AHN MARCH 23 2017

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 12

SERVING FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

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Linda Huffman and her German shepherd/husky cross Jasmine were out for an early springtime toboggan at their home near the Montney Coulee on March 19.

The 2017 Spring Equinox roared into the Peace with early morning temperatures of -18 C before warming up to -4. Weather conditions call for a mix of sun and cloud, and highs above zero for the next week.

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Pathologist testifies as McDonell trial resumes MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

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The victim of an alleged punch to the face at a house party in Fort St. John nearly two years ago died of a blunt force head injury, a forensic pathologist testified in court this week.

Cody McDonell stands accused of manslaughter in the death of Travis Waite in May 2015, and has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The two men were at a barbecue at a home on 115 Avenue May 18, 2015, when an altercation is alleged to have turned violent.

McDonell allegedly punched Waite during the altercation outside the home, with Waite sustaining serious head injuries

after falling to the ground. He had to be airlifted to hospital in Vancouver, and died in a coma on May 30.

Forensic pathologist Matthew Orde told the court on Monday that Waite had suffered two injuries to the head, including a fractured skull along with bleeding and bruising of his brain as a result of an impact to the back of his head. Waite also had a missing tooth and a broken nasal bone in his face. “The most significant injury contributing to death seems to be the blow to the back of the head,� said Orde, who performed an autopsy on Waite.

While neurosurgeons worked to relieve the pressure and swelling of Waite’s brain, his condition did not improve, Orde said.

The injury proved fatal from the moment he sustained it, Orde conceded during questioning. “I don’t know whether any more could have been done to save his life, and from the careful review of medical records, it seems that the doctors went to strenuous lengths to try and save this individual’s life,� he said.

Court also heard Monday from Waite’s cousin, Gordon Leer, who owned the home where the events took place and where McDonell lived at the time. Leer testified a group of friends began their afternoon hanging out and drinking by the Beatton River before moving back to his place for a barbecue.

Leer testified he heard a loud bang at the front door some

hours later after McDonell had gone to lock the door after an agitated Waite was told to leave the gathering and home.

Leer testified McDonell called him for help, and he saw Waite lying unconscious, snoring and bleeding from his ears and nose, at the bottom of his front landing.

The two men carried Waite back inside the house and laid him on a couch, while emergency help was called, he testified. Leer said he helped paramedics load his cousin into the ambulance. “At that point, we thought he’d be OK,� Leer said.

The trial continued Tuesday with voir dire evidence from RCMP, and other witnesses, and was set to conclude Wednesday.

Montney mainline ready to build: TransCanada The North Montney Mainline is ready to build, with or without liquefied natural gas, TransCanada signalled to the National Energy Board this week.

The company has filed for a variance with the NEB on the project, which would add new pipeline links to bring new gas supplies into TransCanada’s existing NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) mainline.

TransCanada had already received NEB approval to build the North Montney

Mainline, at a cost of $1.7 billion, but that approval was contingent on the Petronas Pacific NorthWest LNG project getting a final investment decision, not expected until later this year.

But TransCanada now wants to proceed with building out a slightly scaled back system, at a cost of $1.4 billion, regardless of whether the Pacific NorthWest gets the go ahead.

It does not include the roughly 100 kilometres of pipeline that would be required, if the LNG project goes ahead.

Eleven gas producers have signed 20-year commitments to ship up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day on the Nova Gas pipeline system, which gives those producers a variety of options for delivering gas throughout Canada and the U.S. “The new commercial arrangements demonstrate a current and long-term market demand for North Montney gas supply in advance of, and independent of, the PNW LNG final investment decision,� said TransCanada

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Black Swan Energy has confirmed it will be one of the shippers on the new pipeline.

TransCanada plans to start construction in 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. It will feed into the NGTL system, which will provide producers various options including deliveries to the oilsands, local distributors, Eastern Canada, the U.S. Midwest or to California/Pacific Northwest.

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A2 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

CONTENTS Humour........................................ A2 Weather ....................................... A2 Local News .................................. A3 Opinion ....................................... A6 Business....................................... A9 Sports ........................................... B1 Arts & Culture ............................ B5 Community................................. B9

A CARVING GIFT

THIS WEEK’S FLYERS No Frills Walmart Shoppers Drug Mart Canadian Tire M&M Food Market Jysk Save On Foods Safeway Sears The Source Home Hardware Peavy Mart The Brick Pipeline News North

10,075 8,552 9,438 10,071 8,529 9,048 10,204 10,067 10,204 7,495 8,932 9,224 9,420 6,000

Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman shakes hands with Chetwynd Mayor Merlin Nichols after unveiling a chainsaw carving donation on March 21. The carving is on display at the North Peace Arena. Turn to A7 for more.

MATT PREPROST PHOTO

How yoga pants are destroying the ocean PENGUIN PARTICULARS: This week we start news chewing in a cold, cold place: Antarctica. Scientists announced there are millions more penguins in Antarctica than previously thought. They say an earlier study underestimated the penguin population by 3.6 million. I guess this is good news for the tuxedo industry.

GAS WATCH

BANK BULLETIN: A CBC TV show exposed questionable sales tactics used

by Canadian banks to dupe customers KNOWBEFOREYOUGO into buying services they don’t want. Now Canada’s financial watchdog will launch an investigation. A bank is a place that will PREVAILING PRICES give you a loan, but first you have to prove you don’t need it. The CBC news story was Dawson CreekForecast104.9 ohn, BC - 7 Day - Environment Canada based on confidential inside information revealed by bank employees. By the way: Fort St. John Never share a secret with a bank employ112.9 ee. Most of them are tellers.

Bob Snyder CHEWS THE NEWS

travel to Mars, but he says a return ticket will cost more than $50 million dollars—$100 million if you want a window seat.

POLLUTION SOLUTION: A new study shows yoga pants could be an indirect cause of ocean pollution. Tiny plastic fibers in stretchy yoga pants are dislodged in the washing machine. They get rinsed away and end up in the ocean. Hey, you will have to pry my yoga pants off my cold dead body.

SPACE SAX: Last week a French astronaut onboard the International Space Station received a nice birthday gift from home. A saxophone. He’s now using it to entertain the other astronauts. NASA has already received noise complaints from neighboring planets.

ASTRONOMY ANOMALY: Astronomers at the University of Alberta announced they have discovered a new black hole.

Black holes are mysterious things out there https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-78_metric_e.html in space that suck in everything, even light. You may remember the episode OLDSTERS: A new study shows people of Star Trek where the USS Enterprise had over the age of 70 are generally happia bumper sticker: “This Starship Brakes er than people younger than 70. That’s For Black Holes”. amazing when you consider those old Alberta-B.C. border 104.9 PARENTHOOD PARTICULARS: A new folks lived through Disco. parenting study shows people with kids HOMEWORK HA HA: In Victoria B.C., Fort Nelson N/A live longer than people without kids.

14-year-old Alec Jones has developed a AT THE MOVIES: The #1 movie across Environment and natural resources  notable Weather information whose Weather smartphone Local forecasts British One exception: Parents app thathelps highColumbia school Canada last week was King Kong: Skull kids have a habit of leaving a roller skate students remember to hand in their Island. It’s called “SKULL Island” because Groundbirch N/A halfway down a staircase. By the way: The homework assignments. Gee, when I was that’s what you’d have to be out of to go same study also shows if your parents did at school we didn’t have technology to there. The actors in the movie all get good on, BCChetwynd - 7 Day Forecast -112.9 Environment Canada not have kids you probably won’t have help ushttps://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-83_metric_e.html with stuff like homework. We had reviews. Also terrific: The 100 foot gorilla them either. to rely on our low tech dogs to eat our who plays King Kong.

Observed at: Fort St. John Airport 4:00 PM MST Tuesday 21 March 2017 homework.

Tumbler Ridge 119.9 WHAT WINTER? It was announced ROBOT REPORT: A Canadian scientCondition: Partly -2.5°C Wind: ESE Fort StCloudy John will host the 2020 BCTemperature: Winter ST PADDY: Friday was St Patrick’s Day, a 16istkm/h says in the future robots will be able Prince George 99.9 Games.

The way things are going with day when we’re all a little bit Irish.

The Irish to read our minds. This is bad news for Pressure: 101.3 kPa Dew point: -9.0°C Wind Chill: -8 global warming, by the year 2020 the have the best accent. The other great accent? the scientist who’s working on a way to Tendency: Falling Humidity: 61% The only thing niftier Visibility: Hythe Winter Games could include swimming in Australian. than an24 km display our thoughts in bubbles over our N/A Charlie Lake. information  Weather Irishman to talk with an Australian  Weather  Localtrying  British Environment and natural resources forecasts Columbia heads. accent is an Australian trying to talk with an Grande Prairie 97.4 MARS MONEY: A scientist predicts Irish accent. They both sound like a guy who Bob Snyder can be reached at: before the end of this century tourists will was hit in the mouth with a boomerang. chewsthenews@fastmail.com

St. John, BC

urrent Conditions

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CAD$ per litre, prices as of March 21.

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17-03-21 4:05 PM

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A3

LOCAL NEWS

Entrepreneurs see green opportunity in Fort St. John

From left: Dan Daley, Cole Andrews, and Marlo Andrews give city councillors a presentation on their proposal to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Fort St. John.

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A trio of budding entrepreneurs in Fort St. John see plenty of opportunity to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the city.

Cole and Marlo Andrews, along with Dan Daley, are looking to establish The Giving Tree to sell medicinal pot to local patients, and recently gave a presentation to city councillors on their proposal.

“In light of the fentanyl and carfentanil crisis, we think it’s very important to do a service in protecting the community,” Cole Andrews said in a follow up interview.

“We think that it’s not the responsible thing to wait around for the legalization process to happen. There’s multiple articles alluding to the fact it’s probably going to be two years down the road before we’re able to get it.

In that two-year gap, I think we need to do what’s best to protect the community and to offer medicine to members of the community.”

A dispensary would sell product from producers licensed under Health Canada, Andrews said, addressing some concerns that cannabis bought on the black market could be adulterated with other, potentially lethal substances.

The product would also be measured for compounds such as cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol and the quantities of each.

“Say I’m a chemotherapy patient and I don’t want to get high, but I want to use cannabis medicinally, I can get tailormade products,” Andrews said.

“We’re looking to offer the right medicine to the right patient.”

Andrews’ wife, Marlo, suffers from Crohn’s disease, a chronic condition that inflames the intestinal tract, and was initially prescribed morphine for the pain. She made the switch to cannabis so she could manage her pain without the use of opioids, Andrews said.

However, the city has yet to establish a bylaw to formally allow marijuana dispensaries to operate inside city limits, and is unlikely to do so anytime soon.

“The reality is we must wait for the federal government to make a decision (on legalizing marijuana),” Mayor Lori Ackerman said.

“When it’s legalized then we can create a bylaw to create a retail facility here.”

Creating a new bylaw takes staff time to research and draft, Ackerman said, and the city could find itself out of compliance if and when and federal legislation takes effect.

Group looks to open medicinal pot outlet, but city not likely to move until feds pass pot legalization laws

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“We’ll wait and as soon as the first domino falls then we will start working on that, once we know what the reality is through federal law,” Ackerman said.

However, Andrews says the city has legal precedent and noted other municipalities across B.C. have moved to establish dispensary bylaws.

Councillors in the City of Nelson approved earlier this month business and licence bylaws for cannabis dispensaries that will be in effect until federal legislation becomes law. In Prince Rupert, councillors voted in February to restrict the commercial sale of pot until next year, but is still allowing a medicinal marijuana clinic to open its doors.

However, in Port Coquitlam, councillors voted to ban pot and accessories such as bongs and pipes from being sold at dispensaries until the sale of pot is federally regulated.

Andrews said he has heard rumours of dispensaries already operating in Fort St. John, and wants his business plan to be as open and transparent as possible with council and local RCMP. “When you operate in the shadows like that, what’s the difference? We want to go right in the sunshine and do all this, we don’t want to have you come into our store, you wink twice and then we open up a secret shelf. We’re not interested in that,” Andrews said.

“We want people to come in and not feel criminal, just come in and get their medicine.”

Andrews believes a dispensary could operate under stringent bylaws, and noted The Giving Tree would be poised to expand its retail operations once legalization occurs.

“If we’re already working in that framework, it’s going to be a very quick transition,” he said. “That’s why it’s important for the city to be involved in writing these. If it gets to the point where anyone can open a dispensary because the cops aren’t going to bug them, then you get to a point where there’s no regulation and you might as well just go to a drug dealer.”

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NORTHEAST DIVISION

A4 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

Northeast youth more likely to be employed, eat fewer vegetables Adolescent Health Survey shows teens in Northeast B.C. fairly similar to rest of province

Districts 59, 60 and 81 are pretty on par with their provincial counterparts in a lot of categories.

Youth in Northeast B.C. are actually Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, one of the lead doing pretty well. researchers on the survey for the McCreary The results of the 2013 Adolescent Centre Society, gave a presentation on the Health Survey have been released, and findings for the northeast at Northern according to the data, teens in School Lights College on March 14.

“In some areas they look better than the rest of the province, in other areas they’re not DATE: MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 doing quite so well, TIME: 6:00 p.m. but they’re still LOCATION: City Hall Council Chambers not so markedly Proposed Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 and different,” she Proposed Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017 said.

“Generally Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Fort St. John will be considering adoption of Inter-Community speaking, we’ve seen Business Licence Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 and Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017. over and over again Proposed Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 will allow the City of Fort St. John to participate that young people in an inter-community business licence program whereby a business can operate across participating jurisdictions across the province with a single business licence. This program was created in partnership with local governments, the Union of British are actually doing Columbia Municipalities, and the Provincial Government. It is currently in effect in a number of regions in the better than most province and is now being introduced to the Peace Region. people think they The City’s existing Business Licence Bylaw No. 1544, 2001 requires amendments to ensure alignment with the are.” proposed Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw. Proposed Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017 has been The study looks at created to reflect those amendments. It also includes revisions to allow for greater ease in conducting business within the community and to streamline the administrative function for City staff such as updated fees, annual a variety of factors, renewal based on date of issuance, current references to legislation and updated wording for definitions and including physical enforcement provisos. health, mental Copies of the proposed bylaws and related documents may be inspected at City Hall – 10631 – 100 Street, Fort St. health, sexual John, BC between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from March 20 to 27, 2017. activity, substance At the Public Hearing, the public will be allowed to make presentations to Council or to present written submissions use, injuries, body respecting matters contained in the proposed bylaws. image, family life, and discrimination.

According to the results, youth in the Northeast aren’t quite getting the recommended amount of sleep needed at that age (8.5-9.25 hours per night); about 48 per cent were getting eight hours or more, while those that didn’t get enough sleeps were found to be using their smartphones or tablets when they were supposed to be sleeping.

Saewyc noted that those youth that did report getting enough sleep were also more likely to rate that their mental health was good or excellent.

“There are Construction Information Session – Towerbirch Expansion Project strong links between sleep and mental health and physical Date: TransCanada recently received approval from the federal Wednesday, March 29, 2017 government to construct the Towerbirch Expansion Project health,” she said.

– an important piece of infrastructure that will transport “Especially when it Time: natural gas from northeast British Columbia to markets comes to emotion 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. throughout North America. The project consists of: and mood.”

In terms of • Two sections of pipeline (approximately 87 kilometres) Location: • Valve sites and launcher/receiver facilities mental health, girls Calvin Kruk Centre for the Arts • Four receipt meter stations in the Northeast (Kiwanis Performing Arts Centre, • The expansion of an existing receipt meter station Meeting Room 1) were more likely 10401 – 10th St. to report they had Join us at the Construction Information Session, you’ll Dawson Creek, BC, V1G 3T8 have the opportunity to: depression or an anxiety disorder • Learn more about the upcoming construction of the (16 per cent), Towerbirch Expansion Project while boys were • Meet with prime contractors, who will be on-site to discuss potential contracting opportunities more like to report they had ADHD (nine per cent). www.towerbirch.com Reflecting the rest of the ALEISHA HENDRY

ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

R0011391952

PUBLIC HEARING

www.fortstjohn.ca

Towerbirch_OpenHouse_Ad_6.19x7_March2017_V6.indd 1

3/10/2017 10:43:14 AM

TOGETHER, ADVOCATING FOR GROWTH AND INVESTMENT IN NORTHEAST BC On February 01, 2017, the voice of BC's construction sector became stronger. We are pleased to announce that Energy Services BC (ESBC) has merged with the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of BC (ICBA).

For Northeast British Columbia and our businesses, this means we will now have a much stronger voice when dealing with important issues in our area - especially in the case for jobs and investment in the region.

• ICBA is the voice of BC’s construction industry, representing more than 2,000 companies and clients.

• ICBA is also the largest single sponsor of construction apprentices in BC. • Energy Services BC is the largest oil and gas industry association in the province.

To learn more about this merger please visit

www.icba.ca/esbc

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc gave a presentation on the Adolescent Health Survey findings for the northeast at Northern Lights College on March 14.

province, nine per cent of males and 27 per cent of females reported they had cut or injured themselves on purpose.

Female students were far more likely than their male counterparts to feel extreme stress or despair.

Youth in the Northeast aren’t eating their fruits and vegetables, says Saewyc.

Forty-four per cent of youth in the area had reported that they only ate fruits and vegetables one or twice the previous day, compared to 34 per cent across the province. Teens age 14-18 should be eating seven to eight servings per day.

“One possibility suggest perhaps fruits and vegetables are more expensive here in the Northeast compared to other places and maybe less available, or it may be part of the cultural norms,” said Saewyc.

They were also more likely to drink more pop than the rest of the province, 46 per cent as compared to 34 per cent.

Teens in the Northeast are also more likely to have tried alcohol than other areas, 60 per cent as opposed to 45 per cent. Among those youth who had tried alcohol, 68 per cent of them had their first drink at 15 years old.

When it comes to drugs, Northeast B.C. teens are more likely to have tried marijuana than those across B.C., 31 per cent compared to 26 per cent. Eleven per cent had used prescription pills that weren’t theirs, five per cent had tried mushrooms and four per cent had tried ecstasy/MDMA. Youth in the Northeast were way more likely to be employed than their provincial peers—45 per cent of northeast youth said their worked a paid job during the school year as compared to 29 per cent of the rest of B.C. They were also working more hours, 13 per cent worked 21 hours or more compared to six per cent in the province.

The McCreary Centre Society will be administering the next survey in 2018.

To see the full regional report on the Northeast, visit www.mcs.bc.ca

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A5

LOCAL NEWS

No fatal ODs yet in NEBC MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

Northeast B.C. is one of three areas of the province that has yet to record a fatal overdose in the first two months of 2017, according to new numbers released by the BC Coroners Service.

There have been 219 people who have died of an overdose across B.C. so far this year—102 in February and 117 in January, mostly in the Lower Mainland.

Northeast B.C., along with Northwest B.C. and the East Kootenay area are the only three health service delivery areas that haven’t recorded a fatality.

While there were just 59 fatal overdoses in February 2016, the Coroners Service says February continues a two-month decline.

“While I’m very relieved to see that the numbers have not continued to increase over the last two months, we are still losing cherished members of our communities at a terrible

rate,” B.C.’s Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said.

“People are dying in far higher numbers than we’ve ever seen, and a slight decrease in fatalities from the previous month should not be seen as any indication that the risk has decreased.”

Six deaths have been recorded in Northern B.C. so far this year, four of them in Prince George.

In February, men accounted for more than 83 per cent of the fatalities in the province, while those between ages 19 and 49 accounted for more than 75 per cent of the deaths.

Vancouver, Surrey, and Kelowna remain the top-three cities for the number of overdose deaths.

There have 1,057 deaths across the province since February 2016 and the outbreak of the opioid crisis. Cocaine (49.3 per cent), fentanyl(40 per cent), and heroin (37.7 per cent) are the top three drugs detected among the overdoses.

Dam workforce top 2,000 The number of workers on the Site C dam has passed the 2,000 mar, according to latest employment figures from BC Hydro.

A total of 2,124 individuals were employed on the project in January in both construction and non-construction jobs, including engineers and project staff. That includes 1,719 workers from B.C., or 81 per cent of the workforce, with 677 workers from the Peace Region—or 31.8 per cent of the workforce.

The majority of workers are heavy equipment operators — more than 600 of them, according to the report, followed by nearly 200 labourers.

There were 195 Aborigin-

al workers and 42 apprentices working on the project, while another 257 women were employment. Contractors are required to report the numbers of aboriginal and women workers under contract agreements.

One worker in a specialized position was classified a temporary foreign worker under the report.

BC Hydro expects employment numbers to increase main civil works advances, and Highway 29 realignment work continues. Further workers will be added this spring when the turbines and generators contractor, Voith Hydro, mobilizes to the dam site and begins its work.

Electoral Area ‘E’ Roundtable Meetings Meeting Dates & Locations Monday March 27, 2017 Chetwynd Recreation Centre Tuesday March 28, 2017 McLeod Community Hall Wednesday March 29, 2017 Moberly Lake Community Hall Thursday March 30, 2017 Jackfish Community Hall

Meet with Electoral Area ‘E’ Director Dan Rose Director Rose will be out in the communities in Electoral Area ‘E’ to have a conversation with community members.

