AHN JAN 10 2019 by Alaska Highway News

THURSDAY, january 10, 2019 Vol. A-75, No. 2

Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities

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top marks earn top medal

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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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A2 THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

Local News

contents A3 A5 A6 A9 A14 A15 B1 B6

News Court Docket Opinion Business Perspectives Coffee Corner Sports Classifieds

this week’s flyers Jysk Staples No Frills Safeway Walmart The Brick Canadian Tire Save-On Foods Home Hardware Shoppers Drug Mart Homesteader Health Northern Lights College

The 1st Fort St. John Scouts and some members of the Girl Guides provided some entertainment for the Peace Seniors Connect and Care Christmas Party. Scouts played games and shared stories with some of the residents at Peace Villa. phallon stoutenburg photos

A question for people who believe the world is flat

GAS WATCH KNOWBEFOREYOUGO Prevailing Prices Dawson Creek

115.9

Fort St. John

127.9

B.C. Average

125.1

Alberta Average

92.4

Saskatchewan Avg.

95.7

NEW YEAR YARN: In an internet survey: 60% of Canadians said they feel optimistic about 2019, 30% feel pessimistic about 2019. I can’t remember how the remaining 10% feel. Maybe they feel we should skip 2019 and go straight to 2020. By the way, I already broke 300 of the 500 New Year’s resolutions I made — including the one about not exaggerating. SNOW STORY: St John’s, Newfoundland, had a record dump of snow. Much, much deeper than recent snowfall in the Peace Country. A friend of mine likes to play in the snow with his dog. Well, it’s not exactly playing. He builds a snowman with twigs for arms. Then his dog stares for hours at the snowman, waiting for it to throw one of the twigs.

of the future will be plankton. To survive, you will have to swim around in the ocean all day with your mouth wide open.

Bob Snyder

SINATRA STUFF: In California, Frank Sinatra’s 1985 station wagon is for sale. Learning Frank Sinatra owned a station wagon is like learning Luciano Pavarotti owned a skateboard.

Chews the news

squishing a few halos. BARREL BULLETIN: A French daredevil announced he plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean inside a barrel. What happened was he went to Niagara Falls with his barrel, there was a long lineup of guys with barrels.

DWTS DOA: There’s a report the TV dance contest Dancing With The Stars will end this year. That’s kind of sad. I learned all my dance moves from Dancing With The Stars. Before I watched that show, my fandango had no dang.

FISH TALE: In Japan, a live goldfish sold for a record breaking $1.8 million. That’s COAST BOAST: A study shows people Manitoba Average 93.5 a lot of money to pay for a goldfish, but who live near the ocean are less likely to be it came with a free glass bowl and a cute depressed. However, global warming and t St. John, BC - 7 Day Forecast - Environment Canada https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-78_metric_e.html CANUCK CAT: A Canadian cat named little underwater castle. I would never rising sea levels will change that. Folks in Ontario Average 98.7 Baloo made news. Baloo is back with her pay big money for a goldfish. Plus, awhile Saskatchewan are going to be depressed, owner in Nova Scotia. She was accident- back I discovered it’s cheaper to buy a new looking out of their windows at the ocean. Quebec Average 107.8 ally mailed across Canada after hiding goldfish than it is to buy food for your curinside a package. This was either an un- rent goldfish. ROYAL REPORT: London newspaNew Brunswick Avg fortunate mistake, or a convenient way to pers report Prince Harry has quit drink101.2 get rid of surplus cats. MOVIE MEMO: Peace Country movie ing alcohol. This means five people have Home  Environment and natural resources  Weather information  Weather  Local forecasts  British Columbia fans saw Ralph Breaks The Internet. Of lost their jobs: The butler who opens the Nova Scotia Avg 98.6 FLAT FACT: According to an item on course, the internet cannot be broken — bottle, the butler who brings the glass, CBC, membership in flat earth groups in- although there’s a lot of stuff on the inter- the butler who pours the drink, the butPEI Average creased in 2018. OK, I have a question for net that is twisted and bent. ler who brings the drink to the prince, and 95.7 all you flat earth believers: How do you exthe butler who wipes the prince’s royal Observed at: Fort St. John Airport 9:00 AM MST Tuesday 8 January 2019 Current Conditions plain the Taylor Hill? OSCARS: There’s a report next year’s lips after each sip. Newfoundland Avg.Forecast 108.0 t Nelson, BC - 7 Day - Environment Canada Oscars https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-83_metric_e.html show will have no host and no Condition: Partly Cloudy -25.9°CWhy don’t they Wind: SSE 14 all km/h DEAD DAREDEVIL: CanadianTemperature: actor speeches. just have the ID LOL: In a survey, 70% said they are CAD$ per litre, prices as of January 8. Bob Einstein passed away at 76. On TV, movie stars sit in the audience, throw the worried about identity theft. Identity theft Pressure: 103.1 kPa Dew point: -28.9°C Wind C … -36 Source: GasBuddy.com he was better known as klutzy daredevil Oscars at them, and let them fight over is more common than most people realTendency: Falling Humidity: 77% Visibility: 48 km Super Dave Osborne. Right now accident the statues. I’d watch that. ize. It can happen to anyone. In fact, I’m prone Super Dave is in Heaven, jumping not even sure this is the real me writing his motorbike over a line of angels, and FOOD FACT: A scientist says the food this column. Home  Environment and natural resources  Weather information  Weather  Local forecasts  British Columbia

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Forecast Current Conditions Tue 8 Jan

Forecast issued: 5:00 AM MST Tuesday 8 January 2019 FORT JOHN Observed at: ST. Fort Nelson Airport 9:00 AM MST Tuesday 8 January 2019

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morning and minus 24 in the afternoon. Risk of frostbite. -24°C -24°C -19°C Snow. Low minus 22.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 A3

Local News

Governor General medallist Alyssa Yu will shape the future of science matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

North Peace Secondary grad Alyssa Yu is back home for the holidays, and dropped by her alma mater on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, to receive the Governor General’s Academic Bronze Medal. Yu graduated the Class of 2018 with the highest grades on her way to the University of British Columbia to study environmental sciences. Yu received the news she won the award the week before, as she was studying for finals at the end of a tough first term at UBC. “I was pretty shocked. It felt good,” Yu said. Yu came to Canada from the Philippines in 2014, and earned her Canadian citizenship this fall. Throughout her

high school studies, Yu was an active member of the community too, volunteering at the library and the hospital in her free time. “It feels great to officially be a citizen and that I can enjoy the rights that Canadians do, like the vote,” Yu said. “It’s important for me because I get to have a say in the country I’m now living in.” A say and a chance to make it better. Yu is studying environmental sciences and wants to focus her research and work on either conservation or ocean science. “I grew up in an urbanized city so we didn’t have a lot of green spaces. The absence of that made me value that a lot more,” Yu said. “With the world the way it is and where it’s going, I want to help protect that.” matt preprost Photo

Proportional representation vote fails matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

British Columbia will not be moving to proportional representation. Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman announced the results of the province’s electoral referendum on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Of the 1.4 million ballots returned, 61% supported keeping the first past the post voting system, or 845,235 votes. The voter turnout was 42.6%. “British Columbians have now spoken and chosen to stick with the current voting system,” Premier John Hor-

North Peace Secondary graduate Alyssa Yu with Principal Randy Pauls, Dec. 21, 2018. pipeline from a1

gan said in a statement. “This referendum was held because we believe that this decision needed to be up to people, not politicians. While many people, myself included, are disappointed in the outcome, we respect people’s decision.” In Peace River North, 86% of voters preferred keeping first past the post, while 14% favoured proportional representation. In Peace River South, 85% supported first past the post, while 15% preferred proportional representation. Peace River North MLA Dan Davies called the vote “a clear win.”

