SD52 looks to offer Education Assistant course

With a new school year now heading towards the end of its first month, School District 52 is looking to expand on its roster of available Education Assistants in the community and towards that is offering an Education Assistants Certificate course.

The program will introduce participants to the organizational structure of schools and the role of Education Assistants in the classroom.

Among some of the themes to be explored as part of the program are educational principles with particular attention towards individualized instruction, as well as the importance of creating a positive learning experience.

The program is designed to help develop and practice skills to implement modifications and adaptations of the school curriculum for students with special needs.

For those who complete the program, work could be available with the School District under the supervision of classroom teachers and School District administrators.

With Educational Assistants providing support towards the learning and independence of children who benefit from the additional assistance in meeting educational goals.

You can get a sample of the scope of duties of an Education Assistant from this posting for a position at École Roosevelt School

To find out more about the SD52 program contact Tamara Dickens at Tamara.Dickens@sd52.bc.ca

For more items of interest on SD52 see our archive page.

Port of Prince Rupert refreshes website, introduces new logo and branding as Canada's Leading Edge

The fall it seems will be the season of change for websites for the North Coast, earlier this week we took note of a new look for the District of Port Edward and today we take a tour of the brand new look for the Port of Prince Rupert.

The changes which were revealed on September 19th represent an evolution of the brand that the Port of Prince Rupert is presenting to the world and that comes with a new logo that highlights Prince Rupert as Canada's Leading Edge.

The introduction to the new look was made through Facebook, with the Port putting the focus on partnerships both locally and globally.

The home page for the website opens with the Port's Maynard Angus standing on the Atlin Terminal Boardwalk, with the harbour towards Tuck inlet in the background.

A scroll down on the page provides a list of the current roster of ships arriving at Port facilities, as well as some background on the Port's advantages for shippers.  News and background options and Social media offerings make for the remainder of the introduction page.

A task bar on the right hand side of the opening page provides a range of links towards more information on Trade, the Port Authority, Marine Operations, Community, Environment and News options.

One key area of interest, is the Public Documents section, which provides a link to a number of past reports and studies related to Port development.

You can take the new look website for a tour here.

For more items of interest related to the Port of Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

Port Edward sets October 8th as date for Public Hearing on land amendment

The District of Port Edward is giving some thought to changing the designation of portion of land in the community, looking to shift its current designation as Resource to that of Industrial use in order to accommodate potential development.

Should they move forward with with the re-designation, the land will be listed as Light Industrial M1

Towards their decision, the District will be hosting a Public Hearing on Tuesday, October 8th at 6PM in the Port Edward Council Chambers.

The property in question for rezoning is shown in green above

The advisory of the Hearing notes that any persons who deem themselves affected by the proposed change will be afforded a reasonable opportunity to be heard or provide a written submission on the topic.

Those that wish to submit a written submission can do so by directing their correspondence to Polly Pereira at the District Office at 770 Pacific Avenue, by mail to PO Box 100 or by email to the District Office.

The Deadline for submissions is 4:30 PM on October 4th.

A copy of the Bylaws and relevant background documentation can be inspected at the District Office during their regular Business hours, the information will be available until October 4th.

If you have questions or require more information about the Public Hearing process contact the District at 250-628-3667

For more items of interest from Port Edward see our archive page here.

Coast Mountain Board in Prince Rupert for day long session

The Prince Rupert campus of Coast Mountain College is playing host for the first Board of Governors meeting for the new college year, with a day long session set to cover a range of material on post secondary education in the Northwest.

Taking place in the Multi Purpose room at the Fifth Street campus the day was set to begin with an Opening address from Acting President Justin Kohlman.

Those attending the gathering then will hear presentations related to the Coast Mountain College strategic vision, an update on Indigenous initiatives and a look at enrolment now that the new school year is underway.

As well, time has been put aside for a wider overview on library issues and a range of Committee reports covering finance and audit, First Nations notes, Policy review and the work of the Futures Committee.

The Board will also hear a farewell from Coast Mountain College CEO Ken Burt, who has now ended his term of office after having served in his position as President and CEO at Coast Mountain College for the last five years.

During that period of time he steered the transition for the long established presence of Northwest Community College towards its re-branding in the region as Coast Mountain College.

Last evening the Board hosted a reception at the Crest Hotel, which included more on the future direction of the college across the region.

Today's one day session wraps up by 3PM, the Board next meets in December at the Terrace Campus

Prince Rupert is represented on the thirteen member board by Dave Smith and Mary Denton

For more items of interest related to Coast Mountain College see our archive page here.

Vive Le France! L'Austral bids adieu to Prince Rupert for this season

Yesterday marked the final port call of the year for the Ponant Cruise line as the French flagged vessel L'Austral, sent its passengers ashore shortly before 3 PM for a short nine hour stop over in the city.

Many of the 264 passengers that came ashore were easy to spot, the high end cruise offering tour jackets for those aboard.

The bright red jacket clad travellers were spotted around the the city for much of the afternoon, when they weren't ducking inside to get out of some of our unpredictable weather of Thursday.

