Saturday morning temblor on Haida Gwaii

A 4.2 earthquake rattled along the Haida Gwaii fault line on Saturday morning, the quake epicentre located 170 km South of Masset, 233 kilometres South South West of Prince Rupert.

No damage has been reported from the small quake which struck   at 10:49 this morning.

No Tsunami warning was issued, nor is one expected, following the reports  of the temblor.

The Haida Gwaii fault line has been an active seismic zone since last October's major earthquake on the Islands and subsequent seismic activity in South east Alaska.

You can review all of that seismic activity from our archives.

Any media accounts of the Saturday temblor can be found below.

September 23-- QCI Observer-- Two quakes, no problems
September 20-- CFNR-- No Tsunami risk after earthquake recorded off Haida Gwaii

Rampage to face off against Steelheads in Challenge Cup Final

Night number one of the CIHL Challenge Cup proved to be a good one for the home side, as the Prince Rupert Rampage secured a spot in the Saturday night final with a 5 to 1 victory over the Terrace River Kings.

In Game Number Two of the opening night action, the outcome was a little closer as the Smithers Steelheads defeated the Kitimat Ice Demons 6 to 4.

With the Friday night results in the books, Saturday's action will feature the Ice Demons and River Kings facing off in the early game with a 5 PM start at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

The wrap up to the Challenge Cup weekend comes at 8 PM when the hometown Rampage will seek to secure bragging rights to the start of the CIHL season as they take on the always challenging Steelheads.

The Challenge Cup serves as pretty helpful tune up for the CIHL regular season, which gets underway on October 5th, when Quesnel comes through the Northwest with a Saturday night stop at the Jim Ciccone.

You can review all of the latest developments with the Rampage from our archive page.

Challenge Cup results

Smithers Steelheads win the Challenge Cup

Smithers Steelheads
Prince Rupert Rampage
Kitimat Ice Demons
Terrace River Kings

Saturday-- 5 PM -- Terrace River Kings 1 vs Kitimat Ice Demons 5
Saturday-- 8 PM-- Smithers Steelheads 7 vs Prince Rupert Rampage 2

Friday-- Terrace River Kings 1 vs Prince Rupert Rampage 5
Friday-- Smithers Steelheads 6 vs Kitimat Ice Demons 4

CFTK-- Rampage Challenge (video)
CFTK-- Steelheads win Challenge  Cup
Northern View-- Prince Rupert Rampage fall short in Challenge Cup Final

More wind warnings, rain and Ferry disruptions for North Coast

The official start of fall may not arrive until tomorrow, but Mother Nature has been providing the fall preview for the last few days, with round two set to arrive on the North Coast on Saturday afternoon.

Environment Canada issued the second wind warning of the last 48 hours on Saturday morning, advising that winds from the Southeast from 70 to 100 km/h will develop later this afternoon. The weather event will be more wind than rain related, as rainfall totals are not expected to move much beyond 40 mm before the system moves on.

The weather system which will affect Haida Gwaii and the North Coast will then shift southward towards the South Coast on Sunday and with that comes a service notice from BC Ferries that the route between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy will be impacted by the ongoing weather situation.

You can keep up to speed on the weather developments from the Environment Canada website and any  further advisories on marine transportation in the region can be found from the BC Ferries website and BC Ferries twitter feed.

And while we have your eyeballs in place for the moment, we introduce a new feature for our blog just in time for the Fall season.

On our upper right hand corner you will find the newly created section called North Coast Alerts, where you will find any advisories from Environment Canada, BC Ferries, Drive BC and from EmergencyInfo BC, on the odd occasion that we have an earthquake or tsunami situation.

As you scan over some of our other features and the latest of North Coast updates, keep an eye on the upper right corner, just to see if there's anything coming our way.

At final day of UBCM, Premier hails LNG future, Province to provide grants to Northwest communities

As the UBCM gathering comes to an end in Vancouver, the five days of meetings and discussions among the assembled will be but the background for the Northwest representatives in Vancouver.

Our Northwest delegation may not have made much in the way of news copy over their five day stopover in Vancouver, but developments in the Northwest seem to have been one of the themes for the final day.

With Friday providing some news on much anticipated funding for a study into infrastructure requirements in the region.

The total amount of the grants is 150,000 dollars, to be delivered amongst those communities that will be in the spotlight of LNG development, probably not quite the dollar figure that local officials might have been hoping for considering their many concerns over potential development. This funding it seems is more along the lines of seed money, to be targeted towards studies on the infrastructure needs and not in actual infrastructure development.