Coastal GasLink, a subsidiary of TransCanada, obtained a court injunction in December that ordered the removal of obstructions in the area as preliminary work gets underway on the pipeline. TransCanada says it has signed agreements with all First Nations along the route but demonstrators argue Wet’suwet’en house chiefs, who are hereditary rather than elected, have not given consent for work through their territories. “This visit was an acknowledgement of their authority as confirmed in the historic Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa decision,” Donaldson said.

“At the same time I am aware that the laws of Canada must be upheld and court injunctions must be followed. This illustrates how these two systems of law are colliding and underlines the importance of the separate reconciliation process our government has undertaken with the Office of the Wet’suweten. “My commitment to a process of reconciliation remains firm and my first objective in the current legal situation is to ensure the safety of all,” Donaldson said. However, Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad said Donaldson’s ability to approve re-

source development permits has been compromised by the visit. Donaldson’s ministry will be responsible for issuing a number of permits needed for the pipeline, approved for construction in 2016. “As a member of government, Doug Donaldson promised to uphold the law in B.C., yet this weekend he chose to side with protestors who are breaking the law,” Rustad said in a statement. “Donaldson needs to figure out if he is a minister or an activist. British Columbians deserve better than this from the NDP.”

November earthquakes caused by fracking The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission says hydraulic fracturing operations caused three earthquakes near Fort St. John in late November. The provincial regulator says the events 20 kilometres south of the city on Nov. 29, 2018, occurred because of fluid injections during hydraulic fracturing at a Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. wellsite. The events, which were felt but caused no surface damage, measured 3.4, 4.0 and 4.5 magnitude. Fracking operations within the lower Montney formation were suspended after the earthquakes and are to remain suspended at the multi-well pad involved pending the results of a detailed technical review. The commission says seven wells into the upper Montney formation had previously

been drilled and completed by the Calgary-based company at the well pad with no seismic events larger than magnitude 2.5 detected. The Commission met with CNRL and other companies operating near the earthquakes on Dec. 4. CNRL officials have said the earthquakes were detected by its monitoring equipment in the Septimus area, and that work was immediately shut down after the earthquakes. Residents across Northeast B.C. reported feeling loud, strong tremors that shook houses for several seconds in Fort St. John, Charlie Lake, Taylor, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Hudson’s Hope, and rural communities in between. Some felt tremors as far away as Pouce Coupe and Baytree, Alberta. — The Canadian Press

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A4 THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

Local News

Property values drop in Fort St. John, rise in Northern B.C. Frank peebles Prince George Citizen

Home values are going up in Northern B.C., but they are dropping inside the City of Fort St. John. According to BC Assessment, homeowners across the province can expect to receive their 2019 assessment notices in the mail in the next few days — more than 247,500 properties altogether. “The majority of residential home owners within the region can expect a moderate increase compared to last year’s assessment,” said B.C.’s deputy assessor Jarret Krantz. “There are some exceptions to this such as Kitimat where owners will see increases of 20 per cent or greater. Also, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality where there have been decreases in the range of 20 per cent or more.” The average assessment value for Fort St. John dropped to $319,000, down 2% from $326,900 in 2018. An increase or decrease in the assessed value of any specific property does not directly impact the amount of tax the respective landowner

must pay, although cumulative property values do have an impact on overall tax rates from town to town. Nor does assessed value guarantee that will be the sale price should a respective property be sold anytime soon. An acreage at Moberly Lake near Dawson Creek topped the list of Northern B.C.’s most valuable residential properties with an assessed value of $3.07 million, followed by two homes in Prince George, and an acreage at 11335 86 Street in Fort

St. John listed at $2.1 million. Across Northeast B.C., average assessments in Chetwynd ($221,900) and Dawson Creek ($253,400) remained flat. Assessments rose 1% in both Hudson’s Hope ($163,400) and Pouce Coupe ($200,500), while assessments in Taylor and Tumbler Ridge dropped by 1% to $223,500 and $128,300, respectively. Assessments in the Northern Rockies dropped 23%, down from $136,000 to $104,000. Elsewhere, Quesnel’s aver-

age value went up 8% and Wells went up 11%; Vanderhoof went up 3% and Fraser Lake went up 17%; McBride dropped by 1% but Valemount jumped 18%. The community in Northern B.C. with the lowest overall average home value was Granisle at $55,600 while the highest average assessed value was Fort St. John at $319,000. Krantz said that the overall assessed value of Northern B.C. property added up to about “$65.7 billion this year,” which was a jump of more than

$4 billion. “A total of about $913 million of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties,” Krantz said. The BC Assessment website has undergone some renovations so property owners have better tools for searching property information. Those who register for a free BC Assessment custom account have a range of tools to search for and compare property values and use the built-in interactive map. “Property owners can find a lot of information on our website including answers to many assessment-related questions, but those who feel that their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, 2018 or see incorrect information on their notice, should contact BC Assessment as indicated on their notice as soon as possible in January,” said Krantz. There is a process for filing a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) by Jan. 31 “for an independent review by a Property Assessment Review Panel,” added Krantz. — with AHN files

Property assessments are inaccurate more often than you might think As many as 20% of all residential property owners in the province should be appealing their property assessments, says the man who has literally written the book on the assessment appeals process. Peter Morris, a commercial real estate agent who has co-written a book entitled How to Successfully Appeal Your B.C. Assessment, said the sheer volume of properties the assessment authority has to evaluate means there are bound to be mistakes made.

“It’s my belief that there are a good 20 per cent of assessments that are incorrect,” he said. “It’s not because B.C. Assessment is doing things wrong necessarily, but there are a lot of factors in play when it comes to assessments being incorrect.” Morris, who co-wrote the 64page book with appraiser and former B.C. Assessment supervisor Tim Down, said the biggest factor is the number of properties on the roll. The new roll, released this week by B.C. Assessment, has

NORTHEAST BC REALTY

2.07 million properties worth a total of more than $1.99 trillion. “There are more than two million properties assessed and not enough assessors to go and visit all two million every year so they use a computer model,” said Morris, noting that can lead to data entry errors, broad generalizations between properties in a neighbourhood and not taking into account subtle changes such as tree growth destroying water views. The assessment is an estimate of a property’s market value as of

July 1, and physical condition as of Oct. 31. According to B.C. Assessment, changes in property assessments reflect movement in the market and can vary greatly from property to property. Assessors take into account current sales in the area as well as the size, age, quality, condition, view and location of a property. B.C. Assessment says only two per cent of property owners appeal each year. Morris believes that number would be much higher if people better understood the process.

Morris was spurred to write the book after appealing his home’s assessment a few years ago and the person before him at the panel argued his assessment was too high because it didn’t take into account the lack of services he received from the municipality in which he lived. “When I heard that, it dawned on me that the average person does not know how to look at their assessment, understand what it means and how to appeal if they think it’s wrong,” he said. — Times Colonist

RON RODGERS

Ltd.