Visitors from the cruise L'Austral were spotted around the city on Thursday

The current travels of L'Austral are part of the Ponant Polar Expedition tours, which take travellers from Vancouver to points North in Alaska.

It's a fifteen day expedition that explores the British Columbia coast and travels as far as Nome, Alaska before the journey comes to an end.

You can explore some of the comforts of travel at the top end of the cruising experience  from this virtual tour of the vessel.

Yesterday's stop was the second of two visits to the city for Ponant line vessels this month.

The L'Austral's sister ship Le Soleal called on Prince Rupert for a short two hour visit on September 1st, the vessel was charting much the same course and offering a similar itinerary for its 264 guests.

There is one final port call for Prince Rupert this year, with the Seabourn Sojourn making one last stop over on Saturday, October 5th. 

The ten hour visit to the city will bring 450 guests ashore before the North Coast brings the curtain down on the 2019 Cruise season.

For more items of interest on the Cruise industry in the city see our archive page here.

Port of Prince Rupert's view on prospect of containerized bitumen shipments: Proof of concept, but unknown if it will prove viable

Word of a test shipment of bitumen by container
out of Prince Rupert recently has become a
talking point for the energy sector today

Earlier today, we shared some notes on a new concept in shipping land locked Alberta oil resources to world markets, featuring a look at a test shipment from the Calgary based energy company Melius.

With the Alberta shipper hailing the successful transit of a container of solidified bitumen to Asia through the Fairview Terminal.

As we were putting our piece together on the Melius concept, we reached out to the Port of Prince Rupert to see what they may have thought of the revolutionary approach to shipping bitumen out of the Northwest Gateway.

Mid morning today, Monika Côté, Manager of Corporate Communications forwarded a reply to our query of Wednesday.

The statement from the Port observed as to how the shipment adhered to existing regulatory requirements, while noting how the port is a natural choice for exploration of innovation for new concepts of shipping from the North Coast.

"The test shipment of a container of undiluted bitumen through Fairview Terminal, like all products that move through the Port of Prince Rupert, adhered to Canadian regulatory requirements, policies and procedures. 

The Prince Rupert gateway has proven to be a leading enabler of Canadian trade, and its capacity, capabilities and low marine risk profile make it a natural choice for supply chain innovation. 

This pilot was a proof of concept for this method of transport for the product inventor, and it is unknown if it will be proven viable and lead to more volumes." -- Statement from the Prince Rupert Port Authority

While the Port may be somewhat cautious when it comes to the future for the solidified concept of bitumen shipments, yesterday's notes on the demonstration shipment to China have been received well in the Business press.

With a number of items of interest recounting the Melius plans and the Calgary energy company's bullishness belief in the prospect for oil shipments out of Alberta.

Alberta based company tests shipping oilsands in solid form to China as way around oil tanker ban
Calgary innovation could bypass oil tanker ban to ship bitumen to China
Oil-Sands Crude Sails from BC, sidestepping Federal Ban
New technology moves Alberta oilsands bitumen in shipping container to West coast
First shipment of solid bitumen on its way to China

For more items of interest from the Prince Rupert Port Authority see our archive page.

North Coast Regional District seeks out volunteers to assist in Oona River Recreation Centre vote

The process of hosting a community vote in Oona River on plans towards funding the Oona River Community Hall is about to get underway.

And as Oona River voters head to the October 19th voting day, North Coast Regional District is calling on volunteers to help with the electoral process.

A Notice for residents of Electoral Area "C" which hosts Oona River was recently released by the Regional body calling for applicants to serve as volunteer (unpaid) scrutineers for voting to take place on the Assent Voting Question.

We outlined the nature of the Assent Voting process earlier this month, which included the full question that will be asked of Oona river electors.

“Are you in favour of the Board of the North Coast Regional District adopting the Oona River Community Hall Service Establishment Bylaw No. 632,, 2019, which will permit the North Coast Regional District to establish a service within the community of Oona River to fund, annually, $15,000 toward the operation, maintenance and capital improvement of the Oona River Community Hall and its associated properties?”


The call for applicants opens tomorrow morning and applicants have until October 8th to submit their names during regular business hours to the Regional District office at 14-342 3rd Avenue West (Besner Block/Scotiabank building).

Those interested in serving as volunteer scrutineers for the Oona River
Community Hall vote can pick up their application forms from the
North Coast Regional District Offices in the Besner Block

Application forms are available from staff at the office, though Regional District officials note that only those who are entitled to vote as electors within the Oona River Community Hall Service area will be considered for the posts.

Should you require more information related to the process you can contact Daniel Fish, Chief Electoral Officer at 250-624-2002 extension 8 or by email at cao@ncrdbc.com

The Oona River vote, is one of a number of initiatives that Regional District introduced in August, with the other three proposals to be addressed by use of the Alternative Approval Process.

That political mechanism requires that at least 10 percent of the eligible voters indicate opposition to the Regional District plans which could force those issues to a referendum question as well.

The deadline for those initiatives is October 16th.

For more items of interest from North Coast Regional District see our archive page.