THURSDAY, August 29, 2019 Vol. 74, No. X
Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities
$1.50 inc. gst.
alaskahighwaynews.ca
“The Only Newspaper in the World That Gives a Tinker’s Dam About the North Peace.”
recovery centre grand opening
news A3
speed skating startup
helen knott releases new book
sports B1
news A4
more corn please
Two candidates so far for federal election matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money. QUALITY PARTS, EXPERT SERVICE! HoursMon-Fri: 8am - 5pm Sat: 8am - Noon
9224 100 Street, Fort St. John, BC (250) 785-0463
dave lueneberg Photo
After Hours - Leave Message
2-year-old Colton Stahl from Mile 59 demonstrates the proper way to eat corn-on-the-cob during Dunvegan Gardens’ Corn Roast held August 24, 2019.
City sees real estate uptick post-LNG approval CONTACT US
phone 250-785-5631 fax 250-785-3522 email circulation@ahnfsj.ca online alaskahighwaynews.ca facebook AlaskaHighwayNews twitter @AHNnewspaper
Nine months after the $40 billion LNG Canada liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was approved, Fort St. John is seeing an uptick in both commercial development and residential real estate values. The second-biggest city in northern B.C. is a key pivot for TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline that will be run 670 kilometres from the northern gas fields to the LNG Canada terminal at Kitimat on the northwest coast. TransCanada will require approximately 2,000 workers for the $4.8 billion GaslLink route. Construction of the pipeline was three months behind schedule as of midJune, however, due to the blockade of a key section by protesters led by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. Contracts on the project adding up to $620 million have already been awarded to First Nations and a further $400 million to other companies, according to court documents from CGL lawyer Kevin O’Callaghan. He said benefit agreements have been reached with 20 Indian bands along the route, including the five Wet’suwet’en elected bands, adding up to $338 million over 25 years. A BC Supreme Court ruling on continuing an injunction against the protesters is
expected within a few months. Meanwhile, Canadian Tire has launched an expansion project in Fort St. John with construction expected to start in July. That project had been delayed as a number of issues are resolved around traffic management and site servicing. “This is the biggest retail project in Fort St. John. It is large and complex with many stakeholders and it is not uncommon to encounter some delays in the process,” said David Bianchi, vice-president of real estate development at Canadian Tire (CT). A multi-phased development with a 154,000-squarefoot footprint, the project includes the construction of a 126,000-square-foot Canadian Tire store, to complete by 2020. In 2016, CT Real Estate Investment Trust bought an enclosed mall together with four acres of excess lands for the Fort St. John development. The total cost of the acquisition, including transaction costs, was approximately $36.7 million, said a CT release. The development will include a new gas bar, Mark’s clothing store and other retail once fully built out. In the first half of 2019, Fort St. John has issued $28.8 million in building permit values, double the pace at the
same time last year. Housing sales up In the first half of this year, Fort St. John, population 20,000, saw 258 residential properties sell for a total of $85.4 million, reports the BC Northern Real Estate Board (BCNREB). The 129 detached houses that sold had a median price of $382,000, up from $364,600 a year earlier. In addition to the houses, nine parcels of vacant land and 30 homes on acreage sold. Perhaps surprisingly, residential sales volumes were down from $90 million in the same period last year. As of the end of June, there were 687 residential properties of all types available for purchase in Fort St. John, based on multiple-service listings. As of June, the median price of a detached house in Fort St. John was higher than in Prince George, the largest city in the north, and is third highest in the north behind Kitimat, at $392,000, and Terrace, at $386,000, the board reports. “Many of the communities in our board region saw a decrease in the number of sales and number of listings,” BCNREB president Leah Mayer noted in a release.
PAVING 100 Canadian
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
With the writ on the next federal election expected to drop in early September, the slate of candidates in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies is slowly taking shape. Incumbent Conservative MP Bob Zimmer will be seeking a third term. So far, Ron Vaillant is the only challenger, representing the upstart People’s Party of Canada. “I’ve said from the start, I want to make a difference and I still do,” said Zimmer, first elected in 2011. Pundits and pollsters consider the riding a safe Conservative seat; the party is currently polling at 49%, according to poll aggregator 338Canada. The Liberals trail in a distant second at 19%. “We’re fairly strong in this riding typically, we’re usually the strongest Conservative riding in the province,” Zimmer said. “But, I don’t rest on my laurels. We’re working hard and getting out in the community a lot. We really want to hear what people have to say, and want to bring that back to Ottawa.” The People’s Party, which branched off from the Conservatives, is polling at 4%, behind the Greens (16%) and NDP (11%), but that hasn’t stopped the party from getting off to an early start in getting itself organized in the riding. The party had a local candidate lined up, but they were unable to commit because of work. Vaillant, a journeyman carpenter and pipefitter from Lacombe, Alta., was brought in after a candidate shuffle in his home riding of Red Deer-Lacombe. “About this time last year, maybe July, I thought Canada was in a very bad position with the ways things were going and the direction of our country,” Vaillant said of getting involved in politics and making a run for office. Vaillant says he quit his job at a gas plant to be a candidate, and will spend the next two months visiting the riding. He says he’ll be talking to voters about Canada’s debt, immigration, and economy. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to take because I really feel that our country deserves something better than what we’ve had,” Vaillant said. See CANDIDATES on A5
— Western Investor
FREE ESTIMATES
250.719.0686
% COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL GRAVEL SALES AND DELIVERY
Owned
Serving Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St. John & Surrounding Areas
33490