DFO website.

You can review our past items of interest on the Fishery from our Archive page.

Famed Musical Ride returns to BC, but the closest they'll get is Prince George

As the RCMP celebrates the 140th anniversary of its founding as the NorthWest Mounted Police today,  more details are being revealed as to the nature of this summer's tour of British Columbia by the Musical Ride.

The famed equestrian unit, which appeared in Prince Rupert in June of 2009, has a full schedule of dates pencilled in for British Columbia, but for those in the Northwest looking to take in a show, a road trip will be required to take in the celebrations.

With the release of their 23 British Columbia destinations, the closest that the Musical Ride will get to our region is a two day stop-over in Prince George July 13 and 14 when they perform at the CN Center (ticket information here).

From there it's trails south as they work their way through the Central Interior with stops in Quesnel and Williams Lake, into the Okanagan, Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island with a stop planned for Port Hardy on August 7th.

You can find the full itinerary for British Columbia from the RCMP's website.

More details on the Summer Tour of the Musical ride can be found here.

The Musical Ride recently was featured in the news with the introduction of a lawsuit from a former member of the Ride, a situation that the RCMP addressed on its website yesterday.

Oil by rail option continues to generate interest in Canada and overseas

While the Northern Gateway proceedings continue on, the need for a plan B seems to be generating a bit of momentum, with Canada's major railroads seemingly the vehicle for potential oil exports should the pipeline projects prove unworkable.

CN Rail  has been fielding a number of inquiries of late, seeking further information on the prospects of shipping Alberta oil by rail to world markets, whether through the Northwest, Lower Mainland or if need be US ports.

A process of transportation which while a more costly prospect than by a dedicated pipeline, is one that would not require any form of governmental approval should it be adopted as a method of delivery.

An item in today's Globe and Mail outlines the growing interest from Canadian oil companies and Asian energy companies, both eager to find a solution to the pipeline troubles that the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal has run into of late.

In the Globe and Mail article CN Rail's J. J. Ruest outlines the nature of the interest and the infrastructure that CN has in place already that could be used to serve that need.  But CN's executive-vice president and chief marketing officer stresses that CN itself has no desires to construct an oil terminal, something that would require approval of both federal and provincial authorities.

Energy companies however, have given the prospect of constructing terminals some thought it seems, though at the moment there is nothing in the developmental or even proposal phase to point to as a working plan.

Those companies no doubt are waiting to see how the process of the Enbridge hearings and the suddenly controversial discussions over the Kinder Morgan pipeline into Vancouver all shake out.

The topic of an oil port in the northwest caught the Port of Prince Rupert by surprise in February, as the first mention of the idea came to pass on the local scene. At that time the Port outlined how they are approached by many companies all of the time, but in this instance the idea of oil shipments out of Prince Rupert were but a concept.

It's most likely not a topic that they have any further news on to share at the moment and since February, there have been a number of other possibilities floated as how to move Alberta's resources to market.

Still to be heard from are the plans of British Columbia entrepreneur David Black and his Kitimat Clean refinery project, as well, CN's network also has track that leads to shipment points on the American Gulf Coast.

There is also the proposed rail link from the Alberta oil sands across Northern BC to hook up with the terminal at Valdez, Alaska, a project that would carve yet another rail link across the province, with perhaps an impact on the Port of Prince Rupert.

Eventually all that land locked Alberta oil is going to move somewhere, what seems unknown just at the moment is whether it's east, west, south or even north that the oil will go.

From our archives a few selected items on the topic of Oil by Rail over the last year or so.

March 2013-- The Oil by Rail Option, CN builds infrastructure for the future
February 2013-- The next battle over Bitumen?
January 2013-- At the moment just a red line on a map, but in the future...

Other items of note can be found in our archives whether with Canadian National, the Port of Prince Rupert, or the Kitimat Refinery project.

More change at City Hall?

It's deja vu, all over again!

Much like we ruminated when the job posting for Dan Rodin's job popped up unexpectedly six weeks ago, we now have a new head scratcher to deal with from City Hall.

It seems like it was only yesterday that we were heralding the arrival of Robert Grodecki as the city's new Corporate Administrator, and now four years and a bit later and we're apparently looking to find a new one.

On Wednesday, the City outlined the details of a Job Posting to their website, seeking the services of a Corporate Administrator (view here), providing the background on the duties that Mr. Grodecki has handled since his arrival in March of 2009, with a fair amount of skill and under some rather trying times.

Now whether this means that he has been bumped to a more senior position, or has joined the growing  ranks of the exodus from City Hall remains to be seen.

While it's possible that perhaps Mr. Grodecki (if he had the qualifications) has been chosen to replace Mr. Rodin as CFO, (which would be about the only upwardly mobile position available at the moment). We wonder, would we not have seen an appointment letter, much as we did in March of 2009?

But as has been the case of late from Third Avenue, with little in the way of information from City Hall dispensed to the public, we're left instead to wonder, just what's going on at the home for Civic Governance in the city.

The City Hall nameplate maker has certainly been busy of late. Since January, the City has seen its City Manager and more recently Chief Financial Officer move on.