He will be sharing some of Electoral Area “E” highlights and some of the recent decisions that have been made at the PRRD Board.

The Director wants to hear from residents of Electoral Area ‘E’ about any local issues, concerns or ideas for community initiatives.

Meeting Time: All meetings begin at 7pm For More Information: Contact Trish Morgan 250-784-3200

www.prrd.bc.ca Peace River Regional

diverse. vast. abundant.

District Official Page I Facebook

Do you know of a sports or upcoming event? why not tell us? phone: 250-785-5631 or fax us at: 250-785-3522

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A6 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

Opinion

CONTACT US MATT PREPROST 250-785-5631 editor@ahnfsj.ca

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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Letters to the Editor MULCH ON THIS Seeing the ongoing destruction at Bear Flat by BC Hydro has compelled me to turn to one of the few legal weapons we are left with; the pen (or computer). BC Hydro continues to push the Site C dam forward under orders from Christy Clark in an attempt to “push this past the point of no return,” and right now that includes clearing for the reservoir at Bear Flat. I say clearing because there is very little logging taking place. The use of mulchers is the weapon of choice for them. For example, at the Cache Creek flat below our house where no merchantable timber has been harvested. Instead, they have sent in a fleet of mid-sized mulchers to mulch up everything they could tackle. Then they have a track hoe push over the large cottonwood trees and poplars, and it lines them up for a monster mulcher on tracks to very slowly grind them up into mulch. Some of the cottonwoods are so large that it requires multiple passes

over the tree to completely mulch, and the mulcher moves so slowly, you need to watch the tracks to tell if it is actually moving. It takes around 30 minutes for this machine to do one large cottonwood tree. That machine burns around 1,000 litres of diesel fuel per shift.

If there is a more expensive and dirty way to clear the valley, BC Hydro has not yet found it. Those mulchers are literally mulching dollar bills. Furthermore, there is no value added to this resource being wasted, as none is going to the mills.

We and our neighbors are heartbroken watching this destruction of our former land and surrounding valley. The creek bottom with those large trees was valuable wildlife habitat, and we chose to leave it that way. Walking through those giant trees was akin to a tour through the Sistine Chapel—only better.

We are now also watching the mulchers chew up the “moose pasture” on the south side of the highway. Further west, BC Hydro

continues to clear the fringes of the incredible Watson Slough despite the fact it is not needed for the new highway realignment.

The spruce timber they have logged has been processed to random long lengths that no mill will accept, so it is unclear if any value for the ratepayers will ever be realized there either. Hand fallers have been dispatched to cut down “potential raptor nest trees.” Down at Eagle Island, the two giant cottonwood trees with eagle nest have been recently hand felled. What we are witnessing brings to mind the criminal and mindless destruction by ISIS of ancient heritage sites in Syria such as Palmyra.

—Ken and Arlene Boon, Bear Flat LITTLE REAL MEAT IN FLNRO’S CARIBOU NUMBERS The Valhalla Wilderness Society would like to point out that the claim of a Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource

Operations spokesperson that the endangered Central Mountain caribou herds are stable is false and contradict BC Ministry of Environment reports. According to these government reports, the numbers of most Central Mountain herds continue to drastically decline.

The BC Ministry of Environment report Population Status of Central Mountain Caribou Herds in British Columbia and Response to Recovery Management Actions, 2016 states that the estimated Central Mountain population has declined from 316-361 in 2012 to a mere 219 in 2016. The Quintette herd which was one of the largest herds, has declined 50 per cent since 2013 from 129 animals to only 62 in 2016. The other herd numbers hover around 50 or below (Moberly/Scott: 54; Kennedy Siding: 50, Bearhole-Redwillow subgroup: 18, and South Narraway: 35) with the Burnt Pine confirmed extirpated in 2014.

—Louise Taylor, researcher, Valhalla Wilderness Society

Electric lessons from the Land Down Under

T

he state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia is presently facing soaring prices for electricity. It gives good cause for us here in B.C. to also consider the same problem we are facing. A recent consumer survey in New South Wales has made some very interesting observations about peoples’ attitudes towards these massive rises in electrical energy costs. The study involved almost 2,500 family households and was done by two organizations: Research for Energy Consumers Association, an Australian state/federal government funded agency, and KPMG, an independent financial comptroller/analysis company.

Here are some of the survey’s enlightening points. About 34 per cent of these households were considering adopting solar panels within the next five years or so in order to reduce family electricity costs. That compares with 15 per cent of the same study group already owning and operating their own solar panels.

Spokesperson for the ECA survey group, CEO Rosemary Sinclair, stated: “Their (the households) overall assessment is that they are not happy with the value they are getting from energy prices and the energy sector … Consumers now have an option which is to take matters into their own hands, and invest in assets that give them independence.”

Sinclair goes on to state “the survey should serve as a warning shot for energy companies.”

In NSW, it is clear that nearly 50 per cent of the population is not willing to pay for increasingly higher home electricity bills. Does the same

Rick Koechl Mike Kroecher TWO OLD GUYS WITH ISSUES

sentiment also resonate and have a familiar ring here in British Columbia?

The general feeling in New South Wales is pessimistic about the various utilities providing electricity and will not reduce their prices for the average family. The survey also found that people “want to have an option to have some control over their energy consumption, because it’s becoming that expensive.” The survey identified that “financial” rather than environmental interests were the key drivers in Australian consumers moving towards solar panels.

Could the same issues concerning increasing costs be affecting the average user of electricity here in B.C.? We are now bracing for another 3.5 per cent hike in BC Hydro rates as of April 1. Our overall electricity rates have dramatically risen more than 51 per cent in just 10 years, with an additional 30 per cent by 2023.

What might a B.C. consumer energy survey tell us, if we were given the same opportunity?

Over 84 per cent of New South Wales households are now telling their government that they want to reduce household energy bills, with an additional 62 per cent of the popula-

tion wanting less dependence on the big utility companies overall.

We are in the midst of a massive hydroelectric project presently under way on the Peace River at Site C. The capital building costs alone for this project are truly astronomical. With BC Hydro’s overall debt load close to $76 billion (without Site C), be comforted that the ratepayers of this province will provide Standard & Poors Rating Agency the appropriate assurances to pay off any debt. No one else, but the taxpayer would be in a position to do so. The residential ratepayer is an easy pocket to pick for the B.C. government.

With each passing hydroelectric bill increase, the government risks more and more consumer backlash. There were more than 11,000 electricity disconnections in B.C. last year alone. Is this not a warning bell of things to come? We now know how one part of Australia, a hemisphere away, is dealing with their own costly increases in electricity pricing.

We know how the NSW participants responded in kind to the electricity providers and government.

We may soon have our own opportunity to voice our survey “opinion” here in B.C. as well: it’s called the May 9 provincial election.

Mike Kroecher is a long time retired resident of the Peace, expressing his deep roots in the land through his artistic bent. Rick Koechl is a recently retired (almost as long a resident) teacher of the Peace with an enthusiasm for politics and energy.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A7

LOCAL NEWS

Councillors sign off on surgeon recruitment travel this spring couple years ago with the General Surgeons of BC, Mayor Lori Ackerman said.

“While a surgeon may spend, let’s average it out to 10 hours a day in the (operating room) or working, the reality is there’s another 14 to 16 hours that they’re in the community,” Ackerman said.

“And so when you look at recruitment and retention efforts, the city realizes that it is our re-

sponsibly to build an attractive community that provides that quality of life and also provide the right, appropriate and adequate experiences so that they can raise a family here and participate in the community.

“Northern Health can’t provide that. They can only do the workplace experiences and workforce development opportunities. So we have to be at that table when it comes

to recruiting this expertise that is so much needed in our community.”

The city has two general surgeon positions at the local hospital, with one of them currently filled. A second surgeon has been found to fill the remaining vacancy, according to an administrative report.

The need for more surgeons in the city was brought to the forefront this past Christmas,

after an area resident had to be flown to Prince George to have his appendix removed. There were no surgeons available in the city at the time.

In the summer of 2015, the city was left without a surgeon for six weeks after Northern Health could not bring in a temporary surgeon to fill a vacation absence.

—Staff

CITY BEAT

WARMING UP THE BIG CHILL

R0011391403

Representatives from Fort St. John will head to Parksville later this spring to take part in a job fair for recruiting surgeons.

Earlier this month, council approved for the mayor or a delegate along with city staff to attend a recruitment fair in Parksville on May 6.

An invitation was extended to the city to attend after a battle of words about surgeon recruitment over Twitter a

Updates from March 13, 2017 Council Meetings

INTER-COMMUNITY BUSINESS LICENCE BYLAW NO. 2371, 2017 AND BUSINESS LICENCE BYLAW NO. 2372, 2017

A report was provided to Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting introducing Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 and Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017. Also known as a mobile business licence, Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 would allow businesses to operate across participating jurisdictions. The City’s existing Business Licence Bylaw No. 1544, 2001 requires amendments to ensure alignment with the proposed Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw.

Proposed Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017 has been created to reflect those amendments and also includes other revisions such as updated fees, annual renewal based on date of issuance, current references to legislation and updated wording for definitions and enforcement provisos. A Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday March 27th at 6:00 p.m. to allow for public input on the proposed bylaws.

GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Council received a Canadian Award for Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association recognizing excellence in governmental accounting and financial reporting. This represents a significant accomplishment by a municipal government and its management. In addition, a Canadian Award for Financial Reporting Achievement was also presented to the individual designated by the government as primarily responsible for the City having earned the award, City Manager Dianne Hunter.

FORT ST. JOHN ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

Council received a presentation from the Fort St. John Association for Community Living regarding its Supported Employment Program, which supports adults with developmental disabilities being active participants in their community and encourages businesses to hire them. It is the Association’s belief that everyone has something to contribute and that an important part of most people’s lives is their job. Like anyone else, people with developmental disabilities want real work for real pay.

THE GIVING TREE PROPOSAL

Council received a presentation from the Giving Tree Team outlining its proposal to open a marijuana dispensary that will provide Fort St John residents the option of obtaining alternative medicine safely without having to seek out illegal providers. It is the Giving Tree Team’s belief that, with the Federal Government’s plan to legalize the sale of marijuana, dispensaries will eventually open up in this community and they would like to be the first one as they are locals who understand and care about the needs of the city. Council advised the group that marijuana dispensaries are still illegal under federal and provincial law and Council cannot proceed with any bylaw allowing this type of business. Should the Federal Government change its legislation regarding marijuana, Council may consider making changes to the relevant municipal bylaws.

BYLAWS • A Public Hearing was held for Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2378, 2017. The purpose of the amendment was to include a definition of adult entertainment, clarification of related definitions and identification as to where the use will be permitted. Based on the concerns raised at the Public Hearing by members of the public, Council chose not to adopt the bylaw and directed staff to re-start the process, including increased public consultation and obtaining clarification on the definition of adult entertainment and the grandfathering of businesses currently offering or able to offer adult entertainment.

• Animal Control Bylaw No. 2377, 2017 was adopted by title only. This bylaw is an update of the 1998 Animal Control Bylaw. A consultation process on the proposed amendments was conducted by way of an online survey and informational meeting held on September 13, 2016.

• 75 Street Between 85 and 93 Avenues Local Area Service Parcel Tax Bylaw No. 2380, 2017 was introduced and read for the first three times by title only. The local area service project was initiated in 2015 and was a two-year project that was completed in the fall of 2016 with the final costs being received in January 2017. The parcel tax bylaw is the final step in the local area service project process and provides authority for the City to allocate the property owners’ portion of the costs of the project to the benefitting tax rolls.

TEMPORARY USE PERMIT FOR 9904 – 94 STREET (PASSIVE HOUSE)

Council is considering issuing a Temporary Use Permit for the Passive House located at 9904 – 94 Street to be used by the UNBC Community Development Institute who are working in partnership with the City to develop a social policy framework, economic development strategy and strategic land assembly. The Passive House is currently zoned R2 and this proposed use would exceed the regulations under the Zoning Bylaw therefore a Temporary Use Permit is required. A Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday March 27th at 6:00 p.m. to allow for public input on the application.

JOB FAIR FOR RECRUITING SURGEONS

Council authorized Mayor Ackerman or designate and up to two City staff members to attend a Job Fair for Recruiting Surgeons being held in Parksville, BC on May 6, 2017. Recruitment of medical staff has been a high priority for Council as well as the community. While there may not be a current vacancy in the community, it is important that these types of recruitment initiatives happen well in advance of a vacancy. Once a vacancy occurs in the community, the community experiences a significant reduction of medical services that takes a long time to recover from.

UPCOMING COUNCIL MEETINGS

A Committee of the Whole meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday March 27, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.

The Regular Council Meeting will follow at 3:00 p.m. Public Hearings will be held at 6:00 p.m. for: • Proposed Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw No. 2371, 2017 and proposed Business Licence Bylaw No. 2372, 2017 • Temporary Use Permit for 9904 – 94 Street (Passive House)

RON CARTIER PHOTOS

Fort St. John musicians left audiences wanting more at the Big Chill concert at the Encana Events Centre on March 18. Above: Lorissa Scriven strums a chord, while Airik Clark sings out a lyric. At right, Dana Pedersen plays a keyboard medley.

Chetwynd gifts carving The City of Fort St. John unveiled a chainsaw carving donated by the District of Chetwynd on Tuesday. Chetwynd has donated a carving titled ‘Teamwork,’ by Texas-based artist Toby Craft, now on public display at the North Peace Arena.

“It’s a representation of our partnership and working relationship, the collaboration that we have had over the many years in the region,” Mayor Lori Ackerman said.

Craft carved the sculpture in 2006, winning third place.

It depicts a pair of otters and a school of fish rising up from a wooden base.

“This piece of art, imagine that, a piece of art like this discovered in a chunk of wood,” Chetwynd Mayor Merlin Nichols said.

“You look at this tree and what do you see? You see bark, beetles, perhaps a few birds and squirrels, but you don’t see a piece of art until you get an artist working on it. Maybe that’s the way it is with communities. We look pretty rough sometimes … and then the art and the people come out, and the community grows and becomes, really, a piece of art.”

All meetings will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers and the public is welcome to attend.

www.fortstjohn.ca

Northern

Lights

From student to instructor Tyler Fountain, new Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Instructor at Northern Lights College, is no stranger to the hangar on the Dawson Creek Campus.

Having transformed from student to instructor, Fountain is thankful for the switch he made from his previous career choice.

“I left a well-established career in the oilfield to start from scratch in a new trade, and it was worth it” he said.

Fountain became interested in AME after learning its career options include bush work, and other family-friendly paths as well.

“I’ve always been a practically minded worker with a hand in mechanical and physical trades, so I didn’t think I would do well with a desk job or customer service industry,” said Fountain. “Choosing a career in Aircraft Maintenance meant building on my previous experience of working with my hands and hand tools, while moving away from

the heavy labour and seasonal days off I had been enjoying.”

Choosing NLC for his education was a combination of factors, including cost, time, and location.

“The decision to come to Northern Lights College (for school) saved me thousands of dollars; I received my certification one full year sooner than the other colleges, and I found myself in a much more comfortable, industry-oriented training program,” he explained. “Because this trade is so heavily regulated by Transport Canada, there is no difference in the quality of education, or the weight of my diploma compared to any other AME program in Canada.”

On Monday, after graduating, Fountain started his first apprenticeship job through a posting sent to the NLC AME department. Keeping in touch with the department, he eventually heard about an opening for an AME instructor at NLC.

“Occasionally I encountered interesting situations that had instructional value to students in the program, and I always shared any apprentice employment opportunities,” said Fountain. “By helping future graduates succeed, I was also improving the reputation of all NLC graduates, including myself.”

Less than six years after graduating, Fountain has found himself teaching a very similar curriculum from what he experienced as a student.

“I have good memories of my experience as a student,” he said. “This perspective helps me to understand how the program is being received, and how to present the required material.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was on the other side of the desk.”

But there is one thing that Fountain feels has not changed.

“As a student, and now as an instructor, I believe the most valuable part of our educational staff is the strong sense of teamwork,” he said.

Published by the NLC Communications Department February / March 2017

Silent Auction sees great results

AME Instructor Tyler Fountain has come full circle after graduating as a student from the program.

“We work together to prepare students to succeed in the workforce by demonstrating a high level of cooperation. We model daily how a properly-functioning business should be run. Once the students graduate and are released into industry, if they follow our example, they will be ahead of the pack.”

Northern Lights College saw an increase in student participation for its annual “Adopt a Family” program over the holidays.

“The students really stepped up to the plate this year to donate items for the silent auction,” said Human Resources Advisor Pam Beattie.

The tradition of adopting a family began many years ago with a silent auction to raise funds to support a family in need’s Christmas, starting with meals for the day and presents, if funds allowed.

“This year, the silent auction exploded with

Weenie roast a huge hit with staff

NLC Fort St. John Campus staff roasted weenies and made s’mores this winter.

Campus Clerk Ericka Bruvold estimates over twenty people attended and visited the event; also noting that by 12:45 pm the last hot dog had been finished off...

Mike Seinen roasts his weiner over the flames while Katelyn Cross and Cleo Baker observe his pro technique.

items and funds that were raised!” said Beattie.

“The students from our Trades Department really made an impact on the outcome with their handcrafted donations.”

A backyard fire pit built by the welding and machinist students brought in the auction’s biggest bid.

The carpenters made an incredibly unique chess set, a bee box end table, and a handy kitchen stool. The cook students also got into the spirit of things and donated a tray of Christmas cookies.

“Staff donated all of the other items up for bid, which included everything from luggage to a beautiful handmade tea box. It was great, said Beattie.”

Over $2,000 was raised for the family this year. “We needed three cars and many volunteers to pull it off,” said Beattie. “I want to thank bidders and buyers. What a way to give back to our community!”

A8 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

Museum stages historical theatre to celebrate highway MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

One never knew just who they’d meet traveling the Alaska Highway and wandering the streets of a bustling, burgeoning Fort St. John in the 1940s, and so the Fort St. John North Peace Museum has gathered a cast of characters to stage some historical theatre to give residents a taste.

The Alaska Highway edition of Night at the Museum comes to life Friday March 24 after kicking off last weekend. It’s a chance to meet historical characters from Fort St. John’s past who are connected with the Alaska Highway, from surveyors to early tourists and those who lived in the North Peace during the construction.

It’s the third year the museum has put on the event to promote local history.

“It’s a way for people to interact with our history rather than reading text panels,” said museum curator Heather Sjoblom, after 60 attendees filtered through a tour March 18. “When it comes to life, you

can ask questions.”

There are nine characters in this incarnation, all of whom you’d likely meet when the highway was little more than mud. They include surveyor Duncan Cran, newspaper editor Ma Murray, photographer Rudy Schubert of the 341st Engineers, laundress Zylpha Busche, B.C. Police Cst. Lawrence Clay, Sister Philomena Mary from Providence Hospital, parka maker Lena Kostiuck, and Iris Woolcock who traveled the highway in 1947-48.

“I wanted different views,” Sjoblom said.

“I wanted First Nations and how things changed for them, I wanted people involved in the construction so we have surveyors, we have photographer Rudy Schubert.

I wanted people who were involved in town, I wanted the townspeople, everyday people like Zylpha and Lena, but I also wanted people who had some kind of position … so we have Cst. Lawrence Clay, Sister Philomena Mary, and then I wanted something to get into

early tourism because that’s a major part of our economy today.”

Visitors will get a chance to interact with Garry Oker, who opens the tour in traditional Beaver dialect to speak about his ancestors before performing a dreamers song.

“These songs come from the spirit place to guide people spiritually … everything has a song,” he said.

“Children, women song, war songs, wind, nature, animal songs. Everything is a spiritual relationship with the land.”

Oker, who was asked to participate by Doig River First Nation council, said including a First Nations element is important to continue changing perspectives on how First Nations are viewed.

“We know that there’s racism in town because of certain narrative that has been played out by some people on the streets, or not knowing.

“By participating in such things, I think it’ll change people’s perspectives.”

The event takes place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and

VERENA HOFMANN PHOTO

Garry Oker is just one of many taking on a role as part of Night of the Museum.

registration is mandatory.

Oker gave the event high praise.

“I’m surprised about how good it is, with all the different characters playing a role, i think it’s brilliant,” he said.

“I think it’s something the whole community needs to see, especially students. I think this could become a very big tourist attraction.”

Call the museum at 250-7870430 for details.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A9

Business

“It’s a highly attractive project by all measures.”

CONTACT US MATT PREPROST 250-785-5631 editor@ahnfsj.ca

- John Miniotis

Province greenlights $683M gold and copper mine MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

Plans to develop a copper and gold mine in the far reaches of the Peace River Regional District could begin as early as next year.

The province has granted AuRico Metals an environmental certificate for its Kemess Underground project, 430 kilometres northwest of Prince George.

“This is a critical milestone,” said John Miniotis, AuRico’s vice-president of corporate development.

The $683.9-million project would be located just north of the company’s Kemess South mine, which operated from 1998-2011.

