THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 28
SERVING FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
$1.50 INC. GST.
alaskahighwaynews.ca
“The Only Newspaper in the World That Gives a Tinker’s Dam About the North Peace.”
SOLAR SWITCH TO SAVE BIG BUCKS
LACROSSE TOURNEY IMPRESSES
HOMETOWN METALHEADS RETURN
NEWS A4
SPORTS B1
MUSIC B5
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money. QUALITY PARTS, EXPERT SERVICE! HoursMon-Fri: 8am - 5pm Sat: 8am - Noon
MATT PREPROST PHOTOS
Hundreds of paddlers took to the Peace River on July 8 for the 12th annual Paddle for the Peace.
Paddlers revel in renewed hope 9224 100 Street, Fort St. John, BC (250) 785-0463
Paddle for the Peace takes aim at pending Site C review
After Hours - Leave Message
CONTACT US
phone 250-785-5631 fax 250-785-3522 email circulation@ahnfsj.ca online alaskahighwaynews.ca facebook AlaskaHighwayNews twitter @AHNnewspaper
MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca
In with the rain and out with the rain—the fact that this year’s Paddle for the Peace was bookended by a pair of thunderstorms was not lost on organizers and leaders, who revelled in the symbolism and renewed hope at this year’s event. Hundreds once again gathered along the shores of the Peace and Halfway Rivers for the 12th annual event on Saturday, July 8 to celebrate the river and condemn the politics behind the controversial Site C dam, now two years under construction some 40 kilometres upstream. The day was hot and sunny, with the mercury reaching 25 C, hours after thunderstorms dropped 12 millimetres of rain on the region the previous night. Another four millimetres was dropped during a storm on Sunday. “We’re here in a new light of day today. I’d say it was a
2500+ employed on dam in May A paddler coasts with the current near Bear Flat.
blessing we had last night,” West Moberly First Nation Chief Roland Willson told the crowd. “I am so grateful to everybody here who helps us with this. “(The river) is not a commodity. It should be a commodity the way it exists now,” he said. Opponents of the dam have found blessing in more than just the rain. A new Green-supported NDP minority government, due to be sworn in July 18, has pledged to immediately send the dam for an economic review by the BC Utilities Commission
(BCUC)—a key piece of oversight in the dam’s approval process that was eliminated by the outgoing BC Liberal government. The move has been widely criticized by opponents, and even by the chair of the federal-provincial review panel tasked with carrying out an environmental assessment on the project. Still, many questions remain, and speakers at this year’s paddle took to the mic to speak to the importance of the utilities commission moving forward. See PADDLERS on A5
City to install new welcome signs ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca
Rural residents and visitors to Fort St. John will soon be greeted by new signage as they drive into the city. Ross deBoer, director of recreation and leisure services, presented three options for new signage that would replace current gateway welcome signs north and south on the Alaska
Highway, north on 100 Street and at the south end of 100 Avenue by the airport. This year there is $100,000 in the capital budget to address gateway signage, although that may not cover the cost of all four signs. Remaining signs would be included in the 2018 budget. deBoer noted that one of the concerns raised by council over the years is that the city’s four current signs
are all different, and this project would streamline the appearance of the gateway signage, as the designs fit with what the city was doing with its corporate brand. In 2013, council had hired Vancouver firm Gallop/Varley to review the city’s urban signage and was met with ire at what was perceived as an attack on the community. See SIGNS on A4
PAVING 100 Canadian
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
As paddlers took in the 12th annual Paddle for the Peace, Site C construction crews continued their work downstream at the dam site. BC Hydro’s latest employment numbers show there were 2,522 workers employed on the project in May in both construction and non-construction jobs, including engineers and project staff. That includes 2,027 workers from B.C., or 80 per cent of the workforce. There were 736 workers from the Peace River Regional District—or 29 per cent of the workforce. The majority of workers were heavy equipment operators —about 650 of them, according to the report, followed by just over 200 labourers and just under 200 professionals, technicians, and office staff. There were 211 Aboriginal workers and 47 apprentices working on the project, while another 393 women were employed. Six workers in specialized positions were classified as temporary foreign workers. BC Hydro expects employment to increase as main civil works and Highway 29 realignment work continues, and contracts get underway for the turbines and generators, the transmission and generating station, and the spillways.
FREE ESTIMATES
250.719.0686
% COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL GRAVEL SALES AND DELIVERY
Owned
Serving Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St. John & Surrounding Areas
33490