AHN DEC 5 2019 by Alaska Highway News

alaska highway news THURSDAY, dec. 5, 2019 | VOL. A-75 NO. 49

$1.50 incl. gst celebrating

75 years

ski lodge

line 3 running

Old Fort landslide investigation continues; PRRD orders further study

Co-Op grants $61,000 to help build Beatton Park ski lodge

Oil flowing through Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement; plus regional updates

! E V A S O T N O S A E E H T business h A7 sports hSb4 S NEWS h A3 I T ‘ , E C I N R O NAUGHTY

s l e y r r h C y t i C t r o F

L A E D L A E R WRAP UP A ler Team Welcome to the Fort City Chrys

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A2 | INDEX | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019

PAGE 2 VIEWS

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

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1623: First copies purchased of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, collecting his plays posthumously into one volume, bought by Edward Dering.

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Does anyone send Christmas cards anymore?

WORLDLY WANDERER

believe it’s been about 10 years since I sent Christmas cards out via Canada Post. Each December I would refer to a spreadsheet on my computer labeled Christmas Card Addresses and then sit at the kitchen table writing “Merry Christmas! Love the Kucharuk family” over and over and over again until my hand cramped up. The lucky ones received perfectly legible cards; others received gibberish. It’s the thought that counts right? The cards would then sit in my car for a week because I would forget to take them to the post office. So many steps to this Yuletide tradition! Sometimes, I would remember to send them out before Christmas, sometimes they went out in the New Year. One year I just decided no more darn Christmas cards, and I quit cold turkey. As a consequence, I haven’t received a Christmas card for approximately the same time period. That’s the rule I guess. You send someone a Christmas card and they feel obligated to send one back. It is like a weird chain letter situation. I can imagine one of my elderly aunties reviewing their Master List of received Christmas Cards, their hand hovering over the ‘did not receive’ checkbox. They might have given me the benefit of the doubt for the first year, but then after the second I would have been stricken from the master list with the swipe of the ballpoint pen. I made that bed and now my fake fireplace mantel is devoid of cards. Which brings me to the next question – where does a person put all of those cards that they receive? Where do you place those cards to give them the reverence that they deserve? Someone spend hours upon hours writing in those cards, placed them in an envelope, drove to the post office to purchase stamps, probably ate Kraft Dinner for a week because of the expense of purchasing the stamps, and now you are going to tuck them inside the china cabinet where no one can see them? Blasphemy! Do you place the cards on your Christmas tree? Do you stretch a piece of string across one wall in your living room and hang the cards on the string? Do you actually have a mantel where the cards can have a place of honour? Do you hold each card in your hands and say to yourself, Marie Kondo style, “Does this give me joy?” And if it doesn’t, do you place it immediately in the recycling? You see – THAT is why I quit sending Christmas cards. I’m actually doing friends and long lost relatives a favour by not sending them a card and putting them through the stress of figuring out what to do with my card. You’re welcome.

Melanie Vogel started her walk across Canada on June 2, 2017, in Cape Spear, Newfoundland. Two years later, she arrived at Mile Zero in Dawson Creek with her dog Malo on Thursday, November 28, 2019. Vogel has walked across all provinces and will continue her trek following the legendary Great Trail, formally the Trans Canada Trail, northward up through the Yukon to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, and back down again to Victoria to end her journey.

JUDY KUCHARUK

Judy Kucharuk is a lover of sarcasm, witty people and footnotes. Follow her on Twitter @judylaine. 



Have something to say about something you read in these pages? We like letters: editor@ahnfsj.ca

“I spent time in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia backpacking,” says Vogel, originally from Kamenz, Germany. “I wanted to have an adventure and have my freedom back from being on the road and seeing Canada.”

Alien Messages: We the People Charo: “There is a very iconic French singer and poet of the 1960s and 70s, Georges Brassens, who has a song called La Mauvaise Réputation about a man who takes a different path in life and is, for that reason, discriminated and criticized in his little town. One of the verses says, ‘On 14th July, I stay sleeping in my bed, because marching music isn’t really my thing.’ The song is not only hilarious, but it’s also, among other things, a denunciation of people who establish themselves as guardians of patriotism and immediately assume everybody must show, not necessarily share, their same enthusiasm for the patriotic symbols of their country.” Kalpana: “Of course, we are talking about this because of a sports journalists who recently said people like us only like the Canadian lifestyle but we do not wear the poppies.” Charo: “We are going to humor all people by explaining why immigrants are not so friendly to patriotic symbols, and the first thing is we come from older countries; countries with long histories and lots of skeletons in their closets. Patriotic symbols are loved and loathed in equal parts by us, people. For example, when the anthem sounds in Spain, some people listen with their hands on their chests, and others jeer because they want to form their own republic, or because they come from Latin America and the anthem reminds them of their cultures lost to Spanish colonialism. And we tolerate this. Nobody would be prosecuted or publicly shamed for expressing their feelings about patriotic values, no matter how much we care for our country.” Kalpana: “That’s the thing with democracy. Oftentimes other people will say or wear or not wear, or sing stuff that we dislike and we have to take it as it is.” Charo: “Yes, because otherwise it’s a dictatorship. And we had a dictator 40 years ago, General Franco, who appropriated the Spanish flag to his regime and, for many years, people did not dare to wear the flag because it had been tainted with the foul stench of fascism. It is only now that we are recovering our flag and shyly putting it back on our balconies and our lapels.” Kalpana: “Yeah, both your country and mine have seen dictators and politicians of all colours and shapes proudly enforcing symbols as they massacred the population, and somehow we all learned how deceitful they are. Of course, the poppy is not one of them; quite the opposite. It symbolizes the sacrifice that needs to be done for tolerance and peace, but it is a symbol, not an identity card that you must wear at all times. In India, we have had our share of colonialism and upheaval as well, so we are careful

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with patriotic symbols. We show our patriotism and our solidarity to our fellow citizens by working hard, paying taxes, and participating in our communities. And we celebrate Remembrance Day by sporting the values those men died for in the Second World War, respecting our brothers and sisters wherever we are, abiding by human rights and being tolerant to other people’s ideas, religions, and skin colours.” Charo: “Because those veterans died precisely so that nobody would call us You People and so that we would be free to wear or not wear a poppy on our lapel. I personally empty my pockets every time I see a moneybox gathering funds for the veterans. I’m from Europe, so were it not for the sacrifice of those brave, generous men that came all the way from Canada and America to fight in Europe, I would probably have grown up under the Third Reich, without freedom, without identity, and without culture. I owe them big. I express my thankfulness to them whenever I get a chance, like now, and I give my money, but I hardly ever wear the poppy. So I’m one of the You People, indeed.” Kalpana: “So am I, and happy to be. I distrust people who say you can’t wear a veil or a turban to be a good Canadian, or that you have to wear a poppy on November 11 and a maple leaf painted on your face on July 1. I wear my patriotism and my feelings in my heart, where they should be.” Charo: “Of course! A flag is easy to burn, but hard work and respect for one another are the building blocks of a nation.” Charo Lloret is from Spain; Kalpana Loganathan is from India. Each week, they’ll reflect on their experiences immigrating to Canada and settling into their new homes in Fort St. John.

LETTERS

Published every Thursday at 9916 - 98th Street Fort St. John, B.C. V1J 3T8   

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William Julian Regional Manager wj@ahnfsj.ca

Ryan Wallace Sales Manager rwallace@ahnfsj.ca

Brenda Piper Sales Associate bpiper@ahnfsj.ca

Tim Cramer Graphic Artist compose@ahnfsj.ca CONTRIBUTORS

Matt Preprost Managing Editor editor@ahnfsj.ca

Dillon Giancola Sports Reporter sports@ahnfsj.ca

Lynn Novack Circulation Manager circulation@ahnfsj.ca

Judy Kucharuk, Charo Lloret, Kalpana Loganathan, Maria Luisa Fruns, Evan Saugstad, Nelson Bennett, Larry Evans, Sam Stackhouse, Rick Koechl, Mike Kroecher, Bronwyn Scott

Write to us by snail mail, or email your letters to editor@ahnfsj.ca. Letters must be accompanied by your full name and a phone number, for verification. Please limit your letters to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, taste, accuracy, and libel. Protest the policy, not the person. Opinions expressed in letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect those of Alaska Highway News.

COPYRIGHT & LEGAL NOTICE Alaska Highway News retains sole copyright of advertising, news stories, and photography produced by staff. Copyright of letters and other materials submitted to the Editor and accepted for publication remain with the author, but the Publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic, or other forms. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent of the publisher. Alaska Highway News is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about our content, please let us know first. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit mediacouncil.ca or call 1-844-877-1163 for more information. Second class mail registration No. 0167

alaska highway news THURSDAY, dec. 5, 2019 | VOL. A-75 NO. 49

$1.50 incl. gst celebrating

75 years

huskies update

homesteaders

Fire Chief Fred Burrows reflects on career, retirement

Huskies made it seven straight wins over the weekend; look to continue streak in GP

Large family homesteaders were determined in making the Peace their home

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sports h b3

history h A11

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Well, this car is automatic, it’s systematic, it’s hydromatic... North Peace Secondary musical theatre students were revved up for the opening night of Grease on Nov. 29, 2019. Leading the Greaser Gang are Jordan Fehr as Danny Zuko; Rylan Nichols as Kenickie; Donavin Flintoff as Roger; Camden Jeppson as Doody; and Hunter Haynes as Sonny. The musical returns to the cultural centre stage this weekend for three more shows.

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Landslide investigation Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca Peace River Regional District directors voted Thursday to spend nearly $200,000 on hazard assessments of the Old Fort and Buffioux Creek areas following the 2018 landslide. The assessments will be used to “determine future development requirements and examine whether emergency alerts and evacuation orders should remain in place,” according to a report to board directors. Much of the evacuation order and alert still in effect applies to Crown land, including the lookout, though some private property and houses are affected. Tetra Tech will conduct the assessments at a cost of $192,250, and were on the ground shortly after the landslide, according to the board report. “They have a good grasp of the landslide and stability issues and were contracted to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure at the time,” the report reads. The Old Fort landslide at the end of September 2018 sent more than eight million cubic metres of earth and trees toward the Peace River, destroying one house, several utility lines, and the only road in and out of the community. Geotechnical engineers have said the slide was caused by a failure in the bedrock at the head of the landslide, where

above federal limits for lead content of five parts per billion are flushed, according to a district report. “At present time, all sites have tested within allowable limits and do not require a flushing regime,” reads the report from secretary-treasurer Brenda Hooker. “We are compliant.” But several schools in Fort St. John and the North Peace are still set up with automatic flushers, or are tested monthly for bacteria as part of the school district’s procedures. Auto flushers are scheduled to flush the water system at 6 a.m. every morning at Bert Bowes, Wonowon, Upper Halfway, Taylor, and Prespatou schools, as well as the board office. The district is currently waiting on parts for an auto flusher for Dr. Kearney. Prespatou, Upper Pine, Baldonnel, Clearview, Wonowon, Buick, and Upper Halfway schools are tested monthly for bacteriological examination. Notices are placed at sites that test positive while “corrective actions are implemented” the report says. Sites are retested before a notice is taken down. A Global News report last month Matt Preprost analyzed water test results from across editor@ahnfsj.ca Send greetings to your customers, friends and family. Canada, including results from the B.C. School trustees received an update government from January 2016 to March Monday on the district’s procedures 2018 and January 2019 to April 2019. Those included SD60, which apfor testing its water for lead and bacteria. The update comes after a na- peared to show many facilities were at tional news study reported high levels or even above current federal lead limits of lead in tap water in homes and at of five parts per billion, which were updated in March of this year. public institutions across Canada. Most the reported test results, howSchool District 60 says all of its sites are tested once a year in January with re- ever, were from 2017 and 2018, and sults reported to the ministry of educa- within previous limits of 10 parts per tion by the end of March. Sites that test billion at the time. a gravel quarry had been operating on the hillside above Old Fort. However, the province’s Chief Inspector continues to investigate, according to a report by The Narwhal, an online environmental newsmagazine. The quarry is not considered to be the root cause of the slide, according to documents. However, quarry stockpiles had not been designed by a professional engineer as required by provincial permitting, according to the report. “The size of the slide seems to indicate that there were underlying issues with the material down the entire slope,” mining inspector Adrian Pooley wrote in an email. “The weight of the material is a contributing factor [to the] slide, but it is not the root cause.” Quarry operator Deasan Holdings was permitted to explore and compare subsurface conditions of the area before and after the landslide, according to the report.

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A4 | news | thursday, december 5, 2019

Fred Burrows reflects on fire career and retirement Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

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Fire Chief Fred Burrows receives a second bar to the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal from the federal government, and a BC Office of the Fire Commissioner certificate of appreciation from Terry Ree, Nov. 29, 2019.

