Familiar names return to Tourism Prince Rupert Board

The Board which oversees the direction of Tourism Prince Rupert has turned once again to some familiar names in the community to lend a hand, with City Council on Monday evening appointing Scott Farwell and Jack Payne to the Board of Directors for a two year term.

Both have been key participants in the past when it comes to Tourism related initiatives and issues, with Mr. Farwell recently travelling with a Prince Rupert delegation to Alaska to give the Prince Rupert view on the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Tourism Prince Rupert, a non-profit society, is a membership driven organization, its main responsibility is for the overall development and presentation of the Tourism industry in the city and the Northwest Coast.

The main focus of the Board is to work with the Tourism Prince Rupert administration to determine policy and direction.

You can learn more about Tourism Prince Rupert from their website.

For more items related to Tourism in the Northwest see our archive page here.

Conservatives select former Rupertite to put up Skeena-Bulkley Valley challenge to incumbent Nathan Cullen

Skeena-Bulkley Valley Conservatives
selected Tyler Nesbitt as their
candidate for the anticipated fall election
(photo from Mr. Nesbitt's Facebook page)

The federal election may be months away yet, but with summer almost upon us, the Federal parties are starting to roll out their candidates for the anticipated election call of the fall.

While the NDP will once again put forward incumbent MP Nathan Cullen as their candidate, the other parties are now looking to find a challenger that may topple the long time NDP MP in the region.

A pretty formidable challenge, considering that Mr. Cullen has held his seat in the House of Commons since 2004 and has become one of the higher profile NDP MP's in the House of Commons.

For the Conservatives that task will rest with Tyler Nesbitt, a former Prince Rupert resident who is now living in Terrace. Mr. Nesbitt claimed the Conservative nomination over the weekend, topping fellow Terrace resident MaryAnn Freeman in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding nomination vote.

Voting for the Conservative nomination took place over the weekend, making use of a mobile polling system that stopped in a number of communities across the riding to consult with Conservative members.

Map of the
Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding

The successful nominee made mention of the end of the nomination process through his community page on Facebook over the weekend.

More on his view on politics and the Northwest can be reviewed here.

Word of the new flag carrier for the Conservatives however hasn't quite made it to the head office, Mr. Nesbitt's success of the weekend has yet to be noted on the Conservative candidate page for 2015.

And while the NDP and Conservative roster is now set, the Liberals and Green Party have yet to select a candidate for the anticipated election of the fall.

The website Threehundredeight.com provides an in-depth look at the history of the riding, tracking the various shifts in both geography and political influence over the years.

For more on items of interest from the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding see our archive page here.

CityWest launches new website for community programming

Subscribers to CityWest cable can now keep up to date on programming for Channel 10, as the Prince Rupert based communication company launches a new website for its community channel.

The site which features a calendar of programming and updates on upcoming events features a re-design that makes searching for items a fairly easy process.

In addition to such things as Prince Rupert City Council sessions and special events around the community, the community channel features local programming from the NorthWest.

Included in their roster of programming at the moment, Char Can't Cook,  Welcome and Northwest Sports Talk.

One item to be watching for later this week is Channel Ten's broadcast of the CHSS Graduation ceremony this Friday from the Lester Centre of the Arts.

Should you have an announcement to submit for the Channel Ten community announcement feature you can deliver your information here.

If you have a programming idea for Channel Ten in your community, contact your local office of CityWest to submit your program concept.


You can access the CityWest Channel Ten website here.

For more communication related items see our archive page here.

Mount Hays Quickclimb to return after five year absence

A popular local event to climb
Mount Hays returns on August 16th

It was considered one of the most rewarding of endurance tests that the North Coast had to offer and after a five year absence, the Mount Hays Quickclimb is making a return to the Prince Rupert events calendar.

The timed ascent of Mount Hays will take place on Sunday, August 16th, providing for not only the challenge of tackling one of the North Coast's most imposing mountains, but to take part in a community celebration to the benefit of local trails as well.