OWNER / MANAGING BROKER

Phone 250 785 4115

Email: ron@northeastbc.com

NEBC is located at NEBCRealty.com 10220 101 Ave. Fort St John BC V1J 2B5

Specializing in Commercial Real Estate

TURNKEY OPERATIONS BUSINESS, LAND & BUILDING TURNKEY OPERATIONS

Specializing in Commercial Real Estate BCNCC MLS® 2011 thru 2016 TOP COMMERCIAL Realtor TOP DOLLAR and/or MOST NUMBER OF UNITS SOLD for BCNREB MLS®

New Frontier Bar & Grill in Fort St John

BUILDING: 7500sf buildings with seasonal patio, commercial kitchen (includes all appliances and equipment), interior design with country design including dance floor, DJ booth, 2 open bars, stage for live music, lounge seating LAND: 0.66 Acres Lot on 100 Ave with paved parking & alley access BUSINESS: Includes business name and all social and promotional materials, all kitchen and bar equipment, office and club furnishings, most décor, AND LIQUOR LICENSE (subject to BC Liquor transfer approval), club shuttle service vehicle, 1600sf storage shop and additional C-Can storage along rear alley. Business is currently open 2 nights a week with DJ and occasional live entertainment. Potential to extend operating hours and expand commercial kitchen use to include private parties and happy hour specials. Excellent Income Producing Opportunity!

LOOKING FOR A NEW CAREER - THEN CHECK OUT THIS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY WHERE YOU OWN IT ALL!

Asking $2.2 Million

MLS® C8013087 Please DO NOT Discuss With Staff or drop in during business hours. Call Ron for Details and Financial information. Two Year non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement required prior to provision of detailed information.

For Sale 30,640sf Building on 4 Acre Land ASKING $1.79 Million 10500 13 Street Dawson Creek BC GREAT DEVELOPMENT SITE IN THE HEART OF DAWSON CREEK Call Ron to arrange viewing - Owner would consider reasonable offers

Land & Building in “As-Is, Where-Is” condition. Contents not included in asking price. MLS® 166295

930+ acres LAND FOR SALE adjacent to the Blueberry

Loads of water front property along Snider Creek and Blueberry River. Rail runs through property. Access off south from 272 Road (with potential access from Ade Kat Road just off Apsassin West Road and Snider Creek Drive). Multi-uses from operating your business from the same place you set up your home. (give the Regional District a call to learn more about the land use regulations for this site).

For Lease Alaska Highway Frontage 5740sf +/- shop AVAILABLE NOW Asking $10sf 1600sf office space 101 Ave FSJ Handicap accessible avail now Asking $13sf 3756sf commercial space 960sf warehouse with 1200 shop and 770sf retail space Asking $13sf 2400sf Industrial land & building Office, mezzanine and shop On Cree Road Asking $18sf

MLS® 8009724

5+ ACRES of HIGHWAY FRONTAGE Waterfront land & 6,000+/- sf building LAND parking, green space, baseball diamond, commercial building on 2 lots access via Lakeshore Drive, Jackfish Frontage & Sunnyside Drive – all accessed off Alaska Highway. Fronts Fish Creek & parkland by Charlie Lake. BUILDING built between 1998 - 2004 & designed to facilitate a pub/restaurant business w/ full commercial kitchen & bar service, currently operational (business is not included in the sale). Building has a multi-level floor plan plus mezzanine which holds offices, storage and mechanics.

All offers subject to court approval.

All offers must include Schedule ‘A’ – Vesting Order.

LAND AND BUILDING BEING SOLD ‘AS-IS, WHERE-IS’

FOR SALE LAND & BUILDING FORT ST JOHN, BC Commercial Industrial

Main building consists of; Unit A 4450sf - 3 overhead doors large shop area drive thru from yard to back alley. Unit B 3834sf - 2 shop overhead doors & offices Open Storage – has electrical outlets (good for storing equipment or vehicles) Available to lease

Asking $1.5 million

MLS® C8015910

(not been valued into the asking price which represents the Development Land value only).

Land located along East By-Pass Road just south of the Fort St John Hospital, east of schools, parks/ recreation, & residential development and north of commercial and retail. This area of the city is part of the long term expansion plan & definitely worth looking at if you are an investor or developer.

ASKING $2.48 Million MLS® C8015396

Located at 8362 265 Road (100 Street south of Alaska Highway)

1000sf+ retail lease spaces in shopping strip across from Pomeroy Sports Center Asking $19sf Commercial/Industrial Office & Shop

60’x50’ shop, 3359sf main floor office, 2430sf 2nd floor

Asking $16sf

Court Ordered Sale

ASKING $2.84 Million MLS® C8019259

36.36 Acres Development Land along East By-Pass Road recently incorporated into the City of Fort St John boundary. This property plays a significant role in the upcoming City Official Community Plan and future development within the expanding city growth plans - the City is open to all development concepts. Manager's home on site with lagoon & cistern currently leased

9720sf Industrial Shop on 6.13 Acres

This is undeveloped land just waiting for someone to make it their home and/or income producing property ASKING $750,000

For Sale DEVELOPMENT LAND

6560sf land & building Shop, office, mezzanine Asking $21sf

Contact Ron for more info

All leases unless otherwise noted are asking rate plus triple net and applicable taxes MLS®

C8008152, N4507350, N4507351, C8022390, C8021932-3, C8022390, C8019083

Main Building; 6240sf shop, 1320sf staff – storage, 1080sf main office, 1080sf mez above office

Asking $1.92 Million

Also Available For Lease Asking $18.00sf (approximately $14,580/month) plus triple net and applicable taxes MLS® C8017898-99

MOVE IN NOW

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada, and a leading cause of disability. FAST, highlights that the quicker you act, the more of the person you save. FAST: Face – is it drooping? Arms – can you raise both? Speech – is it slurred or jumbled? And Time, to call 9-1-1 or your local emergency service right away. Not enough Canadians recognize the signs of stroke and know what to do. Stroke is the number three killer of Canadians, and one of the leading causes of disability. There are an estimated 62,000 strokes in Canada each year; that is one every nine minutes. Yet, more than 80 per cent of Canadians who have a stroke and make it to the hospital will survive, with varying degrees of recovery. Be informed and know the signs - www.heartandstroke.ca In lieu of cards/gifts this holiday season, this ad is donated on behalf of NorthEast BC Realty’s clients, suppliers and Ron & Theresa Rodgers

IF YOU WANT MORE INFO ABOUT COMMERCIAL, RETAIL OR INDUSTRIAL REAL ESTATE, CALL RON RODGERS FOR OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NORTH EAST BC AREA Information is not intended to solicit properties already listed for sale, or buyers already under contract. Ask about the new rules of real estate effective June 15 2018 prior to inquiry. All measurements and information is believed to be accurate but not guaranteed and should be verified.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 A5

Local News

peace region

court docket A summary of sentences and fines handed out in Northeast B.C. courts for the week ending Jan. 4, 2019: Fort St. John Law Courts • David Owen Crook (born 1961) was fined $1,000 and handed a one-year driving ban for care or control of vehicle or vessel while impaired. • Collin Donald Hutchinson (born 1991) received a two-year probation order with a conditional discharge for assault. • Derek Keith Mannette (born 1976) was handed a one-year probation order with a suspended sentence for assault. • Rodney Miles Roussel (born 1961) was sentenced to 20 days in jail and handed a one-year probation order for breach of undertaking. Roussel received a second one-year probation order for breaching probation. Dawson Creek Law Courts • Donald Hector Williams (born 1947) was handed a six-month conditional sentence for assault. A summary of sentences and fines handed out in Northeast B.C. courts for the week ending Dec. 21, 2018: Fort St. John Law Courts • Joseph Wiliam Braulin (born 1988) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and handed a mandatory 10-year firearms ban for trafficking in a controlled substance. Braulin received the same sentence for a second charge of trafficking in a controlled substance. • Dara Traci-Lynn Gray (born 1983) was sentenced to 14 days in jail and giv-

en a one-year probation order for theft $5,000 or under. Gray was sentenced to 14 days in jail and handed a oneyear probation order for assault with a weapon. Gray was fined $500, sentenced to four days in jail, handed a one-year driving ban, and assessed a $75 victim surcharge for driving with a suspended licence. Dawson Creek Law Courts • Kyle Allan Jarvis (born 1986) was sentenced to time served, ordered to provide a DNA sample, handed a twoyear discretionary firearms ban, and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for assault. Jarvis was sentenced to six days in jail and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for breach of undertaking. Jarvis was sentenced to six days in jail, ordered to provide DNA sample, given a twoyear probation order, handed a oneyear criminal driving ban, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Jarvis was sentenced to six days in jail, given a twoyear probation order, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for being unlawfully in dwelling-house. • Dakota Russell Zarchynski (born 1991) was handed a six-month conditional sentence, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and given a 24-months of probation for sexual assault. Chetwynd Law Courts • Lisa Lee Billy (born 1984) was fined $1,000 for driving with a suspended licence. • Nicole Lynn Garbitt (born 1975) was fined $500 for driving with a suspended licence. • Caroline Danuta Karakootie (born 1996) fined $100 and assessed a $30 victim surcharge for breach of undertaking. — Tom Summer