CITY BEAT

Updates from November 25, 2019 Council Mee�ngs CLIMATE REPORT PRESENTATION - PROJECTIONS At the Commi�ee of the Whole mee�ng, Council received a presenta�on from Gillian Aubie Vines, Principal for Pinna Sustainability Inc., and City staff regarding climate change projec�ons for the Northeast Region. Pinna spent a year and a half collec�ng past and present data to produce the climate change report. The presenta�on encompassed the key concepts of climate change, local projec�ons for the Northeast Region and Fort St. John, and a variety of temperature maps and graphs depic�ng changes in temperature, precipita�on, snowpack, and streamflow. By the 2080s, summer temperatures in Fort St. John are projected to be similar to those of Kelowna’s 1980’s summers. CLIMATE REPORT PRESENTATION – COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT At the Regular Council mee�ng, Council received a presenta�on from Erica Crawford, Director and Co-founder of SHIFT Collabora�ve, and City staff regarding prepara�on for climate change and climate adap�on. Climate resilience or climate adap�on is the ability to an�cipate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to climate change and take advantage of opportuni�es. It has been confirmed that residents of Fort St. John should expect more intense rainfall events and more wildfire events in the future due to the shi� in climate. The Northeast Climate Risk project supports the Northeast BC local government partners in preparing for a changing climate and a be�er understanding of the associated risks and vulnerabili�es, collabora�vely addressing climate risks at a regional and community scale through a peer network, and an increased awareness of climate change impacts. The full report, and other related informa�on, can be found on both Pinna’s website and www.fortstjohn.ca. PARKWOOD MDA AND COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT ZONE PRESENTATION At the Commi�ee of the Whole mee�ng, Council received a presenta�on from City staff regarding the planned Parkwood development. The presenta�on consisted of the scope of the project and key items including the provision of park land, site servicing and infrastructure, and the provision of affordable housing. Detailed designs have not yet been finalized; they are conceptual only at this stage. Once the project begins, the applicant will be required to complete detailed designs as development progresses; this ensures that at each stage of development the applicant will be required to follow the bylaws currently in place. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RETIREMENT At the Regular Council mee�ng, Council acknowledged the re�rement of Fred Burrows, Fire Chief. A brief biography of Chief Burrows was provided and Council thanked him for his years of hard work and dedica�on to the City of Fort St. John. HOMELESS COUNT PRESENTATION At the Regular Council mee�ng, Council received a presenta�on from Dus�n Lupick, researcher and policy analyst for the Homelessness Services Associa�on of BC (HSABC), and Stephen D’Souzsa, execu�ve director for HSABC, regarding homelessness in Fort St. John. The presenta�on contained a variety of informa�on including who is homeless, why homelessness occurs, homeless popula�ons in BC and Fort St. John, key sub-popula�ons, 2nd PiT homeless count, the role of the Homelessness Services Associa�on of BC, and the role of the City. Homelessness is a growing issue, not just locally, but across the province and the country. Housing is a human right and in 2013, homelessness cost the Canadian economy $7.05 billion. As affordable housing becomes more available in Fort St. John, the City will take the appropriate measures to be sure that support services, such as the Women’s Resource Centre are involved because supplying affordable housing only remediates one aspect of the cause of homelessness. ENBRIDGE – REGIONAL PROJECTS UPDATE At the Regular Council mee�ng, Council received a presenta�on from Michaela Bjorseth, community and indigenous engagement for Enbridge, regarding the work Enbridge has been conduc�ng in the Peace Region to help fuel people’s quality of life by connec�ng them with the energy required for daily tasks. Enbridge facili�es have been the backbone of the natural gas sector in BC for more than 60 years. Gas is used to heat homes, hospitals, businesses and schools, for electric power genera�on, and for industrial and manufacturing processes that produce hundreds of products that improve our daily lives. One main component of the presenta�on was the implementa�on of a Comprehensive Integrity Program that is used to prevent ruptures and significantly improve pipeline safety. ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH PROCLAMATION November 2019 has been proclaimed as “Adop�on Awareness Month” in the City of Fort St. John. The proclama�on was requested at the November 25, 2019 Regular Council Mee�ng. The campaign raises awareness regarding adop�ve families in BC that provide the love and support of a permanent family and encourages the community to consider adop�ng. There are currently 153 million orphans worldwide with 750 children/youth in Bri�sh Columbia wai�ng to be adopted of which 639 are school aged from 4-18. REQUEST FOR CITY TO FLY FLAG At the Regular Council mee�ng, Council reaffirmed the Council survey poll that authorized staff to install the Me�s Society flag to be flown outside City Hall from November 16 to 23, 2019 in recogni�on of Louis Riel Day. CEMETERY BYLAW REVIEW Council directed staff to review the Cemetery Bylaw’s memorials and placement of ornaments sec�ons and to provide a report with any recommended amendments. COUNCIL PROCEDURE BYLAW Council directed staff to review the Council Procedure Bylaw and bring recommenda�ons for amendments that will allow Council to enter into a closed mee�ng before the scheduled 3 pm start �me of a Regular mee�ng to promote efficient use of �me. BYLAWS • Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2441, 2018 – Parkwood was read for the second �me, as amended, by �tle only. • Sewer Use and Regula�on and Charges Amendment Bylaw No. 2503, 2019 was adopted by �tle only. • Water Regula�on Amendment Bylaw No. 2504, 2019 was adopted by �tle only.

UPCOMING COUNCIL MEETINGS

A Commi�ee of the Whole Mee�ng is tenta�vely scheduled for Monday, December 9, 2019 at 2 p.m. The Regular Council Mee�ng will follow at 3:00 p.m. All mee�ngs will be held in City Hall Council Chambers and the public is welcome to a�end.

www.fortstjohn.ca

Fort St. John Fire Chief Fred Burrows marked the end of four decades in the fire service on Friday, Nov. 29. Firefighters, city staff, family and friends gathered at the fire hall for an afternoon ceremony celebrating Burrows’ career and contributions to the city and province. Burrows received a second bar to the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal from the federal government, and a BC Office of the Fire Commissioner certificate of appreciation. “It seems really strange because it’s been my life every day of the week,” Burrows said. “I started in departments that were small, so your commitment to the community was even greater. We lost a lot of Christmas and Easter dinners, and missed out on a lot of the children’s hockey games, all those different things. “But the family that we’ve established, with our family within the internal fire department family, has just been wonderful, and it’s like that everywhere you go. It’s more than camaraderie. It’s a sense of belonging.” Burrows began his career as a volunteer firefighter in Courtenay in the late 1970s. “I remember my mom, when I was really little, taking me to the Bonsor fire hall in South Burnaby and we used to drop toys off there for the children that didn’t have anything, and the firefighters used to repair them,” Burrows said. “We’d go to the Bonsor fire hall every time we had a chance because it had the same sort of windows as this (the Fort St. John fire hall), where you could walk up from the street, look inside, and just sort of dream.” By the time Burrows moved to Fort St. John in May 2003, he was elevating his career to deputy chief. Two years later, he was promoted to fire chief. “Back then, you only dreamed about sitting in the fire truck. My aspirations were never to be a fire chief, it came by opportunity,” Burrows said. “That was the hardest thing to do, to go from management, to come off the floor and being a guy that goes to the MVIs, goes to the fires, goes to the medical calls, to being the guy trying to see the department from the five-thousand-foot level versus right down in the dirt.” Burrows made the most of his tenure as fire chief in Fort St. John.

Over the last 14 years, he oversaw the department’s growth from 12 career firefighters to a contingent of 27 firefighters and three chief officers. He also modernized the department’s fleet of fire apparatus and helped to see the construction of a new fire station and a fire training centre, set to open in 2020. That work was guided with the help of an underwriter’s report commissioned in the early days following Burrows promotion to fire chief. He came in with an eye to look at industry standards across the board, and to ensure the department was as functional and operational as possible. Key to that was involving frontline firefighters on developing plans for a new fire hall and upgrading the department’s fire apparatus. “We never did anything in isolation,” Burrows said. “We made sure that when it came to equipment, the people that were going to be using it were involved in it, and the building, well everyone needed to talk about the building.” Burrows said a career in the fire service has made him a better listener. “When you’re on the floor and you’re younger and you have the drive to do this and that and you want everything done, sometimes you don’t hear everything,” Burrows said. “Whereas in this position, and just with the type of situations and incidents, you have to be much better at listening and taking that information and producing something from that information.” Darrell Blades takes over as fire chief. Dan Golob is deputy fire chief. Blades was recruited by Burrows from 100 Mile House to Fort St. John just over four years ago. The two had long been friends through their work, and Blades says he has big shoes to fill and a big legacy to follow. “I got no more trucks left to build, no more stations to build, so we’re going to focus internally on some of our guys and developing a really solid succession plan and continuing to provide this great service Fred laid down for us,” Blades said. Finally retired, Burrows plans to focus on tending to a quarter-section in Cecil Lake where his family crop shares, growing hay and grain, and raising sheep. He hopes to find a job that will keep him busy in agriculture. “I’ll find something else to do. You got to stay busy,” Burrows said. “It would be nice to have a job where you learn some more.”

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thursday, december 5, 2019 | NEWS | A5

Zimmer takes on northern affairs Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca The Conservative party announced its shadow cabinet Friday, naming northeast B.C. MP Bob Zimmer as the federal critic for Northern Affairs and the Northern Economic Development Agency. “I was born and raised in the North and I look forward to continuing to be a strong advocate for Canada’s northern communities with this new role, and holding the Liberal government to account on issues that affect Canadians living in these regions,” Zimmer said in a statement. Zimmer was first elected in 2011 in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, and returned to Ottawa for a third term in October’s general election. In the last Parliament, he served as chair of the House of Commons committee on access to information, privacy, and ethics. He was also chair of the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus and chair of the BC/Yukon Conservative Caucus.

p court docket Fort St. John No sentences issued. Dawson Creek • Matthew Edward Gilbert (born 1991) was sentenced to time served, issued a one-year probation order, and ordered to provide a DNA sample for possession of stolen property over $5,000. Gilbert was sentenced to time served, issued a 10-year mandatory firearms ban, and ordered to provide a DNA sample for possessing a firearm contract to order. Gilbert was sentenced to time served for

MP Todd Doherty of CaribooPrince George was named the party’s transport critic. Parliament resumes Dec. 5.

Lock your doors Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca Fort St. John RCMP are once again reminding residents to lock their vehicles when running into the gas station or grocery store. In a public service announcement Tuesday, RCMP say they’ve received

numerous calls this season from drivers who have either been warming up their vehicle while unlocked or have returned from the store to find their vehicle had been stolen. Thieves are looking for wallets, money, tablets, phones, and tools, or anything they can use or sell, police said. Thieves can steal an idling car in less than 10 seconds if the doors are left unlocked with keys in the ignition, police said. “Over the years I have seen vehicles left running and unattended with firearms, small children or pets in them,” Staff Sgt. Steve Perret said in a statement. “Taking two seconds to lock up a vehicle is a small step of prevention that can save everyone so much frustration, time and financial loss.” Resources spent trying to recover a stolen vehicle could be used to respond to other reports in a more timely manner, police said. Stolen vehicles present a risk to the public “as many thieves will go to great lengths to avoid being caught while driving,” police added. Drivers who leave their vehicles unlocked and unattended can be issued a violation ticket for Unsecured Motor Vehicle with a fine of $81 under B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act, police said.

No affiliation with Healing Hands Northern Health has issued a warning about a business activity posing as a charitable campaign. Northern Health said it has received reports of a company soliciting contributions from businesses in the region to pay for an activity book, called Healing Hands, to be donated to children in hospitals. Northern Health said it is “not affiliated with or endorsing this book” and is asking businesses receiving phone calls requesting donations to “check very carefully about the origin of such solicitations before making a donation.” “People who are interested in making financial contributions to healthcare in Northern B.C. are encouraged to do so through local hospital foundations and auxiliaries, and other charitable organizations whose work supports health projects and health services delivery in Northern B.C.” In 2014, a hospital in Kitchener, Ont. received an unwanted box of the books along with a letter say they were “generously donated by your local business community.”

breaching an undertaking. • Dallas Lyle Logan (born 1992) was fined $300 for possession of a controlled substance. Logan was sentenced to time served for breaching probation. • Tyrell Giroux (born 1991) was sentenced to time served for dangerous operation of a vehicle, and was issued a two-year criminal driving ban for driving while disqualified under the Criminal Code. Giroux was sentenced to 31 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance and wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. Giroux was sentenced to time served for flight from police. • Nolan Lee McLain (born 1996) was granted a conditional discharge with a oneyear probation order for mischief, and wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. — Matt Preprost

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A6 | BUSINESS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019

More than 2,000 workers on Trans Mountain expansion Nelson Bennett Business in Vancouver

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Stephen Baker with Off The Rock Trucking heads out for a day of hauling, Nov. 27, 2019.

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When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted in mid-July that the Trans Mountain expansion project “is going forward, and work is getting started this construction season,” a typical reply was “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Given all the protests and legal and political setbacks it has suffered, that skepticism was understandable. But the $7.4 billion to $9.3 billion pipeline twinning project is now under construction. Also going ahead is $150 million worth of investments in new vessels and bases by the Western Canada Marine Response Corp., which paused its expansion following a Federal Court of Appeal decision that quashed the original approval of the pipeline twinning project. As of September 30, 2,200 workers had been hired, and are now working, mostly at either end of the pipeline, in Burnaby and Edmonton. Those numbers were originally expected to reach 3,000 by the end of this year. “We’re definitely excited to see it get underway because it’s going to mean an awful lot of employment for British Columbians and Albertans,” said Patrick Campbell, Canadian pipeline director for the International Union of Operating Engineers. Campbell’s union represents about 35% of the workers on three of the pipeline segments or “spreads” in B.C. At peak construction, each spread will employ about 350 construction workers, tradespeople, truck drivers and labourers. “I think every British Columbian who’s qualified to do this kind of work will be busy,” Campbell said. “These projects are nation-building in their scale because, I think, it will be reasonable to call upon other Canadians to augment the workforce.” Security perimeters have been cast around some of the key construction areas, like the Burnaby tank farm and Westridge Marine Terminal. In the Lower Mainland, much of the work going on now is concentrated at the Westridge site, where barges, cranes, derricks and other heavy machinery are working to expand the existing terminal, which will have three berths for oil

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tankers. The work also involves extending the foreshore. In B.C., some of the most intensive construction work will be done in Burnaby. There, in addition to the expansion of the Westridge terminal, 14 new oil storage tanks will be built at Trans Mountain’s tank farm on Burnaby Mountain, bringing the total number of tanks to 26. The terminal and tank farm will be connected by pipeline. That section of pipeline will require boring a 2.6-kilometre tunnel through Burnaby Mountain. That work is expected to start sometime in 2020. “The terminals are sort of the critical-path items,” said Trans Mountain Corp. media spokeswoman Ali Hounsell. “It will take the full three years to build Westridge Marine Terminal. And it will not take nearly that long to build a segment of pipe between X and Y in the middle of Alberta or through the Interior.” Early construction work had started in 2018 but was halted for a year, after the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the order-in-council giving the project the green light. The Trudeau government was forced to address two issues – First Nations consultation and marine impacts from increased tanker traffic – before giving the project a second goahead in July. Worked resumed on August 22, Hounsell said. The 1,150-kilometre pipeline, running from Edmonton to Burnaby, will be constructed in nine spreads. Work has started on the first spread in and around Edmonton. British Columbians won’t see much pipe going into the ground in 2020, except in Burnaby. About 60% of the pipe has already been delivered. Some of the pipe that will go into the ground first will be through horizontal drilling at stream and road crossings, which is done to avoid disruptions to traffic and fish habitat from trenching. The Canadian government now owns the Trans Mountain pipeline and is responsible for its expansion. Trans Mountain Corp. has not yet provided an update on the expected capital costs. Original estimates of the twinning project pegged its cost at $7.4 billion. The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer has estimated the delays in starting could push that to $9.3 billion.

