Northern BC Movers and Shakers

100 MILE HOUSE

Mt. Timothy Recreation Resort, 48km north of 100 Mile House, has opened for the winter ski season. Due to COVID-19 there will not be lockers or cubbies available for personal belongings; everyone is asked to put their gear on at their vehicles, and keep any food there as well. Find out more about open trails, amenities and pandemic protocols at https://skitimothy.com.

Nick Christianson, 65, has retired after 50 years of working, 12 managing the South Cariboo Regional Airport in 108 Mile Ranch via his company, Nick’s Rag & Tube Aircraft Maintenance. The Saskatchewan-born aircraft engineer has spent most of his life as a resident of 100 Mile House. Ross Donahue will replace him in his former role.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada have greenlit a $176-million permanent fishway at the site of 2018’s Big Bar landslide north of Lillooet, which dropped 110,000 cubic metres of rock into the river, blocking critical passage for spawning salmonids. The contract was awarded to Burnaby’s Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, with completion of design and construction work expected for the start of the 2022 Fraser River salmon migration.

WILLIAMS LAKE

ʔEsdilagh First Nation has welcomed Troy Allen Baptiste as chief of the small Tsilhqot’in community north of Williams Lake. He will serve a four-year term.

Borland Creek Logging of Williams Lake First Nation was awarded a contract to remove burned timber stands near the Williams Lake regional airport. The job will involve hand work, full phase logging and brush sawing. Borland Creek submitted a bid for $109,894, which was fifty-percent lower than the other three bids.

QUESNEL

The City of Quesnel and the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District (CCRHD) signed a new three-year contract to continue their health care recruitment program. The new agreement includes an increased budget for the healthcare recruitment coordinator contract position and an agreement to share the cost of any loss incurred in the renting and subletting of an apartment for physicians and healthcare professionals. The new contract has a total value of $161,275.43.

Bridges Supportive Housing at 355 Elliott Street in West Quesnel is operational, providing residents access to their own self-contained studio apartments and shared amenity spaces. Residents participate in programs custom designed for their needs, with on-site support to help them find and maintain housing stability. Bridges Supportive Housing is a partnership between Quesnel Shelter and Support Society (QSSS) and BC Housing.

Former Wells, BC resident Amy Newman won Best Costume Design by the Los Angeles Film Awards for documentary film Nam Sing: A Man for Gold Country, produced by Winter Quarter Productions and the New Pathways to Gold Society.

Quesnel dispatcher Hilary Erlebach has been named a BC Transit “Transit Superstars” for 2020, one of six workers honoured across the province for going above and beyond to make a difference with customers and co-workers in their communities.

The North Cariboo Métis Association is launching RAW: Reclaiming Aboriginal Women, a new project set to begin January of next year. RAW is one of twenty projects across the province aiming to end gender-based violence by supporting and collaborating with Indigenous women and girls. Funded through the Minister’s Advisory Council on Indigenous Women’s (MACIW) Giving Voice Initiative, the project will initially begin with online courses promoting wellness and healing through Métis cultural practices, with in-person community-based events beginning once the COVID-19 pandemic abates.

PRINCE GEORGE

The province, through BC Housing, has purchased the National Hotel 1201 1st Avenue Prince George, with plans to renovate the building, providing 27 homes with wraparound supports by early 2022. Renovations will also include new office space for outreach and service providers to help support clients and residents, as well as refurbished administrative space.

West Coast Olefins (WCO) President and CEO Ken James announced the return of the $5.6-billion petrochemical plant project to Prince George, after considering moving the project north on Highway 97 near McLeod Lake. Next steps include reaching a collective agreement with the Lheidli T’enneh community. If approved, construction could begin in late 2021 or early 2022.

Prince George is the first city in northern BC to be added to Rogers Communications’ 5G service, joining fifty-two other communities in the province. Recently, Shaw Mobile opened a retail store in Prince George’s Pine Centre Mall to expand its LTE and fibre networks north. TELUS also intends to expand its 5G service to Prince George by early 2022.

Prince George musician Danny Bell has released his second full-length album, Songs for the Town, through Pulp City Records. To find out more about Danny, his music, and purchase his latest release, visit: https://dannybell.org/newalbum.

A new air ambulance helicopter is now stationed at Prince George Airport, joining two fixed-wing aircraft already stationed there. The helicopter is operated by Summit Helicopters, the planes by North Cariboo Air and Northern Thunderbird Air.