The company hopes to have its respective development permits in hand by early 2018, allowing for a construction decision to be made.

Based on reserves, the mine

AURICO METALS

With an estimated $1 billion in existing infrastructure already in place from its Kemess South mine, AuRico Metals says it has a leg up when it comes to moving forward to develop its Kemess Underground project.

has a reserve of roughly 107 million tonnes of ore, including 1.87 million ounces of gold and 629 million pounds of copper, Miniotis said.

“It’s a very highly attractive project by all measures,” he said.

The mine is expected to have a life of 12 years, and would

Municipalities moving to adopt mobile business licensing TOM SUMMER Alaska Highway News

Municipalities in the Peace Region are a mulling a move to implement a new business licence program that officials say will make it easier for mobile businesses to operate across the region.

Several local governments are poised to move ahead with the province’s mobile business licence program, including Fort St. John, Taylor, and Hudson’s Hope. It allows for businesses such contractors and caterers to operate across participating municipalities without having to buy individual li-

cences for each community where they do business.

The District of Taylor, which currently does not require business licences, voted to adopt the program with a new bylaw at a council meeting Monday night. The program would be voluntary, and the district isn’t moving to implement a full licensing regime, Mayor Rob Fraser said.

“We feel the program is useful enough to businesses in Taylor that we should become part of the program and offer the program to businesses in Taylor in the event they want to participate,” he said.

LICENCE on A10

support up to 475 jobs.

The company estimates it has roughly $1 billion of existing infrastructure already in place from its Kemess South

project, including a processing plant, power line, roads, and an airstrip. The area has been in care and maintenance mode since the Kemess South project stopped producing in 2011.

“It’s a huge leg up from any other development project out there,” Miniotis said.

“That really help drives the economics of this deposit.”

In granting an environmental certificate, Environment Minister Mary Polak and Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett attached 33 conditions to the project, including the establishment of an environmental monitoring committee to liaise with Tse Keh Nay and government agencies, and a wildlife management plan to address impacts of caribou, birds, bats, and alpine species.

The company would also have to monitor surface and groundwater quality and ensure selenium levels do not increase in a downstream creek.

LETHAL DRUGS ARE out there

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Every day, people are losing their lives to overdoses in BC. These deaths are preventable. Many illegal drugs, including party drugs, have been found to contain deadly fentanyl. And even more toxic carfentanil is now being detected in BC. Not using drugs is the best defence — using alone is the greatest risk.

If you use drugs or know someone who does, help is available.

Learn about treatment, and where to find naloxone and overdose prevention sites in your area by calling 8-1-1 or visiting www.gov.bc.ca/overdose.

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A10 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS PEOPLE WHO READ NEWSPAPERS AND

PEOPLE WHO HAVE MONEY HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON.

Housing affordability jumps in Fort St. John in 2016: report ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

Newspaper ads, both print and online, play a key role in helping people make their banking and investment decisions.

Newspapers and their sites outperform all other media in engaging Canadians. This is true across

all demographic groups, including high-income Canadians, boomers, moms and even young adults.

All of which makes advertising in newspapers a very smart move.

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A new report from the Northern BC Real Estate Board (NBCREB) shows that Fort St. John has become more affordable for the average household.

The Housing Affordability Indicators report outlines how much household income is going towards a mortgage in several northern B.C. communities.

The report states that in Fort St. John, the average household is putting 26.3 per cent of their income to home ownership, which is a 12 per cent improvement over the previous year.

At that rate, the community is in a good position for those looking to get into home ownership, local realtor and NBCREB director Roland Cataford.

“We don’t want to see anyone walk into a scenario where they get into a mortgage and wham!

That takes pretty much all their disposable income just to live,” he said.

Housing affordability indicators estimate the amount

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of household income required to cover mortgage costs.

Cataford says that amount should ideally be 30 per cent or less, adding people need to factor in other costs of home ownership on top of the mortgage payment—insurance, utilities, taxes, and other costs can drive that affordability indicator percentage up.

Within the Northern BC Real Estate Board’s area, the least affordable communities are Terrace (34 per cent of income) and 100 Mile House (32.3 per cent of income). The most affordable communities are Mackenzie (20.1 per cent of

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income) and Smithers (24.1 per cent of income).

However, Fort St. John still has the highest house prices in the north, with the average single-family home costing just over $400,000 in 2016. The next most expensive place is Terrace, with a single family home costing about $310,000.

The cheapest place to buy a house in 2016 was in Mackenzie at approximately $175,000 for a single-family home. The next most affordable place to buy a house is Quesnel at about $210,000.

The average price for a single-family home sold in Northern B.C. last year was $280,000. The Housing Affordability Indicator for Northern B.C. in 2016 was 26.8 per cent, compared to 125.4 per cent for Vancouver.

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It means that contractors such as plumbers that are based in Taylor could register for a licence in the district and be able to work in other municipalities in the region who have adopted the program.

“Let’s just say a plumber who operates his business out of Taylor but wants to work in any of the communities that are participating, they pay a one-time fee and they have that business licence that’s good for Fort St. John, Hudson’s Hope, Chetwynd, and I think Dawson Creek is participating as well,” Fraser said.

“It saves them some money, it saves them some red tape with respect to applying for business licences in those other communities and it just for that reason it’s a benefit to them.”

Licences cost $130 under the program, while eligibility and exclusion is decided by partnering communities. This allows local governments to choose the business types that would benefit their communities, reducing red tape and administrative burden.

The District of Hudson’s Hope intends to adopt the program as well and is set to adopt a bylaw at an upcoming meeting. It excludes social escort services, vehicles for hire such as taxis or buses, mobile food vendors, fruit stands, trade shows, and doorto-door salespeople.

“Businesses based in Hudson’s Hope, which also operate in nearby communities, won’t have to buy a separate licence from the other communities,” Mayor Gwen Johannson said.

“Likewise businesses based in other communities which offer services here will only have to purchase one licence for the area. So it streamlines the licensing and should be beneficial to everyone.”

The City of Fort St. John has given the first two readings of a bylaw to adopt the program and will hold a public meeting March 27 at city hall at 6 p.m. Ninetyfour mobile businesses could fall under the program, city development director Ken Rogers said.

Business licensing would still apply for local companies not doing business in other communities, he added.

“A lot of our businesses are mobile,” Mayor Lori Ackerman said. “If they are mechanics, or in servicing, or any kind of business like that, they’re definitely going to cross jurisdictional lines.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A11

LOCAL NEWS MAINLINE from A1

“This project adds significant pipeline capacity that connects new gas supplies from the prolific Montney basin to the NGTL System and will provide access to markets across North America,” said Karl Johannson, TransCanada’s executive vice president and president, natural gas pipelines.

The NEB approved the pipeline in April 2015, attaching 45 conditions to the project. B.C.’s approval added another 21 conditions.

The province granted the

$40 million for lane widening, stabilization on South Taylor Hill

Aging hydro poles to be replaced More than 300 aging power poles will be replaced in Fort St. John this year.

BC Hydro says it will replace 336 poles in the city this year, part of a maintenance program to replace more than 10,000 wooden poles across the province. The poles last between 40 to 50 years, BC Hydro says, as weather, insects, and wildlife contribute to deterioration over time.

Crews may need to disconnect power when replacing the poles, Hydro says.

Crews will notify customers in person, by mail, or by phone about any scheduled maintenance outages.

In all, Hydro’s system includes 900,000 wooden poles that hold more than 58,000 kilometres of overhead distribution lines and 278,000 overhead transformers.

significantly increase safety for local traffic, for tourists and for commercial traffic supporting B.C.’s natural gas, forestry and agricultural sectors,” Transportation Minister Todd Stone said in a news release.

Parts of the hill have been under construction for years as road builders struggle with slides and grading issues.

The money will be targeted at the middle section of the South Taylor Hill, around 50 kilometres north of Dawson Creek, where crews will widen the roadway and address grading and alignment issues.

Ministry of transportation staff could not immediately provide

a date for when work would start.

Stabilization work will reduce the risk of slides, according to a news release, while wider, paved shoulders and painted medians will make the highway safer.

Federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi said the project would help the local economy grow.

“When workers can’t easily get to work, it erodes productivity, and when businesses can’t get their goods to market quickly and reliably, it undermines growth,” Sohi said.

—Staff, with files from JWN Energy and Business in Vancouver

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The federal government is giving B.C. a hand with upgrades to the treacherous South Taylor Hill.

On March 16, the B.C. government announced $40 million in new spending on the stretch of Highway 97 into the Peace River Valley. The route connects B.C. to the Yukon and serves as a major artery for oil and gas and forestry operations.

Around $15 million will come from Canada’s ProvincialTerritorial Infrastructure fund.

B.C. will contribute up to $25 million.

“This next phase of work on South Taylor Hill will

project an environmental certificate in January, adding another 21 conditions.

Environment Minister Mary Polak and Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman said in their decision the pipeline would pump more than $800 million into the provincial economy, including $8 million in property taxes to the Peace River Regional District.

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Hotel fêted A Fort St. John hotel has landed a national hospitality award.

The Econo Lodge was recently awarded the 2017 Gold Hospitality Award from Choice Hotels Canada.

“To be counted among this year’s Gold Award winners is an absolute honour,” said Tim Torrance, General Manager of the Econo Lodge. “We take tremendous pride in being a member of the Choice Hotels Canada family of brands, and take our commitment to excellence and to delivering the highest standard of guest service very seriously, it’s our top priority.”

In order to qualify for the award, a hotel must excel in categories such as guest satisfaction and independent quality reviews.

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A12 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

Tree mulcher toast No one was injured when a tree mulcher caught fire while clearing forest north of Watson Slough March 17, according to BC Hydro.

The fire is under investigation, but the cause appears to be related to an engine malfunction, Site C spokesman Dave Conway said.

“There were no injuries and work around the mulcher was

immediately stopped to ensure worker safety,” Conway said.

Work continues logging around Watson Slough as part of Highway 29 realignment for the Site C reservoir.

“We anticipate that clearing work in this area will be completed in March as planned and will be not delayed by this incident,” Conway said.

—Staff

SUBMITTED PHOTO

This tree mulcher caught fire during logging work around Wason Slough on March 17.

PEACE REGION

COURT DOCKET A summary of what went on in Peace Region courts for the week ending March 18. There were no cases up for sentencing in Hudson’s Hope.

Fort St John Law Courts

SAFETY GAP? WE CAN HELP. Whether you’re a first responder or non-profit organization, we want to be your community safety partner. That’s why we’re offering up to $5,000 in funding for safety equipment and initiatives.

• Dwight Chase Nelson (born 1976) was ordered to provide a DNA sample, given a 12-month jail sentence, handed a lifetime mandatory firearms ban, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for one count of trafficking in controlled substances. Nelson was ordered to provide an additional DNA sample, given a second 12-month jail sentence, handed a lifetime firearms ban, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Nelson was further ordered to provide a DNA sample, given a 30-month jail sentence, handed a lifetime firearms ban, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Fort Nelson Law Courts

was given a zero-day jail sentence, and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for one count of breach of probation order. Burke was also given zero days in jail, and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for one count of theft $5,000 or under.

• Eric Gemme (born 1971) was given a suspended sentence with a oneyear probation order, and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for three counts of theft $5,000 or under. Gemme received an additional suspended sentence with a one-year probation order, and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for two counts of mischief $5,000 or under.

• Shane Frank Mahon (born 1983) was given a conditional discharge, handed a one-year probation order, and assessed $100 victim surcharge for one count of criminal harassment.

• Aaron Jeremy Bertrand (born 1987) was fined $500, handed a oneyear driving ban, and assessed $75 for one count of driving with a suspended licence.

• Chad William Wheeler (born 1994) was fined $500, handed a one-year driving ban, and assessed a $75 victim surcharge for one count of driving with a suspended licence.

• Preston Allen Burke (born 1981)

Find out more at: www.alliancepipeline.com/communityinvestment

Three dead at Moberly Lake JONNY WAKEFIELD reporter@dcdn.ca

Rotary

The Rotary Clubs of Dawson Creek wish to welcome the following new Rotarians!

— Tom Summer

The BC Coroners Service is not identifying three people found dead in a Moberly Lake home last week, citing a review of how it discloses the identities of people who have died suddenly in the province.

On the morning of March 17, police found three people dead in a home in the Lakeview subdivision after responding to a 911 call reporting a disturbance. The subdivision is located on the Saulteau First Nations reserve, a community of around 400 people west of Dawson Creek.

Police have released few details on what happened. The North District Major Crimes unit is investigating and says there is no risk to the public.

On Monday, a Coroners Service spokesperson said in an email that it would not be releasing the identities of the victims “at this time.”

The service is reviewing its policy “to ensure we’re in compliance with legislative requirements of the

Coroners Act,” the spokesperson said.

“Until that review is complete, names of the deceased will not be publicly released.”

Alana McMahen, executive administrative assistant to the chief coroner, said the policy review was already underway and not in response to the Moberly Lake incident.

“It’s all cases,” said McMahen.

“We’re sort of reviewing our policy overall right now, so while we’re doing that we’re not really releasing anything until we settle on what the practice is going to officially be.”

The Coroners Service is responsible for investigating unnatural, unexplained or unattended deaths, as well as sudden or unexpected fatalities.

A coroner attends the scenes of those deaths and identifies the deceased.

Depending on the circumstances, that information is typically released to the public. The coroner also establishes whether a death was an accident, a murder or suicide or due to natural causes.

THE BIG CHILL

The Rotary Club of Dawson Creek welcomed Dean Good, Rod Hillary, Kattie Brigden, Brad Shipton, Michael Zygun, Nigel Wray, Kelsey Jones and honorary member Ken Haverland.

The Rotary Club of Dawson Creek Sunrise welcomed Janine Cumberland, Michelle Rolls, Rolf Werner, Sharon Laberge, Jonathan Smallwood and Colleen Burke.

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RON CARTIER PHOTO

Britt Adams of This Is The Silence sings at The Big Chill Music Festival at the Encana Events Centre in Dawson Creek on March 18.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A13

LOCAL NEWS

Praising the volunteers in our community

St. Patrick’s Day revellers took part in an Egan’s Reunion at Casey’s Pub on March 17. The music was loud and the green beer flowed as everyone got a little Irish for the evening.

Gracie English THE YOUNGER VIEW

life I can definitely say its appreciated.

I’ve also seen the girls who don’t get a chance to play their last year of club volleyball because there isn’t a coach.

The thing I’m trying to point out is that even small acts of kindness, time, and help are appreciated. These things are appreciated not only by the people you effect but also their friends and family.

So never shy away from the chance to volunteer, or to help out in any way, because you feel you won’t be useful. Always, always be open to new opportunities because in my opinion you’ll almost always be rewarded for volunteering.

Whether it’s by helping a child learn new skills, or giving someone the chance to do something they can be proud of.

It’s so important to recognize and award people at these events because it encourages people to keep volunteering and working hard.

I hope I’ve showed you how much volunteers are needed and appreciated in our community. Remember that the smallest good deeds often lead to great things.

Gracie English is a 13-year-old student, born and raised in the Montney/Fort St. John area. She enjoys writing, horseback riding, and competitive volleyball.

HALEY LABOUCANE PHOTO

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Concession and ATM on-site.

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The Dawson Creek Mirror is looking for a full time reporter/photographer determined to strive beyond existing stagnant journalism forms.

The position is an opportunity for a journalist early in her or his career to build upon a commitment to work ethic, of holding powers and government accountable, as well as telling engaging, and beyond-the-surface stories.

Candidates should have at least two years of journalism experience, be eager to experiment with the existing forms of community news gathering/presentation through the written word, social media, photography, video, and other avenues.

Beginning immediately they will work with a paper that reflects both their skills and areas of interests to report as well as to write stories under the guidance of the managing editor. Some stories will be assigned while successful candidate will be free to create their own leads and beats. The goal is to stretch the candidate’s journalism with the guidance of an office that has earned more than 25 AWNA, MCNA, BCYCNA, and CCNA awards.

The position sits at an interactive news desk which does not involve riding said desk in the Mirror office whilst awaiting the next press release to cut and paste.

The Mirror is appealing to prospective journalists who are hard workers, writers, and excited at the prospect of producing both research-based as well as more day-to-day coverage with a direct focus on the Dawson Creek, general south peace region and beyond.

Two stories a day will not be a problem. Guess what? Five shouldn’t be either.

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If interested, please email a cover letter, writing samples to Robert Brown Managing Editor Dawson Creek Mirror editor@dcdn.ca 901 100 Ave. Dawson Creek V1G 1W2 The Dawson Creek Mirror is the South Peace based newspaper in North British Columbia. We are part of the Vancouver based Glacier Media, is a publisher of daily and weekly newspapers, trade magazines, and business information products throughout western Canada.

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olunteers. By definition a volunteer is someone who freely participates in an event or takes part in a project.

To me, a volunteer is my volleyball coach who dedicates hours and hours to our team. A volunteer is the mom who helps organize 4H rides so that the members can learn and have fun.

A volunteer is anyone who goes beyond what is the requirement so something is more enjoyable, appealing, and accessible for others. Without the many volunteers in our community so many things that you do regularly might not be available to you.

Coming up is a chance to thank those wonderful volunteers. The Community Awards Gala is next month and it gave residents the chance to nominate people they thought deserved to be recognized for their work. The categories for awards include cultural, recreational, humanitarian, youth, and Mayor’s Citizen Of The Year.

Now don’t be confused. The nominees don’t have to be experts in whatever they are volunteering in. They don’t have to be changing the world, although for some of the categories that would be quite helpful.

The biggest reason people don’t volunteer to do things is because they don’t think they have the right skills. You don’t have to be an expert to volunteer for something, you just need to be willing to learn as you go and work hard.

As someone who’s been coached and helped by lots of volunteers in my

ST. PADDY’S DAY PROPER

A14 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL NEWS

The future of the NEB and the challenges of modernization The National Energy Board Modernization Expert Panel spent two days in Fort St. John March 1 and 2, part of a 10-stop, cross-country tour to solicit feedback from Canadians on the future of the country’s energy regulator.

The co-chairs of the five-member panel bring with them interesting perspectives: from the east, Hélène Lauzon, who chairs the the Quebec Business Council on the Environment and co-chairs Quebec’s Climate Change Advisory Committee; and from the west, Gary Merasty, a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation who served two terms as grand chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council and as a Member of Parliament serving northern Saskatchewan.

Their two days in Fort St. John were the first outside a large urban centre and inside a city in the heart of upstream development. Here, they heard a host of new issues when it comes to developing Canada’s resources, from land acquisitions to compensation agreements to landowners’ rights.

The two recognize the importance of their work, and the care and caution that must go in their report and recommendations to the federal government, due by May 15.

While the National Energy Board Act saw updates in 2012, it’s still a piece of legislation that hasn’t seen many significant updates since 1959.

We sat down with Lauzon and Merasty to discuss their work. The following has been edited for length and style. Read the full interview at alaskahighwaynews.ca.

The panel is accepting comments until March 31. Visit www.nebmodernization.ca.

Alaska Highway News: How has response been from Canadians so far?

Gary Merasty: I think the response has been very positive. I think there’s an appetite for change, an appetite to see a modernization occur. And a lot has changed since 1959, whether its indigenous rights and the Supreme Court decisions, to Canadians expectation of transparency and accountability of all its public regulators, to the emergence of renewable energy and the concerns for international commitments on greenhouse emissions, and carbon limits and budgets.

Hélène Lauzon: They really believe in the process. They would really like this to be changed and we are very grateful because they are nourishing

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in our reflection. You can see that these people were kind of waiting for something like that. They want to be heard, they feel that they don’t have they’re opportunity to be heard, so I think it’s becoming very important for them to get this heard and to have us incorporate their concerns in our recommendations.

have to demonstrate you are an affected party. And indigenous people, and nonindigenous people, are saying “it’s not because a pipeline does not cross our property that we are not an affected party, because we can be affected eventually within our area, region, or even with the watercourses we are using.” They would like NEB to open the doors.

GM: I want to add something to what Hélène said. Very clearly they say, “will this make a difference? Will your report be seriously considered by government or is this a waste of time?” We don’t believe it is. We believe that based on how it started and the commitments there that it will result in some action.

But you know, there’s huge expectation that something will come of it.

AHN: Any particular comments that stand out for both of you in your travels?

GM: We have to really look at how can we make these recommendations, attract the interest and opportunity for government to make the changes that we propose. It will probably be structured in a way that maybe there’s some immediate action items, maybe there’s some short, maybe there’s some medium, maybe there’s some long term. Maybe there’s clusters of opportunities, maybe there’s certain themes, and maybe there’s, you know, very concise and clear recommendations. It’s a challenge we’re fully aware of because if our report is extremely cumbersome and difficult to understand it makes it more difficult for it to be used effectively.

Fort St. John Hospital Foundation Baby Bouquet Wall This is a wonderful way for family and friends to acknowledge these special miracles

Hélène Lauzon (left) and Gary Merasty, co-chairs of the National Energy Board Modernization Panel listen to a forum participant speak in Fort St. John on March 2.

AHN: How hopeful are you both about your report being received?