Police investigate knife assault at Fort St. John house party matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

Police have issued a plea for the public’s help after a woman was assaulted with a knife at a house party in Fort St. John last October. Fort St. John RCMP say the woman was assaulted around 4 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2018, during a party in the 9600 block of 102 Avenue. She was taken to the hospital for medical care. “It is likely that someone else who was

at the party has information about what happened and possibly knows who assaulted the victim,” said Cst. Chad Neustaeter in a news release. “Our goal is to have anyone with further information about this serious assault to come forward.” RCMP only released details about the incident on Jan. 3, and weren’t immediately available to comment. Anyone with information is asked to call the detachment at 250-787-8100, or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.

Thieves steal large truck tires On November 20, 2018, the Fort St John RCMP received a report of a theft of 10 large truck tires that occurred in the early hours of that same day. At approximately 2 a.m. earlier that morning, two men, one with a heavier build and the other with a medium build, cut the fence at a business in the area of 94th Ave/100th St, Fort St John, BC, and rolled ten 11R24.5 Aeolus HN362 premium winter drive tires through the fence and off the property. The tires are described as: • HN362 (ADW81) is a premium drive tire, • all-season traction, optimized for severe winter conditions,

• features an aggressive symmetrical tread design • designed for large heavy trucks such as semi or dump truck type vehicles. The Fort St John RCMP continue to investigate and request the assistance of the public. If tires matching this description are being sold on social media marketplace sites by individuals for a discounted rate causing would-be buyers to be suspicious, they are asked to call their local police detachment as these may be the stolen tires. Anyone with information is asked to call the detachment at 250-787-8100, or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.

The Fort St. John Multicultural Society visited North Peace Seniors Building 3 on Dec. 24, 2018, to deliver someChristmas cheer. The group’s volunteer dancers performed a new dance routine to Feliz Navidad, along with students from Northern Lights College.

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A6 THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

Opinion

Published every Thursday at 9916 - 98th Street, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3T8 by Glacier Media Tel: 250-785-5631 Fax: 250-785-3522 Online at alaskahighwaynews.ca

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No CNRL moguls in Whistler this winter

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ne of the late breaking news stories from 2018 was the mayor of Whistler sending a letter to Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) demanding them to pay for costs associated with fireproofing their community, and the great response that CNRL gave back. My short interpretation of their response: Mr. Mayor of Whistler, don’t let our shadows darken your door; our moguls are leaving no moguls on your hills. And, while I am at it, kudos to CIBC for cancelling the energy portion of its Whistler Investor Conference in support of all companies who said they would not attend, in support of CNRL’s stance. What many of you may not have read, or understand, was why the mayor sent this letter. From my simple view in this flat world, he got sucked in by some very “fake” news coming from West Cost Environmental Law (WCEL). If I was to write the headline for this story, it would have read, ‘West Coast Environmental Law duped local governments into writing dumb letters.’ WCEL is an environmental law and public advocacy organization based in Vancouver, and has, for several years, been pressuring local governments to write letters that demand oil and gas companies pay for costs that communities associate with climate change. To date, a total of 16 local governments have either sent these letters, or passed council resolutions stating they will. WCEL’s website has a complete list of these governments — most are Vancouver Island or southern coastal — and copies of some of their letters. So, why do I call this a dumb letter? Whistler is likely the most hypocritical of the lot. Their

Evan Saugstad mere existence depends upon cheap travel using carbon fuels to get their customers to their ski hills. If Whistler was serious about climate change and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, they would have written an open letter to the world, as people from around the world to ski Whistler, asking or insisting that they not come, unless they can travel via a non-carbon transportation system. Instead, they asked someone else to do something. Although I don’t have the statistics on where Whistler’s skiers originate, it’s a safe bet that the vast majority are flying into Vancouver, then driving or busing to Whistler. We also know that one large source of carbon emissions occurs when we fly. I am also guilty of this, and as long as I continue living here I will be flying. Plane and simple, it takes a lot of fossil fuel to keep an aircraft off the ground. We know why the mayor didn’t ask the world not to come. A simple request asking that people stop visiting Whistler would have ended with council leaving town on an expedited basis. Unfortunately, the good voters of Whistler will now have to wait four years before they can replace council with those who exbibit a bit more intelligence. Same goes if he had asked that no more fossil fuels be consumed in Whistler. Could be a great move to reduce carbon, but not very bright politically. Incidentally, I believe it was Surerus Pipeline of Fort St John that built a larger pipeline to Whistler a few years ago, to

HaveYOUR

ensure they could promise their guests the opportunity to warm their toes and roast their nuts over an open fire. In short, it was much more politically expedient to ask someone else to address the world’s carbon issue, rather than develop a made-at-home solution. As to reducing the fire risk? If you have too many trees and you believe they’re a fire risk, I could likely find a logging company or two willing to take them off your hands, and they would likely not charge a cent if they could just get all those logs in return. Now, to West Coast Environmental Law. Before I get started on my rant about another dumb enviro-company, I can say they have done some very good work helping people who could not otherwise afford a good defence. But that accolade doesn’t apply to everything they do or their full climate crusade program. On its website, WCEL writes about American cities suing oil/gas companies for climate change costs, but it doesn’t tell you that these lawsuits are now being thrown out of U.S. courts (that is what my research shows). In part, one U.S. court decision stated, “… the serious problems caused thereby are not for the judiciary to ameliorate. Global warming and solutions thereto must be addressed by the two other branches of government.” The corresponding news headline for this was, ‘You can’t sue your way to a solution for global warming. So says the judge.’ It also doesn’t tell you that if we wish to burden oil and gas companies with billions more in costs that the two likely outcomes are either higher fuel prices or no fuel at all, both to which are not acceptable to the vast majority of voters and

taxpayers. WCEL do tell you that it tried to have the Union of BC Municipalities pass a resolution last fall asking that all B.C. local governments send these same letters, and it failed. From my view, it goes to show that if you do get enough politicians in the same room, you can get reasonably bright decisions as there are usually more intelligent people than dumb ones who would blindly follow poor advice from the WCEL. I know if you asked our Mayor Lori Ackerman and her council, they would tell you they have spent a lot of time and travel advocating for our gas and oil industry, and telling other communities the real story. WCEL’s website is also dedicated in the opposition of pipeline projects, such as the defeat of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, the north coast ban on oil tankers, and the current fight to stop the Trans Mountain expansion. They also write about how they support aboriginal communities in opposition, but I can’t find any mention of the many aboriginal communities who support these projects and who wish to see them proceed in some way, shape, or fashion. Looks to me a case of only telling your supporters what they wish to hear and not the whole story while you ask them to donate, donate, and donate so they can keep up their barrage of ignorant campaigns. Now, back to the climate change letter. Doesn’t it sound like President Trump’s definition of “fake” news? In short, my simple perspective of these phoney letters is that if enough are sent, some will actually begin to believe they are for real. Go figure. Evan Saugstad lives in Fort St. John.