The prospect of high tempo growth for the region has left many representatives in the Northwest with much to discuss, particularly over how to cope with the demands on local infrastructure, highlighting such municipal concerns as water and sewer systems, roads, health, safety and social systems.

The Northern View-- Port Edward, proof of LNG's potential impact, Premier tells UBCM

In addition to the funding announcement of Friday (see here), the Premier had previously met with Northwestern representatives in a separate session, to explore issues and items of concern from the Northwest.

One of the main topics of that conclave was an examination of the progress of LNG in the northwest and the potential for revenue sharing deals with communities in the region.

Financial Post-- B. C. Premier meets with northern leaders about LNG revenue-sharing deal
CBC-- B. C. Premier, northern leaders discuss LNG revenue-sharing
CTV BC-- Northern BC leaders concerned about effects of potential LNG boom

That bit of groundwork perhaps will be the more important of the week's developments for the Northwest, recognition of the changing nature of the economy of the region and the impact that the many proposed developments may have on it.

The Premier used the prospect of the development of LNG in the Northwest, making it a key portion of her keynote address to the UBCM, the Premier's speech the final of the major events of the five day convention of municipal and provincial officials.

Some of the reviews on the Premier's talking points of Friday can be found below, not surprisingly the Vancouver based media for the most part was focused on the Massey Tunnel announcement.

Vancouver Sun-- Massey Tunnel to be replaced by bridge
Vancouver Province-- Bridge to replace George Massey Tunnel
Georgia Straight-- B. C. to replace Massey Tunnel with new bridge, Premier Christ Clark announces
Globe and Mail-- New Bridge will replace Massey Tunnel in Metro Vancouver, Clark declares
CBC-- Bridge to replace George Massey Tunnel, says Premier
CTV BC-- Aging Massey Tunnel to be replaced by bridge

And while the work of the Northwest delegates at UBCM was rather low on the media radar, there were discussions and resolutions considered at the five day conference.

You can review some of the background on the UBCM week that was from our UBCM talking points archive.

The next UBCM gathering is scheduled for Whistler next September 22-26th.

Never mind gold, gas or oil, the money it seems may be in gravel...

While many on the North Coast focus their gaze on the potential of a natural gas bonanza for the region, or the always tantalizing prospect of prospecting for minerals, one company is highlighting the opportunities available in gravel.

The commodity that perhaps will be in the most demand should the economic boom times arrive as many suggest.

Highbank Resources Corporation sent out a twitter note on Friday, providing a link to their review of the potential for the Northwest, a location that it seems is going to have a healthy impact on their company moving into the future.

Among the highlights for Highbank, the prospect of development the expansion of projects for the Port of Prince Rupert, the much discussed prospect of Canpotex, the Watson Island redevelopment site and the ongoing expansion of Ridley Terminals, as well as future plans for LNG development at Grassy Bay.

All projects that seemingly will require a huge demand on their primary occupation in the region.

You can review their presentation below, which showcases their corporate presentation on the path ahead.
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It makes for an interesting review of secondary industries that will have an impact on any development of the Northwest and how far beyond the shine of the big projects, the smaller scale and secondary ones may make their mark from all the talk of development.

Will Mr. Cullen give thought to a provincial call?

With Adrian Dix delivering his farewell to the leadership address on Wednesday, political pundits are already putting together their short list of potential candidates to take on the seemingly daunting challenge of herding the NDP collective.

Mr. Dix revealed his plans in a press conference Wednesday, suggesting a slow departure from the provincial scene rather than a hasty exit, allowing the NDP time to put together the mechanism for a leadership campaign.
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And while some members of the NDP caucus, including North Coast NDP MLA Jennifer Rice took time to salute his service to the party...

The plans of succession are seemingly already in motion, both at the party level and among individual MLA's and with the larger party membership.

The leader will be holding the reigns of the opposition until at least the New Year, most likely past February, a process that will allow for would be NDP leadership candidates to weigh their options and consider whether they have what it takes to rebuild and perhaps re-brand the party.