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AHN: What are the common themes that you’ve been hearing from Canadians?

GM: Overall, I think there’s some trust issues there that find their genesis in the perception of NEB being too close to energy.

HL: Public participation is an issue.

People would like the opportunity to get heard, and the way now it is, it’s that you

HL: This thing that western science versus traditional knowledge should be on the same level.

GM: A lot of overlap between indigenous and non-indigenous concerns. A lot of similar concerns around cumulative impacts long-term, the process, the participation, the decision making.

HL: Yes. And here, it is on a topic for which we had not heard a lot, on land acquisition issues, agreements, compensation, right to entry.

GM: I think just what Hélène said, is the landowner, the land acquisition, the upstream impacts, and they’re aware of the mid and downstream benefits that are experienced and is there a balancing of benefits in the whole life cycle? Yes, there’s jobs here, and there’s opportunities for procurement and construction. But there’s a lot of downstream benefit that arises out of here, the upstream, so that came through very clear today, the last day and a half. And then yeah the land acquisition, the owners, and the treatment they perceive or really experienced from companies. They actually cited some of the agreements sometimes put in front of them date back, it’s an old agreement on land acquisition that are 40 years old.

These documents haven’t changed in, you know, 40, 50 years. So a lot of real pragmatic, real life issues that affect people on a daily basis has really hit more home here than perhaps in any other area.

MODERNIZATION on A15

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All Candidates Meeting for Peace River North Dan Davies

Rob Dempsey

Bob Fedderly

Rob Fraser

Jeff Richert

BC LIBERALS

BC NDP

INDEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

WHERE: The Lido Theatre, Fort St. John WHEN: Thursday, April 27, 2017 Doors & Candidate Meet and Greet: 6 p.m.

DEBATE: 7:30 p.m.

Refreshments sponsored by the BC Northern Real Estate Board

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 A15

B.C. racks up $58 B in independent power producers contracts

GLASS HOUSE FIR PELLETS, SPF PELLETS & STOVES

JONNY WAKEFIELD British Columbia will pay $58 billion to buy electricity from wind, run-of-river and other renewable power projects over the next 55 years, an eye-popping amount that has the province’s two major parties sparring over the role of the independent power industry in B.C.’s energy policy.

According to a review of the public accounts released late last month by Auditor General Carol Bellringer, BC Hydro’s deals with independent power producers (IPPs) are the province’s single largest contractual obligation— making up more than half of the $102 billion the province has promised to pay for goods and services.

With an election looming, the B.C. Liberals and B.C. NDP are trading barbs over whether that $58 billion is a good deal for British Columbians.

Independent power producers and supporters in government say the industry provides economic benefits to rural and First Nations communities while diversifying B.C.’s electricity grid. Critics counter that B.C. is locked in to paying a high price for power.

“While the number looks big, it really shouldn’t be seen that way,” said Paul Kariya, Executive Director of Clean Energy BC, an IPP industry group. “It’s not debt. I think what British Columbians are getting (from IPPs) is great service, good diversified electricity and the jobs and taxes and revenues—which come particularly from the 250 area code.”

BC Hydro has signed power purchase agreements with 100 renewable energy projects across the province, including wind, small-scale hydroelectric, solar, tidal and biomass. IPPs account for around a quarter of electricity generation in B.C., according to the energy ministry.

Compared to other provinces, B.C. relies more heavily on the IPP industry.

Quebec, with around double B.C.’s population, has $38 billion in power purchase agreements, according to the auditor general’s report.

Up until the government approved Site C in 2014, which some predict will come online during a power surplus, BC Hydro issued regular calls for clean power proposals.

Contracts to sell electricity to the grid can run from 25 to 40 years, Kariya said.

B.C. NDP Hydro critic Adrian Dix said government has locked itself into lengthy fixed-rate contracts at a time when technological advances are making clean power cheaper.

“BC Hydro has committed to them at high prices,” he said, saying the B.C. government and Premier Christy Clark are “exaggerating” future demand for power. “That’s a massive contractual obligation that previous to that was dramatically smaller.”

In a written statement, Energy Minister Bill Bennett defended the industry and attacked the NDP’s stance on IPPs. “This government supported the Independent Power Producers’ industry.

NDP Leader John Horgan called it ‘junk power,’” he said.

“Our government wanted to create jobs and opportunities across the province and in First Nation communities.

The IPP industry has attracted more than $8.6 billion in investment and established valuable partnerships with local communities and First Nations.”

Despite that support, the relationship between the industry and the B.C. Liberal government is touchy.

After government approved Site C, the Canadian Wind Energy Association announced it was leaving the province as development prospects in B.C. “dimmed.”

Many expect the recentlycompleted Meikle Wind farm near Tumbler Ridge will be the last major wind development in B.C. for years if the province faces an electricity surplus.

Kariya said the industry supported an “incremental” approach to power supply in place of Site C, the $8.8 billion BC Hydro dam under construction near Fort St. John.

“Rather than build one big mega-project that you have to wait ten years to hit the switch on—and if you don’t need the power then you have that situation— in our case, you could have incrementally built,” he said.

“I’m not knocking Site C. I think we made our best case in 2014, government said ‘you guys make a good case, it’s close, we’re going to have a tough decision.’ They made their decision, and that’s what governments are elected to do.”

Around 20 IPP projects are still under construction, according to the ministry.

British Columbians go to the polls May 9.

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Auditor General flags BC Hydro’s contentious IPP program as province’s single largest contractual obligation reporter@dcdn.ca

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AHN: As you get ready to sit down and write your report and your recommendations, are you keeping in the back of your head ways government can ensure that legislation is always staying current, that it’s not taking more than 50 years for an update?

GM: Your aspirations are that national institutions withstand the political tos and fros, and that really contributes to nation building that these institutions can actually stand the test of those changes and those ying and yangs, and pulls and pushes, because it’s piece of

legislation or institution that does represent everybody.

You want to get it to a point where’s there’s that trust and that transparency and that accountability. I’m trying not to sound rhetorical, but it does represent Canadians, and be careful to those who try to be political in its approach. I think that’s what we’re striving for here, to build something that stands the test and actually is a true nationbuilding type of document.

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A16 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

REAL UNIONS: REAL RESULTS Premier Christy Clark said that REAL UNIONS have the right to organize.

“I believe they (Building Trades Unions) should have the right to organize. We need to recognize that building trades are an important part of building the province.

It’s something that should be fixed and I’m going to get it fixed.”

PREMIER CHRISTY CLARK, MARCH 3, 2015

Real unions get real results – on major projects all across British Columbia The TEL Group gets the job done – and done right.

WHY ARE ALL THESE LAWYERS TRYING TO KEEP REAL UNIONS FROM ACCESSING WORKERS AT SITE C?  For all of the above reasons, ATCO respectfully submits that the IUOE’s application for a site access order to ATCO’s Two Rivers Lodge for the purposes of union organizing should be dismissed.” ~ Geoff Eustergerling, Senior Advisor, Labour Relations, ATCO Two Rivers Camp Services Ltd., January 9, 2017

 Finally, granting access to union organizers to the dormitories would also undermine the safety and security of employees of the worksite….” ~ Peter Gall, Q.C. Law Corporation, on Behalf of Peace River Hydro Partners Construction Ltd., January 9, 2017

 If the access order is granted, the only way for an employee who is not interested in communicating with third parties about union representation is to barricade himself in the small living quarters of his room, assuming even that would provide privacy from door knocking and vocal entreaties from outside to open the door.” ~ Tim Charon, Law Corporation, on behalf of the Christian Labour Association of Canada Local 68., January 9, 2017

 Site Access will affect BC Hydro’s legal rights because it will create potential liability for BC Hydro on a number of fronts….” ~ Thomas A. Roper, Q.C. Legal Counsel for BC Hydro., January 9, 2017

The TEL Group is three trade unions working together: • International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 213 • The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 • Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1611

Why is BC Hydro ignoring Christy Clark’s statement that Real Unions have the right to organize?

The TEL Group is made up of building trades unions that have been asked to organize by the employees at Peace River Hydro Partners Construction Ltd. at Site C in support of better representation, a safer workplace, and improved conditions.

Speak out against BC Hydro’s unfair labour approach and learn more at

www.realunions.ca

The TEL Group 9912 100th Avenue Fort St. John, BC, V1J 1Y5 Office: 250-785-2746 Text: 250-612-7034

Sports & Leisure YOUNG WRESTLER GOES FOR GOLD

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Another golden finish for young Fivestar boxers MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

Winning is starting to take on a consistently golden hue for a group of young, up and coming amateur boxers at Fivestar Mixed Martial Arts.

The team of Ashley Rouble, Nick Young, and Brayden Sims returned from the Alberta Golden Gloves tournament in Calgary last weekend undefeated at 3-0 and with a pair of Golden Gloves titles.

Rouble was crowned the ladies light welterweight Alberta Golden Gloves champion after knocking out her opponent Jordana Stewart in the second round. Young himself was crowned the light welterweight Alberta Golden Gloves champion by judge’s decision against opponent Soojad Khidri from Las Vegas. Sims, meanwhile, took home his second set match win against August Marks to win his second bout.

“It felt so good to get my first TKO in boxing,” Rouble said in a phone interview from Vancouver, where she is currently training for nationals next month. “I didn’t expect it to be over that quick.”

Rouble, who improves to a 3-1-2 record, says she concentrated on pacing herself across the three, three-minute rounds after burning herself out in the second round of her last

fight at the BC Golden Gloves tournament.

Stewart, meanwhile, was coming off a six-month layoff from boxing, giving Rouble the cardio and speed advantage, Coach Justin Donally said.

Robule was able to land three big combos on Stewart in the second round, sending her staggering into the corner waving her hands in the air, he said.

“We weren’t sure what exactly to expect,” Donally said, noting Stewart had to cut weight to ensure both girls got a chance to fight at the event. “We made a game plan and as it turned out Ashley overwhelmed her.”

Young was up against one of the tournament’s heavily favoured fighters in Khidri, Donally said. Young cut fourand-a-half pounds to qualify for the light welterweight division, but had to adjust to Khidri’s left-hand style. Donally called it Young’s toughest fight yet.

“I knew we lost the first round. I talked with Nick and said, ‘Listen, we’re not going to out-slick this kid so we’re going to have to make it a dogfight,” Donally said.

It took Young another half a round in the second to adjust to the left-handed fighter, but was able to cut him off and bully him into the corner for the remainder of the round and into the third.

“When it went to the score-

SUPPLED PHOTOS

From left, Ashley Rouble, Nick Young, Justin Donally, and Brayden Sims at the Alberta Golden Gloves tournament.

cards, I honestly didn’t know, it was such a close fight,” Donally said. “The other team was extremely upset. He was a ringer, they expected him to come in and clean house.”

Young improves his record to 6-0.

As for Sims, he improves to 2-1-1, and bounced back from a previous loss. Donally called Sims fight against Marks a “bloody mess,” with Sims landing two standing-eight counts.

“It feels exhilarating knowing that I can put enough work into my training to bounce back from a first fight loss,” said Sims.

“I plan to carry the win as confidence to step in the ring again and use it as an advantage.”

The three are all expected to fight in Quesnel this Saturday for 2 Rivers Boxing Club’s Rumble 22.

Donally has been impressed with his young cohorts since turning his focus back to de-

veloping new talent after losing nearly 10 prospects when the local economy took a dive.

“For me, I’ve really spent this last year focusing on these young guys and girls,” Donally said. “To see them doing so well, I just feel like I don’t have to say anything. The coaching, the level of fighters in and out of the ring, how they conduct themselves, says everything about how we operate in our club and how everyone is as coaches.”

Soccer game brings people together for Black History Month ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

It began as a continent versus a country, and ended with camaraderie and more than a few laughs.

The Pan African Caribbean Association of Fort St. John held its fourth annual Canada vs. Africa soccer game on March 17 as part of their Black History Month celebrations.

The boys on each team may have been representing different parts of the world, different races, but it was clear that they all shared a common love of the sport.

Panebi Oboh, president of the Pan African Caribbean Association of Fort St. John, said this year’s game was much more lighthearted than it has been in past years.

“Normally it’s always very, very tense,” said Oboh. “Soccer is very popular, it’s just like hockey here in Canada… 90 per cent of African boys play soccer.”

The crowd was small, but enthusiastic—cheering whenever a goal was scored, no matter which side.

Team Africa showed off their excellent footwork, while Team Canada made sure they stuck to their opponents like glue.

“It was great, the other team I didn’t expect to be this tough,” said NPSS student and Team Africa player David Wkoma. “They were everywhere, way more difficult.”

Wkoma said he would definitely play in a game like this again, that it was a good way to bring people together.

Team Canada player Levi Fowler agreed.

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTOS

This year’s Africa vs. Canada soccer game had plenty of goals and plenty of laughs. In the end, both teams said they had a great time and look forward to doing it again.

“Their footwork is really good, they’re all good,” he said.

The PACA will be hosting one more Black History Month event on March 25, an Afri-Art afternoon with jewelry making, African outfits to try on, and ethnic food.

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B2 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL SPORTS

Kin Club looks to inspire next generation of curlers MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

Nearly 80 young students got their first chance to throw a rock down the ice at the Fort St. John Curling Rink last week.

The Fort St. John Kin Club hosted its first annual Kid’s Kin Curl March 18, introducing students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 to the thrill and strategy of the sport.

Organizer Michael Stephenson called curling a “forgotten sport,” but one with plenty of life lessons for young minds.

“Curling is a game of skill,” he said.

“When you get into serious curling, you have to have skill to get that rock down (the ice).

Your’e teaching them strategy, you’re teaching them math. A lot of the skills they need in life are on the ice in curling.”

Students, of course, weren’t hurling real, 47-pound rocks MATT PREPROST PHOTO down a full sheet of ice, but A young student throws a rock at the Kin Club’s first annual Kid’s Kin Curl event instead got a modified twist in Fort St. John March 18. on the game. Nineteen teams of four took part in the event, curling clubs were exclusively bring it back and see if we can and from the hog line, students for adults,” Stephenson said. run it for another 50 years,’” he threw modified rocks made of “There was nothing for the said. old bleach bottles filled with kids. So the kids had heard all Stephenson, who only picked cement and topped with a re- these parents talking about up his broom and started curlbar handle. going to curling bonspiels and ing himself a decade ago, said It’s a perfect introduction to how much fun they had.” he has seen his son and daughcurling, Stephenson said, and Stephenson, who joined the ter go through the old Jam Can an event the Kin Club has taken Kin Club two years ago, said he Curling, and move onto junior over after the local Lions Club, was the last active Lions Club curling. the original hosts, folded in member in the city and wanted “It’s a way to get the kids inthe early 2000s after 50 years of to bring the event back after troduced to curling, have a fun running the event, then called more than a decade hiatus. day out with them, show that Jam Can Curling.

“I said, ‘well we’ve got a her- curling is fun. It doesn’t have to “Back in the 50s, kids, all their itage event that has been under be that serious,” he said. “If they parents were active curlers, but serviced for a few years. Let’s want to go on, then they go on.”

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SUBMITTED PHOTO

Blizzard Bike Club shrugs off snow squall in Roubaix Cup race Roubaix Cup #2 runs this Sunday at Baldonnel Blizzard Bicycle Club’s Roubaix Cup #1 was fast and furious. OK, moderately paced and icy would be a much better description. Cashing in on their much improved fitness from last week, Robert Sapp, Dan Webster, and Ben Dawson pushed a much harder pace right from the start. Each had a different tire strategy but in the end it came down to sheer determination and a disregard for ones own personal safety that saw Ben take the sprint finish. Robert and Dan fought extremely hard right to the end. Dan was able to just edge ahead

and take second place only a few seconds behind Ben with Robert taking the final step of the podium. To add to the drama a snow squall blew in as a special treat to the riders for the last 30 minutes of the ride.

Pat Ferris took short course gold proving that retirement was the much needed launch pad to see him back into the professional cycling scene.

Stay tuned, Roubaix Cup #2 action is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Baldonnel next Sunday, March 26th.

—Ben Dawson, Blizzard Bicycle Club

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

This Week: The RSM Classic

This week, the PGA Tour will travel to Sea Island, Georgia for the RSM Classic. The tournament is held at the Defending: Kevin Kisner Seaside Golf Club. Seaside was Winning Score: 22-under par originally built as a nine hole Winning Share: $1,026,000 course by legendary English architects Colt and Alison in 1929. In 1973, Joe Lee designed Marshside Nine. These two distinct nines were transformed into the current world-class Seaside course in 1999 by Tom Fazio. Seaside is prominently placed on Golf Digest’s list of “Top 100 Courses in the United States.”

Seaside Course Sea Island, Ga. 7,055 yards, Par 70

Golf TV Schedule PGA Event: RSM Classic Day Time Thu, 11/17 1:30pm-4:30pm Fri, 11/18 1:30pm-4:30pm Sat, 11/19 1:30pm-4:30pm Sun, 11/20 1:30pm-4:30pm

Pat Perez shot a final round Tournament Results 4-under par 67 to win the 1. Pat Perez OHL Classic at Mayakoba Score: -21 Earnings: $1,260,000 on Sunday. Perez defeated 2. Gary Woodland third-round leader Gary Woodland Score: -19 by two strokes on the Greg Earnings: $756,000 Norman-designed El Camaleon 3. Russell Knox Score: -18 course. Perez, who also won the Earnings: $476,000 2009 Bob Hope Classic, charged from way back in the field with a 9-under 62 on Saturday. The 40-year-old former Arizona State player birdied five of the first eight holes and had a bogey on the par-four 12th.

Golfing News

Network GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF

Golf Trivia Which golfer won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes? a) Tiger Woods b) Phil Mickelson

Last Week: Pat Perez won the OHL Classic

c) Ernie Els d) Payne Stewart

?

Answer: a) Tiger Woods finished at 12-under par in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez finished in 2nd, at 3-over, 15 strokes behind.

The Zurich Classic played in New Orleans annually is rumored to become a team event starting in 2017. The event will feature 80 teams of two. Both members of the winning team will receive the two-year Tour exemption that typically accompanies a victory in an official event, and each winning player will receive 400 FedEx Cup points. A regular tournament offers 500 points to the winner and 300 to the runner-up. The PGA Tour has not had an official team event on its schedule since 1981. The Walt Disney World Golf Classic was the last official PGA Tour tournament that used a team play format.

Lessons from the Golf Pro One of the big faults that the amateur golfer finds is when they hit a shot into trouble. A professional can find a way to escape disaster, but the general rule for an amateur is that trouble leads to more trouble. The one shot that causes the amateur the most trouble is when a tee shot goes into the woods. We’re so mad when our shot is out of the fairway and in a tree that it usually leads to a second erratic shot. Consequently, most people race up to find the shot, just grab a club and hack away. Instead, a more sensible plan is the best course of action. Picking the right club with the proper loft is essential. Too much loft could lead to your shot going into the overhanging leaves. Not enough loft will result in the ball getting hung up in the woods again.

Player Profile

Pat Perez

Turned Professional: 1997 FedEx Cup Ranking: 3rd World Ranking: 332nd PGA Tour Wins: 2

FedEx Cup Standings Through Nov. 13, 2016

1) Hideki Matsuyama 850 pts. / 2 top tens

2) Justin Thomas 614 pts. / 2 top tens

3) Pat Perez

606 pts. / 2 top tens

4) Brendan Steele 556 pts. / 1 top tens

5) Rod Pampling 507 pts. / 1 top tens

FedEx Cup Standings continued...

Player Points 6) Cody Gribble 426 7) Scott Piercy 351 8) Russell Knox 333 9) Brooks Koepka 316 10) Gary Woodland 316

PLACE YOUR AD HERE!

Top 10s 2 3 3 1 1

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B3

LOCAL SPORTS

For Kylie Kalas, wrestling runs in the family MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca

She has yet to enter the halls of junior high, but young Kylie Kalas has been pinning down a successful amateur career in wrestling since picking up the sport from her family four years ago.

The Grade 6 CM Finch student brought home three golds and a bronze this past season, earning podium finishes at tournaments in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, and Edson.

For the 11-year-old, wrestling is a sport that runs deep in the Kalas blood. Her father and uncles began wrestling themselves when they were just five years old in Hearst, Ont. When they invited her down to take part in a practice, she gave it a shot and hasn’t turned back.

“My dad was a wrestler, and his brothers were wrestlers too. My dad told me uncle was holding a wrestling practice so I went to try it out,” Kalas said.

Kalas has been wrestling with the FSJ Wrestling Club for the past four years and is coached by her uncle Paul.

In early February, Kylie participated in Edmonton’s Golden Bear Invitational Wrestling Tournament for Junior and Senior High students, wrestling up an age class and winning all of her matches. Overall, Kylie won the gold and earned her

FACEBOOK PHOTO

Trackers hand out hardware

MATT PREPROST PHOTO

Kylie Kalas with the medals she’s earned so far in her young and successful wrestling career.

place at the Alberta Provincial Junior Olympic championships in February in Edson.

There, she won bronze in her weight category and once again wrestled up an age class with Junior High students.