Do you have something to say or a story to share? The Alaska Highway News wants to hear from you. Email us at editor@ahnfsj.ca with “Have Your Say” in the subject line. Letters should be kept under 300 words, and must be accompanied by your full name, city, and a daytime phone number (for verification purposes only). We reserve the right to edit letters for length, taste, accuracy and libel. Letters will be published each Thursday.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 A7

op-ed

The horrors of tidying up after the holidays

hat did you do over Christmas vacation? “OHMYGOODNESS! I watched that Tidying Up With Marie Kondo’ series on Netflix, and I have been SO motivated to get rid of my junk. It is lifechanging!” So far, I have had two or three people enlighten me on their recent junk-ridding journey to self-fulfillment. Each of them told me that they feel so much better getting the clutter out of their lives. I imagine they stumbled upon the Netflix program right before or right after Christmas when the house was packed full of holiday décor and thus compounded by overindulgence — kitchen counters littered with half eaten boxes of chocolates and solo cups, living room dwarfed by the oversized Christmas tree, gifts of clothing that have no place to go because the dresser drawers are already full. Maybe that was just my house. Those savvy programmers at Netflix knew exactly what they were doing when they

Judy Kucharuk launched her program over the holidays. They knew we would be feeling overwhelmed, cramped and confined in our homes and therefore it was time for Hoarding 2.0 which is Marie Kondo. The Tidying Up With Marie Kondo program is a gentler, kinder, more upper crust method of decluttering than the hoarding programs we are used to watching. Remember those shows? Those programs were half mental health counselling and half de-cluttering, and it normally involved a dumpster or two in the driveway before the home was habitable again. There is not much of that happening in this program. Marie Kondo is a petite, soft-spoken woman who communicates using a translator as she guides individuals through the exercises to rid their home of

unwanted and unnecessary crap. I have to admit that about four years ago I was an early adopter of this method and did purchase the Marie Kondo book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I read it — sort of. I was particularly intrigued with how she folded everything and as a result I spent an entire weekend folding everything that I own so that it stood up in the dresser drawer like she recommends. Then I folded my plastic grocery bags into tiny triangles that almost gave me carpal tunnel and I decided that it was time that I would never get back in my life. I tried so hard to get rid of stuff like she suggested, but I just couldn’t get past the whole, “Hug that old T-shirt and if you feel something good, like if it makes you happy like holding a puppy happy, then you should keep it. If it doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling then do like the chick from Frozen, let it go, let it go!” What if that thing that gives you a happy feeling is a pair of

soft leggings that have thigh rubbing holes down the inside of the crotch and you only wear them around the house? Do you still keep it? What if that thing is a pair of jeans that cost an inordinate amount of money five years and three sizes ago? When you hug them, you feel good because you remember how great they fit. Do you still keep them? What about your aged MeMaw who bequeathed you all of her teeny decorative spoons that she collected over her lifetime and they are sitting in the china cabinet and your daughter likes to use them to pretend to feed her dolls? Do you keep them or... what? My perquisites to keeping something would be: • Do I have to dust it? • Do I have to iron it? • Does it need to be washed in cold, by itself, and hung to dry? I rarely hug my clothing. The closest I get to hug my clothing is when I give it a sniff to see if it is still acceptable to wear one more day.

I am not mocking Marie Kondo, nor am I mocking her method of de-cluttering. I only wish that I could be as organized as some of the couples at the end of each program. I am proud of myself if I get all of the laundry put away! Who cares if some of it is”‘put away” when it lands on the end of the bed; at least it has been removed from the couch. I am proud of myself when the cupboards are clear of dishes and appliances, but don’t open the cupboard doors because my insurance probably doesn’t cover concussing the neighbour with an instant pot that is sitting precariously on the ledge. I don’t have a “thing” or “stuff” problem at my house. I have a “you got too many places to hide your things and stuff” problem. Does that still count as hoarding-lite? Does Marie Kondo have an episode about that?

ation and decide what, if any, changes would need to be implemented. After 18 months and many conversations, it appears there is an ongoing issue with the Northern Health board and access to services in our area, from long waits in the emergency department of our local hospital to lengthy waiting lists for diagnostic services such as MRIs and ultrasounds. I recently learned that the provincial government is trying to phase out or close down private medical imaging clinics such as Peace Regional MRI & Ultrasound located in Dawson Creek. Private businesses such as these allow almost immediate access to medical imaging services for a fee and provide results in just a few days, freeing up the medical imaging departments in the hospitals for patients who are more urgent or cannot afford the fee. Why would our provincial government choose not to support facilities such as these that help to take the pressure off the provincial medical system? I believe it is our right as Canadians to decide if we would prefer to wait or pay the additional fee for faster access and I cannot understand why the provincial government would wish to prevent people from seeking the fastest possible solution to their medical problems. The Dawson Creek hospital does not have an MRI and you would think it would be a welcome addition, and yet Northern Health chooses not to utilize Peace Region MRI & Ultrasound to help bring down the wait times for this type of service. Physicians and patients within our community need access to this type of medical service and I am wondering why the Health Minister wants to close this private facility, which has a crucial role in — Lakota Stedel, saving lives, instead of trying Charlie Lake to find a way to work with them and provide better acPrivate health services cess to patients in the North. take pressure off public People in the more popusystem lated parts of our province, such as the Lower Mainland It has been a while since I and Vancouver Island where have written with an update all the decision makers live, on behalf of the Concerned have easier access to medical Citizens for Health Care. care while those of us in the With the change in provinNorth are forced to wait on cial government we felt it long lists and/or travel and would be appropriate to let incur expenses in order to the new Medical Minister receive care. Expenses that assess the healthcare situoften exceed the cost of hav-

ing these services done in a private facility. I would like to ask the Medical Minister when he plans to put the “care” back in healthcare and address the very serious situation many of us in the province face in regard to receiving medical services. There will be petitions available at the Hair Bin and other local businesses to sign, and I urge anyone who is concerned about the current state of our healthcare system to write to their local MP or the Medical Minister to request change and show your support for the Peace Regional MRI as there is a court injunction for their closure.

Judy Kucharuk is a lover of sarcasm, witty people and footnotes.