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thursday, december 5, 2019 | business | A7

de ce m be r 7- 15 dec embre | EN CAN A EVEN T C EN TRE

The WOrld

Returns le monde revient

enbridge photo

Enbridge crew members at the Gretna Terminal stand by the final tie-in point of the Line 3 Replacement pipeline in Canada. The Line 3 pipeline replacement is complete and shipped its first oil on Dec. 1. The new pipe meets the old pipe at the international border at Gretna, Manitoba. And the old pipe in the U.S. continues to be in use until it is replaced.

Enbridge updates on local projects Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca Enbridge officials were in Fort St. John and Taylor at the end of November to give councillors an update on the company’s regional projects. Enbridge sold its Alberta and B.C. gathering and processing assets to Brookfield Infrastructure in a $4.3-billion deal announced in 2018. The second phase of the deal, which includes the McMahon gas plant in Taylor, is expected to close by the end of the year. “Even though there’s been lots of changes… I’m here to say we’re still committed to the communities,” Michaela Bjorseth, engagement manager for Enbridge, told Taylor councillors on Nov. 18. Here’s an overview of Enbridge projects in the queue and what the company is looking to do about caribou: Spruce Ridge This project involves two loop segments to build capacity in the system. Construction includes 25 kilometres of 36-inch pipeline near Chetwynd, and 13 kilometres of 24inch pipeline near Aitken Creek. The project also includes the installation of two additional compressor units. The project has received approval from the National Energy Board, now called the Canada Energy Regulator, as well as permitting approvals from the BC Oil and Gas Commission. Construction is planned to start in 2020. The project is planned to be in service in 2021. The project is estimated at $565 million. Compressor Station 1 Segregation This project includes upgrades to Compressor Station 1 to be able to operate independently from the McMahon plant, now operated by NorthRiver Midstream. Work includes would involve replacing the existing 2,000-horsepower compressor with an 1,850-horsepower compressor, along with installation of a new meter skid, and other associated equipment. Enbridge plans to submit a project application to the Canada Energy Regulator in December. Pending approval, construction could begin in the winter or spring of 2020, with an in-service date targeted for 2021. T-South Reliability and Expansion This project will add capacity on the T-South system, which runs from

south of Taylor to the U.S. border, Bjorseth said. Work includes installation of new compressor units and gas coolers at five existing compressor stations, and upgrades to compressors at two other stations and one meter station. The most northern work will take place near Azouzetta Lake. Frontier Project This project is still at a high level, Bjorseth said, and the company is exploring opportunities to separate natural gas liquids from its transmission gas. A straddle plant is being considered west of Chetwynd that would extract the liquids and ship them via a new pipeline to a fractionator and rail facility. Enbridge is still refining the scope of the project with its customers, Bjorseth said. A project description has been submitted to environmental assessors. Pending the regulatory process and approvals, construction could begin as soon as 2022, with an inservice date in 2024. The project is estimated at $2.5 billion. Caribou Habitat Enbridge must offset caribou habitat losses as part of approval conditions for four recent projects, and is currently looking at locations to carry out that work, Bjorseth said. “We are going to be offsetting up to potentially 400 to 600 hectares of caribou habitat, so it’s quite a large footprint,” Bjorseth told Fort St. John council on Nov. 25. “We’re really interested in working with local governments, local communities, indigenous communities, on where those should be. This could be replanting, it could be access controls.” October 2018 pipeline explosion Enbridge has inspected its entire transmission system with the latest state-of-the-art tools after an explosion north of Prince George in October 2018. The tool has double the number of sensors and is “more accurate at assessing a potential problem such as stress corrosion cracking,” Bjorseth said. Enbridge will be increasing the frequency of inspections with the tool, and has also nearly doubled the amount of integrity digs across its system, Bjorseth said. “This is where we go in, excavate around the pipeline and physically inspect it, and take any necessary repairs,” Bjorseth said.

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Sorry doc, staff shortages will kill us before climate change does

t’s Saturday morning, and as usual I’m watching the mourning news: Global TV in Vancouver is covering the “Doctors of the World” report that a warmer world is an unhealthier place for children. For this, they interviewed a surgeon from Vancouver who participated in drafting this report. It’s hard for me to characterize or summarize this interview in a few words, as the distortion of facts, halftruths and circumstances of living in B.C., as presented by this doctor, do not reflect reality. Yes, our climate is changing, and with that, comes a whole range of positive and negative effects on how we live, including our health. But, to take a page out of David Suzuki’s modus operandi, and many instructors in our education system, and move to scaring our children by telling them that climate change will kill them, is just plain wrong. Fearmongering has no place in our society, especially when it’s directed at children who can’t comprehend or ascertain lies from the truths, facts from fiction. Between now and 2050, more children in B.C. will

die from neglect, accidents, lack of access to good health care, and of lifestyle choices than from all climate change impacts. Before I begin my rant about the good doctors behind this report, a few half-truths and selected facts from the interview. This doctor made a big deal about the William’s Lake hospital being evacuated in 2017 due to fires and putting patients at risk and creating stress. She made no mention of closures to medical procedures in this same hospital because of a) the doctors weren’t working, and/or b), there was not enough doctors, which was also putting these same patents at risk and stressing them out. Incidentally, those wildfires were not all because of climate change. The B.C. government was not adequately resourced to extinguish those fires when they were still small enough to do so. Also, there was no mention of facility closures due to the absence of doctors and other healthcare professional in communities such as Fort Nelson, Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek or Fort St John that reduce our quality

EVAN SAUGSTAD of life and stress us out. This same doctor made a big deal about the medical system trying to address and reduce their use of plastics in health care, or the amount of CO2 they generate. Made no mention of the amount of energy and CO2 their patients, such as I, generate when we are forced to travel to our big cities because these same doctors refuse to work and provide their services in small, rural northern communities. From my flat earth viewpoint, having doctors live in and deliver adequate and sufficient healthcare in every community would generate far fewer emissions than what is required for the masses to travel and seek help. Guess that’s our fault as we choose to live where most doctors won’t, or as some doctors say, the

government does pay us enough to do that. In the B.C. context, references to us not having enough nutritious food, clean water, or clean air to breath are totally misleading. For the most part, these are not climate change issues. These are about ensuring we have clean dirt, clean water, and clean air for our day-to-day activities and lives. Population numbers and our activities will have a far greater impact to these precious resources than a couple of degrees of warming. Now for my doctor rant. I currently live in B.C.’s north, and for most of my 60-plus years, have lived in northern B.C. and the Yukon. I like it here, and despite the pitfalls, I make this choice. For the past eight years, I have lived in Fort St John. In January 2020, I will start over again with my fourth family doctor. I’m lucky to even have a family doctor as thousands across northern B.C. don’t. I do think about how hard it is for my doctor to really care about me, to understand my life circumstances, when they only see me for a couple years, but I’m still better off than many.

I have written about this conundrum since my days as mayor of Chetwynd and their doctor shortages. Doctor shortages aren’t new, and it appears that if I want to use much the same logic as the doctors who wrote that climate report did, as our climate warms, we will get fewer doctors. Is climate change really resulting in fewer doctors being able to survive? One could make that assumption if we only looked at the north, but thankfully, it isn’t true. I can say, with complete conviction that the shortage of doctors in the north, and the resulting lack of access to good health care, is causing more of our good citizens to live less than optimum lives, and more likely to die prematurely than all impacts of climate change combined. Think about that one. On one hand we have doctors spending their time pontificating about climate change and the impact it might have on our lives, while at the same time, they refuse to work where they can help us live healthier lives. Evan Saugstad is a former mayor of Chetwynd, and lives in Fort St. John.

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hol so guests do not feel pressured to drink too much. Such games can make parties more fun and memorable and give guests something to do besides mingle and drink alcohol. In addition, games and activities that do not revolve around alcohol can keep sober guests engaged in the festivities.

• Encourage guests to take cabs or ridesharing services to and from the party. Hosts who plan to serve alcohol can encourage guests to use local taxi companies or ridesharing services such as LyftTM or Uber to get them to and from the party. Include contact information for local taxi companies on the party invitations, and ask guests to include their transportation plans with their RSVP. Doing so will get guests thinking about transportation well in advance of the festivities, and that may reduce the likelihood that they will drive themselves.

• Serve ample amounts of food. Even guests who do not plan to drink much can become inebriated if they’re drinking on empty stomachs. Make plenty of food available to your guests, but try to avoid serving salty foods like pretzels and potato chips. Salt makes people thirsty, and that might compel some guests to drink more alcohol than they intended.

Guests’ safety should be a top priority for party hosts. But hosts also must take steps to protect themselves when serving alcohol. Host laws can leave hosts who overserve guests vulnerable to criminal prosecution or civil liability, so it’s important that hosts take steps to ensure guests who consume alcohol do not drink to excess and make it home safely.

• Enlist designated drivers. Some guests may plan to abstain from alcohol, and hosts can ask such guests to serve as designated drivers. In addition, hosts should abstain from alcohol so they can drive guests home if any guests have had too much to drink.

• Plan activities that do not involve drinking. Hosts can plan games or activities that do not involve alco-

• Get creative with nonalcoholic beverages. Hosts should make sure they have ample amounts of water and soft drinks on hand for underage guests and guests who will not be drinking. But hosts can also have some fun by serving some “mocktails,” which mimic alcoholic beverages without the alcohol. Kids might like a “Shirley Temple” instead of another glass of water, and adult guests might feel a virgin martini helps them ﬁt in more.

• Have some guest rooms ready. Guests coming from far away who drove themselves may not want to pay for cabs or ridesharing services home, so make sure you have guest rooms ready for anyone who overdoes it with alcohol. Stock up on toothbrushes, bed linens and contact solution and cases so guests who wear contact lenses can remove them before going to bed. Hosting can be fun, but hosts must prioritize the safety of their guests when serving alcohol.

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alaska highway news

thursday, december 5, 2019 | NEWS | A9

matt preprost photo

Left: Camden Jeppson plays the shy greaser Doody and sings a tune in North Peace Secondary’s production of Grease on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Right: Ashlynne Jones (as Marty) sings a tune as the rest of her Pink Ladies clique — Jordan Lawson (as Jan), Kiana Gordon (as Rizzo), and Lauryn McRoberts (as Frenchy) — dance along.

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HOROSCOPE ARIES (MARCH 21 TO APRIL 19) Tread carefully this morning. Don’t shop or make important decisions. However, in the afternoon, it’s all systems go, and you are hot! TAURUS (APRIL 20 TO MAY 20) A frank conversation with a female acquaintance might take place this morning. Someone might want to confide in you. Just listen, but don’t agree to anything important. GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) This morning, personal details about your private life might be made public. (Like, what’s with that?) However, this afternoon, you are confident when dealing with friends and groups. Now you can relax. CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) This morning is loosey-goosey, so you are best off just going with the flow. Be aware that in the afternoon, people notice you because suddenly you are highviz. Big difference. LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) Avoid important financial decisions this morning, especially about inheritances and shared property. This afternoon, try to do something different to have some fun and adventure! VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) This morning you have to go along to get along. Don’t agree to anything important. By the afternoon, make some time to take care of red-tape details like bills, insurance issues, wills and inheritances

For Thursday December 5 2019

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Don’t push yourself this morning because your efficiency might be off. Just go with the flow. This afternoon, a conversation with a partner or close friend will be important. SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Your creative vibes are flowing this morning, which makes it a great time for artistic projects and clever ideas. This afternoon, you will roll up your sleeves and get to work. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) This morning is a poor time for family discussions and important decisions. Do not volunteer for anything. By the afternoon, take time to enjoy yourself — have fun! CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) This morning you will rely more on your hunches. You also will want to have a heart-to-heart conversation with someone. (Don’t agree to anything important.) Relax at home this afternoon if you can. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) This morning, restrict your spending to food, gas and entertainment. By the afternoon, you will enjoy warm conversations with others. PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MARCH 20) You might be a bit more emotional this morning. Just coast. In the afternoon, financial matters and shopping will absorb your attention. (You can shop in the afternoon, but not in the morning.)

Teachers Deserve Parents’ Patience and Respect Dear Annie: I am a teacher in a small town in New England. When I began my job, I thought it was the best job in the world. I spent a lot of time, money and effort to learn the skills to become an effective teacher, and I couldn’t think of a better way to give back to my community. Fast-forward a few years. Most teachers work very hard to plan quality lessons and to make sure that students are making progress in school, but the lack of basic respect in return is severely lacking. The worst of it doesn’t come from students. It’s hard to believe the appalling behavior from parents that school staff is expected to tolerate. One recent incident really bothered me. A parent was upset because her child was not getting an A in a certain class. She named the teacher on a public chatroom and invited negative comments! Fortunately for the brilliant, wonderful and respected teacher, several community members came to their defense and let the poster know that her post was inappropriate. Parents who post such negative comments never tell the other side of the story: that their child has many missing assignments, poor behavior or poor attendance. Often, the information they post is completely false. This type of behavior seems to be getting worse every year. If parents have a legitimate concern about their child, they should

Annie Lane DEAR ANNIE

call or email the teacher and have a conversation. If they want more information or further discussion, they should ask for a meeting and discuss their concerns civilly. Yelling at school staff, defending your child’s disrespectful or unsafe behavior, making threats and publicly posting your displeasure about school staff online is inappropriate and unacceptable. I can’t imagine how these parents would feel if someone posted publicly about their child like this. -- A Little Respect, Please Dear A Little Respect: You deserve a lot of respect for your profession. Teaching is one of the most important jobs in our nation, so thank you for your service. You are shaping our youth and preparing them for the real world. These parents are way out of line and should know they are potentially hurting their children. One of the most important lessons a parent and teacher can impart to their children and students is that mistakes are opportunities to try better the next time. This teaches kids resilience and helps them develop their self-esteem. The goal is for every student to develop a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. These

terms are from Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, who says that when a student has a fixed mindset, they believe that their basic abilities, intelligence and talents are fixed traits, while students with a growth mindset believe their abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort, learning and persistence. In a growth mindset, you believe a lasting relationship comes from effort and working through inevitable differences. In a fixed mindset, it’s all about the outcome. If you fail, you think all effort was wasted. Those with a growth mindset know it’s all about the process, so the outcome hardly matters. If the parents try to rescue their children every time they don’t get an A or don’t make the team, they aren’t helping their child. In fact, they’re sending their children the message that they aren’t capable of succeeding on their own. Badmouthing a teacher on a public forum is one of the most tasteless and harmful things I have ever heard about. I am very sorry for your friend and glad that other people came to their defense. I hope this letter helps parents think twice before they swoop in to try to fix their children’s inevitable imperfections. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. To find out more about Annie Lane and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM

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A10 | NEWS | thursday, december 5, 2019

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alaska highway news

thursday, december 5, 2019 | community | a11

Lots of work, and lots of fun too for Fish Creek homesteaders

t’s still hard to believe, but Fort St. John was nearly centered around Fish Creek, where the bypass road crosses the creek and railroad tracks north west of the city. If you have walked the paved trails that start at the college and go parallel west along the tracks to a dead end, that would be pretty close to where Fort St. John was at one time. This area is also referred to as Frozen John. The following story was written a few decades ago by Hilda Munro Large, and is about the determination her family had in making the Peace their home. On March 17, 1928, Harold Bray Large left Birnie, Manitoba, via train with four horses, two cows, an Elgin Six car, farm machinery, and household effects. On April 3, he arrived in Wembley, Alberta, which, at that time, was the end of the railway. Travelling with him was his nephew, Owen Chambers, and a friend of Owen’s, Ed Pearson. He had left his wife, Laura, and three small children in Birnie to stay with relatives until he could find a place for them to live. Leaving his possessions in Wembley, Mr. Large and party travelled to Rolla in the car, which took about two days. There, they looked for land and were told there was some good land across the Pouce Coupe River. It began to snow, so Mr. Large returned to Wembley to see how the livestock were faring. He then returned to Rolla with the stock, sleighs, and some effects. By then, there was about two feet of wet snow. Nothing daunted them, along with a party of about six including Owen Chambers and Garney Burton, and they crossed the river. They had no trouble crossing, but when they went to make camp in the area where they were going to look for land there was nothing but snow. They had no tents or tarps so they just set up camp in the snow; up went the cook stove and beds. As there were more

Museum news Heather Sjoblom Alaska Highway News It’s great to be back after my maternity leave. I’ve jumped full swing into several projects and we are gearing up for Christmas here at the museum. Our museum exhibits are being decorated for Christmas and the results can be enjoyed any day in December (apart from Dec. 24-29 when we are closed). Exhibits Starched Whites & Winter Woolens: Nursing Uniforms of the North Peace — Now until April 2019 at the Fort St. John Hospital Nurses in the North Peace have had many different uniforms over the years from starched white cotton dresses (and warm winter coats) to today’s scrubs. Travel back through nine decades of nursing through stories, photographs, and parts of uniforms. This free exhibit is now on display in the Fort St. John Hospital lobby for the next six months thanks to our partnership with the

fort st. john north peace museum / 2012.069.001

Hudson’s Bay Company buildings at Fish Creek, August 1928. .The two-storey buidling farthest north was a hotel and store owned by Middletons.

larry evans people than beds, three of them slept in a grain tank, which had been borrowed from a homesteader in Rolla. When the snow finally melted, the river stayed high for days. The land was not what they had expected and they decided they didn’t want to stay there but they had to wait out the high water. They ran out of food but Owen had a gun and as long as his shells lasted he was able to keep them supplied with prairie chickens. When the shells were gone, all they had was flour, salt, and the milk from the cows they had taken with them. Biscuits made from the leftover supplies were pretty hard, however, after a few adventures they got back to Rolla. Mr. Large and Garney Burton then came up to Fort St. John to look for land. Garney Fort St. John Hospital Arts Committee. The Peace River: Highway of the North — Before roads, rivers were the highways of First Nations and early settlers. Birch bark canoes allowed First Nations to travel swiftly. Steamboats could travel over 500 miles along the Peace River from the chutes near Fort Vermillion to gates at Hudson’s Hope. This exhibit looks at over twelve boats, steam and gas powered, that used to navigate up and down the Peace River. Watch a slideshow of archival photographs, and listen to the sounds of steamboats. See what a dining table on the D. A. Thomas may have looked like. Try on a life jacket and see how it compares to one from over 100 years ago. Events Kids’ Night: Christmas at the Museum — Friday, December 6, 2019 7 p.m. at the Museum Celebrate Christmas at the Fort St. John North Peace Museum with the forest animals in Karma Wilson’s story Bear Stays Up for Christmas. Make Christmas crafts based on the story such as a bear ornament, paper stocking, and a friendship star

Burton settled at North Pine and Harry Large filed on land just north of Fort St. John (Frozen John location). He then went back to Rolla and found a place for his family to live. He also rented land to grow feed for his animals. The family arrived in June of that year. In late July, the family embarked for Fort St. John in the Elgin Six. A day’s trip took them from Rolla to Feenie’s Stopping Place at South Taylor. There, they spent the night and were treated to the sight of the D.A. Thomas steaming up the river, all lights shining. The next morning after crossing the Peace River on the ferry, they went on to Fort St. John and found lodging above John Middleton’s store, which was located on the banks of Fish Creek. This was, of course, also the location of the Hudson’s Bay Trading Post at that time, so they were able to stock up on staples. They stayed at Middleton’s until June 1929 when their log house on the homestead was ready for occupancy. In those days, there was no financial help of any kind. You did the best you could with what you had. You could get a free permit to take out

logs and this was done to build the house, a barn, and granary. All field work was done by hand and horses were used to pull out the tree stumps. By 1930, there were 10 children of school age in the district, so a school was built at Fish Creek. The land was donated by Ron Taylor, and the men of the district got the logs and built the school. The government gave the sum of $200 to buy desks and the equipment needed. By October, the school opened and Fish Creek School was a reality. The first teacher was Miss Barbara Bernard of Victoria, later know as Mrs. Bert Ambrose. When the children in the north end were old enough to go to school, it was moved to a more central location, this time on land donated by Mr. W. Herron. Sid Martin moved the school, taking it down, marking the logs, and putting it back together again. He received $40 for this task. The rebuilt school had a barn, an icehouse for drinking water, and the usual two outhouses out back. The new location of the school was more centrally located for all the children that had moved into the district, and

was located to an area that is now just south of the Alaska Highway on 100 Street. Some of the highlights of those years were the concerts and dances held in the little one room school. Sports Days were held on May 24 and July 1 each year at the school. Once in a while, someone would come to the school with what was called a “lantern slide” (the forerunner of a projector) and on those evenings the district all turned out. Transportation was by sleigh in winter and lumber wagon in summer, or you could walk or ride horseback! Ice was hauled from Charlie Lake by sleigh and this was used for drinking water and to freeze ice cream in the summer. The ice was packed in sawdust in a log house built especially for this. Winter was also the time for getting out lots of wood for the heater and cook stove. Homesteading in the North Peace was not for the weak of heart as there was lots of work to be done, but lots of fun to be had too! Larry Evans is a former fire chief, city councillor, and lifelong historian living in Fort St. John.

quilt block collage. Find and match snowy animal footprints around the museum. Connect the dots and draw a Christmas scene from the book. Explore our museum exhibits, which are decorated for Christmas. Enjoy hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and get in the spirit of the holidays. Registration is mandatory and limited. When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North Book Launch & Presentation — Monday, December 16, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Museum Join us for the inspiring story of Amy Wilson, a woman who dedicated herself to nursing remote Indigenous communities along the Alaska Highway from 1949-1951. She nursed

fort st. john north peace museum

Starched Whites & Winter Woolens: Nursing Uniforms of the North Peace is now on display at the hospital.

at the Halfway during the diphtheria epidemic there 70 years ago (Dec. 15, 1949). Amy’s grand niece, Laurel Deedrick-Mayne, who has written an introduction to this new edition will share

Amy’s story. Heather Sjoblom is manager and curator of the Fort St. John North Peace Museum.

! E V A S O T N O S A E S E H T S I T ‘ , E C I N R O Y T H G U NA

A12 | NEWS | thursday, december 5, 2019

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aHN sports THURSDAY, dec. 5, 2019 | VOL. A-75 NO. 49

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fill the bus

curling updates

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The Huskies had a busy weekend, winning two games and hosting the 22nd Fill the Bus

The Fort St. John Cash Spiel is this weekend, and the curling leagues are heating up

The senior girls were in Langley for provincials, while basketball started in Dawson Creek

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overtime hero Tristan Nielsen (#8) of Fort St. John scored the overtime winner for the Vancouver Giants — and assisted on another goal — to complete the comeback from down 2-0 against the Spokane Chiefs on November 30, 2019. The Giants won 3-2.

derek guscott photo

World Junior A Challenge comes to Fort St. John on Thursday

Winter clubs stuck waiting for snow

Dillon Giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca

Those eager to pull the sled out for a ride, or lace up their cross country ski boots will have to wait a while longer. Though it’s December, the weather isn’t yet co-operating. That doesn’t mean that the winter sports clubs in town aren’t ready to begin the season. The Northland Trailblazers Snowmobile Club was out last weekend clearing off the Stewart Lake Trail, putting the finishing touches on what has been a three-year project to carve out 45km worth of riding. “We don’t have a lot on the agenda yet as we’re so weather dependant, and unfortunately there’s not enough snow to ride yet,” said the club’s president, Brian McBrearty. “That trail and the Redfern Lake Trail are the one’s we’ve put the

Once again, Fort St. John and the North Peace Arena will be host to the world’s best young hockey players. The 2019 World Junior A Hockey Challenge will be in Fort St. John for an exhibition game Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m. between Russia and Canada West, and a round robin game December 11 between Canada East and U.S.A. While Junior A doesn’t quite carry the big-time feel that the World Under 17s did, there are 132 Junior A teams in Canada as part of the CJHL, and any time you make a team from such a large a pool, you’re bound to have some really great players. “These players will be heavily

Dillon Giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca

scouted this week and I’m very excited to watch these games. It will be great hockey,” said Paul van Nostrand, who, along with Lee Hartman and the Fort St. John Flyers, are the main force behind hosting the two games in Fort St. John. While the majority of the tournament is in Dawson Creek, van Nostrand is grateful that Hockey Canada put a couple games in Fort St. John and elsewhere. “There are only five teams this time instead of eight. The Encana Events Centre is more than capable of hosting the entire tournament, so we are thankful for the opportunity to host these games in this great hockey town” said van Nostrand. “You can never have too much of a Canada-Russia game at any level.”

most work into and we’re excited for people to use them this year.” Meanwhile, Big Bam Ski Club is anxiously awaiting snow so it can open the hill. The club finally has a full group of volunteers, even more than it did last season when it opened for the first time in four years. “We were really hoping to be open by Christmas, but there’s nothing we can do. We didn’t open until January last year, but when we do get the snow we’ll be ready to go,” said Big Bam President Jody Mather. Mather said the club is eager to build on the progress that was made last season, which saw the hill open every weekend from January until mid-April. Though they have a lot of volunteers, Mather said Big Bam could always use more, even if a person can give just fours a week of their time.

Plans for a new day lodge at Beatton Provincial Park received a $61,000 boost from Co-Op on Nov. 30, 2019. Pictured, from left: Bruce Chisholm, Brad Lussier, Glenn Kelly, Miranda Flury, Connie Chilcott, Dave Mengering, Bruce Baxter, and Eliza Stanford.

h Turn to B4 for the story

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b2 | sportS | thursday, december 5, 2019

around the bases E

dillon giancola

alaska highway news

this day in sports history

schedule

1982: Fort St. John wrestlers qualified for the Northern British Columbia Winter Games in Terrace. Among them were Jesse Andrews and Troy McLeod.

thursday: canada west vs russia, 7 p.m., north peace arena friday: Canada cup #1, Pomeroy Sport centre, 10 a.m. saturday: huskies at kings, 8 p.m. clairmont county sportsplex

very year around this time, the New England Patriots play an absolute stinker of a game. And every year, we wonder if this is finally the year the Patriots’ dynasty will fall apart, or at least not make the Super Bowl. And, unfortunately, the Patriots usually prove to us all that they’re never going to fall apart, ever. Tom Brady may be 42, and look his age while playing, but history tells us he’ll be just fine come January. However, during the Patriots’ 28-22 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football last week, it really looked like we were entering new territory. The score suggests the game Fort St. John’s Claire Logeman in the 50m freestyle final at was much closer than it the Inconnu Swim Club’s home meet, December 1, 2019. was (the Patriots scored 13 points in garbage time), but h See alaskahighwaynews.ca for results the 30 close-up shots of an angry Tom Brady yelling at his receivers reveal just how dire the situation really is. the Pats’ offensive issues When Patriots games like When the Pats began the were there for everyone to this happen, the first thing season 8-0, it was clear that see. The Texans doubleall football-fans do is get while they did have a very teamed receiver Julian excited and debate whether good defense, they hadn’t Edelman — whose at most Tom Brady is finally done played any good teams and the second-best receiver on and if the team is actually had a very poor offense. most teams — and it made terrible. The first sign of weakness all the difference in the Though it seems like occurred on November 3 world as nobody else could that’s what I’m doing here, I ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS when they lost 37-20 to get open or make a play. know better. The man won the Baltimore Ravens, but I thought Brady was the Super Bowl last Februeverybody loses to the going to throw his helmet ary, and threw for 500 yards Ravens bad these days. on the ground three differtwo Super Bowls ago, for However, in losing to ent times, but he caught crying out loud. the just-average Houston himself with some hidden No, I won’t be telling you Texans (who were 7-4 at the reserve of strength each that the Patriots suck, that time) in convincing fashion, time. Tom Brady doesn’t have

splashing the competition

dillon giancola photo

it anymore, and that the dynasty is dead. All I’ll do is enjoy games like the one we had last Sunday, and encourage you to do the same. It really feels like the Patriots have at least two more of these games left in them this season — they play Pat Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday, December 8 — and there is the real chance they flame out in the playoffs. But, even if that doesn’t happen, if the Patriots get back to the Super Bowl, or

Tom Brady all of a sudden starts playing like he’s 40 again, we’ll always have that game against the Texans. If, God forbid, the Patriots reverse course and bring back disgraced receiver Antonio Brown and he fixes the team’s passing-game problems overnight, we’ll still be able to remember the time it looked like the Patriots were done. Because, no matter how bleak it may look at times, the day will come when the Patriots really are done. I know this just as much as I know my Los Angeles Rams won’t make the playoffs this year (please, don’t try and convince me otherwise and get my hopes up). All dynasties come to an end — whether it’s the Golden State Warriors who are currently last in the NBA a year after making the Final a fifth-straight year, the three-time Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks, or the Dallas Cowboys — and someday, even if it takes 20 years, so will the New England Patriots. It might not quite be over yet, but hold fast my friends, a new day is coming when Tom Brady will look his age, the Patriots will finish fourth in the AFC East (or at least second), and Bill Belichik will retire. Until then, enjoy watching the Baltimore Ravens win this year’s Super Bowl.