Other than a clear love for the competition, exactly why Kalas has stuck with the sport is hard to pin down.

“I just enjoy wrestling, I don’t know why,” she said.

The club has been wrestling under Paul Kalas for the last

16 years, 14 of which the club qualified for nationals. He says he hopes to bring serious hardware home over the next four years as his niece continues develop.

For mother Crystal Kalas, the sport has done wonders for Kylie’s confidence.

She credits that to the fact wrestling is a one-person sport, “so you’re competing really against yourself for that improvement,” she said. “(Kylie) holds herself in a

different way now,” she said.

“She doesn’t seem to be apprehensive about trying new things, she kind of jumps in and is a bit more eager.”

Kylie graduates from CM Finch this year and will move on to Bert Bowes.

Kalas is looking to get in a training camp in Jasper before the new wrestling season picks up later this fall.

To learn more about the club, check out Fort St. John Wrestling Club on Facebook.

The NEBC and Yukon Trackers held their annual award nights on March 17, handing out honours to deserving players.

Curtis Hammond and Copper Beamish were given Most Improved Player awards; Connor Kindrat was given the Best Teammate Award and the Coaches Award; Connor Bowie was named Top Forward and Rookie of the Year; Nathan Bragg got the Most Dedicated Player Award; Jeridyn Loewen was named Most Valuable Player as well as Top Defenseman; Keenan Halverson was handed the Unsung Hero Award; and Aiden Craig-Steele earned the Top Scorer Award.

The Trackers are currently down in Prince George for Provincials this week, where they are playing against teams from Chiliwack, Saanich, Coquitlam and Prince George.

W EEKLY P RO R ACING U PDATE Racing News, Stats & Trivia

2017 Standings Cup Series Top Ten Points 1) Kyle Larson

Race Det Race Detail tail ils s

Location: Fonatana, Calif.

Date: March 26th, 3:30 p.m.

TV: FOX Last Year’s Pole: Austin Dillon - 188.482 mph Last Year’s Winner: Jimmie Johnson

Auto Club Speedway Track Details Distance: 2.0 miles Shape: D-Shaped Oval Turns / Front / Back: 14º / 11º / 3º

Driver 1) Elliott Sadler 2) William Byron 3) Ryan Reed 4) Justin Allgaier 5) Darrell Wallace Jr. 6) Daniel Hemric 7) Brennan Poole 8) Matt Tifft 9) Michael Annett 10) Dakoda Armstrong

Points: 184 Wins: 0 Top 5: 3 Top 10: 3

2) Brad Keselowski

Points: 178 Wins: 1 Top 5: 3 Top 10: 3

3) Chase Elliott

Points: 171 Wins: 0 Top 5: 2 Top 10: 2

4) Martin Truex Jr.

Points 144 133 121 115 109 104 98 91 89 84

Racing News

Points: 153 Wins: 1 Top 5: 1 Top 10: 2

Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford failed post-race inspection at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. The No. 2 failed weights and measures after Keselowski piloted it to a fifth-place finish.

Keselowski now has 178 points, which puts him second in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings behind race runner-up Kyle Larson, who has 184. No other cars failed post-race tech inspection.

5) Joey Logano

Points: 135 Wins: 0 Top 5: 1 Top 10: 3

6) Ryan Blaney

Points: 127 Wins: 0 Top 5: 1 Top 10: 2

7) Kevin Harvick

Points: 123 Wins: 0 Top 5: 0 Top 10: 2

8) Jamie McMurray

Points: 119 Wins: 0 Top 5: 0 Top 10: 2

Racing Trivia

?

9) Kurt Busch

Which current driver has the most races at Auto Club Speedway without a win?

10) Kasey Kahne

a) Ryan Newman c) Jamie McMurray b) Dale Earnhardt Jr. d) Clint Bowyer

Points: 105 Wins: 1 Top 5: 1 Top 10: 2

Points: 105 Wins: 0 Top 5: 1 Top 10: 2

Answer : b) Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never won in his 24 races at Auto Club Speedway.

Auto Club Speedway opened its doors in June of 1997 with the Inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series California 500 presented

by NAPA. More than 90,000 guests watched as Jeff Gordon won the 500-mile race. Four-time Sprint Cup Series Champion Jeff Gordon holds numerous Auto Club Speedway records, including the best average finishing position. Auto Club Speedway stands on the historic site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill. The speedway stretches across 568 acres, including 131 acres in the Infield and a 30-acre parking lot.

Current points leader, Kyle Larson, finished 39th in last year’s race.

Xfinity Series Top Ten Points R0021159210

Last Weekend’s Race: Ryan Newman won the Good Sam 500 A big gamble in the desert heat ended a long victory drought for Ryan Newman. When just about everybody else decided to take a tire-changing pit stop in the final few laps on Sunday, Newman figured he’d be going in with them. His crew chief Luke Lambert thought otherwise. It was a decision that earned Newman a victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, ending his 127race winless streak. “Just a heck of a gutsy call by crew chief Luke Lambert,” Newman said. While the leaders were in the pits, Newman moved from seventh to first and for the final two laps held off Kyle Larson, the second-place finisher for the third straight race. Kyle Busch, the leader for nearly all of the final stage of the race, was third on a day when the temperature soared to 97 degrees at Phoenix.

Ryan Newman Born: Dec. 8, 1977 Crew Chief: Luke Lambert Car: Chevrolet

Year 2017 2016

Wins 1 0

Top 10s 1 10

“Get The Good Stuff”

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Avg. Finish 18.5 15.7

9224-100 St., Fort St. John

250-785-0463

55

R0011358416

Good Sam 500 Top Ten Driver 1. Ryan Newman 2. Kyle Larson 3. Kyle Busch 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 5. Brad Keselowski 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Daniel Suarez 8. Erik Jones 9. Jimmie Johnson 10. Denny Hamlin

B4 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

LOCAL SPORTS

Inconnu makes a spash at provincials in Victoria The Inconnu swim club recently travelled to compete at the 2017 short course provincial championships in Victoria.

Nine swimmers form the club made the trek all the way down to the Island.

This meet hosts the best swimmers in the province that are 18 years and younger.

The competition started on Thursday leading off with the distance events. Brittany Welsh was the only swimmer to compete on the first day in the women’s 800 free. She swam the event extremely well and was poised to have a very successful weekend until she was derailed by a bout of food poisoning. She would come back to finish the last two days of competition, making the finals on the final day, but was noticeably suffering from fatigue.

Owen Lang and Alexander McDonald competed in their last Provincials in the 11 and under category. Alex had best times in four of six events, and had competed only two weeks earlier where he had made the

remaining qualifying times to attend the meet. Owen had a very strong meet getting better as the days went on. He was able to get best times in all but one of his events, which helped to propel him to the finals every night. It wasn’t until the last day that he was able to reach the podium and place second in the 50 meter freestyle.

Cameron Louie and Tytan Carson competed in the boys 12-13 age group. They both made the finals a few times, but had some ups and downs along the way. It was a good meet for the both of them to learn more about what it takes to become elite level athletes in the sport and how to stay there.

Eric Louie and Alexandria Hedges competed in the men’s and women’s 14-15 category, respectively. They both swam extremely well and made the finals in every event they swam. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon, after watching Owen Lang, that they were both able to find the podium. Alexandria found herself on the podium

twice receiving a silver in the 50 metre freestyle and then followed that up with a bronze in the 100 metre butterfly. She squeaked into the butterfly final in 8th place and was able to take the outside lane to a third place finish. Eric, who swam extremely well all weekend, had to wait until the last event of the meet before he eventually found gold in the 100 metre butterfly. He had the majority of his events on the last day but was able to find that last bit of energy to get the first place finish.

Finally in the men’s and women’s 16 and over category, Tate Haugan and Jayden Forster, had to make the finals in their events. Jayden was able to make the finals in both of her backstroke events.

When she came back to swim at night, she held nothing back and was able to swim faster than the morning. Tate swam on the Friday and Sunday, and took his Saturday to compete in a mountain bike race while in Victoria. He only competed in four events, but was able to get best times in all enroute

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Inconnu Swim Club competed at the Short Course Provincial Championships in Victoria.

to second swims for all four events.

All together it was a fabulous meet for all the athletes. The swimmers competed hard all weekend and for the most part were rewarded with best times. Seven club records were broken over the weekend.

Tytan Carson led the way in this category by besting one of his own and setting two new records. Brittany Welsh, Tate Haugan, and Alexandria Hedges all set new standards by breaking their own club records.

One of the best things about this meet was having Owen

SCOREBOARD

Lang and Alex McDonald being the first to compete every day.

Having these two young boys step up every morning before their teammates and show them how to compete hard and leave everything out there was something that I would use as inspiration to the rest of the team. Sometimes the older athletes can over analyze a race, but when you’re young most of the time you just step up and put the pedal to the metal. All of these swimmers have bright futures ahead of them.

—Submitted by the Inconnu Swim Club

9224-100 Street, Fort St. John, V1J 3X2

PHONE: 250-785-0463

NWJHL

NPHL

ERBHL

NAMHL

Playoff Standings as of March 21

Playoff Standings as of March 21

Playoff Standings as of March 21

Playoff Standings as of March 21

Championship Finals North Peace Navigators vs Fairview Flyers Flyers lead series 3-1

Championship Finals Spirit River Rangers vs Falher Pirates Spirit River Rangers win NPHL Championship 4-0

League Championship St. Albert Comets vs. Fort McMurray Barons

Semi-Final Series 1 Strathcona ACT Warriors vs. GPAC TEK Plumbing & Heating Storm

North Peace District 4H Report Christine Taylor - Beatton Community 4-H Club On April 8th, 2017 at the Northern Lights College the North Peace and South Peace 4-H District will come together to Showcase the 4-H program. There will be Discovery Room that is open to the public in the morning (9am to 11:30am). Please come out and see what our Youth Program is all about. 4-H is more then what comes to mind when you hear the words. There will also be training and workshops for leaders and member throughout the day. The members who place 1st and 2nd at their district’s level of 4-H Communications will be presenting their oral & visual communications for a possible chance to move on to 4-H BC Provincial Communication being held in Salmon Arm on July 20-22, 2017. So please come out look at what the 4-H has to offer and maybe sit in on some of the great presentations our regional member will be doing. The Trade Show is the same weekend so make a day of it.

Garrett Fell and Jacob Bennett

Aurora Lee Sr Speak and Shows 1st Benjamin McCord (WOW) – Rabbit Hide Tanning

Sherri Fell - Green Valley 4-H Club Leader On Saturday, March 11, the North Peace 4-H District held their annual District Communications Event. We had 64 members from the district register to participate in Speeches, Speak & Shows, Demonstrations and Educational Displays. The District Council supplied pizza for lunch for all participants, judges, volunteers and spectators along with salads and desserts that all participant families supplied.

The winners were:

Jr Speak and Shows 1st Brooke Buerge (WOW) – Spice and Cranberry Cider 2nd Emily Babcock (SW) – Spinning 3rd Kaylee Wiebe (PC) – Cool and Refreshing Ice Caps Sr Educational Displays 1st Ruth Wiebe (PC) – Exotic Birds 2nd Peter Weitzel (WOW) – Trust 3rd Quinn Mailman (SW) – What is a Locavore

Sr Speeches 1st Tory Snider (BC) – Pet or Product 2nd Kyra Taylor (BC) – Cannabis, Hemp and Marijuana 3rd Logan Trask (WOW) – Bill Miner, Smart or Foolish Sr Impromptu Speeches 1st Evan Koop (LS) – What Has 4-H Done for You? 2nd Gloria Loewen (PC) – What Has 4-H Done for You? 3rd Kyra Taylor (BC) – What Has 4-H Done for You? Overall Sr Speeches 1st – Tory Snider (BC) and Kyra Taylor (BC) 2nd – Gloria Loewen (PC) 3rd – Stephanie Gilbert (SW)

Jr Educational Displays 1st Haley Loewen (PC) – Mallard Ducks 2nd Emily Wiebe (PC) – Hippopotamus 3rd Rheana Gilbert (SW) – Friesians The District would like to take this time to say THANK YOU to everyone who judged this event, your help is greatly appreciated and we would not be able to hold such events without your help.

Jr Speeches 1st Aurora Lee – Speeches (BC) 2nd Isabel Amboe – My Land, Your Land and Crown Land (BC) 3rd Josiah Koop – Penguins (LS) Sr Demonstrations 1st Jessica Dick (PC) and Melissa Dick (PC) – Golden Graham Squares 2nd Kimberly Wiebe (PC) and Rebecca Fehr (PC) – Nutrition Facts about Smoothies 3rd Sara Trask (WOW) and Grace Trask (WOW) – Healthy, Handy and Homemade Mollie English

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B5

Arts & Culture

“Alaska was the last frontier; it was a real challenge for them to conquer this road.”

CONTACT US ALEISHA HENDRY 250-785-5631 ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

— Randy Jorgenson

Watching the divine highway pilgrimage

Fort Nelson songwriter Randy Jorgenson has a lot of experience with the Alaska Highway and channeled that into his song, The Road, for the Alaska Highway Songs CD.

“Alaska was the last frontier; it was a real challenge for them to conquer this road, so in my song I say it’s the highway to redemption because it’s like a religious experience for these people,” he said.

The Road also makes reference to the airstream trailers that were popular at the time, calling them silver bullets that traversed the highway as if on a pilgrimage.

The Road is just Jorgenson and his guitar, strumming along in a way that makes you picture being at home one night, relaxing after a long day and finally having a chance to just settle.

It took Jorgenson quite a while to finish The Road, much like it did for some of those travelers.

“It took me six months to actually get the song to where I was OK with it,” he said. “I’ve never in all my songwriting experience ever put that much into a song.”

and that opened a whole new door for me,” said Jorgenson. “I realized that’s what appealed to me and I really started to write a lot then.”

When the opportunity came to submit a song for the Alaska Highway Songs CD, Jorgenson did some research and decided to write about his own personal experience with the highway.

“I did a little nod to the

Alaska Highway Songs: Road Songs for the 75th Anniversary of the Alaska Highway is currently available in Fort St. John at the Fort St. John North Peace Museum, the ArtsPost, Peace Gallery North and Whole Wheat and Honey.

In Fort Nelson, pick it up at the Fort Nelson Museum, the Fort Nelson Visitor Centre and Trapper’s Den.

Fort Nelson songwriter Randy Jorgenson has a personal connection to the Alaska Highway ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

R

andy Jorgenson has a long history on the Alaska Highway and a long history as a songwriter.

It only made sense that his song The Road would end up on the Alaska Highway Songs: Road Songs for the 75th Anniversary of the Alaska Highway CD. Jorgenson has been playing the guitar since he was 11, and started working on his own songs around that time.

“I had been writing songs since I started playing the guitar—none of them were any good, but I started that process at a very early age,” he said.

When he got to high school, Jorgenson had a teacher that used now-classic rock songs as a teaching tool.

“Instead of studying Shakespeare, we started to look at songs from Bob Dylan and that era, and started deciphering what these songs were trying to say,” he said.

It was from there that his love of songwriting bloomed.

“For me, it was about what the artist was saying in his songs

SUPPLIED PHOTO

people that built it, but didn’t want to write about the building of the highway because I think that story’s been probably told enough,” he said.

Jorgenson’s family first came to Fort Nelson in the early 1970s, when the high wasn’t much more than a gravel road.

“Back then it took you a whole day to drive from Fort Nelson to Fort St. John,” he said. “It was

curvy and the roads were narrow and it was all gravel.”

His family bought the Shell gas station in town and, as the first fuel stop on the way in to town, there were plenty of tourists and travelers stopping in.

Jorgenson got to meet plenty of American tourists during that time, and said it was almost like a divine experience for a lot of them.

R0011358452

House

of the

k e e W

CHARLESTON

Arched windows put a contemporary spin on the Charleston, a country-style home complete with gables and a wraparound porch. The placement of the parlor and dining room on both sides of the entry is traditional, but the entryway, with its lofty two-story ceiling, is not. The great room and dining room have high ceilings too, in the 12-14 foot range. Clerestory windows in the entry and dining room provide extra illumination.

Columns and arches mark the boundaries of the bayed dining room. Double doors close to provide complete privacy in the parlor, which could just as easily be furnished as a home office. Shelves and a desk are built in.

Informal living spaces are at the rear.

Two sets of French or atrium doors brighten the great room all year round and can be left open in summer. A fireplace, flanked by built-in shelving, provides warmth and color in winter.

The large country kitchen has all of the most popular amenities: large work

Arlen Brekkaas

island, walk-in pantry, built-in appliances, windowed eating nook, and a corner sink with a view. The three-season porch is perfect for protected outdoor dining. Utilities, basement stairs, and a half bath are close to the Charleston's center of activity.

Double doors open into a good-sized vaulted owners' suite. Features here include a huge walk-in closet, optional deck access, and a two-section bathroom with dual vanity and oversized shower. Two upstairs bedrooms share a bathroom. The front-facing room has a walk-in closet and an arched window that could be outfitted with a window seat.

Associated Designs is the original source for the Charleston 10-252. For more information or to view other designs, visit www.AssociatedDesigns. com or call 800-634-0123.

In airport sub. Water and sewer, full finished basement 5 bedrooms and detached double garage.

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Shiny new with yard space, access and no parking restrictions! Big room sizes and lots of space for families too! Full warranty here and walking distance to Elementary & High Schools. Great value!

Open to Great Room Below

Dn

Open to Dining Below

Vaulted Bedroom 11'6'' x 12'2''

3-Season Porch 11' x 11'6''

Deck

Vaulted Owners’ Suite 14'2'' x 15'2''

Nook 11' x 11'8''

Deck

Kitchen Vaulted Great Room 18' x 17' Up

Dn to Bsmt

Charleston PLAN 10-252

Parlor/ Entry Study 11'8'' x 11'4''

First Floor 1802 sq.ft.

Second Floor 516 sq.ft.

Living Area 2318 sq.ft.

3-Season Porch 132 sq.ft.

Garage 635 sq.ft.

Dimensions 62'8'' x 71'

Dining 12'6'' x 13'

Porch Garage 23' x 25'

2000 SERIES www.AssociatedDesigns.com

© 2017 Associated Designs, Inc.

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Bedroom 12'8'' x 11'4''

$679,900

5 bedrooms + office, 9' walls up & down, huge entrance from garage and RV parking too!

$269,900

Modern, roomy and close to schools is what you will enjoy here! Nice layout with corner lot access means easy to park and storage space is readily accessible. Full ensuite and walk in closet here, 2 more bedrooms and you can get started in home ownership or make this a low maintenance home base to work from.

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Quiet location, close to schools, nice sq ft and room sizes all with a mortgage helper too! Lots of upgrades and fresh paint here with single garage and no RV restrictions for parking! Excellent value property here!

Land or rental investment made easy! Low cost place to call your own is ready for quick occupancy and you can be a home owner now!

Finch area estate styling with classic rooms and great kitchen storage space! Double garage and well landscaped yard where you can enjoy the front courtyard too! Modern and easy, this home is a home to call your own.

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5000 sq ft of living space and a waterfront view 10 minutes to town with a mom-in-law suite too? Yes, it's true! On site sewer system means no big bills for service and 3 years new means all the modern amenities and none of the fix up or maintenance of the older ones! Too many features to describe so you will just have to come and see them yourself!

Great space for little money! Big addition and nice fenced yard is a great place to start for under $200,000!

R2111229

3 bed duplex with mud room entrance!

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Springtime sunrise over Tea Creek Valley will fill your home with natural sunlight where you can sit and enjoy the start of the day in professionally designed, restaurant quality kitchen. 10' walls and glass to match brings in the quiet peacefulness of your surroundings like every home should. The second floor has its own laundry room for the 4 bedrooms service and the master suite is a resort quality retreat space to relax and recharge in.

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Invest 2 ways! 2 homes on one lot and either rent covers your mortgage completely with a small down payment! RM2 zoned for future high density development makes a great holding property or very low cost living. Perfect for camp workers!

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Clean & tidy! Large lot with good access for future garage and parking! Close to amenities, this property has good zoning and a great layout for a rental suite or just enjoy all the space!

B6 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

IT’S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Students from Mme Marianne and Ms. Jaimelia’s classes sing He Lives In You.

Bob Dylan and his Band coming to Dawson Creek Songwriting legend Bob Dylan is coming to Dawson Creek.

The Nobel Prize winner will be playing the Encana Events Centre with his band on July 21.

Dylan has been an active singer, songwriter, artist and writer for five decades and is responsible for some of most memorable songs ever written, including The Times They Are a-Changin’, Like A Rolling

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Simba (Eli Liddicoat), Zazu (Maisie Thomas), and Nala (Abigail Francoeur), with the help of students from M. Charles, Mme Emily and Mme Sohpie’s class, sing a bilingual version of I Just Can’t Wait To Be King at the Ecole Central Elementary production of The Lion King on March 16.

Stone, Mr. Tambourine Man, and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.

The stop in Dawson Creek is part of a North American tour for the launch of his latest album, Triplicate.

Bob Dylan and his Band play July 21 at 8 p.m. at the Encana Events Centre. Tickets go on sale March 24 at 10 a.m. For more information call 1-877-339-8499.