Letters to the editor Thankful for 2018, but hoping for a better 2019 When Northeast B.C. received good news in late 2018, it wasn’t just a positive turn of events for Fort St. John and the Peace Region. The final investment decision to proceed with the LNG Canada project heralds a project of national and global significance. A flat year for LNG investment worldwide was lifted by the October announcement. As recognition travels far and wide of fully how transformational Canada’s largest ever private investment will be, nevertheless there are strong signs that the NDP-Green alliance in Victoria can barely contain its contempt for anything to do with natural gas and LNG. At first blush, that will sound like a puzzling statement. Wasn’t it the NDPGreen alliance that went out of its way to create tax conditions favourable to the LNG Canada approval? It’s true, but what is easy to overlook is the same alliance’s decision in November that would forbid future LNG development. This the government has done by imposing emissions limits so strict that no LNG proposal could possibly meet them. Within days of the government releasing its job-killing Clean BC plan, a prospective LNG project worth $25 billion was killed by Exxon. The government’s Clean BC plan now counts as the most damaging economic policy ever seen in British Columbia and it is only weeks old. The greatest irony is that crushing LNG hopes will actually do great harm to the planet, a fact that the eco-fanatics running British Columbia are refusing to acknowledge. LNG Canada alone will effectively remove more global emissions than what British Columbia produces. Building three more LNG plants would mean B.C. would be doing more than any other jurisdiction in the world to reduce harmful climate emissions. Sound like a good arrangement? Not to Premier John Horgan. In a December 20 interview with the Tyee, he stated: “We are now government and we have decided that one plant, LNG Canada, can fit in and we’ve built our plan around that.” Even though practically everyone else in

the world recognizes that emissions are a global, not just a local, issue. Not the hardcore ideologies now ruling BC’s future prosperity, or should we say poverty. Any other LNG projects will have to be zero emissions, a standard that would be impossible to meet under current standards. With at least three other project proposals in the works for west coast B.C. exports, it can only be imagined the dismay that the job-killing, pollution-happy Horgan government has unleashed. For those who understand both the economy and the environment, there is only one realistic hope for 2019: that the Horgan government do the right thing and test its reckless LNG policy with the electorate by calling an early election. The same voters who rejected Horgan’s crooked proportional representation referendum are highly likely to react the same way to his anti-climate climate plan: by saying no. Have a very Merry Christmas Fort St. John. For those asking if the job of FSJ for LNG is now over, I hope this answers the question. We still have quite a job to do in 2019, which includes voting somebody out in the coming federal election. — Alan Yu, Fort St. John B.C. needs to get its highway act together There’s something strange happening to B.C. highways and few people seem to be talking about it. In 2011, the Ministry of Transportation announced that “the future is four lanes” for Highway 2 and 97 between Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, and the Alberta border. Since then, roughly 14.5 of the 116-kilometre route, or 12.5%, has been four-laned with no new sections having been announced since the last project’s completion in the fall of 2017. For a moment though, I’d like to contrast our highway situation in Northeast B.C. with that of Northwest Alberta. Just over a week ago, Premier Rachel Notley was in Grande Prairie to announce that 20 kilometres of Highway 40 from Grande Prairie towards Grande Cache will be twinned by 2023 at a cost of $90 to $110 million. Further,

a full interchange will be constructed at the intersection of Highway 43 and Highway 43X, the 12 kilometre $48 million twinned bypass currently being constructed around Grande Prairie. Even the bridge in Peace River is set to be twinned in addition to 1.6 kilometres of Highway 2 at a cost of $148 million. Added up, that’s over $300 million worth of investment in Northwest Alberta’s infrastructure resulting in 33 kilometers of new divided highway. Further, Alberta does not do any of this so-called four-laning; they build fully divided highways with about 30 metres of grass median between opposing lanes of traffic. In B.C., there are no highways currently being upgraded to a similar standard, not even in the particularly forgiving terrain of our region. Across our province, the same approach is taken; two lanes are added to an existing highway and separated by a measly 2.7 metres. If head-on collisions continue, a concrete barrier might be added to reduce the severity of crashes, but this often results in a much higher accident frequency. No other jurisdiction in North America uses this approach to upgrading highways, at least none that I could find. I’m not sure why the government has decided British Columbians are not deserving of modern highways, but people are dying as a result of the slow pace and subpar design of the upgrades. Within the span of just over a week, two people have fallen victim on the highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St John. What if one of those people happened to be someone close to you? It’s time to stop settling and start demanding better highways.

— Lorraine Isenbecker, Concerned Citizen for Healthcare An exciting vision for a clean economy Re: ‘Evan Saugstad: Hold your and save emissions on Horgan’s electric car pitch,’ December 14, 2018 B.C.’s new climate plan signals an exciting vision for a clean economy. British Columbians can take pride in the fact the CleanBC strategy contains several policies far ahead of the curve in Canada and North America. In just over 10 years, all new homes and buildings will be low carbon. In just over 20 years, all new cars sold will be zero emissions. CleanBC prioritizes innovation and skills upgrading — with dollars to increase capacity to produce renewable fuels in B.C., and provide training so we have the workforce to construct low carbon buildings and repair electric vehicles. This puts B.C. on a path to getting 75% of the way to our 2030 target for reducing carbon pollution. We still expect to see a plan that demonstrates how we will fully meet B.C.’s climate targets. With other provinces faltering on climate action, B.C.’s climate strategy brings hope for all Canadians concerned about the well-being of their families and communities. — Karen Tam Wu, B.C. director, Pembina Institute

A8 THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

Local News

Fort St. John 2019 budget talks underway er $2.5 million on its new resource recovery centre, and $2.4 million of off-site water and sewer servicing. The rest will be spent on other sewer improvements, well rehabilitation, water main looping, new fire hydrants, and other water and sewer related studies.

matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

The New Year means a new budget, and Fort St. John councillors will begin public deliberations about the city’s draft $59.2-million capital budget for 2019 next week. Councillors met January 7 for a presentation by city staff outlining spending priorities for 2019 and through to 2023. Roads More than one-third of the budget, $23.2-million, is earmarked for road and transportation projects. Among the two biggest projects are continuing 100 Street four-laning at a cost of $5.9 million, and extending Tahltan Road at a cost of $4.4 million. Overall, more than $10 million has been earmarked for local and collector road upgrades, including improvements to 92A and 83 Streets, 87 and 113 Avenues, and the 86 Street frontage road from 93 to 98 Avenue. There is $1 million in the budget for major maintenance and new road overlay. The budget also includes $400,000 for sidewalks and streetlighting on 116 Avenue from 86 to 93 Streets. Facilities The draft budget calls for $18.6 million in spending on facilities and buildings. That includes continued spending of $7.1 million

Equipment The city has budgeted $4.7 million for new equipment and machinery. That includes spending on new hazmat operations fire apparatus, IT systems development and infrastructure, new fleet vehicles include a loader, backhoe, pickup trucks, and a bylaw van. Centennial Park renovations and plaza development. The city has also set aside $1.5 million for its fire training centre, which will allow the department to train locally instead of travelling. Another $2.8 million is set aside for continued work on the new RCMP detachment. The city has earmarked $135,000 toward upgrades at Surerus Park, with another $100,000 set aside for improvements to other existing parks. Another $850,000 million is budgeted for trail development and upgrades. The city has also set aside $700,000 for curling club remediation, $525,000 for Pomeroy Sport Centre upgrades, $385,000 for the

North Peace Arena,and $80,000 for Kids Arena facility remediation. City initiatives The city has earmarked $2.4 million for special operating projects. Big ticket items here include $300,000 towards the University of Northern BC’s Community Development Institute and the research it’s conducting for the city, and $200,000 for the city’s membership in the Resource Municipalities Coalition, formed in September 2014 to represent the interests of local governments in resource development issues. The city has $100,000 earmarked for a public art policy, and another $100,000 for an arts, culture, and heritage

plan. Another $175,000 is set aside for neighbourhood planning, with another $150,000 earmarked for land acquisition and disposal. The city is setting aside another $85,000 to staff a term position to help local RCMP update and digitize cold case files that will help officers address investigative needs. The city has pushed back $100,000 in spending to develop a food security plan to 2020. Water and sewer The city plans to spend nearly half of its $10.1 million water and sewer budget on sewage lift station upgrades worth $4 million. The city will spend anoth-

Funding The bulk of the city’s capital plan for 2019, $44 million, is proposed to be paid for by provincial monies through the Peace River Agreement, which compensates the city for industrial development in the region. The city expects to receive $24.5 million this year from the Peace River Agreement, 10% of which is directed into reserves, while carrying forward unspent money from 2018 and reserves through to this year’s budget. The rest of the budget is funded by grants, development charges, reserves, federal gas tax funds, and borrowing for local area service projects, which is recouped through property taxes.