PRO GOLF WEEKLY UPDATE Golf News, Tips, Trivia & Stats

This Week in Pro Golf

Top News Stories

An elite field of 18 players will convene at Albany in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods Initially, the tournament had a 16-man field composed of the defending champion, the top 11 available players from the Official World Golf Ranking, and 4 sponsors exemptions. In 2008, the field was increased to 18 players. Prize money won by the players is not included in money rankings on any of the world’s professional golf tours. Since 2009, the event offers Official World Golf Ranking points. Beginning in 2015, the event has been played at the Albany development in the Bahamas.

Course Stats Yards: 7,302 Par: 72 Tournament record: 262 Defending champion: Jon Rahm

TV Coverage Day Time Wednesday 1:00pm-4:00pm Thursday 1:00pm-4:00pm Friday 11:00am-4:00pm Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm Saturday 12:00pm-3:00pm

Network GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF NBC

Pro Golf Trivia Which golfer shot a record 63 in the first round of the 1996 Masters? a) Greg Norman b) Fred Couples

c) Bernhard Langer d) Nick Faldo

Answer: a) Greg Norman

Dustin Johnson withdraws from Hero World Challenge, Chez Reavie steps in as replacement Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from the upcoming Hero World Challenge event in the Bahamas, the No. 4-ranked golfer in the world announced on Saturday. In his place, Chez Reavie will be stepping in as a replacement. Woods welcomed the addition of Reavie to the fold while sending his best wishes to Johnson, who will captain the United States squad at the upcoming Presidents Cup event in mid-December. “I am excited to welcome Chez to the Hero World Challenge field,” Woods said. “Chez had a terrific season and will be a great addition to our field this week. I wish Dustin the best and I know he’s disappointed not to be playing in Albany.” An appearance at the Hero World Challenge was set to mark Johnson’s return to action for the first time since he competed in the Tour Championship back in August.

Jason Day has been forced to withdraw from Presidents Cup with a back injury Byeong Hun An will make his Presidents Cup debut for the International Team at Royal Melbourne after Jason Day has been forced to withdraw with a back injury. Day reaggravated an ongoing back complaint during practice in Palm Springs after returning from the recent Mayakoba Golf Classic, forcing the 12-time PGA Tour winner to forego his position on Ernie Els’ International Team and his place in the Australian Open next week. Captain Els moved quickly to name a replacement in An, who has had a strong start to the 2019-20 PGA Tour season. “We wish Jason well and hope his back recovers quickly. We were eager to have Jason as part of the team at Royal Melbourne and his experience will be missed,” Els said. While An is winless in his 103 PGA Tour starts the 28-year-old has three runner ups and has match play pedigree as the youngest ever winner of the U.S. Amateur.

Lessons from the Golf Pro

FedEx Cup Standings

While watching John Daly make his long shot is quite entertaining to see, over-swinging is a very common problem for the amateur golfer that creates a lot of havoc. The thought process behind taking a backswing beyond parallel is that a longer arc will create more clubhead speed. That is a true statement, but if you are all out of balance in trying to swing so hard, is there really any benefit? Since everybody’s mechanics are different, only a half-swing may be perfect for you. The key to determining what will produce the best shot in your arsenal is to swing back as far as you can turn your shoulders without tilting them or losing your balance. The only way to get a true description of what the best shot is for you is to practice and find out what feels right each time.

Through Dec. 1, 2019

1) Brendon Todd 957 pts. / 3 top tens

2) Sebastian Munoz 817 pts. / 3 top tens

3) Lanto Griffin 740 pts. / 1 top tens

FedEx Cup Standings continued... Player Points 4) Rory McIlroy 713 5) Justin Thomas 662 6) Kevin Na 603 7) Sunjae Im 599 8) Joaquin Niemann 587 9) Cameron Champ 581 10) Hideki Matsuyama 566

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thursday, december 5, 2019 | sports | b3

HUSKIES PLAYER OF THE WEEK Sponsored by Candoo Oilﬁeld Services Inc.

IVAN JASBEC DEFENCE

ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS

dillon giancola photo

Nils Nemec protects the puck from a Dawson Creek defender during theHuskies’ 7-4 win over the Canucks on November 30, 2019.

Huskies win seventh straight game Dillon Giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca In what’s becoming a common occurrence week after week, the Fort St. John Huskies won both their games again last weekend — a 3-2 overtime win against the Fairview Flyers on November 28, and a 7-4 win over the Dawson Creek Canucks on November 30. In fact, the Huskies have now won seven games in a row, and haven’t lost in regulation in their last 11 games (they are 10-0-1) in that time span). While on the surface it may seem like things couldn’t be better, the reality is the Huskies haven’t played their best for a full 60 minutes in two weeks. The Canucks scored three of their four goals on November 30 in the third period, while the Flyers took a 2-0 lead in the first the game before. On November 23, the Huskies, who were up 3-1 on Sexsmith, let the Vipers get within one goal of Fort St. John (4-5) before pulling away. “That’s just a testament to how good we’re playing, even if we’re on for just 35 or 40 minutes we’re able to really get after things and play at a high level,” said Huskies assistant coach Cam Weir.

“But, as we’ve seen, when we take our foot off the pedal, it’s apparent we’re not much superior than the other teams in the league.” Either way, the Huskies continue to win and win convincingly. Next up for the Huskies (15-3-2) is a game in Grande Prairie against the Kings (611-2) on December 7 at 8 p.m.

SEASON

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Fill The Bus

2019-20 FORT ST JOHN HUSKIES 17

2018-19 FORT ST JOHN HUSKIES 31

The Huskies team and organization were busy off the ice last weekend as well, hosting the 22nd Annual Huskies Fill the Bus food drive for the Salvation Army on December 1. The team had more than 100 volunteers help out, including players from the Bantam Trackers and Ross H. Maclean Peewee Flyers, as well as volunteers from various businesses around town. “This is both a great way to thank the community for their support of the Huskies but also a good exposure to volunteerism for the players,” said Fill The Bus Organizer Allen Karasiuk. “The community is very consistent in their generosity with donations each year, and it’s very heartwarming to see everyone help out.”

HEIGHT: 6ʼ2”

WEIGHT: 190 LBS

TEAM

BORN: 01/28/01

HOMETOWN: Comox

Ivan Jasbec, in his second year for the Huskies, is a stay-at-home defenceman, relied upon to move the puck, make the smart play, and who stays out of the penalty box. While his contributions don’t show much on the scoresheet, he’s an important cog on the Huskies’ back-end.

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WONOWONMonthly 4-HReport BEEF CLUB Welcome back everyone! I hope you all enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

Picking out the 4-H animals : Sara and I picked out the 4-H animals October 8th 2019. I had two steers picked out of the bunch and one of them was about 800-900 pounds. So I picked the other one that Mom said was a steer and a half. When I picked my heifer, I could not decide which one to pick because one of them I liked ever since she was born. In fact I was sure I was going to pick that one. But when Dad and I went way out on the range. I saw one heifer there that I really liked and Dad asked me if she was going to be a 4-H animal, I said well maybe she mite and from that moment on I was not sure which heifer to pick until right at the last minute I decided to pick the one that was, way out on the range.

Ty Trask, Logan Trask and Peter Weiztel at awards night and dance November 15, 2019

The 4-H weigh-In : We weighed the 4-H animals November 2nd 2019. We learned that Sara’s steer weighed 824 pounds, my steer weighed 710 pounds, Sara’s heifer weighed 730 pounds, my heifer weighed 800 pounds.

Grace Trask Wonowon Reporter

The 4-H Elections and Awards Night was November 15th 2019: The 4-H Elections was great we learned that Logan is new president, Heidi is the new vice President, Sara is the Secretary, Teana is the new Treasurer, I am the press reporter, Rebecca is the new Safety Ofﬁcer. Awards night was awesome it was great to see a lot of my friends !!. The dance was awesome it was great to see lots of people enjoying themselves. Thank you to the Prespatou music band for the great music ! A special thanks to all the sponsors and congratulations to all the winners. A special thanks to CO-OP for sponsoring this page.

Grace Trask and her steer in the head gate looking at each other November 2, 2019.

Weigh-in November 2, 2019 Sara Trask steer

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b4 | sportS | thursday, december 5, 2019

Beatton Park day lodge gets $61,000 lift from Co-Op Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

school and community groups. “I can’t tell you how important it is and how grateful we are to be getting such support from our local community for this project,” said ski club president Eliza Stanford. “The benefits are going to be huge for not only the ski community, but the community at large as we make this day lodge available to anybody who wants to use it. This park is truly a four-season park, and we

Plans for a new day lodge at Beatton Provincial Park received a $61,000 boost from Co-Op on Saturday. Officials with the Fort St. John Co-Op gathered at the park with the Whiskey Jack Nordic Ski Club to announce the funding, which will help build a social hub and resting place for skiers, snowshoers, and local

have a lot of visitors.” The ski club announced plans for the 1,500-square-foot lodge in 2018, and plans to break ground in 2020 with the lodge ready for next winter. The lodge is being designed and built with the environment in mind, taking advantage of natural light and using LED interior lights for minimal electrical consumption. The funding comes through CoOp’s Community Spaces program, which is providing $2 million to 27 organizations across western Canada this year. “In our community, we have hardworking groups that make a difference in people’s lives and that’s why the Co-Op is giving back,” said Brad Lussier, General Manager of Fort St. John Co-op.

“We are a business that cares about people, and we care about our community, and so do our owners. We work to make a better life in western Canada improving communities wherever we work, live, and play.” Since 2015, the Community Spaces program has donated $8.5 million to 115 projects. “We thought about what we could accomplish as we work together. We created a program that allows us to fund large capital projects which may not be able to be supported alone,” Lussier said. “As western Canadians, we make the most of every chance we get to go outside and enjoy the parks, playgrounds, community gardens, and other spaces that bring us together.”

dillon giancola photo

Cayden Lindstrom cruises down the right side of the offensive zone in the Bantam Trackers’ 3-2 win on December 1, 2019. Lindstrom had three goals in two games on the weekend.

House

of the

DEL MAR

A bright and spacious family room with a two-story-high ceiling is at the heart of the Del Mar. The back of this room has more windows than walls, and one section slides open to access a wide screened porch. You notice the lofty ceiling as soon as you step inside the house, because it begins in the entry and extends over the stairway that separates the foyer from the family room. Arched clerestory windows in both the front and rear of the house bathe this voluminous space in natural light. Dining room and parlor have standard-height ceilings. From the upper landing, you can observe goings-on in the family room below. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and a linen closet are on the second level, but the owners' suite is on the ground ﬂoor. Families without children can forget about the upper level most of the time, reserving it for grandchildren and other

guests. A closet is under the stairway. In the kitchen, a wrap-around work island/eating bar with built-in range and vegetable sink provides extra counter space. African violets and other ﬂowering plants will love the light in front of the corner sink. Dishwasher, oven and microwave are conveniently placed, and utilities are just a few steps away, in a pass-through room with garage access. The two-car garage has storage space and a small workbench. Luxuries in the Del Mar's owners' suite include a large walk-in closet and a private bathroom with twin lavs, oversized shower and enclosed water closet. Associated Designs is the original source for the Del Mar 11-057. For more information or to view other designs, visit www.AssociatedDesigns. com or call 800-634-0123.

Bedroom 10'10" x 11'

Open to Family Room Below Patio Dn

Bedroom 11' x 10'10"

Open to Below

Kitchen 12'4" x 11'2"

Screened Porch 20'4" x 8' Owners’ Suite 13' x 13'6" Family 19'2" x 16'10"

Nook 9'6" x 9'

Del Mar

Entry

PLAN 11-057

First Floor 1628 sq.ft. Second Floor 422 sq.ft. Living Area 2050 sq.ft. Screened Porch 161 sq.ft. Garage 510 sq.ft. Dimensions 55' x 56'

Dining 11' x 12'10"

Porch Garage 20' x 26'4"

Vaulted Parlor 13' x 15'

2000 SERIES www.AssociatedDesigns.com

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019 | SPORTS | B5

PRO SPORTS NEWS BITES

As of press time, the Montreal Canadiens had lost eight straight games, falling out of a playoff spot in the East. Earlier in the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired coach Mike Babcock after losing six straight.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will turn back to Gardner Minshew for the rest of the season in place of Nick Foles, who was benched in an ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

SCOREBOARD

Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019

FORT ST JOHN HUSKIES

FAIRVIEW FLYERS

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

HANNAH GOULD VOLLEYBALL Hannah played exceptionally well in every game at provincials. She has learned a lot on defence this season and it showed, as she continued to transition correctly and read the attackers. Not only was her digging excellent against big swingers, she was dominant at receiving serves as well.

Huskies Scoring —Brady Marzocco, Jeridyn Loewen, Jared Loewen

Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019

FORT ST JOHN HUSKIES

FAIRVIEW FLYERS

Huskies Scoring —Gary Loewen (2), Joel Bourgeois, Cooper Wilms, Jared Winkel, Cayden Frenette, Alex Nimmo

NWJHL STANDINGS

SUPPLIED PHOTO

The NPSS senior girls volleyball team at the 2019 B.C. AAAA High School Volleyball Championships in Langley, November 30, 2019.

1. Fort St. John Huskies 15-3-2 32 points 2. North Peace Navigators 13-7-1 27 points 3. Dawson Creek Canucks 12-6-1 25 points 3. Fairview Flyers 10-8-3 23 points 5. Grande Prairie Kings 6-11-2 14 points 6. Sexsmith Vipers 4-14-2 10 points

NAHL HOCKEY NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS 1. NEBC Trackers 10-1-1 21 points 2. Peace River Royals 10-4-1 21 points 3. GPAC Storm 9-4-1 19 points 4. Fort McMurray Barons 6-11 12 points 5. TRAC Wolverines 0-15 0 points

DILLON GIANCOLA PHOTO

The Fort St. John Huskies clean up the stuffed animals on the ice as part of the annual Salvation ArmyTeddy Bear Toss after Gary Loewen scored the first goal of the game against Dawson Creek on November 30, 2019.

AA BANTAM HOCKEY 1. Central 8-2 16 points 2. North Okanagan 7-3 14 points 3. North East Trackers 5-3-1 11 points 3. East Kootenay 5-3-1 11 points 5. Thompson Zone 5-4-1 11 points 6. North Central 2-7-1 5 points 7. South 1-7-2 4 points 8. Yukon 1-5 2 points

DILLON GIANCOLA PHOTO

The Fort St. John Curling Club hosted its annual Seniors Interclub Day on November 27, 2019, with teams from the Dawson Creek Seniors League in town to play the Fort St. John seniors.