— Aleisha Hendry

Local bands celebrate return of Northern Groove Local musicians are gathering to celebrate the return of Northern Groove to Fort St. John.

Northern Groove Fest will feature all Peace Region acts at the Fort St. John Curling Rink at the end of April.

The line up includes Rose Prairie Romance, Jordyn Busche, Last Horse Standing,

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Scar (Shayne Thomas) leads the hyenas in a rousing rendition of Be Prepared at the Ecole Central Elementary production of The Lion King on March 16.

Road Side Distractions, This Is The Silence, Travis the Farmer, The Montney Coulees, Scarlet Sway, The Pasties and The Boreal.

Northern Groove Fest is a 19 plus event and takes place April 29 at the curling rink. For more information visit northerngroove.com — Aleisha Hendry

R0021352368

Nirvana Night coming in April

HOROSCOPE

ARIES (MARCH 21 TO APRIL 19) You might be obsessed with something today. Furthermore, you might demand that you get your way. Lighten up!

TAURUS (APRIL 20 TO MAY 20) If you have to do research today, you probably will be successful. You won’t stop until you find what you’re looking for. You’ll be like a dog with a bone.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) Conversations with friends and groups will be intense today, because people are purposeful and bossy. Avoid someone if he or she is coming on too strong.

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Try to be tactful during conversations with bosses and parents today, because power struggles might take place. If people disagree, they quickly will begin to argue.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) Do not try to coerce others into your way of thinking, especially about politics, religion or racial issues.

However, this is a good day to study something, because you have focus.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Arguments about how to divide or share something today might arise. Arguments about shared responsibilities also might be a problem. Try to avoid these arguments.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) Someone might try to force

For Thursday March 23, 2017

his or her point of view on you today, or vice versa. This doesn’t promote a happy relationship, does it?

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) Because you are obsessed with something today, you can tackle a routine job and get a lot done. You also might study and learn something new at work.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Romantic partners might have trouble today, because this is not an easygoing day. People want their own way and they’re not prepared to compromise.

Yikes!

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) Because you might be obsessed with something today, you actually can use this energy and get a lot of work done. The secret is that it has to be something you really want to do.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) Avoid family debates today they will accomplish nothing.

However, if you roll up your sleeves, you can do some hard work at home, especially related to bathrooms, plumbing, garbage and recycling.

PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MARCH 20) Don’t come on too strong when talking to others today, because you are tempted to do that. Remember: You get more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Dig out those Doc Martens and flannel shirts because the Lido is bringing the 90’s back in a big way in April.

A Night of Nirvana will take place April 8, the 23rd anniversary of the day the world found out Kurt Cobain had died, at the Lido Theatre to celebrate one of the most influential bands of the grunge era.

Local bands will play Nirvana’s entire catalogue, including an unplugged set in honour

of the band’s legendary MTV Unplugged In New York show.

Bands playing at A Night of Nirvana include This Is The Silence, Shake Appeal, Collision Course, Courtney Did It, and Machine Gun Kitty.

A Night of Nirvana is an all ages event and takes place on April 8. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.

For more information call 250-785-3011.

— Aleisha Hendry

Bridesmaid Reciprocity

Dear Annie: I’m engaged to a man who is the love of my life, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. My fiance, “Anthony,” proposed last week.

We’ve tentatively set the date for next spring, and now I’m starting to do some preliminary wedding planning. I’m facing a dilemma regarding bridesmaids.

I’m the youngest of five siblings, and I’m the only girl.

Yes, I have four elder brothers. (To answer the question almost everyone asks upon learning that fact, no, they were not overprotective of me.

In fact, they teased me quite a bit.) Anyway, all of my brothers are married, meaning I finally have some sisters. I was a bridesmaid in all four weddings and the maid of honor in one of them. I’m not extremely close with any of my sisters-in-law, but I love them, of course. They’re family.

My conundrum is that I also have four best friends -two from high school and two from college -- whom I would like to be my bridesmaids.

They’re like sisters to me, too.

Only one of them is married so far, but I was a bridesmaid in her wedding.

Now to the problem: Do I have to ask my sisters-in-law to be my bridesmaids? Or can I just ask my friends? I know that some brides today have eight (or more) bridesmaids, but I’d like to keep it to four.

Annie Lane DEAR ANNIE

I have no idea what the etiquette here is. I’ve read things online saying that you should pick whomever you want because it’s your wedding, but I could use some objective and realistic advice. Thanks in advance. -- Always a Bridesmaid, Now a Bride Dear Always: Do you have to ask your sisters-in-law to be bridesmaids? No. Should you?

Yes, if you want to promote harmony in your family and grow closer with the women your brothers married.

I know I’ll hear from readers insisting that reciprocity is not a stipulation of being a bridesmaid. Just because a bride included you in her wedding party does not mean you have to return the honor.

I completely agree with that.

But this is family. Though your sisters-in-law would probably not hold any grudges if you didn’t ask them, I’m certain they would forever be touched by the gesture if you did. Your best friends should understand that better than anyone.

Dear Annie: “Tired of Wedding Freeloaders” does not

appreciate wedding guests who attend the festivities but who give a gift whose value is less than the cost of their participating. She considers a gift of $100 for two people an insult. Her opening sentence questioned how many times you go out to eat and expect a free meal.

Your answer -- to invite loved ones because you love them and want them there -- was adequate, but I feel it didn’t go far enough. “Tired” needs to realize that when people go out to eat, they always choose a restaurant they can afford. When they attend a wedding, their only choice is to go or not to go. They have no control over the venue or the menu or the cost. Weddings can be simple or extravagant, but the bride is usually the one who makes most of the decisions. If the math does not work for her, she needs to scale back her wedding plans and/or invite fewer guests.

-- Imagine Dear Imagine: I absolutely agree with you, and I’ve advised other brides that way in the past. Thank you for adding that sentiment here.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. To find out more about Annie Lane and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B7

ARTS & CULTURE

R0011352386

Familiar book, new language

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Alyssa Yu and Morgan Churchill worked together to bring a new language to elementary school students in Fort St. John.

ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

Elementary school students in Fort St. John have been experience what it’s like to not know a full language.

The Multilingual Books In Schools program is a partnership between the Fort St. John Public Library and School District 60’s Settlement Workers in Schools. This is the second year of this particular program.

“The purpose is to expose all kids to different languages and give them a little taste of what it’s like to be a language learner,” said Morgan Churchill, program coordinator for the library.

This year, the program is using the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin, and is being translated into Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines. Last

year another Bill Martin book was used, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

“We choose those books because they’re full of lots of familiar friendly vocabulary, so there’s colours, animals shapes, things like that,” said Churchill.

Alyssa Yu, a Grade 11 student from North Peace Secondary, helped with the translation of the text. She went with Churchill to do a presentation and said it was awesome to see how the students reacted.

“Some of the kids are ESL and are from the Philippines, and when they heard their own language their eyes just lit up, it was realty cool to see,” said Yu. She said the kids really took to the new language within familiar context like the Brown Bear book, noting that it’s easier for children to pick up on a language when they’re young.

TAPPING INTO TALENT

The ladies of Mystic Borealis belly dance troupe were among the many performers for the monthly Tapping Into Talent show at the North Peace Seniors Housing apartment #4 on March 19.

Performers gather once a month to put on a show for the seniors living in the facility.

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

LANDMARK CINEMAS 5 AURORA FSJ

UNIT 2000, 9600 - 93 AVE, FORT ST. JOHN, BC PH: 250-785-8811 (MOVIE INFO LINE) WWW.LANDMARKCINEMAS.COM/FORT-ST-JOHN

R0011358446

CURRENT MOVIE LISTINGS FROM MARCH 24 TO MARCH 30

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Nightly: 6:45, 3D 9:45 Weekend/Mon-Thurs Matinees: 12:45, 3:45

KONG: SKULL ISLAND Nightly: 7:10, 10:05 Weekend/Mon-Thurs Matinees: 1:10, 4:05

LIFE Nightly: 7:15, 10:00 Weekend/Mon-Thurs Matinees: 1:00, 4:10

LOGAN Nightly: 7:00 Weekend/Mon-Thurs Matinees: 12:40, 3:55

GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS Nightly 10:10

POWER RANGERS Nightly: 6:30, 9:30 Weekend/Mon-Thurs Matinee: 12:30, 3:30

B8 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

ALEISHA HENDRY 250-785-5631 ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

R0011384509

Coffee Corner

CONTACT US

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This 4-bedroom/2-bathroom one-of-akind family home that has something for everyone.

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This is one of those homes that will impress you from the minute you pull into the circular private drive.

Immaculate 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom home located in a great neighbourhood.

Beautiful new 1/2 duplex offering a very spacious main floor layout

Clue

Find the correct word, joining the first word then joining the second word

TODAY’S PUZZLE

Copyright © 2008, Penny Press

16. Provides 17. Fat from a pig 18. Belonging to a thing 22. Branches of a bone 25. Having a cheerless aspect or disposition 27. Edema (archaic) 28. Bo __, “10” 29. Unfledged or nestling hawk 30. Surrenders 32. Type of dessert 34. Planted with trees 35. Washington town Clue 36. Listen in 37. Inwardly 38. Chinese province 40. Garrison 41. Converts thermal energy to mechanical work 42. Holy people 44. Lowest point between two peaks 46. Boundaries 48. Utter obscenities 51. ___ and cheese 52. Member of the cuckoo family 53. Type of microscope 54. ___ and Barbie 56. Michigan

CLUES ACROSS 35. Steals 4. Household god (Roman) 1. Sold at a higher 38. Acts insincerely price 5. Public television 39. City in Belarus station 8. Instill fear 40. Anticipates 6. __ Lilly, drug 13. Can be domesti43. Paris airport the first Find the correct word, joining company cated 44. Deal with word joining the second word7. Degraded 14.

Oohedthen and ___ 45. No (Scottish) 8. Free from danger 15. Make too simple 47. Opens lock 9. Low bank or reef 19. Plutonium 48. Central parts of coral 20. Necessary for 49. Sheep disease 10.

Exclamation of breathing 50. Indicates position surprise 21. Make happy 51. Doing many 11. Lies down in rest 22. Mythological bird things at once 12. Give an educa23. A baglike struc55. Khoikhoin peotion to ture in a plant or ples animal 57. Informal alliance PREVIOUS PUZZLES ANSWERS 24. Put on __ between countries 25. Type of dough 58. Long poems 26. Blushed 59. The state of 30. Celestial object being poorly illumi31. Point __ National nated Seashore 32. Purplish red CLUES DOWN 33. Towards the 1. Portico mouth or oral region 2. Delicacy 34 Portuguese musi3. Punish with an cal genre arbitrary penalty

Clue

Find the correct word, joining the first word then joining the second word

TODAYS PUZZLE

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once.

Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started.

Remember: you must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column or 3x3 box.

PREVIOUS PUZZLES ANSWERS

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B9

Community

CONTACT US ALEISHA HENDRY 250-785-5631

“A community is life a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”

- Henrik Ibsen

ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

Health roundup ensures healthy kids Parents had the opportunity to get their small children screened for various health and development issues last week.

The Family Friendly Coalition held its annual Early Year’s Health Roundup at the Totem Mall on March 15. The event gives parents of kids aged zero to five a chance to get information on services in the community.

Heather McBryan, Early Years Community Development Co-ordinator for the Family Friendly Coalition, said the roundup is a good opportunity for parents to meet different people and groups they may not have been aware of.

“Children are screened up until their 18-month shots and then they’re not screened again until they’re five,” said McBryan. “Early intervention is so important so we’re trying to have options for parents to come and do the screenings.”

Kids and their parents had the opportunity to learn about fire safety, programs at the

Fort St. John Public Library and Engage Sport North, the importance of child and youth mental health, and were able to get their teeth and eyes checked.

“A lot of times we’re filling that gap between when children are dental office ready,” said Susanne Doetzel, a community dental hygienist with Northern Health. “They learn the process, to have someone in their mouth, and by the time we’re done our preventive program with them, they’re dental office ready.”

Parents also had the chance to get ages and stages screening done for their kids, courtesy of the Child Development Centre.

“It helps families get an idea of where their child is at, and then if they need a referral for services we can look at that and help them,” said Crystal Kalas, early years centre and special services co-ordinator for the CDC. McBryan noted that catching any problems or concerns early will better prepare children for success as they grow older.

“If there’s any concerns we can get them into the support systems they need earlier.”

Hear, hear! Recognizing when your pet has an ear infection

I

f your dog or cat is scratching their ears or shaking their head, there is a good chance that they may have an ear infection.

Once these symptoms start up, they usually will continue until the problem is diagnosed and treated appropriately.

The complicated part is that itchy ears can be caused by a variety of problems: parasites, bacteria, yeast, and even underlying allergies can all be to blame.

Since there are so many different possibilities for ear infections, it is important for a veterinarian to fully examine the ear, and often take samples, to get a better idea of what the issue is.

Parasites may sound scary, but they are often one of the simplest things to clear up.

The most frequently seen creepy crawlies are called ear mites, and they are contagious between both dogs and cats; however, ear mites tend to be much more commonly found in cats. Treating all in-contact dogs and cats is important to prevent continued reinfection. There are several types of highly-effective veterinary treatments available to help to clear up ear mites.

Bacteria and yeast often go hand-in-hand. Yeast usually only move in and set up shop if there is opportunity, meaning if there is a breakdown in the normal barriers of the ear. This can be caused by another infection going on at the same time (like a bacterial infection), or underlying allergies that can cause inflammation and allow infections to take over.

Treating yeast infections with a prescription from your veterinarian is normally effective, as long as the original problem has been dealt with.

Bacteria come in all shapes and sizes. Bacteria can be further characterized by

Dr. Sydney Routley NORTH PEACE CREATURE FEATURE

taking an ear sample and using a microscope to look at the type of bacteria present.

Bacteria can respond well to initial treatment, but if there are any resistance issues (if the antibiotic doesn’t kill the bacteria effectively) or if the animal has underlying allergies, the infection can be a challenge to treat. Following antibiotic prescriptions properly can help to prevent antibiotic resistance.

If your dog or cat has one of the above problems, receives treatment, and the ear infection never comes back, consider yourself very lucky to have dealt with an uncomplicated ear infection! Unfortunately, if ear infections with yeast and bacteria keep occurring, looking into the possibility of underlying allergies is important. Underlying allergy issues can be very frustrating to deal with. There are two basic categories of allergies in pets: they can be food-related or environment-related.

There are several options for diagnosing and managing (not curing) allergies, but the underlying issue will be life-long and require plenty of support to help the pet remain comfortable.

When your dog or cat is scratching their ears, there can be a variety of things wrong. Taking your pet to their veterinarian for an exam to fully evaluate the ears is important so that the best treatment can be started.

Dr. Sydney Routley is a 2012 graduate of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. She was raised in Fort St. John and first started working at the North Peace Veterinary Clinic as a student back in 2004.

Do you know of a sports or upcoming event? why not tell us? phone: 250-785-5631 or fax us at: 250-785-3522

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Four-and-a-half-year-old Mason Dawson gets his teeth looked at by a Northern Health dental hygienist during the Early Years Health Roundup on March 15.

R0011392627

ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca

Sponsored by: Conway Electric “The company that service built”

FORT ST. JOHN & DISTRICT CHURCH DIRECTORY ANGLICAN CHURCH of CANADA NoRTH PEACE PARISH Please join us at our temporary location at the Lutheran Church 9812 108 Ave Ph: 250-785-6471 “All are Invited and Welcome Here” - (Luke 14:23) SERVICES St. Martin’s, fort St. John, BC Sundays 1:30 p.m.

Rev. Enid Pow ********** Church of the Good Shepherd Taylor, BC - Sundays 9:30 a.m. ********** St. Matthias, Cecil Lake, BC 3rd Sun. of the Month 3:00 p.m.

Holy Communion BAHA’I fAITH BAHA’I fAITH National Baha’i Information 1-800-433-3284 Regular Firesides Mondays @ 8:00 p.m.

Deepenings continued Wednesdays at 250-7870089 Next Feast Info.

250-787-0089 ********** BAPTIST CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH 9607-107th Ave., fSJ Ph. (Office) 250-785-4307 Pastor: Michael Hayes Associate Pastor: Doug Janzen SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE 10:30AM ********** CATHoLIC RoMAN CATHoLIC CHURCH (Resurrection Church) Pastor: Rev. Vener Sabacan Phone 250-785-3413 www.fsjcatholic.ca MASSES: Saturday 7:30 p.m.

Sunday - 10:00 a.m. oNLY OFFICE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

BAPTISM: Contact the Pastor 3 months before baptism.

MARRIAGES: Contact the Pastor 3 months before the wedding. ********** ALLIANCE CHURCH 9804-99 Ave., fort St. John, BC V1J 3T8 Ph: 250-785-4644 fax: 250-785-8932 e-mail: office@fsjalliance.ca www.fsjalliance.ca SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE: 9:15am & 11:00am KIDVILLE: for ages 2yrs.-Gr.6 @ 9:15am **********

CoMMUNITY CHURCH CHARLIE LAKE CoMMUNITY CHURCH Lead Pastor: Alfred Reschke Associate Pastor: Jared Braun 250-785-1723 fax: 250-785-4136 clcc@pris.ca SUNDAY SCHooL: 9:30am SUNDAY WoRSHIP: 10:40am 1st left turn off Alaska Highway past the Charlie Lake Store. ********** PEACE CoMMUNITY CHURCH 10556-100th Street, Taylor, BC Pastor: Wally Pohlmann Phone: 250-789-3045 HoURS: 9:00am-Noon Monday-Wednesday & friday Email: office@taylorchurch.ca Website: www.taylorchurch.ca SUNDAY ADULT CLASS - 9:30am SUNDAY WoRSHIP SERVICE - 10:30am ********** EVANGELICAL foRT ST. JoHN EVANGELICAL MISSIoN 8220-89th Avenue, fSJ Pastor: Andy Wiebe Sunday School September-June begins at 9:30am Sunday mornings.

Worship Service - 10:45am Phone: 250-787-2550 ******* INTERDENoMINATIoNAL UPPER PINE GoSPEL CHAPEL Church Phone: 250-827-3833 Email: upgc@pris.ca Board Chairman: Andy Burkholder 250-827-3811 Box 66, Rose Prairie, BC ********** LUTHERAN PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 9812-108th Avenue, fort St. John, BC V1J 2R3 Office Phone: 250-785-2718 Pastor: Rev. Kebede Dibaba Regular Worship Schedule: 9:00am Youth, Adult Bible Study 10:00am Sunday Worship Service & Sunday School ********** PEACE RIVER MUSLIM ASSoCIATIoN Information: 250-787-1264 Jumm’a (Friday) Prayer @ 1:00pm 203-10903-100th Street, fort St. John, BC email: tahermorsi@shaw.ca ********** MENNoNITE NoRTH PEACE MENNoNITE BRETHREN CHURCH North Peace Mennonite Brethren Church 10816 106 St. fort St. John, BC V1J 5V2 250-785-3869

Lead Pastor: Andrew Eby Associate Pastor of Youth & Young Adults: Don Banman SUNDAY SERVICE TIMES: 9:15am & 11:00am ********** MENNoNITE MoNTNEY MENNoNITE CHURCH SUNDAY MoRNING: Sunday School & Worship: 9:30am SUNDAY EVENING: 2nd & 4th Sundays: 7:00pm Everyone Welcome!

Pastor Warren Martin Phone: (250) 827-3231 ********** NoNDENoMINATIoNAL CHRISTIAN LIfE CENTRE “Associated with “Fellowship of Christian Assemblies” “King Jesus is Lord Over the Peace” 8923-112th Avenue, fort St. John, BC V1J 6G2 website: www.christianlifefsj.ca Ph: 250-785-4040 fax: 250-785-4021 Pastor Steve Oboh Principal of Christian Life School: Garry Jones Everyone Welcome Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00am Nursery available and Sunday School is held during the sermon for ages 3-12 years.