Twenty-four year-old Carly Shaw-MacLaren of Prince George has been named BC Soccer’s 2020 Official of the Year. The former player has officiated in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), as well as the USL First Division, CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 qualifications and the Canada Summer Games. Carly recently graduated from UVic with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology.

Hosted by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, the #TrueNorth Business Development Forum presented by LNGCanada is a half-day program focused on building a more resilient and prosperous northern BC. This year, the focus will be on Leadership Through Recovery with a session from David Irvine and a panel hosted by Women’s Enterprise Centre. The online event will be on January 20^th and requires registration.

VANDERHOOF

Four Rivers Co-op has acquired Glen Dale Agra Services Ltd. in Vanderhoof, joining the Four Rivers Co-op Agro Centre in Quesnel to serve their agriculture customers in BC’s Interior. Glen Dale Agra Services Ltd. has provided fertilizer, seed/crop protection products and agronomy services for 38 years.

SMITHERS

Drama teacher Heather Lee of Smithers Secondary School has been awarded the Simpson and Lynds Distinguished Service Award by the Association of B.C. Drama Educators (ABCDE).

Harvesting and road building operations completed this fiscal year by the Wetzin’kwa Community Forest Corporation (WCFC) resulted in contracts with a combined value over $2.2 million. Approximately eighty-percent came as sawlogs sold and delivered to Pacific Inland Resources in Smithers, with about seventeen-percent as dry balsam logs delivered to Seaton Forest Products near Witset.

Smithers town council approved the Form and Character Development Permit for a two-storey mixed-use building on the Frontage Road property adjacent McDonalds and in front of Boston Pizza. The next step in the process is the application for a building permit. Landowner Robert Wagner notes plans for a restaurant from architect Tylor Versteeg will be ready in January 2021.

TERRACE

Boston Pizza at 4924 BC-16 West in Terrace has reopened after temporarily closing for deep cleaning due to COVID-19 concerns.

Coast Mountain College will be doing extensive renovations of classrooms, offices, public spaces and washrooms in one of their buildings that was constructed in1965 thanks to $9-million from the provincial government. Thinkspace Architecture Planning Interior Design has prepared the concept plan.

Family owned and operated Sunshine Inn Executive Suites Terrace opened in October offering new rooms, executive suites and long stay apartments. They are located at 4812 Highway 16 W.

PRINCE RUPERT

Prince Rupert has more than $500,000 via federal Gas Tax funding to put toward two capital projects; installation of a boiler system at the recreation complex and a new landfill leachate lagoon. The Federal Gas Tax Fund delivers funding to municipalities for local government infrastructure and capacity building projects throughout BC, distributed through the Union of BC Municipalities.

PNG has signed contracts with Port Edward LNG and Top Speed, advancing planning and regulatory approval applications to spend approximately $60 million between Prince Rupert and Terrace to enable it to pump more gas. The project would involve upgrading four existing compressor stations, adding two compressor stations, one at the industrial park and the other near Salvus between Terrace and Prince Rupert, and service lines to the Port Edward LNG and Top Speed locations. Construction should begin fall of 2021 with completion in the spring of 2024.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) is among the sector’s highest environmental performers in the Green Marine environmental certification program, significantly exceeding jurisdictional regulations in North America. PRPA’s average score was 4.5/5, compared to the North American average of 2.8/5. The Green Marine certification program encourages participants to reduce their environmental footprint with concrete actions.

FORT ST. JOHN

The Fort St. John Petroleum Association selected Don Hartman as Oilman of the Year for his dedication and service to the oil and gas industry, while Vic Moskalyk took home the Ivor Miller Award for exceptional dedication and service to the Petroleum Association.

A new Farmers Information Service office has opened in Fort St. John to help Peace region farmers and landowners navigate interactions with the oil and gas industry. The service, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, the Peace River Regional District and the BC Oil and Gas Commission, can be reached at 250-329-4686 or by email at farmersinformationservice@gmail.com.

DAWSON CREEK

 

Dawson Creek’s 2020 Mile Zero Citizen of the Year is frontline worker Doctor Remi Oyedeji, of the Dawson Creek Medical Clinic and Dawson Creek Hospital. He is recognized for his care, compassion and service to his community during the COVID-19 pandemic.