CURLING STANDINGS / FORT ST JOHN CURLING CLUB It’s officially curling season in Fort St. John, and all four leagues at the curling club are well under way. In the ladies league, Jodi Busche remains undefeated. Kelly Ollenberger’s team is in first in the men’s A division at 7-1, with April Podulsky’s team first in the mixed league. Here are the standings after eight weeks of play.

MEN’S A Division Kelly Ollenberger: 7-1 Alan Bone: 6-2 Glen Godberson: 4-3-1 FSJ Links: 3-4-1 Alpine Glass: 3-5 Chad Bordeleau: 4-4 Rhyason: 4-3-1 Bob Cooper: 3-4 Bulldog Inspections: 2-4 Brennan Eklund: 0-5

WOMEN’S Jodi Busche: 8-0 Cheryl Batten: 7-1 Tara Forest: 7-1 Pam Murray: 4-3-1 Deanne Busche: 5-3 Cina Wales-Green: 3-5 Cheralee Goulet: 0-8 Tennille Penner: 1-6-1 Sheri Sewell: 2-6 Kristin Bayet: 2-6

B Division Embleton Construction: 6-1 Lido Theatre: 5-3 Ty Coates: 5-0-1 Mike Villeneuve: 3-2 AAA Safety: 4-2-1 Compass Engergy: 4-4 D&T Electric: 3-3 Sunrise Rotary: 2-4-1 Chad Carlstrom: 1-3-1 United Rentals: 0-5

MIXED Bob Cooper: 4-1-1 Ty Coates: 5-2 April Podulsky: 7-1 Ace Instruments: 5-1-1 Dave Kellestine: 3-2-2 Colby Coates: 5-2 Jeff Holland: 2-1-2 Alaska Highway News: 2-4 Kevin Hrab: 3-2 Rick Chmelyk: 5-3 Wild Hogs: 1-4 Nicole Winstanley: 2-6 Sydney Gustafson: 0-4-1 Kolten Lindner: 1-4-2 Senior’s Colleen Ziegler: 4-0 Stella Hamilton: 3-1 Larry London: 5-1 Paul Wuthrich: 5-1 Shirley Kinnis: 5-1 Swede Taylor: 3-2 Linda Kelly: 2-2

Deb Kellestine: 2-0 Alice Lock: 3-2 Donna Solodan: 3-2 Ed Scriba: 4-2 Faye McQuarrie: 3-1 Leo Felix: 2-2 Gail Weber: 2-2 Len Hamilton: 3-2 Paula Maloney: 2-1 Roy Chisolm: 3-3 Margarey Clark: 3-2 Carey Taylor: 3-3 Doug McCracken: 0-5 Ray Clark: 2-3 Dave Kellestine: 1-4 Connie Richter: 1-4 Madonna Robertson: 2-2 Larry Solodan: 4-2 Louise Baxter: 1-5 Julie Taylor: 3-3 Harry Dashin: 2-1 Carol Rhyason: 1-3 Ken Weber: 0-5 Lido: 0-3

The senior girls volleyball team was in Vancouver last week competing at the AAAA Provincial Championships. The Grizzlies started off with tough pool play matches against Claremont (#10), Kelowna (#1) and Seaquam (#11). As this was the first time at provincials for a majority of the team, the girls got off to a shaky start. They did, however, play some excellent volleyball against Kelowna, challenging them and earning hard fought points. After finishing fourth in their pool, the Grizzlies took on Elgin Park (#6). It was a hard fought match, with solid contributions from all of the girls. The middles did a great job closing blocks, which was something they worked on a lot this year, and they had little to no communication errors. After losing in two sets to Elgin Park, the Grizzlies finished the tournament off with a win against the Mount Boucherie Bears. After losing the first set 25-21, the girls were not disheartened. They were fired up and ready to work a little longer to reach their goal. After being down in the second set 21-24, captain Brynn Shaw served the girls home, winning 26-24 and forcing that third and final set. They fought for every point and were ultimately successful after Maddie Gray had the last point and kill to win the match. Huge congrats to the Grizzlies, especially Grade 12 players Brynn Shaw, Megan Salinas, Heather Chmelyk and MacKenzie O’Brien! This weekend saw the opening tournament for the senior boys, senior girls and junior boys basketball teams. The senior boys started off against the Dawson Creek junior boys, getting an easy win, before beating the CSS Eagles 89-73 in their second game (with 27 points and 13 rebounds from Grade 12 Tristan Soychuck). The Grizzlies went into the finals against the hometown DCSS Penguins. With some key players in foul trouble, the Grizzlies had to rely on the rest of the team to finish out the game. They all showed great determination and made big plays at the end, especially Grade 11 player Tatum Salinas. His hustle on both ends of the court, combined with two last minute free throws, sealed the game for the Grizzlies with a final score of 81-72. Congrats boys! The senior girls started off strong in Dawson with their first win of the season against Grande Prairie on Friday. On Saturday morning, the girls battled hard in a close loss against Sexsmith, and then played Dawson Creek for third place right away. The Grizzlies won. Special shout out to Grade 12 Kaylie Willeboordse, who demonstrated exceptional work ethic, leadership and positivity amongst her teammates. Up Next: The junior boys are set for the second tournament of the season this weekend in Tumbler Ridge.

— Sam Stackhouse

alaska highway news

b6 | sportS | thursday, december 5, 2019

Fort St. John Cash Spiel starts Friday

Team Tardi qualifies for B.C. Men’s Curling Championship Dillon Giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca Sterling Middleton and the rest of Team Tardi are heading back to the B.C. Men’s Curling Championship for the second straight year, after they qualified for the bonspiel after having the most B.C. Men’s Curling Tour and B.C. Men’s Canadian Team Ranking System points at the conclusion of the tour this past weekend. The 2020 B.C. Championships are in Cranbrook, January 28 to February 2, with the winner advancing to the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier

in Kingston. Team Tardi is one of four teams currently qualified for the 16-team tournament. They join defending B.C. champion Team Cotter, and two-time B.C. champion Sean Geall as teams who have qualified. This year’s team is made up of skip Tyler Tardi, third Sterling Middleton, second Jordan Tardi, and lead Alex Horvath. At the 2019 B.C. Championships, Team Tardi went 2-2, including a big win over Geall’s team. The team lost to the Joanisse team in the B semi-final.

The 2019 Peace Curling Tour is winding down, with this weekend’s Fort St. John Cash Spiel, December 6 to 8, the final qualifying bonspiel before the Tour Championship in January. Here are the teams in division currently on place to qualify for the Tour Championship. All four junior teams will make the junior final. Challenge Division 1. Mark Heartt - 38 points 1. Doug DeBoon - 38 3. Glen Godberson - 34 4. Cortland Sonnenberg - 33 5. Bob Cooper - 24 6. Sharon Hinz - 22 7. Doug Small - 20 8. Marlene Maxwell - 17

Competitive Division 1. Jeff Ginter - 38 2. Scott Webb - 33 3. Ryan Norman - 28 4. Delia Dejong - 23 5. Colin Griffith - 20 6. Graham Powell - 18 7. Darrel Veiner - 15 Junior Division 1. Team Vandale - 21 2. Boys With Brooms - 15 3. Team Collins - 8 4. The Shivs - 8 Special Olympics 1. Dawson Creek Tornadoes - 6 2. Fort St. John Lightning - 3 — sports@ahnfsj.ca

How to avoid stress for the holidays

e are on the threshold of a new year and for many people the month of December increases stress and anxiety as plans and obligations rise. When unhealthy amounts of stress trigger the fight or flight response in everyday life it can leave us feeling sick, anxious, and unable to function properly. Our healthy diet and lifestyle can stop dead in it’s tracks as we try to regain a sense of balance and feel well again. So how do we

deal effectively with stress during this holiday season? First off, we need to pinpoint what is causing our stress. If we dismiss this step, any efforts we make to relieve and deal with our stress will be futile. It will be beneficial for us to sit down and examine our routine and lifestyle to find the root cause of our stress. To be successful in this endeavor we can consult a professional who will assist us in determining the stressors we are dealing with. Only then can we take steps

coach lynzee to deal with stress in a way that supports our health and goals. Once we know whats stressing us out we can move on to managing and/ or eliminating the stress.

This can be done in many different ways, for example: breathing techniques, stretching, exercise, massage, balanced diet, getting a good nights sleep, and a variety of hobbies and activities. We will most likely have to try a couple of techniques out before we find what truly works for us. To start out, we can try simple things such as building a calming sleep routine and making time for movement everyday. Just these two actions alone can go along way in keeping us

mentally and physically able to manage stress. If stress is keeping us from reaching our goals, we should take some time to determine what stressful factor is affecting us and why. The best course of action is to consult a professional who can help us find out the root cause(s) of our stress and then take action to find the technique that helps us reduce it. Caitlyn Harbottle is a Peace region nutrition coach.

PRO RACING THIS WEEK Racing News, Stats & Trivia

All-Time Top Driver’s Bio

This Week’s Racing News

NASCAR is considering adding temporary tracks in city centers or sports stadium parking lots to the season as soon as 2021 Along with its signature oval tracks, NASCAR currently competes on two road courses (Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International) and a so-called “roval” set up in the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway. NASCAR is aiming to add 8 new markets by 2022, which would likely require the elimination of several current events. Possible scenarios include teaming up with Indycar at one of its street-racing venues, like Long Beach, Calif., where sports cars and the Stadium Super Trucks series also compete. Formula One is currently in discussions to hold a race in the parking lots and access roads outside Hard Rock Stadium in Florida, and all of the top metro areas in the United States have a facility that presents a similar opportunity for NASCAR.

December 14, 1954 - Alan Kulwicki was born on this date in Greenfield, Wis. Nicknamed “Special K” and the “Polish Prince”, Kulwicki was an American NASCAR Cup Series driver. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams. He won the Cup Series Championship in 1992.

Racing Trivia

How many victories did Alan Kulwicki have in 1992 when he won the Cup Series Championship? a) 1 b) 2

c) 3 d) 4

Answer : b) Alan Kulwicki won two races on his way to the 1992 Cup Series Championship.

Racing History

Lee Petty Born: March 14, 1914 Cup wins: 54 Cup top-tens: 332 Cup championships: 3 Lee Petty was one of the pioneers of NASCAR, and one of its first superstars. Petty was thirtyfive years old before he started racing. His NASCAR career began at NASCAR’s first race at the three-quarter mile long dirt track, Charlotte Speedway. He finished in the Top 5 in season points for NASCAR’s first eleven seasons and won the NASCAR Championship on three occasions. In the first race at Daytona International Speedway, Petty battled with Johnny Beauchamp during the final laps of the race. Petty, Beauchamp, and Joe Weatherly drove side by side by side across the finish line at the final lap for a photo finish. It took NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. three days to decide the winner. In the end, with the help of the national newsreel, Petty was officially declared the winner. Lee is the father of Richard Petty, who would become NASCAR’s all-time race winner.

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alaska highway news

thursday, december 5, 2019 | sports | b7

coffee corner $379,900 4173 Lebell Cres, MLS# R2385573

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$849,900 11331 Nurnberger Rd, MLS# R2420920 2100sqft double wide 1995 modular home sitting on 5.56 acres of land with a large 30x80 heated garage, and a second 32x48 garage. Also features a huge 12x48 covered deck.

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TODAYS PUZZLE

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$95,000 8623 74 Street MLS# R2313650

Excellent R-4 zoned corner lot with paved street. All new construction in the area.,

$449,000 9804 114A Ave, MLS# R2417101

our-bedroom, three-bathroom home featuring: modern, contemporary, open-concept-design, maple kitchen with sit-up island, gas fireplace, and vaulted ceilings. Located next to Bert Ambrose School.

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Corner lot in Taylor, BC ready to build on, with services on site. Back-alley access, with the driveway in and ready to go. .

hOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once. Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started. Remember: you must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column or 3x3 box. PREVIOUS PUZZLES ANSWERS

• • • • • • • • •

BAR BUSBOY CHARGE CHECK CHEF COUNTER DELIVERY DINING DISHWASHING

GRATUITY GUEST HOUSE MEAL MENU PARTY PLATING PREP RECIPES

winter What falls in hurt? but never gets

What did the Dalm say after lunch? atian

What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman? A: Frostbite.

PREVIOUS PUZZLES ANSWERS

Material for your weekly game page

CLUES DOWN 1. Type of degree 2. Expression of sorrow or pity 3. Large, predatory lizard 4. River in Romania 5. Biased

6. Parties 7. TV’s used to need one 8. Philly football player 9. Recognized ethnic group of China 10. Gradually disappear 12. Large, dark antelope 14. Vegetarians won’t eat it 19. Takes the energy out of 23. Body part

RESTAURANT SECTIONS SERVER SERVICE TABLE TAKEOUT TURNOVER

A: That hit the spo

48. Small, rich sponge cake 49. Power to perceive 50. Heavy cavalry sword 55. Israel’s first permanent UN delegate 56. Everything 57. Afflicted 59. Language spoken in Chad 60. Pioneering MC Kool Moe __ 61. Jewish spiritual leader 62. Keyboard key 63. Soviet Socialist Republic 64. Impudence

24. Succeed in achieving 25. Where golfers begin 26. Computer memory 27. One who buys and sells securities 28. Midway between north and northeast 29. Quiet and rather dull 34. A limb on which to walk 35. It precedes two 36. Of she 37. Commercials 39. Necessary for sewing 40. Infectious viral disease 41. Expression of good wishes 42. Some are contact 44. More plentiful 45. Secret political clique 46. Behind the stern of a ship 47. Supernatural force 48. Altar in Orthodox churches 51. Swiss river 52. Impartiality 53. “Luther” actor Idris 54. They resist authority (slang) 58. Criticize

• • • • • • •

A: Snow.