Christian Life Centre is “Home of Christian Life School” ********** foRT ST. JoHN NATIVE BIBLE fELLoWSHIP Sunday Worship: 11:00am Wed., Night Bible Study: 7:30pm Pastor John A Giesbrecht 250-785-0127 ********** GIDEoNS INTERNATIoNAL Fort St. John Camp Ray Hein 250-827-3636 John Giesbrecht 250-785-0127 ********** NoRTHERN LIGHTS CHURCH INTERNATIoNAL (Rose Prairie, BC Sunday Service: Pre-Service Prayer: 10:30am Worship Service: 11:00am Everyone Welcome ********** THE SHELTER CHURCH “...the Lord will be a shelter for His people” Joel 3:6 9808-98A Ave. fort St. John, BC 250-785-3888 SUNDAY SERVICE: 10am Pastor: Oral Benterud 250-785-9151 ********** PENTECoSTAL THE PENTECoSTALS of foRT ST. JoHN Phone: 250-787-9888 Pastor: Jason McLaughlin Sunday 10am Service, Sunday School Youth Sunday 11am Worship Service Tuesday 7pm Prayer

Wednesday 7pm Bibile Study Friday 7pm Youth ********** PENTECoSTAL ASSEMBLIES of CANADA EVANGEL CHAPEL 10040-100 St., fort St. John Phone: 250-785-3386 Fax: 250-785-8345 Lead Pastor: Tony Warriner Sunday Services: 9:30am, 11:00am www.evangelfsj.com ********** The Journey 10011-100 St., fort St. John Phone: 250-785-6254 Pastor: Larry Lorentz Services: Sundays: 10:30am Tuesdays: 7:00pm ********** PRESBYTERIAN fort St. John Presbyterian Church 9907-98th St., fort St. John, BC Phone: 250-785-2482 fax: 250-785-2482 12:30 p.m. - Pie and Coffee 1:00 p.m. - Worship Service Everyone is invited to participate ********** REfoRMED TRINITY CoVENANT CHURCH Sunday Service: 10:00am Meets at the North Peace Cultural Center fort St. John, BC Elder: Mike Donovan Phone: 250-787-7702 matthew@trinitycovenant.ca Affiliated with C.R.E.C. ********** THE SALVATIoN ARMY THE SALVATIoN ARMY Sunday Worship Service: 10:30am 10116-100th Ave., fort St. John, BC Come Worship With Us. For information; Phone 250-785-0506 or food Bank 250-785-0500 ********** SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH 9008-100th Avenue, fort St. John, BC Phone: 250-785-8632 Pastor: Cavin Chwyl Phone: 250-719-7949 Saturday Service: 9:30am ********** UNITED CHURCH of CANADA ST. LUKE’S UNITED 9907-98 St., fort St. John, BC Office: 250-785-2919 fax: 250-785-2788 Email: stlukeuc@telus.net Sunday Worship Service @ 10:00am All are Welcome!

The United Church of Canada is a Union of Congregationalist, Methodist & Presbyterian Churches in Canada formed in 1925.

R0021161774

B10 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVES

Suffering from purse envy

I

cleaned out my purse this past weekend. I was shamed into cleaning out my purse after an embarrassing episode where I had to retrieve something from my handbag and found myself wrist deep into the contents; bits of paper and lint covered candies spilling out onto the store countertop.

I was looking for my Shopper’s Optimum card that should have been in my wallet, but true to form, I had not replaced the card after I last used it and now was trying to find it in the bottom of my purse. Do you know how many points I have lost out on simply because my card wasn’t put away properly? I lose out because it becomes too embarrassing and takes too long to find the card—I am holding up the line and I can feel the exasperation from people waiting behind me.

This is what happened again—I gave up, nodded knowingly when the cashier handed me my receipt with the news that if “I found the card I could add the points later” and I left the store. Sure—blah, blah, blah Let’s be real here. I was never going to ‘add the points later’ because the receipt was now crumpled into my purse, co-mingling with the tens of other receipts crumpled into my purse and just like Taylor Swift sings, “we were never, ever, ever getting back together again.”

I suffer purse envy, especially when I see someone pull out their wallet from their purse and all of the cards are lined up so perfectly like little colourful cars in a parking lot. They flip open their wallet and can find their cards without even looking! Receipts are folded up carefully and neatly and tucked away. A beautiful silver pen is in the pen slot of the wallet and the Stepford Wife driver’s licence photo peers out behind the clear plastic cover.

The interior of the purse is immaculate; nary a lintcovered candy can be found.

There are no half pieces of gum or lip-gloss with bit of tobacco clinging to the threads of the lid. There are no boarding cards or baggage claim tags from trips taken

Judy Kucharuk THE DESK OF THE GREEN-EYED GIRL

six months ago. There are no multiple mini bottles of Advil that sound like a maraca when tossed onto the seat of the car.

There are no spoons or forks from the lunch(es) at your desk last week where you licked the cutlery clean and tossed into your handbag (three spoons and one fork).

No, the purse that I envy contains the bare essentials and nothing more.

No miscellaneous receipts litter the bowels of the organized bag. Have you paid attention to the receipts that shoot forth from the cash register? You buy a jug of milk and the receipt is longer than your arm, the debit portion clinging to the main receipt by a thread. Clinging to the main receipt by the teeny, weeny corner—clinging with the strength of a skin tag. You know what I mean, you know how a skin tag seems like it is barely connected, but you can pull that puppy as hard as you want and it refuses to come off.

These receipts are the devil.

I don’t want to take them after a purchase, but my paranoid mind tells me to keep them so I can shred them and then burn them because if I do anything less I risk someone stealing my identity.

Hahahaha! I never actually shred them or burn them— they self -destruct in my purse!

You know, I am sensing a trend. Last week I talked about how I am an ‘anti-minimalist’ and this week I am talking about my messy purse. Maybe this public declaration is part of my recovery: My recovery from my cluttered purse and home.

Next week maybe we will talk about my messy car.

Judy Kucharuk is a lover of sarcasm, witty people and footnotes. You can read her book “Naked Tuesday” or catch her on CBC Radio Daybreak North where she shares her “Peace of Mind”. Follow her on twitter @ judylaine

AWESOME ART

ALEISHA HENDRY PHOTO

Kerri Richards demonstrates making circles in paint during the Library and Beyond Spring Break Camp at North Peace Secondary School.

Campers got to make some art, play disc golf and other activities.

IF YOU HAVE NEWS, CALL 250-785-5631

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B11

PERSPECTIVES

Watersheds are vital arteries to healthy habitats BRYAN BROWN Special to the Alaska Highway News

The Site C dam is a politically charged Peace River issue with generational importance.

While satellite imagery allows anyone with a computer to track the dam’s construction in real time, the ability to pan and tilt on a mouse pad does not guarantee balanced perspective. Fact-checking that once required a library now takes a few keystrokes—but the hard work remains the same. Baby and bathwater must be separated.

Not all context is perspective.

The Global Commons is essentially a patch of grass upon which anyone can graze a llama. While this metaphor oversimplifies the matter, simple etiquette applies to global resources like air and water: 1) protect, 2) share, and 3) respect. When applied to Blueways like the Peace River, Commons decorum boils down to “don’t spit in the soup—we all have to eat.” Everything matters downstream.

As early as 2013, it became clear that the Site C dam would be difficult to stop for several reasons—all of which had to do with corporate and political empire-building. During the 1870s, renowned American explorer John Wesley Powell (of Grand Canyon fame) recognized the risks of empire-building in the West. However, his forward-thinking resourcemanagement strategy stalled because commercial interests co-opted political interests.

Empires are still empires, but dams have replaced railroads on the Monopoly board. Politicians are pretty much the same.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began drafting the syllabus for Empire-Building 101 in 1902, and the Tennessee Valley

Authority subsequently refined it. BC Hydro’s Site C approach recycles classic dogma, which involves: 1) shaping public opinion to shift voting power away from construction regions, 2) harassing opposition stakeholders with expensive lawsuits, 3) marginalizing First Nations treaty rights, 4) using economic incentives (jobs and contracts) to foment cultural conflict between and among First Nations populations, 5) ignoring or minimizing important environmental issues, 6) using overly optimistic or misleading economic models and arguments to advance goals, 7) characterizing Green individuals and organizations as “fringe” or “subversive” elements, 8) purposefully blurring the lines between security personnel and law-enforcement personnel on and around construction sites, 9) vilifying (and eventually criminalizing) perceived fringe elements, and 10) diverting public attention while bulldozing what cannot be negotiated.

Effective Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) distill bedrock environmental issues from scientific data. The 22,000-page Site C EIS clearly established that watersheds are complex, monolithic organisms and that the Peace River

valley is no exception to the rule. The generational integrity of a nearly pristine slice of Canadian wilderness larger than many European countries is at stake here. Objectivity suffers when the potential import of legitimate scientific findings is manipulated for financial gain by interests supported by agencies of state.

The mouth of the Moberly River was once a high-latitude hotspot for amphibian sentinel species such as snakes and toads. The area is now a colossal mudhole. Two notable sentinel species remain in the Mackenzie watershed, however: whooping cranes at the watershed’s geographical heart (Wood Buffalo National Park), and beluga whales in the Mackenzie delta. Not surprisingly, American analogs for these sentinel species are 50 to 75 years ahead of the Mackenzie curve with respect to the environmental fall-out of short-term thinking.

Whooping cranes are quintessential inhabitants of the Global Commons that winter in the U.S. and breed in Canada.

Some 300 Whooping Cranes (50 per cent of the total population) migrate 8,000 kilometres (round trip) annually between Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (Texas) and Wood Buffalo National Park

Bryan Brown has amassed some 11,000 solo kayak miles on North America’s most remote and challenging watersheds (the Colorado, Yukon, and Mackenzie) in support of a rational environmental agenda celebrating the wonders of Planet Earth’s most magnificent blueways.

Have you HEARD? we are

del T o M d r o F 7 192

15. It was in r of 2014-20 te in pril w e th g T durin t it home in A l h e g d u o ro M b r e u o w ed Alberta so e summer We purchas e road for th ge building in th ra n to o s it a t f e o g k c ded many us to the ba rthy. Also ad e were anxio o w w e d a rs u ro o it c f e ak k stereo!

2015. O ed the 8 trac w things to m v fe o a m d re e d x n fi a ly started me so we on storation. It otor at that ti re m ff e -o th e m to a s fr rt chrome pa 016 it had a the yellow ter of 2015-2 stayed with in e w w , e rs th e g d n n ri Du st noticeable wn fe y. The bigge ody and bro b re g w rk llo a e d y a a to replaced. with d the fenders refinished or e g s n a a w h c g t in u th b body ere every e interior wh change is th block d new small Also installe & turbo 350 Chev motor the , and rebuilt transmission w o n the car is rear end. So ff! tu s ith Chevy Ford tough w ay d ed our Thurs We’ve enjoy e Mile Zero nights with th being part Cruisers and l car show. of the annua

(Alberta and Northwest Territories). Interviews with regional elders (along with a review of annual flood lines and seasonal ice-scour limits) clearly indicate that the Bennett and Peace dams have negatively impacted downstream habitat in the Peace valley since the late 1960s. The dry flat immediately in front of the tiny village of Garden Creek, AB, is big enough to land airliners on—but it was underwater until 1968 (when Bennett Dam construction was completed). Whooping cranes nest in marshland. How many more dams will it take to permanently alter their critically endangered habitat?

Vaquitas are endemic porpoises the size of eight-yearold children that now survive marginally at the mouth of the Colorado River. They share threatened habitat with drumfish called Totoaba. Totoaba swim bladders fetch $10,000 in Chinese markets, where they are used in soup. Totoaba gill nets drown vaquitas. The total vaquita population is now fewer than 100 individuals.

Beluga whales are the Mackenzie watershed’s vaquitas.

While belugas enjoy circumpolar habitat, so do the pesticides that kill them. Persistent organic pollutants gather in the fat layers that adapt these anim-

als to their cold-water habitat.

Like the Colorado, the Mackenzie concentrates these pollutants in its primary channel and eventually delivers them to the delta which—like all river deltas—serves as a breeding ground for diverse populations of fish, birds, plants, and animals. Pregnant women are regularly warned to limit their consumption of fish from the Peace and Slave rivers.

The parallels between what is happening now in the Mackenzie watershed and what has already happened in other major watersheds in North America are profound—but not complex. The key difference between the Mackenzie and Colorado watersheds is that rational Canadians can still protect the interests of their grandchildren. The Site C dam can still be stopped. The mouth of the Moberly can be returned to its native state. The direct threat of lower water levels on sensitive whooping crane habitat can be mitigated. The incredibly vital Mackenzie delta can be protected.

The Colorado River watershed is 90 per cent altered from its state 100 years ago; the Mackenzie watershed is 80 per cent unaltered. Environmental tipping points are sensitive, and unsullied watersheds are the arteries of healthy habitat.

How many more of them can we afford to sever?

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B12 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

Classifieds

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GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

Looking for a new opportunity?

Submit your resume today!

Field Operator: Our clients are looking for a local 3rd or 4th class Power Engineer to join their team of field & plant operators. This will be a camp position available to employees only. This position is for a large oil & gas company in the Fort St. John area.

Requirements: Proof of certification, Driver’s License and Abstract, list of work-related references, & must be able to provide valid copies of safety tickets

Candidates will have good experience in the oil field & will be eager, goaloriented individuals.

4th Class Power Engineer: Our clients are looking for a 4th Class Power Engineer to start immediately. This shift will rotate between nights & days, & is not a camp position. Preference will be given to those who reside in the Fort St. John area.

VOLUNTEERS

Bring your resume with 3 work-related references to our office today!

10139 101 Ave. Fort St. John, BC V1J 2B4 | p. 250.785.8367 | f. 250.785.4795 | www.macenna.com e. apply@macenna.com

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ABC Recycling, Fort St. John Family-style culture – Great benefits – Career growth opportunities Are you a dynamic leader who enjoys business development and operations management?

LaPrairie Works Oilfield Services Inc. Peace Region of Alberta and British Columbia

LaPrairie Works is a diversified and growing transportation specialist. We come with over 25 years of operating experience in Western Canada, and our core business areas include on and off highway hauling, oilfield services, mine contracting and site services.

We are currently recruiting permanent full time Class One Drivers to expand our local team of transportation and logistics professionals in the Peace Region of Alberta and British Columbia. The ideal candidates will fulfill the following criteria:

• Demonstrated initiative with solid HSE fundamentals and sound work ethic.

• Off-­‐Road & Mountain experience • Ability to apply and remove tire chains • Ability to work Day and Night Shifts • Valid Class 1 license & Driver abstract in good standing • Load Securement and First Aid Training • Ability to complete / maintain accurate Driver Hours of Service Records • Able to understand and communicate in English

ABC Recycling is seeking an entrepreneurial General Manager to oversee operations at the Fort St. John facility. You have solid business development or sales skills, industrial operations management experience, and you love building efficient processes.

With over 100 years in business and 9 locations in BC and Alberta, ABC is a company where you can grow your career.

For details on this exciting opportunity visit: abcrecycling.com/job_postings

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to: opportunities@kmclaughlin.com

LaPrairie Works Oilfield Services offers a competitive compensation program for qualified candidates.

Please forward current resume and abstract to:

Human Resources Department Email: careers@laprairiegroup.com Fax: (403) 767-­‐9932

DAWSON CREEK BADMINTON CLUB From Sept. 19, 2016 to April 26, 2017 Mondays & Wednesdays Time: 7:30-9:30 pm Central Campus Gym Dawson Creek Do not play on any statutory or school holidays.

Go on the school website to check on the holidays Please pay before you start playing.

Players under 16 years must have an adult with them.

You will need clean gym shoes and a racquet.

Contact Dan or Judy Pandachuck: 250782-4783 Save the Dates July 7, 5:00 pm to July 9, 2017 at 3:30 pm for the 23rd Annual Mile Zero Cruisers Summer Cruise weekend starts with Registration held at the Dawson Co-op. Bring down your pride and joy and register for the 2017 Summer Cruise Car Show weekend. All registrants will receive access to all weekend events as well as a chance to win prizes.

Check in this paper for more details closer to the show!

South Peace Historical Society MeetingsThird Wednesday of the month in Dawson Creek at the Calvin Kruk Centre Archives Room at 2 pm.

South Peace Historical Society Meetings Third Wednesday of the month. In Dawson Creek at the Calvin Kruk Centre Archives Room at 2 pm.

SUNDAYS: FAMILY TREE HELP - Peace Country Roots Group Meeting - Fourth Sunday of each Month at the CALVIN KRUK CENTRE in Dawson Creek 1:30pm WEDNESDAYS: COMPUTER INFORMATION -Seniors Computer Club - Dawson CO-OP Bistro 1:15pm 250-782-4668 for more information

LOST: 3 Mth Old White Long Haired Kitten with Blue Eyes and Butterscotch Tail $200. REWARD. 250-784-6533 MISSED GREATLY

Requirements: 3 years AP experience, Explorer V7.1 experience, supervisory, time management and organizational skills, along with communication and delegation skills.

For more information please visit our website at: http://bcinvasives.ca/about/employment/training-and-extension-specialist-peace-region

COMING EVENTS

LOST

You will manage and oversee the AP department, among other duties.

WHAT BACKGROUND WILL YOU NEED?

“Better at Home is looking for Volunteers who can help local seniors by driving them to shop or to appointments. Please Call 250782-2341 or stop in to the Better at Home office in the Co-op Mall.

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT Insulator wanted.

Email drbil@shaw.ca Looking for a live in care giver for an Elderly Lady in Goodlow BC. Phone 250-793-1587 Ask for Mae.

HOME CARE AVAILABLE Privately owned resident looking to provide living accommodation as well as light to medium care for 2 female senior elders. Separate fully furnished rooms with satellite TV in each room. Disability lifts available for entrance to house. We provide services such as meals, laundry, room cleaning and much more. Small pet friendly. Accepting bookings for beginning of May. Viewing by appointment. For more information please call 250-263-2700

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

DGS ASTRO PAVING, is currently accepting applications for a:

Heavy Duty Mechanic R0011387484

We encourage all who are qualified and interested to apply in confidence, However, only those in consideration will be contacted.

KNIT NIGHT: Thursdays at Faking Sanity Cafe in Dawson Creek6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Saturday, April 1st 1:00 pm Dawson Creek Royal Canadian Legion Branch#141 will be holding its Monthly General Meeting at the branch located at- 900-102nd Ave, side entrance across 9th Street from Lakeview Credit Union). All members are urged to attend.

COMING EVENTS

Accounts Payable Supervisor: This is a full-time position with the opportunity for permanent hire. Our client is looking for a candidate with leadership experience and an outgoing personality. Applicants must have held previous supervisory positions in this field, and have top notch accounting skills.

• Degree in natural resource science, or proven practical knowledge base.

• Experience or background in adult education and training.

• Proven ability and well respected for public speaking and/or training.

ART CLASSES UNTIL JUNE 30: Each day a different skill for after school youth DAWSON CREEK ART GALLERY: 3:30 to 5:00PM 250782-2601

COMING EVENTS

Candidates will have 0-3 years experience, and be willing to learn.

As a Training and Extension Specialist (Peace Region) for this innovative organization, you will have the opportunity to: • Deliver training programs and train the trainer sessions for key audiences in northeast BC; • Research and write current informational resources and extension materials on invasive species management; • Develop a Northeast BC Invasive Species Training Plan based on input from participants and potential employers;

from the Legion Hall.

Interment will follow in the Woodlawn Cemetery. If so desired condolences may forwarded through www.hamresfuneral.com

Requirements: Proof of certification, Driver’s License and Abstract, valid safety tickets (H2S a priority), list of work-related references

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Saturday, March 25th at 2:00pm

Bonnie Carlson 250-827-3132 Community & Bridal

GET RESULTS!

Funeral services for the late

of Fort St John will be held on

Carolynn Theoret 250-262-0078 Baby

community

Alene Margaret Darnall was born in New Plymouth, Idaho on June 10th 1921. She was the oldest of four children born to Ross and Margaret Darnall.

On April 15th 1928 the entire family and all their possessions were loaded into their truck and they drove north, arriving at their homestead just north of Fort St John two months later. This land is still home to Bob (brother) and Ruth Ann Darnall.

Alene did well in school. She also joined Monica Storr’s Brownie Sunflower Patrol , and by coincidence some 85 years later, when she moved into Peace Villa, she was assigned to the Sunflower Lane! The family would like to acknowledge the efforts and devotion of the staff there, and to thank Drs Temple and Watt as well.

She attended normal school in Vancouver, returning to Fort St John in 1942 to spend two years teaching and watching the town change with the construction of the Alaska Highway.

After joining the Air Force she was posted overseas in 1946, spending time in Yorkshire and London, before returning to the Peace River country and accepting another teaching job in Charlie Lake. In 1949 she headed up the Alaska Highway to become the first teacher at the school in Haines Junction.

However, Don Peck had other ideas for Alene and he came north after school ended and the couple were married in Whitehorse. They spent their early years building up the business at Trutch Lodge and expanding the guide outfitting business. Their family also expanded with the addition of Ross, Patty, Timber and then Kathy came along to liven up the 1960’s!

In 1963 the family moved south to Fort St John. Alene continued to keep the businesses and family organised and still found time for bridge with her friends.

Don died in 1980 and we lost Kathy in a tragic accident in 1982. Despite these losses, Alene continued to support the family business interests, traded for fur, moccasins and moose hides and took time to expand her horizons with world travel.

In her 70’s she moved into Fort St John’s first senior’s strata “Blue Spruce Villas” and lived there for many years, actively involved in the strata committee. In 2013 she was one of the first residents in the North Peace Senior’s Housing apartment #3, until declining health necessitated the move to Peace Villa in 2015.

She died peacefully on March 8th 2017.

Alene was predeceased by Don (husband), Kathy (daughter), Betty (sister), and Dan (brother) and will be lovingly remembered by brother Bob (Ruth Ann) Darnall, son Ross (Deborah), daughter Patty (Ray) Hebert, son Timber (Arlene), 7 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

She lived a wonderful rich and long life and will be sadly missed by her many friends and family.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Helen Moskalyk

OBITUARIES

1921-2017

ANNOUNCEMENTS

IF YOU HAVE NEWS, CALL 250-785-5631

R0011382529

OBITUARIES

250-785-5631 classifieds@ahnfsj.ca

R0011352370

TRADES HELP

Book Your Ad Now!