Staffing costs, needs crunching city operations matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca

A dramatic savings on interest payments will offset rising salary costs at Fort St. John city hall in 2019, but the city’s budget architect is warning councillors that it’s a one-time savings that won’t address future staffing costs and needs as strains continue to mount beyond 2020. David Joy, the city’s general manager of corporate services, presented a balanced, $59.2-million operating budget on Monday, January 7, one that holds the line on tax rates amid stagnant property assessments and continues to cut discretionary spending. The city is forecasted to collect $32.3 million in property taxes this year, up roughly 2% due to an increase in assessments for commercial and light industrial properties, which offset a drop in

residential assessments. The city will collect the rest of its budget revenues through grants, the sale of services, investments, and transfers. The city will see savings up to $815,000 this year on its interest and bank charges as some of 20year loans saw rate adjustments. It’s enough to offset a $750,000 increase in salaries and benefits, up 3% this year due to pay raise for unionized workers, increased overtime, and an increase in benefit premiums. Without the savings, the city would be facing a deficit budget proposing a tax rate increase of at least 3% to make it balance, Joy said. “Next year, we won’t have that,” he said. “What that’s done for us in 2019 is basically pay for salaries, wages, and employee benefits, all else taken into consideration.” The city has also trimmed another $226,000 in discretionary

spending for 2019, bringing the total amount of cuts over the last two years to nearly $1 million in the face of inflation, Joy said. Without the cuts, the city would need to raise tax rates another 3 to 4%, Joy said. The average single-family homeowner will pay $20 less in taxes in 2019, if tax rates are held, a decision that will be made later this spring. However, there are staffing pressures across departments, Joy said, noting in his presentation that at least a dozen positions are needed, from the RCMP to recreation, bylaw enforcement to planning and public works. While tax revenues have remained largely the same over the last three years, workloads have increased, Joy said. The city’s staffing formula is tied to property assessment values, regardless of its growth in land, roads, and other infrastructure.

Since 2014, the city has added more than 1,100 new residential units, however, property values are now back to 2013 levels, Joy said. On top of that, assessments for major industrial business such as Lousiana Pacific and Canfor have dropped 17% below 2014 levels and are continuing to drop, shifting the tax burden to residents and other businesses. “We’ve experienced a decline or marginal assessment growth for 2018 and 2019, and almost all departments are experiencing more pronounced staffing strain,” Joy said. “We can always just get by and defer for so long, but there’s considerable strain to fulfill the strategic goals, objectives, and tactical strategies” of the city. The staffing formula will be scrutinized as part of a new financial review this year, along with the city’s policies on managing its reserves and surpluses,

grant monies, debt capacity, tax exemptions, and tax rates. The city is carrying roughly $30 million in long-term debt, about a third of that for the Pomeroy Sport Centre. The rest is self-funded through utilities and local improvement levies, which leaves the city in a flexible position for its future borrowing needs, which will include the new RCMP detachment and a new multi-use recreational facility. The city is also the secondhighest provider of permissive tax exemptions in B.C., exempting more than $1 million in taxes to churches and other groups in 2018. “There isn’t one decision that council makes that sets a direction for your budget. It’s a lot of decisions you’ve made along the way,” City Manager Dianne Hunter said. “You make a change to any one of them, it changes your budget.”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 A9

Business

““2019 is going to be the year of the planner because everybody has to now look at what the objectives of CleanBC are.”

— David Austin, Stirling LLP

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“Canadians are worried about interest rates affecting their debt.”

Dean Prentice, CIRP, LIT BC HYDRO PHOTO

Electricity building boom continues in 2019 NELSON BENNETT Business in Vancouver

The Peace River region will continue to see a construction boom related to electricity in 2019. BC Hydro will spend roughly $1 billion next year on the Site C dam project and close to $300 million on a new transmission project that will bring additional power from the dam to the oil and gas fields of Northeast B.C. Between now and 2030, industrial and transportation sectors in B.C. will be forced to undergo a dramatic shift to more electricity and lowercarbon fuels under B.C.’s new climate and energy plan, called CleanBC. Planning for that transition by government, the oil and gas sector, the Parkland Fuel

Corp.refinery in Burnaby, BC Hydro and FortisBC will need to start in 2019, said David Austin, a lawyer specializing in energy for Stirling LLP. “What I would say is 2019 is going to be the year of the planner because everybody has to now look at what the objectives of CleanBC are,” he said. “If we’re to meet the objectives for 2030, the planning has to occur very quickly.” He said BC Hydro is going to have to update its load forecasts in light of the additional power that will be needed to electrify the oil and gas sector and industry. And FortisBC is going to need to start planning for how it will source all the new renewable natural gas that it will need to meet new targets of 15% renewable gas content. A linchpin for the CleanBC

plan will be the Site C dam and new transmission projects, like the Peace Region Electricity Supply (PRES) project. In 2018, 3,746 workers were employed on the $10.7-billion dam project. The workforce is expected to grow even more than that in 2019. Clearing for the new PRES line began in 2018. Construction on the new $289 million transmission line will begin in 2019, with an in-service date of 2021. The project includes two parallel transmission lines running from the Site C dam near Fort St. John to the Groundbirch area 30 kilometres east of Chetwynd. It will supply industry, mostly the oil and gas sector, with additional supplies of electricity.

Northeast B.C. unemployment held steady in 2018 MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

Unemployment in Northeast B.C. held steady year-over-year in 2018. The region finished the year with a 4.7% unemployment rate in December, on par with the 4.6% recorded at the end of 2017, according to Statistic Canada’s Labour Force Survey released Jan. 4. In an estimated labour force of 42,300, the region saw 40,300 people employed in December. Another 2,000 were unemployed.

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Site C powerhouse construction area, September 2018.

The region saw a wide swing in monthly unemployment throughout 2018 — from a province-wide low of 3.8% in January, to a high of 7.9% in May. The region’s unemployment was slightly higher than the provincial average of 4.1% in December. The Kootenay region recorded the lowest unemployment at 3.1%, while the Cariboo recorded the highest unemployment at 5.3% In 2018, employment in British Columbia increased by 44,000, almost entirely in full-time work, Stats Canada

reported. “Employment gains were spread across several industries, led by professional, scientific and technical services,” the agency noted. “At the same time, declines were recorded in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing.” BC Stats has yet to release a detailed, sector by sector analysis of provincial job numbers for December. The unemployment rate stayed at its 43-year low of 5.6% last month as the economy closed out 2018 with the addition of 9,300 net new jobs.

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Council & Committee Meeting Dates Each year, Council publishes the adopted Council and Committee schedule for the upcoming year in compliance with Section 127 (1) of the Community Charter. 2019

Council 5pm

Recreation 9am

Public Works 9am

Protection 1pm

January February March April May June July August September October November December

7th & 21st 4th & 19th 4th & 18th 1st & 15th 6th & 21st 3rd & 17th 2nd & 15th 6th & 19th 3rd & 16th 7th & 21st 4th & 18th 2nd & 16th

7th 4th 4th 1st 6th 3rd 2nd 6th 3rd 7th 4th 2nd

21st 19th 18th 15th 21st 17th 15th 19th 16th 21st 18th 16th

All Council and Committee meetings are held in Council Chambers on Mondays (or next business day if a holiday falls on the Monday)

at the District of Taylor Office located at 10007 100A Street, Taylor, B.C. Committee of the Whole meetings will be scheduled as needed on either the 1st or 3rd Monday of the month at 4:00 PM

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Fort St. John building construction down in 2018 year, valued at $6.5 million. That’s down from 40 permits valued at $7.3 million in 2017. Four permits for institutional buildings worth $6.1 million were issued, and five permits for industrial buildings worth $8.2 million were issued. There were 35 permits issued for garages and other renovations in 2018, valued at $717,000.