TODAY’S PUZZLE

CLUES ACROSS 1. Egyptian bull-god 5. America 8. Type of field (abbr.) 11. Reagan’s Deputy AG 13. Negative 14. Mother of Hermes 15. Summer and Winter Olympics gold medal winner 16. In shape 17. Oh my goodness! 18. People of Guinea or Sierra Leone 20. A form of “to be” 21. Succulent plant 22. Estranges 25. Honest 30. Showing conviction 31. High schoolers’ test 32. Implant 33. Acknowledgment 38. Cash dispenser 41. Transferred to another 43. Superhero group 45. Photographers

• • • • • • • • •

COMPLETE EACH GRID WITH THESE SIX SYMBOLS. Symbols can only appear once in each line, once in each column and once in each box of six squares. Each box of six squares is marked by darker lines. Some symbols are already included in each box to help you get started. Don’t forget: a symbol can’t be repeated in the same line, column or box.

alaska highway news

B8 | sportS | thursday, december 5, 2019

Fort St. John hosts Canada Cup #1 speed skating competition this week Dillon Giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca

CHECK OUT OUR HIGH-QUALITY BOOTS AND SHOES THAT HAVE ARRIVED FOR THE SEASON!

The Pomeroy Sport Centre speed skating oval in Fort St. John will be host to the Canada Cup 1 this weekend, December 6 to 8. The Canada Cup is a series of national competitions put on by Speed Skating Canada, and the meet lets skaters test themselves on the national stage and see what their times are compared to the best in Canada. Racing begins Friday, December 6 at 10 a.m., and viewing is free to the public all weekend. Sidney Bennie, Brooke Braun, Jacob Graham, Nicholas Guliov, Kieran Hanson,

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Madden Mize of the Inconnu Swim Club gives it all she has during the 100m breaststroke heats during the Inconnu Swim Meet on November 30, 2019.

Amanda Mitchell, Joshua Telizyn and Hannah North will be skating from the Peace Region. This Canada Cup is the first one in Fort St. John to be a part of the International Skating Union schedule, and some of Canada’s best skaters who recently competed at the Fall ISU World Cup in Europe will be in Fort St. John for the Canada Cup. The Friday races will be the 500m and 1,500 m, while the 1,000m, 3,000m, and 5,000m races go on Saturday. Racing on Sunday, December 8 will begin at 9 a.m. with the 500m and 1,000m distances, followed by a mass start race.

alaska highway news

thursday, december 5, 2019 | classifieds | B9

Something to sell? Something to swap? Have you lost something? Or found something?

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Coming EvEnts

PC Roots Group Meeting: 4th Sunday/month - Meetings start at 1:30pm in the Roots Building at NAR Park. Getting started on family tree research, need Help? Come learn & share experiences with other amateur genealogists. New members welcome. For more info call: Lynn- 250-7824058. Neil- 250-7827651. Website http://peacecountryroots.ca SATURDAYS: LEARN YOUR ROOTS - Genealogy information NAR Park Roots Building. 10:00am peacecountryroots.ca Save the Dates July 10-12, 2020 for the Mile Zero Cruisers Summer Cruise weekend Bring down your pride and joy and register for the Car Show weekend. For online Registration and more information:

SAY NO to FAKE NEWS! 63% of Canadians can’t tell the difference between real and fake news. Support reliable LOCAL journalism. Join the list www.newspapersmatter.ca. Coming EvEnts

Acquired Brain Injury Support Group: ABI Support group meets every 2nd & 4th Thursday of month at 6:00pm at the Northern Brain Injury Association office: #11-1405 102 Ave Dawson Creek. Please call 250-719-4673 for more information. http://nbia.ca/ Dawson Creek Seniors Hall Activities 1011 McKellar Ave. Floor curling, carpet bowling, pool, line dancing, bridge, crib, darts, bingo, Wellness Exercise, craft classes. Schedules are available at the hall. Come and see our hall and try out our activities.

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South Peace Historical Society Meetings Third Wednesday of the month. In Dawson Creek at the Calvin Kruk Centre Archives Room at 2 pm. SUNDAYS: FAMILY TREE HELP - Peace Country Roots Group Meeting - Fourth Sunday of each Month at the Calvin Kruk Centre in Dawson Creek 1:30pm Business OppOrtunities

Coming EvEnts

Auctions

Card of Thanks

Start the Christmas Season dancing with us. December 07, 2019 - Music by “Let R’ Rip” at the Senior Citizens Hall, 1101 McKellar Ave, Dawson Creek. Minors accompanied by adult welcome Dance: 8:30pm12:30am (Lunch included) Members: $15 Non-Members: $18 For more information phone Linda 250-8437418 or Joanne 250782-0158

Tuesday Dec. 10 2019 1:30 pm Presentation: Service Canada “Canada Pension Plan”, “Old Age Security”, “Guaranteed Income Supplement” and more Come to The Seniors Access in the Co-op Mall in Dawson Creek. Presented by: Service Canada Seniors Benefit Presentation

BUSINESS & CONFERENCE CENTER - Williams Lake, BC. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Unreserved Auction, December 13 - Edmonton Site. The Pioneer Complex Business & Conference Center, 41,000 +/- Sq Ft Multi-Purpose Multi-Tenant Conference Center Building. Jerry Hodge: 780.706.6652; Brokerage: Re/Max Dawson Creek Realty; rbauction.com/ realestate

SHARON LEBEAU From the family of Wayne LeBeau 3.00x42.0 Thank You to all our family & friends R0011770304 who gave support in the loss of Wayne. Thank YouYOU for all the food, flowers, cards, THANK

Auctions

TOPS 3907: Take Off Pounds Sensibly Meet Thursday mornings 9:30 am New Beginnings Baptist Church 1022118th St. Phone Marge 780-864-5205 for more info.

BUD HAYNES & WARD’S FALL FIREARMS Auction, Saturday, Dec. 7th at 10 AM. 11802-145 Street, Edmonton, AB. Over 700 Lots, OnLine bidding Antique & Modern Firearms, www.WardsAuctions.com. To consign, call Brad Ward 780940-8378; Linda Baggaley 403-597-1095

HealtH ServiceS GET UP TO $50,000 from the Government of Canada. ALL Ages & Medical Conditions Qualify. Have a child under 18 instantly receive more money. CALL BRITISH COLUMBIA BENEFITS 1-(800)211-3550 OR Send a Text Message with Your Name and Mailing Address to (604)739-5600 For Your FREE benefits package

TOPS Evening Sessions Meet Thursday at 6:00 pm New Beginnings Baptist Church in DC, 10221-18th St Phone: Judy 250-7829540 or Gail 250-782-7208 for more info.

Announcements

AGM

Fort St. John Seed Cleaning Co-op Association Thursday, December 12, 2019 Northern Grand Hotel - 10 AM Lunch will be Provided

For More Information Call

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Mile “O” Quilter’s Guild meets every Tuesday & Thursday in Dawson Creek at KPAC in Studio #10 at 7pm PC Roots Group Building Open: Every Saturday SeptJune 10:00am12:00pm to members wanting to use the genealogy library. A member will be available by appointment to anyone requiring help on how to get started on your family history. Everyone is welcome. We are located in the small building in NAR Park. For appointment call: Lynn- 250782-4058. Neil- 250782-7651. Website http://peacecountryroots.ca Pouce Coupe Legion will be serving Schnitzel Supper Friday December 13 at 6pm. Hope to see you there! Announcements

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Attention

HAMRE’S FUNERALMemorial CHAPELService LTD for the late 42.0X2 Bruce Chwyl of Fort St. John will be held R0011770805

Call Davison today! 1.800.218.2909 or visit us at inventing.davison.com/BC

In lieu of flowers expressions of sympathy can be made in memory of Bruce to the Fort St. John Hospital Foundation Cancer Treatment Fund.

Inventors! Ideas wanted!

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Thank You to all who came to the Celebration of Life with your support in spite of the terrible snow storm. A special Thank You to the Rogers Family, as well as the Merwin & Baker families.

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Career OppOrtunities

The Family of Annemarie Eggimann, who passed away on November 14, 2019 at the age of 86, wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the members of the Upper Pine Gospel Church for their assistance at the Celebration of her Life, the wonderful lunch put on by the ladies, the reading of the Eulogy by Nicole and Janine, special thanks to Pastor Leyton Peterson for the very meaningful Service. And to all those who brought thoughtful gifts of food and flowers to the family during this difficult time. Thank you to The Care Aids, and Nurses in Bluebell and Sunflower Gardens at Peace Villa, the recreation team and all those behind the scenes for taking such good care of our Mom over the years of her stay. Thank you to Doctor Thomson for the exceptional care and attention provided to her for many years.

Career OppOrtunities

Full Time Graphic Designer The Alaska Highway News/Dawson Creek Mirror is looking for a Graphic Designer. This position is Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week. Duties include: • Ad Design and Layout • Page Composition Qualifications: Preference will be given to those familiar with software applications such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator using Macintosh Apple computers. Previous experience with desktop design is preferred. The candidate should be a team player and able to work under pressure to meet deadlines. The Alaska Highway News/Dawson Creek Mirror enlists employees in an extensive health and insurance benefit plan. Please send resume to: William Julian 9916 98th Street Fort St John BC V1J3T8 Email: wj@ahnfsj.ca Fax: 250-785-3522 Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Deadline for applications is Dec 20, 2019. No Phone Calls Please

Saturday, December 7th at 2:00 pm from the Calvary Baptist Church.

Condolences may be forwarded through www.hamresfuneral.com

Fort St. John Pilot Project Public Advisory Group Notice of Membership: 2019 PUBLIC ADVISORY GROUP MEMBER

INTEREST AREA

Jim McKnight

Environment / Conservation

Ron Wagner

Labour

Budd Phillips

Non-commercial Recreation - fishing, hunting

Roy Lube

Outdoor Recreation - non-consumptive

Les Christianson

Outdoor Recreation

Dave Harris

Range

Ray Ensz

Trapping

Andy Ackerman

Urban Communities

Rob Fraser

Rural Communities

Karen Gooding

Rural Communities

Lyle Mortenson

Halfway River First Nation Prophet River First Nation

Roslyn Notseta

Halfway River First Nation

George Desjarlais

West Moberly First Nations

Sara Rowe

Doig River First Nation

John Stokmans

Saulteau First Nations

The FSJ Pilot Participants would like to thank the members of the Fort St. John Pilot Project’s Public Advisory Group (PAG) for their valuable ongoing contributions in updating the local values and goals for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), and reviewing and commenting on local forest management activities. Their efforts have been instrumental in the maintenance of Sustainable Forest Management of the Pilot Project Participants in the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area.

There are currently opportunities to join the Public Advisory Group.

If you are interested in participating, or receiving more information on the progress in achieving Sustainable Forest Management requirements, please contact Jackie Iannetta (250-787-3696, jaclyn.iannetta@canfor.com) or visit our website at http://www.fsjpilotproject.com/

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER The Dawson Creek Mirror is looking for a full-time general assignment reporter/photographer. The Mirror is appealing for journalists who are hard workers, exceptional writers, strong photojournalists, and excited by the prospect of producing day-to-day coverage and research-based features about the city of Dawson Creek and the South Peace region of Northeast B.C. Under the guidance of the editor, the reporter will be able to file a minimum of three stories, or 2,000 words, per shift for print and web, while engaging our readers through social media. As a reporter, the successful candidate understands they are always on the record and generating leads, and that the job includes evening and weekend work when required. The successful candidate will be committed, dedicated and sociable, integrating themselves into the community with ease and occasionally volunteering their time to help build it. Candidates should have at least two years of journalism experience in daily and/or weekly newsrooms. Proficient use of a camera, a reliable vehicle, and a driver’s license are a must. Salary ranges from $20.02 to $24.24 per hour, commensurate with experience. This position includes a 90-day probation period. If the candidate fails to meet the above qualifications during probation, a fulltime position will not be offered. This posting closes December 31, 2019. We are looking for the successful candidate to start January 2020. Email a cover letter and writing samples to: Robert Brown, Managing Editor Dawson Creek Mirror/Northern Horizon 250-782-4888 | editor@dcdn.ca No phone calls please. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interviews.

ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS

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Arctic Duct Cleaning, Furnace & duct cleaning, Chimney sweep. 250-7877217 (FSJ)

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LegaL/PubLic Notices CRIMINAL RECORD? Why suffer Employment/Licensing loss? Travel/Business opportunities? Be embarrassed? Think: Criminal Pardon. US Entry Waiver. Record Purge. File Destruction. Free Consultation 1-800-347-2540. accesslegalmjf.com.

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INTEGRITY POST FRAME BUILDINGS since 2008. Built with concrete posts. Barns, shops, riding arenas, Business machine sheds and OppOrtunities more. Adam.s@integritybuilt.com. 1-250HIP/KNEE REPLACE351-5374. MENT? Other medical ApArtments/ conditions causing Condos for TROUBLE WALKING or BIRCHVIEW MANOR DRESSING? The 1 Bedroom & Disability Tax Credit Bachelor Suites. allows for $2,000 Adults Only, Senior yearly tax credit and $20,000 lump sum re- Discount. Bus Stop at Front Door. fund. Expert Help 1250-784-5817 844-453-5372.

