THURSDAY, january 10, 2019 Vol. A-75, No. 2
Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities
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Minister under fire for visit to pipeline blockade matt preprost
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Madeline and Cory McLain with their newborn daughter Piper Hope McLain, born Jan. 3, 2019, at 2:35 a.m. at the Fort St. John Hospital. Little Piper was welcomed by her four siblings Levi, 11, Hailey, 9, Savannah, 7, and Bentley, 4.
First baby of 2019 joins big, joyous family
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If there’s one thing Piper Hope McLain can look forward to growing up, it will be story time. It’s a nightly bedtime tradition in the McLain household, and little Piper’s arrival into the world last week wasn’t about to throw that out of sync for her siblings. Indeed, parents Madeline and Cory McLain made sure each of their kids — Levi, Hailey, Savannah, and Bentley — got to hear a story before they left for the hospital and and got ready for Piper’s delivery. Piper was born Thursday, Jan. 3, at 2:35 a.m. at the Fort St. John Hospital, earning the crown of being the city’s New Year’s Baby for 2019. “I warmed the van up while she (Madeline) bathed them — while she was starting to go into labour — we put them to bed,” Cory said Friday afternoon. “They went to bed without a sister, and woke up and had a sister.”
Little Piper arrived right on time at 39 weeks, and weighed in at seven pounds, 10 ounces. She joins a big family that has at least one more child planned. “She’s our little Christmas miracle,” Madeline said. Cory works in logging, and Madeline is a former nanny turned full-time stay-at-home mom and teacher so she can homeschool the family. The couple have been together for 17 years, and married for 12. While he never planned to have a large family, Cory says he couldn’t ask for anything better than fatherhood. “When I met (Madeline) she dreamed of big family and because I love my wife — happy wife, happy life — I’m more than willing,” he said. “I never planned on having so many children, but I have no reason to not have the children, if that’s what she likes, and they’ve been amazing.” Cory gave all the credit to Madeline for the work she puts into caring for the family — a job that starts at the crack of dawn and ends just before
midnight. “My wife devotes her life to those children,” he said. “I can work 15 hours, but I can’t do what she does.” The start of the “joyous” family began with Levi, now 11. “He’s been asking, probably since the moment our youngest was born, ‘When are you going to have another baby?’ They love it,” Madeline said. Hailey is 9, Savannah is 7, and Bentley is 4. “I love her lots,” Hailey said of her new sister. Meanwhile, the Peace Region’s New Year’s Baby was born in Dawson Creek. Maverick Wells was born at Dawson Creek & District Hospital on Jan. 1, at 3:35 a.m., to mom Bianca and dad Kris of Dawson Creek. He weighed in at seven pounds, 10 ounces. The first baby of the year delivered in a Northern B.C. hospital was a boy. William Ross was born at Bulkley Valley District Hospital on Jan. 1 at 1:01 a.m., to mom Nikki and dad Will, of Stewart. He weighed in at six pounds, 14 ounces.
Upcoming workshops aim to help farmers Are you a farmer looking to bring home a little extra bacon? The newly-launched Northern Co-Hort group will host a series of workshops this month aimed at helping farmers grow their business. The first is a grant writing workshop scheduled for Thursday, January 10. The workshop will cover what grants are available to farmers, and help them develop the skills and tools to prepare a grant proposal to bring in necessary capital to their operations. The workshop takes place
Thursday, January 10, at 10003 95th Avenue in Fort St. John, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. On January 25 and 26, the Co-Hort will co-host a series of workshops with Chris Bodnar of Close to Home Organics. Over the two days, farmers will learn about co-operative business models in agriculture, as well as farm financial management practices. Bodnar co-owns and operates Close to Home Organics with his wife, Paige, in Abbotsford. Now in their 10th season of farming, they operate a 135-member
Community Shared agriculture program. Workshops run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, at Northern Grand Hotel. The two days of workshops are being hosted in partnership with the Young Agrarians, a national network for new and young ecological and organic farmers. The Co-Hort was launched by the Northern Environmental Action Team in late 2018 to address food security issues in the region. Call 250-785-6328 for more details and registration.
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B.C.’s forests and natural resource minister Doug Donaldson is facing scrutiny and a call to resign after visiting a pipeline blockade this past weekend. Members of the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation had set up a camp and a checkpoint southwest of Houston, blocking a forest service road and Coastal GasLink from accessing its pipeline right-of-way in the area. RCMP began clearing the blockade and arrested 14 people on Monday as it enforced a BC Supreme Court injunction granting Coastal GasLink access to the area. But Donaldson met with Gidimt’en hereditary leaders at the camp on Sunday before police moved in “to support and recognize that the hereditary chief have a responsibility for stewardship of the yintah (land),” the CBC reported. Donaldson arrived at the camp with his wife and donated a box of goods, according to the CBC. He declined to speak to reporters at the scene, but released a statement late Monday. “As MLA for Stikine, it is my responsibility to listen to the views of the people I represent,” Donaldson said. “I visited the checkpoint on the invitation of my constituents and hereditary chiefs to hear their concerns and observe their protocols.” The protest camp is located in the Nechako Lakes riding, represented by BC Liberal MLA John Rustad. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the government has broken the law and taken the side of protestors with Donaldson’s visit. “It’s time for Doug Donaldson to resign,” Wilkinson said in a statement. “It’s time for John Horgan to stand up make clear his Minister of Forests has made a huge mistake.” Construction on the $6.2-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline connecting natural gas producers in Northeast B.C. with the LNG Canada export plant in Kitimat is scheduled to begin this month. See PIPELINE on A3
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