One, Mr Howie, for a position on Vancouver Island. The latter Mr. Rodin to remain a member of the community, though not in the city's employ any more.

All of which, combined with the just released job posting, makes for a rather swift revolving door situation in just five months.

One that is providing for a rather strained bit of stability, taking place at a time when the City perhaps needed some continuity most.

Regardless of how the recent personnel moves have evolved, they are changes that are sure to have made for an interesting first week for the recently hired City Manager, Robert Long.

As we outlined last week, Mr. Long arrived here on the 15th by way of Yellowknife. Bringing with him a lengthy resume on municipal governance and some interesting press clippings to the challenge ahead.

Perhaps the Mayor and Council could offer up some guidance to the city's residents as to why so many senior administrative positions are suddenly in the Help Wanted categories of late and what kind of impact all of this may be having on the day to day business at City Hall.

Then again, while Council may like to think it's been pretty pro-active with its residents, in reality communication with the public, hasn't been a particular theme of the last two years of this edition of Council.

Considering all the changes at the top of the Administration listings, it may be time to correct that.

Update: The Northern View caught up to the developments at City hall with this item posted to the paper's website mid afternoon Thursday.

Canada Post seeks financial savings from cuts and streamlining to rural services

The CBC in Manitoba provided a review last week of some plans by Canada Post to streamline its mail delivery system, by taking mail from rural communities to larger centres for sorting and distribution. 

A process which critics suggest will delay the nature of door to door delivery in those communities affected.

Canada Post Centralization will mean slower deliveries to small communities

Other postal related Issues of concern for the Northwest were first raised out of Smithers in March, when CUPW officials outlined what they believed was Canada Post's agenda for that community and the impact that it might have across rural BC.

Smithers Post Office Faces Downsizing Concerns

Those particular items of cost reduction, are part of a larger issue for Canada Post which faces an uncertain future, with the traditions of their 250 year history, not quite the same as they were when that first letter was hand delivered to its destination.

Canada Post's delicate makeover

The focus of Canada Post these days is to find ways to stay relevant and cost efficient in the era of digital communication, where letter mail is less and less a focus on the business.

Most residents will probably agree that the trip to their personal mailbox these days provides for a much reduced load of items, most of them in the way of advertising or charitable solicitations. The prospect of a shift from daily to more flexible delivery schedule may yet be a point of discussion as the volume and nature of home mail continues to change.

In fact, with many companies looking to migrate their customers to e billing, just receiving a bill in the mail could prove costly to the recipient. Something that probably will only result in less in the way of paper bills coming to your door in the old fashioned letter mail version.

Beyond the possibility of rural users finding their mail hauled to more central locations for sorting, the larger issues for Canada Post are quite daunting.

A recent report from the Conference Board of Canada provided for a talking point of sorts for Canada Post, which was quick to post its findings a part of the larger discussion on the future.

Seeking public comment through the Canada Post website.

It's an issue that the Postal union CUPW has raised flags over with its membership, launching a campaign for membership involvement in the debate.

Though considering the nature of the ongoing evolution of our methods of information delivery, trying to salvage the current model, may be a case of fighting a fight, that may have already been lost.

The Search is on at School District 52

The quest to find a replacement for departing Superintendent Lynn Hauptman has commenced as the Prince Rupert School District provided a few items of note on the process ahead at its last meeting.

In a media release issued by the School District on May 14th, SD52 advised that they will be making the use of the services of Make-a-Future, a provincial data base and jobs posting service for teaching professionals.

The timeline for replacement doesn't appear to be of a short term period, as the School District's release advised that the new superintendent will be announced over the summer.

Ms. Hauptman's departure for the Southeast Kootenay's was announced on April 23rd, with Board Chair Tina Last providing the tribute to the departing Superintendent's work in the community as part of the announcement. 

We offered up this review of those developments, with this item on the blog back on April 25th.

Left unsaid in both items released to the media, was whether the School District would be making use of a consultant once again in the search for a new Superintendent.

Consultant's fees have proven to be a rather controversial topic over the last few years when it comes to the School District. So the prospect of more consultation (should it be required) to guide the School District through this latest required changeover, would no doubt be of interest to observers of School District spending.

In addition to the School District announcement on the search for Ms. Hauptman's replacement, the Board also announced that the 2014 Annual Budget had been passed.

That after Board members  reconsidered the controversial succession plan that had been offered for consideration by Ms. Hauptman, prior to her departure.

At the April 9th meeting of the School District Board, that plan was panned by four number of the trustees, which resulted in the need to reconsider it all, with the benefit of a four day break.

As events played out at the May 13th meeting, the Board voted to reconsider Ms. Hauptman's proposal, turning it down, and with it for now we imagine, plans to increase the number of vice principals in the District.

PRDTA President Joanna Larson provided some play by play of those deliberations of May 13th, by way of her twitter feed, highlighting the nature of the discussion as the Board weighed the issue of the succession planning.

Those looking for the fine print and details on the Budget for the year ahead are advised to watch the School District website, where the approved budget will be posted "in the near future".

You can review our items of note on School District Developments from our Archive page.

Update: The Northern view outlined the discussion points from the May 13th meeting, posted to their (e edition on May 22nd pg 8).