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B.C. still has a long way to go in reclaiming orphan wells

n late November of 2014, the residents of Old Hope Road were mysteriously being subjected to dangerous waves of unknown and fugitive emissions of H2S gas, a deadly toxin.Although, the Oil and Gas Commission was immediately notified, the source of the poisonous gas remained a mystery. The company that owned several gas wells in the neighbourhood had also been informed and alerted to the problem. By the morning of December 12, residents found relief when the company in question was able to identify the deadly source of the H2S gas, at 30,000 parts/million (100ppm renders you unconscious). One employee managed to locate the Wilder 7-02 gas well site, which was found spewing an alchemical brew of gas and liquids to the atmosphere under high pressure. The problem turned out to be a breached casing. Some residences were as close as 500 metres to this source. We were lucky with wind directions and atmospheric air pressure. Otherwise, it’s quite possible that we might not be here writing this today. Wilder 7-02 was a suspended gas well, which had not been properly abandoned and reclaimed under official OGC guidelines and regulations. The owner of this well was Calgary-based Terra Energy Corp. Within a year of this near death episode, Terra declared bankruptcy, leaving

RICK KOECHL & MIKE KROECHER behind an additional 175 abandoned well sites in B.C. alone. Because the company was now bankrupt, responsibility to cover the necessary cleanup requirements for all these wells was transferred to the Oil and Gas Commission. Reclamation costs for these 175 sites was estimated at a whopping $54 million. The OGC, now stuck with the remaining cleanup costs, looked towards it own orphan well fund, established exactly for this kind of purpose. But, as of March 2016, the fund had barely $1 million available in deposit holdings, leaving a $54 million shortfall. The intent of this orphan well fund was, theoretically at least, to be covered by levies on all other active energy companies in B.C. The other default funding option would be the taxpayer. Meanwhile, Auditor General Carol Bellringer began investigating the critical situation faced here in B.C.

regarding orphaned gas wells. Her comments speak volumes regarding the status of these wells: “While the Oil and Gas Commission had clear standards in place for how to decommission inactive wells and remediate sites, it lacked the tools to compel operators to decommission and restore well sites in a timely way.” Decommissioning means pouring cement down the well casing. Full restoration would mean cleaning up other environmental risks and returning the surface soil and flora to its previous status prior to becoming a well site. In the case of Wilder 7-02, it became officially abandoned by sealing it with concrete, after this incident, but to this day, the site has not been reclaimed. In fact, there is no indication of any new plant growth in the immediate vicinity of the 7-02 well site after four years. Zero. It remains a contaminated site and has a new status as an orphan well. Bellringer also noted that B.C. had many more inactive wells. These sites had not been reclaimed, and within 10 years, the figure had doubled to 7,474. The OGC now estimates that the total reclamation costs for all these additional well sites will run at $ 3 billion. Again, we hear the mantra that gas and energy companies are on the hook for this cost. The present value in the orphan well fund, however, is miniscule in comparison to

the demand. On one positive note, the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that all energy companies must fulfill their obligations of cleaning up well sites, even if they are bankrupt. Realistically, how will the OGC be able to bleed a stone when an energy company is already in dire financial circumstances? Bellringer did issue another doable recommendation to the OGC. She is now urging the OGC conduct a review concerning the liability of all energy companies and how much money they will contribute to maintain its orphan well fund. Funny story: 13 years ago, the residents of the Old Hope Road, with the help from a local lawyer, wrote a letter to the OGC and to our thenprovincial energy minister, Richard Neufeld. Our lawyer put forward an identical recommendation that energy companies contribute to a security fund, which we called back then a performance bond fund. This request was rejected outright by the minister at the time. In contrast, the OGC has willingly accepted this very same recommendation, along with numerous others from Bellringer. Isn’t it odd that our request was rejected by the energy minister, and in 2019 the Auditor General’s identical recommendation was a good idea and acceptable?

ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019 | COMMUNITY | B11

Hello from the Other Side

riends, the moment has come: I can make dinner, set the table, and even go to the washroom without bouncing a squiggly baby on my hip, or my back, or my knee. I don’t have to chase my speed-crawler around the house, wrestle dog food bits from her deathgrip fingers, or intercept a potentially nasty nip from our temperamental rat terrier. I can go to the bathroom in peace, door closed, without having to fly off the toilet to save the wine glasses from a shattered demise, or to wrestle the internet cord out of Chickadee’s fingers before it reaches her mouth. I am writing to you from the Other Side. It. Is. Awesome. As I type this, I’m watching my eight-and-a-half month old play with her toys through the white jail-like bars of a baby-proofed play area. I am accomplishing something, and she is happy and safe. #Winning! You heard correctly: a conjoined two sets of Baby Play Pen Extraordinaire now encircles our primary living area, which has been completely rejigged to accommodate a very curious and determined toddler. Taking this big step was not easy, however, and here’s why. Firstly, our house isn’t huge – we don’t have the space for a separate play room – and we weren’t too sold on the baby-pen look. In the end, practicality – and the need for sanity – prevailed. We also considered cost, and

BRONWYN MOSER these play space kits weren’t cheap. Trust me, we weighed our options. Cardboard? Free, but not durable and definitely not pretty. A furniture blockade? Cheap, durable, questionably safe (?), but ugly, and also impractical. A few weeks of humming and hawing later, and we finally did it. We ordered the Deluxo Baby Play Space Supreme Pen x2, the metal kind that bolts to the wall, with a cute little baby-proofed gate to walk through. This weekend we installed it. And here I am, in a place that once seemed so impossibly far away; a place where I can regain some small parts of my life in time and accomplishment. Here I am, enjoying some wine from a still-intact wine glass, watching my baby play and learn and grow within the safe confines of a ridiculously large and definitely safe play space. Does it look awesome? No. Does it feel awesome? Yes. It feels like freedom.

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FORT ST. JOHN & DISTRICT CHURCH DIRECTORY ANGLICAN CHURCH of CANADA NoRTH PEACE PARISH Please join us at our temporary location at the Peace Lutheran Church @ 1:30pm Ph: 250-785-6471 “All are Invited and Welcome Here” - (Luke 14:23) SERVICES St. Martin’s, fort St. John, BC Reverend: Christopher Samson Sundays 1:30 p.m. ********** Church of the Good Shepherd Taylor, BC - Sundays 10:00 a.m. ********** St. Matthias, Cecil Lake, BC 3rd Sun. of the Month 4:00 p.m. Holy Communion ********** BAHA’I fAITH BAHA’I fAITH National Baha’i Information 1-800-433-3284 Regular Firesides Mondays @ 8:00 p.m. Deepenings continued Wednesdays at 250-787-0089 Next Feast Info. 250-787-0089 ********** BAPTIST CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH 9607-107th Ave., fSJ Ph. (Office) 250-785-4307 Pastor: Michael Hayes Associate Pastor: Doug Janzen SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE 10:30AM ********** BAPTIST CHARLIE LAkE CoMMUNITY CHURCH 12731 244 B Road, Charlie Lake (1st left turn off the Alaska Hwy. past the Charlie Lake Store) 250-785-1723 office@charlielakechurch.com www.charlielakechurch.com Lead Pastor: Joshua Goetz Associate Pastor: Jared Braun Sunday Worship: 10:40 AM Sunday School during the service nursery-grade 6 ********** CATHoLIC RoMAN CATHoLIC CHURCH (Resurrection Church) Pastor: Rev. Aruldhas Lucas, SAC Phone 250-785-3413 www.fsjresurrectionchurch.com MASSES: Saturday 7:30 p.m. Sunday - 10:00 a.m. oNLY OFFICE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9:00 -12:00 noon & 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. BAPTISM: Contact the Pastor 3 months before baptism. MARRIAGES: Contact the Pastor 6 months before the wedding. **********

ALLIANCE CHURCH 9804-99 Ave., fort St. John, BC V1J 3T8 Ph: 250-785-4644 fax: 250-785-8932 e-mail: office@fsjalliance.ca www.fsjalliance.ca SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE: 10:00am ********** CoMMUNITY PEACE CoMMUNITY CHURCH 10556-100th Street, Taylor, BC Pastor: Wally Pohlmann Phone: 250-789-3045 HoURS: 9:00am-Noon Monday-Wednesday & friday Email: office@taylorchurch.ca Website: www.taylorchurch.ca SUNDAY ADULT CLASS - 9:30am SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE - 10:30am ********** EVANGELICAL foRT ST. JoHN EVANGELICAL MISSIoN 8220-89th Avenue, fSJ Sunday School September-June begins at 9:30am Sunday mornings. Worship Service - 10:45am Phone: 250-787-2550 ******* INTERDENoMINATIoNAL UPPER PINE GoSPEL CHAPEL Church Phone: 250-827-3833 Email: upgc@pris.ca Board Chairman: Andy Burkholder 250-827-3811 Box 66, Rose Prairie, BC ********** LUTHERAN PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 9812-108th Avenue, fort St. John, BC V1J 2R3 Office Phone: 250-785-2718 Pastor: Rev. Kebede Dibaba Regular Worship Schedule: 9:00am Youth, Adult Bible Study 10:00am Sunday Worship Service & Sunday School ********** PEACE RIVER MUSLIM ASSoCIATIoN Information: 250-787-1264 Jumm’a (Friday) Prayer @ 1:00pm 203-10903-100th Street, fort St. John, BC email: tahermorsi@shaw.ca ********** MENNoNITE NoRTH PEACE MENNoNITE BRETHREN CHURCH North Peace Mennonite Brethren Church 10816 106 St. fort St. John, BC V1J 5V2 250-785-3869 Lead Pastor: Andrew Eby Associate Pastor of Youth & Young Adults: Don Banman SUNDAY SERVICE TIMES: 9:00am & 11:00am **********

MENNoNITE MoNTNEY MENNoNITE CHURCH SUNDAY MoRNING: Sunday School & Worship: 9:30am SUNDAY EVENING: 2nd & 4th Sundays: 7:00pm Everyone Welcome! Pastor Warren Martin Phone: (250) 827-3231 ********** NoNDENoMINATIoNAL CHRISTIAN LIfE CENTRE “Associated with “Fellowship of Christian Assemblies” “King Jesus is Lord Over the Peace” 8923-112th Avenue, fort St. John, BC V1J 6G2 website: www.christianlifefsj.ca Ph: 250-785-4040 fax: 250-785-4021 Pastor Steve Oboh Principal of Christian Life School: Garry Jones Everyone Welcome Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00am Nursery available and Sunday School is held during the sermon for ages 3-12 years. Christian Life Centre is “Home of Christian Life School” ********** foRT ST. JoHN NATIVE BIBLE fELLoWSHIP Sunday Worship: 11:00am Wed., Night Bible Study: 7:30pm Pastor John A Giesbrecht 250-785-0127 ********** GIDEoNS INTERNATIoNAL Fort St. John Camp Ray Hein 250-827-3636 John Giesbrecht 250-785-0127 ********** NoRTHERN LIGHTS CHURCH INTERNATIoNAL (Rose Prairie, BC Sunday Service: Pre-Service Prayer: 10:30am Worship Service: 11:00am Everyone Welcome ********** THE SHELTER CHURCH “...the Lord will be a shelter for His people” Joel 3:6 9808-98A Ave. fort St. John, BC 250-785-3888 SUNDAY SERVICE: 10am Pastor: Oral Benterud 250-785-9151 ********** PENTECoSTAL THE PENTECoSTALS of foRT ST. JoHN Phone: 250-787-9888 Pastor: Jason McLaughlin Sunday 10am Service, Sunday School Youth Sunday 11am Worship Service Tuesday 7pm Prayer Wednesday 7pm Bibile Study Friday 7pm Youth **********

PENTECoSTAL ASSEMBLIES of CANADA EVANGEL CHAPEL 10040-100 St., fort St. John Phone: 250-785-3386 Fax: 250-785-8345 Lead Pastor: Tony Warriner Sunday Services: 9:00am, 11:00am www.evangelfsj.com ********** The Journey 10011-100 St., fort St. John Phone: 250-785-6254 Pastor: Larry Lorentz Services: Sundays: 10:30am Tuesdays: 7:00pm **********

PRESBYTERIAN fort St. John Presbyterian Church 9907-98th St., fort St. John, BC Phone: 250-785-2482 fax: 250-785-2482 12:30 p.m. - Pie and Coffee 1:00 p.m. - Worship Service Everyone is invited to participate ********** REfoRMED TRINITY CoVENANT CHURCH 10 AM Sundays in The Plaza 8111 100th Ave fort St. John, BC Pastor: Adam Harris Phone: 250-250-329-4441 aharris@trinitycovenant.ca Affiliated with C.R.E.C. www.trinitycovenant.ca ********** THE SALVATIoN ARMY THE SALVATIoN ARMY Sunday Worship Service: 10:30am 10116-100th Ave., fort St. John, BC Come Worship With Us. For information; Phone 250-785-0506 or food Bank 250-785-0500 ********** SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH 9008-100th Avenue, fort St. John, BC Phone: 250-785-8632 Pastor: Cavin Chwyl Phone: 250-719-7949 Saturday Service: 9:30am ********** UNITED CHURCH of CANADA ST. LUkE’S UNITED 9907-98 St., fort St. John, BC Office: 250-785-2919 Rev. Rick Marsh Email: stlukeuc@telus.net Sunday Worship Service @ 10:00am All are Welcome! The United Church of Canada is a Union of Congregationalist, Methodist & Presbyterian Churches in Canada formed in 1925.

alaska highway news

B12 | community | thursday, december 5, 2019

All About Rabies

abies is one of the most dangerous and deadly diseases that can affect both our pets and ourselves, but it is also one of the more preventable ones. Rabies is present across the globe, outside of a few island nations such as Iceland and New Zealand, and still is the cause of over fifty thousand human deaths each year worldwide. Globally, stray dog populations are the most common source for the majority of human rabies cases. Rabies is a virus that can infect any warm-blooded animal including humans and domestic pets if they are exposed to the saliva or brain tissue of an infected animal. North America has multiple species that commonly carry the virus within their populations including

foxes, raccoons, skunks, coyotes and – most commonly in our area – bats. In 2018, BC had 10 positive bats from the 131 samples submitted, and Alberta had 9 positive bats and one positive cat of the 420 samples submitted. The rabid cat that was diagnosed was a rare event, but was within the Grande Prairie area. Human cases are very rare in Canada due to vaccination compliance and low stray dog populations – however, a man on Vancouver Island died from rabies after exposure to a rabid bat in the summer of 2019. Exposure to rabies is most commonly achieved through a bite wound from an infected animal. Once the virus has entered the body, the virus travels from the site of the exposure to the brain, where it causes

drastic changes in behavior. Symptoms of a rabid animal are highly variable and can be difficult to differentiate from other conditions that affect the brain. Classically rabid animals display one of two symptom styles – paralytic or furious. The paralytic form results in the muscles of the face and throat being paralyzed, which cause excessive salivation and difficulties swallowing. Rabid bats most commonly show the paralytic form - this is why they cannot fly and are seen during the daytime. The furious form results in severe attitude and behavior changes such as nervousness, anxiety, unusual or unprovoked aggression and biting other animals or inanimate objects. The majority of rabid cats display the furious style. Both symptoms styles

progress to full body paralysis, coma and death within 10 days of onset. Unfortunately, without a current rabies vaccination history, if a pet was potentially exposed to a rabid animal and then caused harm to a person, humane euthanasia and testing may be required to ensure appropriate therapy for the person. With a current rabies vaccine history, animals can be monitored closely for symptoms after a possible exposure. Although rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease, preventative measures are simple, affordable and safe for our pets. Rabies vaccines can be administered by a veterinarian to dogs, cats, ferrets and even cattle or horses in endemic areas. Rabies vaccinations in animals are considered very safe, with

the most common reaction being a temporary local swelling and very rarely (as with any vaccine) they can cause lethargy, fever or an allergic reaction. With veterinary care, any potential reactions can be effectively managed. Vaccinating our companion animals against the rabies virus creates immunity to protect entire families. Dr. Sydney Spitzer was born in Fort St. John and has been a part of the North Peace Veterinary Clinic team for many years. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019 and is keen about large and small animal surgery and medicine with specific interests in orthopedics, ruminants, and small animal nutrition.

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