Those with an interest in provincial politics will find Mr. Dix's exit interview of sorts with Bill Good fairly fascinating, the NDP leader and the talk show host discussed his decision on CKNW on Friday morning (Audio Vault 9 to 9:30) the road ahead for the NDP was also the subject of discussion with Keith Baldry and Vaughn Palmer on Mr. Good's Friday Cutting Edge of the Leg feature (Audio Vault 10 to 11 AM)

Some of the media review of Mr. Dix's decision can be found below:

Victoria Times-Colonist-- B. C. NDP preparing to launch race to replace Adrian Dix
The Tyee-- Potential Dix successors Already Emerging
The Tyee-- Dix Bows Out
Georgia Straight-- Race to succeed Adrian Dix as B. C. NDP Leader begins
CTV News-- B.C. NDP looks to rebuild as Adrian Dix to step aside as leader
CBC News-- B. C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix to step down
News 1130-- What's next for the BC NDP
Vancouver Sun-- B. C. does not need two Liberal parties, Adrian Dix urges NDP
Vancouver Sun-- NDP pacifism was a poor response to Liberal attacks
Vancouver Province-- B. C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix finally does something right  - he quits

With at least four years before the next election, the new NDP leader will have a lengthy amount of time to put his or her stamp on the party, ensuring that all members of the party are in lock step with the eventual battle plan for the next election cycle.

With Mr. Dix announcing his intentions, the short list of would be leaders is already starting to circulate, one which perhaps won't resemble the final list of candidates on a leadership ballot, but one which will certainly make for much discussion among the ranks of the NDP.

And while the usual stable of NDP MLA's rise and fall on the favourites list, we perhaps may once again see a name from the east gain traction, with the prospect of Nathan Cullen, the NDP MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley sure to be floated as just the right mix of experience and enthusiasm to take on the challenges of the provincial NDP.

Before Mr. Dix was elected to his post by the NDP membership, Mr. Cullen gave significant thought to  leaving the nation's capital for the rough and tumble mix up that the Provincial Legislature offers.

In the end, he chose to remain in Ottawa, taking a run for the NDP leadership and where he has since become one of the key members of the shadow cabinet of NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, as well as through his work as NDP House Leader.

However, even before Mr. Dix had made his farewell speech, there were some NDP supporters suggesting that Mr. Cullen would be a good fit for the provincial party.

David Schreck was on CKNW (Audio Vault September 18 12:30-12:50), providing the first mention (in the post Dix era) of Mr. Cullen as a potential leadership candidate, though no doubt it won't be the last mention.

Whether he will wish to leave the national scene for the provincial landscape, which has seen the NDP devour two leaders in the last few years remains to be seen.

Regardless of his thoughts one way or the other however, we imagine there will be many in British Columbia making frequent calls to Parliament Hill, looking to coax Mr. Cullen back home.

Update: And the wooing begins

September 24-- Cullen weighing pros and cons of B. C. NDP leadership run

Chinese energy giant eyes a spot for Grassy Point

CNOOC the Chinese energy player that recently acquired Canadian energy company Nexen is it seems getting ready to move forward on some of their Canadian energy plans, looking to secure a spot at the Grassy Point location that has been highlighted by the province as a potential LNG Terminal development point.

In an article in the Financial Post, the Chinese owned company outlines some of its thoughts on the nature of it's interest in LNG development, both from the gas reserves that it has invested in, as well as their percolating plans on development of their own LNG terminal on the North Coast.

The key portion of the article that will no doubt catch the eye of local LNG enthusiasts is the opening line, a positioning statement which offers up that "Nexen is considering it's own liquefied natural gas project on the West Coast".

The company looking to mix the some 30,000 acres of shale gas deposits that it holds in Northeastern British Columbia, with the Chinese energy giant's expertise in the transportation of natural gas.

CNOCC/Nexen was shortlisted for one particular site that the Provincial Government has designated for development and now it seems they wish to move forward on securing their own site for future development.

As well, the company is investigating the prospect of partnering up with other energy industry participants regarding development of the project.

The suggestion of further interest in the Grassy Point location comes as CNOOC enters the Canadian Stock Market scene, the company began limited trading on the TSX this week, an indication for some of their interest in securing solid relations with the Canadian government after the recent approval of their takeover of Nexen back in February.

You can review that controversial period of time from our archive here.

More background on the growing number of Grassy Point plans can be found below

Gravitating to Grassy Point?
Exxon seeks 25 year LNG export licence from NEB, exploring export locations on North Coast
Four more LNG proposals for Prince Rupert region
Proposed LNG developments continue to attract attention and discussion
Japanese investors eye LNG potential of the North Coast
And a third LNG site for Prince Rupert?

You can review some items on other LNG developments for the North Coast in our archives.