The event sponsored by Quickload Logistics and McElhanney, will feature participants seeking pledges of support from the community, with the proceeds from the day's ascent to be returned to the community by the way of trail building initiatives around the Prince Rupert area.

To ensure that as much money as possible is directed towards the trail rehabilitation goals, both Quickload and McElhanney will be covering all of the costs of the Mount Hays Quickcimb event.

“We are overjoyed to be working with McElhanney to increase this event’s impact beyond what was achieved in previous years ...  Prince Rupert residents have historically had access to a rich network of local trails and facilities. This event will not only raise money to help re-establish safe access to the city’s backcountry, it will introduce new participants to the challenges and rewards of trail running.” -- Kristina De Araujo, Director of Corporate Services and Business Development for Quickload Logistics. 

As part of the August 16th ascent there will be entertainment and a barbecue provided at the base of the mountain to make the event a family friendly and offer encouragement to the base team support groups, who will be working with those making the 708 metre climb of Mount Hays.

The fundraising portion of the project starts on June 1st, as participants register for the race, you can learn more about the event and track fundraising efforts from the quickclimb.ca website when it is launched in the coming days.

Your first glimpse of some of the momentum for this years event will come during the annual Seafest parade, with organizers of the Mount Hays Quickclimb looking to participate in this years parade with the prospect of a grand prize for parade goers who spot the float and use their mobile phones to enter the draw.

Well have more updates on the progress of the Mount Hays Quickclimb 2015 as the countdown towards the climb gets closer.

Time for the City to pay for its new Fire Department ride

You've probably noticed the latest addition to the Prince Rupert Fire Department's fleet around town in recent days, as the city's firefighters get the feel of their new ride.

As we noted earlier this month, the PRFD's new Apparatus vehicle has arrived and as it moves into regular service, the time to forward the payments has arrived for the City of Prince Rupert.

At tonight's Council session, Council members will receive a recommendation from the Chief Financial Officer to authorize the borrowing of $338,904 from the Municipal Finance Authority for the purchase of the new vehicle.

The move for the most part is a procedural item for the night, Council last year gave the nod for the purchase of the truck, which will replace the aging apparatus/support vehicle that served for over two decades.

The vehicle was built at the Rocky Mountain Phoenix plant in Red Deer Alberta, more on the purchase as it was outlined in March of last year can be found here.

You can review the background on tonight's request from the City's Agenda page, it can be found on page 16

For more items related to City Council discussions see our archive page here.

Paving plan posted to City website for 2015

With the summer months comes the paving season and as those travelling around Prince Rupert can attest to, things are already in full swing for the summer of 2015.

Residents across the city who may be wondering if the city's 2015 paving project will reach their street will want to keep this link in mind for future reference, with the City providing updates on the progress of this years street remediation program.

The listing to this point features a number of projects that have been completed or are in the works for the year ahead, with the prospect of more to be added as the months move forward through the summer.

In addition to the more comprehensive paving project for the year, the City is also working to address the pot hole situation in the community.

Should you have a problem area in your neighbourhood, or have noticed an area that may require immediate attention, you can contact the city's public works department  at 250-624-6795 to give them the heads up on where investigate further.

More items from discussions at Prince Rupert City Hall can be reviewed through our archive page.

Four to be named to Prince Rupert Airport Board

Prince Rupert council will name for members to the Prince Rupert Airport Authority board at tonight's session, confirming the appointments of Dave Smith, Michael Cote, Erminio Pucci and Judy Fraser. 

The successful appointees are set to serve a two year term.

The search for Board members began earlier this year, when the City of Prince Rupert issued the call for those interested in serving on the Airport Authority Board to submit their names.

Council members made the appointments during a closed session in April, the resolution will be released as part of tonight's Regular Council session.

The Airport Authority Board provides guidance to City council and oversees the operations of the Digby Island airport.

The full scope of their duties can be reviewed from the Prince Rupert Airport Website here.

Background on issues related to air travel in the Northwest can be found on our archive page here.