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9916-98 St., Fort St. John, BC

Fort St. John saw $44.1 million in new building construction in 2018, a 19% drop from values seen in 2017. The city issued 112 permits by the end of December, for a total construction value of $44,167,190. In 2017, 108 permits were issued worth $54.6 million in construction.

For the year, 30 single-family housing permits were issued worth $12.7 million; five duplex permits were issued for $3.6 million; four multi-family permits were issued for $6 million; and two mobile home permits were issued for $206,500. Overall, permits for 53 new homes were issued, down from 92 in 2017. There were 27 commercial building permits issued for the

MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

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A10 THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

BUSINESS

How does your property measure up in this year’s assessments?

f you checked your mail in early January, you should have found your current assessment for any property owned in B.C. The 2019 BC Assessment released January 2, 2019, is based on market values of property as of July 1, 2018. Overall, Fort St. John saw a decline in residential assessments by 2.51% within the city. Business noted a 2.83% overall increase and light industry noted a 1.99% decline in total assessed values. Our southern neighbours in Dawson Creek noted an over-

Edwina Nearhood LIFE AT GROUND ZERO

all .36% increase in residential assessments; 1.02% increase in business and 2.86% increase in light industry. BC Assessment offers a tool to find your property assessment that allows you to review your 2019 assessment in comparison with your 2018 assessment. It also allows you

to confirm basic property details such as property size, house size, basement finished area, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. You are also able to review recent sales in your neighbourhood to see how you compare to those properties. If your property information is incorrect, you are able to send notice of correction. You are also able to submit a notice of complaint submission from this website. I recently spoke with a homeowner that has reviewed their 2018 assessments online and noted that the assess-

PEACE RIVER REGIONAL DISTRICT

No�ce of Public Hearing Tuesday, January 29, 2019 7:00 pm

Where:

Charlie Lake Community Hall 12717 Charlie Lake Hall Road, Charlie Lake BC

three-year period. At that time, BC Assessment did not realize the increase in one year, but noted on the file that the property was under assessed and to expect a decline until the assessments were in line with the current market value. This occurred in a rising market. It’s important to keep an eye on the same in a falling market. How does your property measure up? It’s a good idea to make sure assessments are in line. If an opportunity to appeal has been overlooked, it’s not possible to appeal increases backdated two or more years. This can cause challenges and higher than necessary tax bills. It’s well worth taking a second look! Edwina Nearhood is a lifelong resident of Fort St. John, with 30 years experience in the appraisal industry.

PUBLIC HEARING – JANUARY 14, 2019

Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2110, 2014

When:

ments of most properties in their neighbourhood have declined. However recent sale prices of those same homes are lower than the assessed values. They feel strongly that their property assessments should have declined greater than the reduction offered. Based on this premise, they have sent in a notice of complaint. Two commercial properties reviewed show a 36% and 45% increase in assessed value. This is well above the average increase indicated in the area. Recommendations for appeal have been made. The complaint process is quite simple. In this homeowner’s case, the tax savings will be minimal. It’s important to keep assessments in line with market conditions. I had a client that saw a 30% increase in assessed value over a two to

Charlie Lake

6:00 p.m. – City Hall Council Chambers Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 2453, 2018 Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2454, 2018

Lot 1, Sec�on 17, Township 84, Range 19 W6M, Peace River District PL 22972

The Peace River Regional District is hos�ng a mee�ng to discuss a proposed zoning amendment.

The subject land of the proposed bylaws is legally described as Lot A, Section 6, Township 84, Range 18, W6M Peace River District Plan EPP59891 as shown highlighted on the map.

Proposal: To rezone the property from R-4 (Residen�al 4 Zone) to C-2 (General Commercial Zone). The applicant intends to subdivide the property into three lots.

The proponent (Anglican Synod of the Diocese of Caledonia) is applying to amend the Official Community Plan from INST – Institutional to LDR – Low Density Residential and to amend the Zoning Bylaw from INST – Institutional to R1 – Single Detached (Low Density) Residential. This will allow for the subject property to be subdivided for residential lots.

For More Informa�on: Contact: Development Services Tel: 250-784-3200 Toll Free: 1-800-670-7773 Email: prrd.dc@prrd.bc.ca

This no�ce is in general form only. Relevant background documents may be inspected from Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, between the hours of 8:30am – 4:30pm at the PRRD Dawson Creek office (1981 Alaska Avenue, Dawson Creek, BC) or 8:30am – Noon and 1:00pm – 4:30pm at the PRRD Fort St. John office (9505-100th Street, Fort St. John, BC). Wri�en comments or concerns accepted. Shawn Dahlen, Chief Administra�ve Officer

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 A11

BUSINESS

Pipelines to remain a federal focal point this year Business in Vancouver

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will continue to generate a lot of headlines in 2019, energy experts say. Whether it generates any jobs is the $7.4 billion question. Kevin Birn, a crude oil analyst for IHS Markit, said Trans Mountain promises to be a key election issue for both the Alberta government in the spring and the federal government in the fall. “I think it’s going to be hard for the feds to stay on the sidelines,” Birn said. “I think the pipelines are going to be a key source of electioneering.” The expansion project was sent back to the National Energy Board (NEB) by the courts for further reconsideration and more First Nations consultations. The NEB must submit its reconsideration report to the governor-in-council by February 22, 2019. But Jonathan Wilkinson, B.C.’s senior federal Liberal cabinet minister, confirmed there is no firm timeline on concluding First Nations consultations. There is some doubt that the expansion will resume by April in time to save Alberta Premier Rachel Notley from defeat by Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party, which enjoys a sizable lead over Notley, according to a recent Abacus Data survey. Dan McTeague, who spent nearly two decades as a Liberal MP and is now a gas and oil analyst for GasBuddy.com, thinks Notley’s defeat in Alberta is “a foregone conclusion.” “I think the political environment is going to change radically,” he said. The co-operation seen between Al-

berta and Ottawa on climate change policies could unravel if Notley is defeated. And Kenney would inherit a new law, passed by Notley, that may give him the legal levers to play with exports of oil and refined petroleum products that currently flow through the existing Trans Mountain pipeline. McTeague thinks Kenney will not hesitate to use oil and gas exports to punish both B.C. and Quebec for their opposition to new pipelines. “Rather than having batched one day diesel, next day gas, next day light crude, next day heavy crude, that could be amended to send only crude and as a result force gasoline to be sent down by different means,” McTeague said. “That would have the effect of, obviously, creating some discomfort for Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.” In other words, more refined gasoline and diesel, currently supplied by the Trans Mountain pipeline, could be forced to move by rail. Birn noted that there are already growing capacity issues with rail. “I think we’re not done talking about trains,” Birn said. “The railroads, they’re busy. They’re flat out. So you could see discussions about the importance of rail and port infrastructure.” McTeague is skeptical that the impasse over the Trans Mountain expansion project will be resolved in 2019. “Those who oppose this have found creative ways, and have found friendly ears on the benches of this country and in other corners as well,” he said. “I’m of the strong belief it won’t be anywhere near resolved in 2019, and I’m not entirely confident that it will ever get resolved.”

Board of Trustees Meetings January – June 2019 DATE

MEETINGS

Christmas Vacation: December 24, 2018 – January 4, 2019; Schools re-open January 7, 2019 January 14 January 28