For their Fort St. John facility.

Permanent, seasonal employment. Shop and field work, benefits, wages negotiable.

Send resume with references to: DGS ASTRO PAVING, attention Mike Millar, PO Box 6820 Fort St. John, BC, V1J 4J3, or fax to 250-787-7281, or email: mmillar@dgsastro.bc.ca.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 B13

Classifieds GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

LOOKING TO HIRE EXPERIENCED PART-TIME RANCH HELP. CONTACT DAVE at 250-261-9962.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

SUNSET PRAIRIE LIVESTOCK ASSOCIATION is looking for a part-time pasture rider for the 2017 grazing season.

Interested parties contact Michael Graff at 250-719-8392

Traffic Control Training (Flagger) Dawson Creek. April 8, 9 $300.00. Phone: 1866-737-2389 or roadsafetytcs@hotmail.com

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

250-785-5631 classifieds@ahnfsj.ca

Book Your Ad Now!

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Kelt Exploration Ltd (Kelt) is currently seeking applications for the position of a Field HSER Advisor from qualified individuals. This Advisor will be positioned in Grande Prairie, AB with extensive travel to the Fort St John area of BC. The role is part of the Operations Team and will report directly to the Corporate HSE Coordinator and work closely with the Kelt Superintendent. The Advisor will be a health, safety, and regulatory professional, who will support our various business sectors with the coordination, and administration of safety on and off project sites. This is a challenging position that will require excellent written and verbal communication skills, as the successful candidate will work on our current health and safety projects to ensure proper documentation, control, and filing of project and office safety information. The candidate must be a self-starter and have the ability to work with minimal supervision.

This role requires the use of experience in Safety and Health as the position will interact with, drilling and completions, construction, plant and contract personnel and be responsible for the supervision, coordination, and administration of safety on project sites as well as office settings.

Flight Service Specialist Join a team that keeps aircraft moving safely and efficiently in Canadian airspace. NAV CANADA’s careers are among the most exciting the aviation industry has to offer.

We are currently seeking applicants interested in becoming a Flight Service Specialist in Fort St. John.

No aviation experience required - paid training provided.

Basic training will take place beginning August 2017 in Edmonton for approximately four months, after which students will return to Fort St. John to complete on-thejob training.

The deadline for applications is April 7. Interviews will be held the week of April 24.

Apply online today at navcanada.ca/careers.

navcanada.ca/careers

Responsibilities • Provide health and safety support to the Company’s various departments and work with Kelt’s health and safety site administration to ensure proper documentation, control, and filing of project information.

• Ensure that the health, safety and environment execution plan meets the requirements of all regulatory authorities in AB and BC. • Prepare and support corporate/field Safety Alert program and communicate as needed.

• Investigate any incidents that occur and ensure reports are completed in a timely fashion in conjunction with field foreman and all supervisors.

• Perform site safety inspection, observations and corrective coaching when required.

• Support current systems to ensure safety training (onboarding orientations) is provided to appropriate personnel in a timely fashion.

• Support, train and assist with implementation of Kelts electronic HSE management system iTrak.

• Ensure regular and frequent HSE communication is established and maintained within field operations, drilling and completion supervisors as well as across the organization.

• Liaise with contractors to ensure their HSE Management Systems meet Kelt’s standards and are fully developed and practiced.

• Assist and support Kelts electronic vendor management systems.

• Conduct field audits to ensure the safety training has been implemented and support competency initiatives.

• Attend and support field safety meetings.

• Monitoring and implementation of the health, safety and environment execution plans.

• Assist in the development of project safety plans, turn arounds.

• Coaching and mentoring in regards to HSE issues and/or concerns.

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications: Essential: • Minimum Grade twelve education.

• Completion of a Safety Management Certificate or Degree.

• Minimum seven years of progressive HSE experience.

• Extensive experience in upstream oil and gas operations including drilling, completions and construction.

• Legally authorized to work in Canada on a regular full-time basis without restrictions.

• Knowledge of HSE Management systems including competency.

• Experience with Incident/Accident investigation.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with all levels of management and field.

• Strong, computer, organizational, interpersonal and time management skills.

• Familiar with regulatory agency requirements in areas of Kelt operations, including Alberta and British Columbia.

Preferred: • CHSC, CRSP designation • Management or Technical/College Degree or Diploma in related field • Familiar with regulatory agency requirements in areas of Kelts operations including British Columbia and Alberta Please send resumes to: careers@keltexploration.com

APPLY NOW

Do you know of a sports or upcoming event? why not tell us? phone: 250-785-5631 or fax us at: 250-785-3522

DECOR

R0051169490

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY 250.785.5631/250.782.4888 TO PLACE YOUR AD

ARBORIST

ROOFING

Len’s Tree Service Ltd. Call today for your FREE ESTIMATE

(250) 794-2041 • www.lenstreeservice.com “Ask our Blind Man”

Blinds, Bedding & Draperies Hunter Douglas, Plus Two Top-Line or Budget Prices

Call 250-785-5754

The Power Of Print Print is stable...

Print has longevity...

With over 20 years experience, Len can help you with all your dangerous tree removal and pruning needs.

• BUCKET TRUCK with 65’ reach & 12” Chipper • Now with a STUMPGRINDER to serve you better

L WE WIL R BEAT MEET O ANY TITOR COMPE !

PRICES

We are a locally owned business and are WCB Certified with $5,000,000 personal and property liability.

“MAKE SURE YOU’RE PROTECTED”

DENTURES t in Inves t Future a a Gre able and Smiling fort m o C

Where are YOU spending your advertising dollars?

Call today and feel the power!

Denturist Jodie Atkinson

milezerodentureclinic.ca

Ryan Wallace @ 250-785-5631

Also located in Fort St. John

We offer same day service for relines and repairs 250-782-6004 103-816 103 Ave Dawson Creek, BC

www.alaskahighwaynews.ca

Typically 24% pass an ad onto others, 23% save the ad for future use and 13% visit a related website as a result of the publication.

Ryan Wallace Advertising Manager

Email: rwallace@ahnfsj.ca Office: 250-785-5631 9916 98 Street, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3T8

www.alaskahighwaynews.ca

Carousel Design & Decor

B14 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

Classifieds GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

Join Us: New Board Member Wanted We’re looking for a new public representative to join our Peace Region Board. You should bring a regional perspective, represent a broad range of public interests, and be able to make a three-year commitment starting June 1, 2017.

Apply by April 21, 2017.

As a member of our Board you will review and approve proposed fish and wildlife projects, and join other Board members in guiding the work of the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program in our Peace Region.

Contact our Peace Region Manager, Chelsea Coady, at 250-561-4884 or chelsea.coady@bchydro.com for more information or to receive an application.

The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program is a partnership between BC Hydro, the Province of B.C., First Nations, and Public Stakeholders to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by existing BC Hydro dams.

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

Land Act: Notice of Intention to Apply for a Disposition of Crown Land

Take notice that British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority from Vancouver, BC, has applied to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO), Northeast Region, for a License of Occupation, Industrial Policy situated on Provincial Crown land located at Peace River. The Lands File for this application is 8015911.

Written comments concerning this application should be directed to FrontCounter BC, at 100, 10003110th Avenue, Fort St. John, BC V1J 6M7, or by email to AuthorizingAgency.FortStJohn@gov.bc.ca.

Comments will be received by MFLNRO up to April 28, 2017. MFLNRO may not be able to consider comments received after this date. Please visit the website at www.arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/index.jsp for more information and a map of the application area. Or send comments directly to: AuthorizingAgency.FortStJohn@gov.bc.ca A Government decision for this application is expected on or after April 28, 2017.

Be advised that any response to this advertisement will be considered part of the public record. Access to these records requires the submission of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Visit http://www.gov.bc.ca/freedomofinformation to learn more about FOI submissions.

R0011390117

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

RENTFSJ.CA 778-834-RENT(7368)

Just Renovated - 3 Bedroom with basement

R0011392629

• • •

Quartz countertop - dishwashers Washer/Dryer in basement $1325 Very close to schools

• •

Washer/Dryer - close to schools Very very pet friendly

Starting at $1250 per month

3 Bedroom - 1.5 bath

Starting from $900 per month

RENTFSJ.CA SPECIAL

Worried about moving? We will pay for local move: 4 hours / 2 mgn with Peace Moving & Storage Ltd.

ask for details!

RENTFSJ.CA

MONTHLYSPECIA L First 3 months 1/2 price rent!

778-834-RENT(7368)

• CENTRALLY LOCATED • RECENT UPDATES

Starting at $650 per month - call

us!

R0011392630

Smokers and Pets Welcome!

1 & 2 Bedroom Clean Apartment Units

RENTFSJ.CA SPECIAL Ask about all our move-in specials

R0011352381

APARTMENTS/ CONDOS FOR

APARTMENTS/ CONDOS FOR

Li-Car Management Group

We have a variety of apartments, town homes, executive homes, and duplexes for rent. To apply for these,please email reception@licar.ca or visit our website at www.licar.ca

Phone: 250-785-2662

Have News ??? email Us news@ahnfsj.ca

For Hire: caregiver to look after my 2 children; 4 year old girl and 3 year old boy. Permanent, full time at a rate of 11.50/hour for 40 hrs/week. Completion of Secondary School : some college/CEGEP/ vocational. 1 to 2 years experience supervision or care for children.

Accommodation available on a live-in basis at no cost, but is not a condition of employment. Main duties include: supervise and care; assist/guide children on personal hygiene; meal preparation; organize and participate in children’s activities and may perform light housekeeping. Applicatant may apply via email: joan24garcia@ yahoo.

HOUSES FOR SALE

HOUSES FOR SALE

HOUSES FOR SALE

HOUSES FOR SALE

CHARLIE LAKE EXECUTIVE 5 BR 4 BATH HOME. LARGE GARAGE ON 5.6 VIEW ACRES. SO MANY GREAT FEATURES. CALL ANNETTE FOR INFO. IT'S A BEAUTY 250-793-4394

and Commercial, Farms, Shops, Land, Property Management Gary 261-1214

3 BDRM, DUPLEX FOR RENT. FAMILY ROOM ON MAIN FLOOR. FULL BASEMENT. AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY. 8804 - 89TH AVENUE. SMALL PET FRIENDLY, NO SMOKERS. $1,400/MTH PLUS UTILITIES.

Annette 793-4394

Gary Reeder Realty Ltd. COMMERCIAL SPACES AVAILABLE

ALPINE VILLAGE COMPLEX 1200/1500/2400 SQ FT SPACES AVAILABLE $12.00/ SQ FT PLUS TRIPLE NET CALL GARY @ 250-261-1214 FOR LEASE DETAILS

PROPE HOUSES FOR SALE 25

RESIDENTIAL FOR RENT

'Spouses Selling Houses'

9608-104TH AVENUE

LAND AND BLDG. FOR SALE-11204-100 AVE

8512 - 77 STREET

INCLUDES BUILDING- 4282 SF, CARETAKER SUITE, FRONT OFFICE/RETAIL, 3 BAYS ON 2 LOTS; PLUS EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES FOR CAR WASH AND LUBE CENTRE. WELL MAINTAINED, GREAT LOCATION, CONTACT ANNETTE FOR INFO & TO VIEW BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. 250-793-4394

ESTATE SALE, 3 BR BUNGALOW, 1144 SQ FT, RECENT UPGRADES: NEW FURNACE, NEW FLOORING, KITCHEN COUNTER TOPS, NEW PAINT IN KITCHEN, AND MAIN BATHROOM NEW TOILET & SINK. 100 AMP ELEC SERVICE. LISTED AT $235,000. MLS #2123243

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY- 9803-102 ST

FAMILY HOME IN THE NORTHEAST

A TWO STOREY OFFICE BUILDING , IN A GREAT LOCATION. THE MAIN FLOOR IS 3145 SQ FT OF OFFICE, KITCHEN AND BATHROOMS. THE SECOND FLOOR OF 3145 SQ FT HAS CLASSROOMS & BOARDROOMS. AN ADDITIONAL 3098 SQ FT IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY A RADIO STATION TENANT. THE TOTAL USABLE SPACE IS 9388 SQ FT. THE BUILDING COULD BE USED AS MULTI-TENANT OFFICE RENTALS. PRICE $1,100,000.00

NORTH EAST BUNGALOW, 4BR, 2BTH, DBLE GARAGE, FULLY DEVELOPED BSMT. $378,000.

631 85-5 50-7 -3522 2 : h 5 P 8 50-7 Fx: 2 AND MAYBE SOMEONE WILL

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

Stay informed: fwcp.ca/subscribe/

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

PLACE YOUR AD IN THE

CIRCLE YOUR AD!

Learn more about the FWCP and the projects we fund at fwcp.ca

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

Cruz Family Caregiver for a Baby $11/hr − Optional ac− commodation available at no charge on live in basis. This is not a condition for employ− ment. Duties are: bathe, dress and feed the ba− by; oversee baby’s ac− tivities; tend to the emotional well−being;− Maintain safe and healthy environment; Keep daily activities and health information re− garding the baby.

250−719−5226 marygon zales.cruz@yahoo.com

HOUSES FOR SALE

SOLID 1040 SF HOME, LARGE DINING ROOM, 3 BR , FULL CONCRETE BASEMENT. UPDATED BATHROOM, NEW SHINGLES APPROX. 2 YRS AGO. LARGE LOT, BACK LANE ACCESS, GREEN HOUSE, SHED. ELECTRICAL UPGRADE TO 100 AMP

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

Woodlot W1924 Woodlot Licence Plan Pursuant to Section 18 of the Forest and Range Practices Act, notice is hereby given that the Woodlot Licence Plan for Woodlot W1924, located between km 13.5 and km 17.8 on the Mile 98 Road, will be submitted for approval by the District Manager. The Woodlot Licence Plan specifies the strategies and results that will employed during forest management activities to conserve and protect timber and non-timber resource values. The Woodlot Licence Plan is current for a period of ten years, from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2027.

The Woodlot Licence Plan is available for public review and written comment from March 23 to April 23, 2017 by appointment. Please address correspondence or inquiries to W1924 Inquiries, 7244 – 253 Road, Baldonnel, BC, V0C 1C6, submit via email to amuriforestmanagement@gmail.com, or call to discuss by telephone at 250789-3411.

R0011391949

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

Ha Hea Enterprises Inc, dba Redwood Esso 10216-100St, Box 30, Taylor, BC V0C 2K0 Job Title: Convenience Store/Gas Station Clerk N0C 6421 (3 positions Available) Duties: Assisting customers. Conducting sales by cash register (cash, debit, credit transactions).

Monitoring inventory levels. Assist in display of merchandise.

Stocking and maintaining product shelves.

Requirements: Prior retail experience is an asset. Secondary School or equivalent.

Salary & Benefits: $12.50/hour, Subsidizing housing, 10 days paid holidays.

Permanent-Full-time position (40 hours per week) Location of work: Redwood Esso Station at 10216-100St, Taylor BC How to Apply:

By Fax: 250-789-3195

By Email: redwoodesso@hotmail.com Janitor Supervisor and Bookkeeper needed immediately. A well-known Janitorial services located in Fort St John is in need of a Janitorial Supervisor and a bookkeeper with min 1-2 years of experience in the respective field. Salary will be further discussed if selected.

Interested candidates can submit their resume on: custodialallnorth@gmail. com

MANAGEMENT/ Landsong Heritage Con− sulting Ltd. Full Time Administrative Assistant Must have excellent computer, organization and communication skills. For more info see bcapa.ca/careers/jobs. www.landsong.com

TRUCKING & TRANSPORT Halo Ventures Ltd. Class 1 Driver Looking for Class 1 Driver. Must have Oil− field Fluid Hauling Ex− perience. Please send resume and driver’s abstract to: cara@haloventures.ca.

Will contact eligible ap− plicants. No phone in− terviews taken.

GARAGE SALES

Clearance!! Everything must go. Shelving last 10404-101st Ave

BUSINESS SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

$750 Loans & More NO CREDIT CHECKS Open 7 days/week 8am - 8pm 1-855-527-4368 Apply at: www.credit700.ca

APARTMENTS/ CONDOS FOR

CALL NOW! REASONABLE RENTS! 1 & 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS. CLEAN, QUIET, ADULT SECURED BUILDING ON BUS ROUTE IN DC .WHEELCHAIR FRIENDLY ON LOWER LEVEL. NO PETS. 250782-1331 MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW. Completely Renovated 1 Bedroom & Bachelor Suites in DC. Bus Stop at Front Door. Adults Only.

Senior Discount. REFERENCES REQUIRED. 250-843-7337

Arctic Duct Cleaning, Furnace & duct cleaning, Chimney sweep. 250-787-7217 (FSJ)

Dawson Creek Northern Lights Apartments has Bachelor Apartments Available. Cable/Heat, Water/Hot Water Included. Please Phone : 250-782-7130.

ASK FOR INCENTIVES

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

SUITES FOR RENT

BASEMENT SUITES

HOUSES FOR RENT

ROOMS

1 Furnished Basement Suite in DC. Includes Utilities,Working Adults, Non Smokers.

Phone: 250-782-5873

Quiet Adult Living in Large 3 bedroom Farmhouse in Home Owners Yard. $1200.00/month +utilities. RV Parking can be Included. 6 Miles from Dawson Creek. No Smokers, Dogs, Reptiles or Horses. Other Pets Negotiable. References Required. Phone: 250-784-8571.

Furnished or unfurnished rooms/private bath. Pouce Coupe.

From $550/month includes utilities/Cable/ Laundry Facilities.

Call 250-719-8111

HOUSES FOR RENT 2 bedroom house, quiet neighbourhood, partially fenced.

Fridge/stove/washer/dryer. $1100./month +utilities. 9013-Elwood-Dr., D.C.. NoSmoking/No Pets. 250782-4674

X

SHARED ACCOMMODATION

Room for rent in large house in DC. Washer/Dryer. Everything included. Pet friendly.

Call Colleen 250-7846533

THIS IS WHERE YOUR AD SHOULD BE

Have News ???

SUITES FOR RENT 2 bedroom in 4-plex for rent in Dawson Creek, F/S & W/D. Phone: 250719-5181

email Us news@ahnfsj.ca

For Rent: FURNISHED SMALL SUITE in Dawson Creek, Downtown. No Pets. Phone: 250-7827042

DOMESTIC CARS FOR SALE in DC: 2003 Buick Century, 174k, Summer/Winter Tires on Rims. Good Condition, $2500.

FIRM. 250-782-2362 SPORTS UTILITIES & 4X4S 2010 CADILLAC ESV 7 PAS ESCALADE Cash/ trade/lease to own terms. $22,900 V8 auto, power sunroof, remote start, KL entry, DVD, roof rack, power heated leather seats, AC, tilt, cruise, pws, pdls, rear camera. 183,210kms.

780−485−0900 1543 Week of 3.20.2017

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

250-785-5631 classifieds@ahnfsj.ca

Book Your Ad Now!

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

HIP OR KNEE REPLACEMENT? Arthritic C o n d i t i o n s / C O PD? Restrictions in Walking/ Dressing? Disability Tax Credit $2,000 Tax Credit $20,000 Refund. Apply Today For Assistance: 1- 8 4 4 - 4 5 3 - 5 372.

BUSINESS SERVICES

DENIED Canada Pension Plan disability benefits?

Under 65 and want to apply for CPP disability benefits? Disabilit y Claims Advocacy Clinic can help. Call 1-877-7933 2 2 2 w w w. d c a c . c a .

EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITIES

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION! In- demand career!

Employers have work-athome positions available.

Get online training you need from an employer-trusted program. Visit: CareerStep. ca/MT or 1-855-768-3362 to start training for your workat-home career today!

LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICES

FOR SALE

SAWMILLS from only $4,397 - MAKE MONEY & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill - Cut lumber any dimension.

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COMMUNITY

Proper photo editing can make a huge difference Darcy Shawchek THE F-STOP

E

diting photos, where does one start and why? OK your at gramma’s house and you get a nice photo and you get home and put it on the computer and your heart sinks because it’s out of focus and the color is way off. What do you do? There’s an answer—No you don’t smash your camera and freak out—you relax and find yourself a good editing program because you can fix it into a work of art or a great piece for the wall, in the basement, in the closet.

Out of focus photos You could crank up the sharpness but that looks really bad, here is the trick. In your editing software you have the option of adding noise. It’s comparable to printing on sandpaper. You would think that adding grain or noise to an already bad image would be bad.

It’s quite the opposite. Adding grain can dramatically increase the sharpness of a photo and mask the out of focus look.

Try it, it works, I’m not saying go out and take an out of focus image though, be careful and get it right the first time.

DARCY SHAWCHEK PHOTO

Photo is of Darcy and his buddy taken using a laser yard light in a dense fog. Left side is edited. Edits were: decreased highlights 10 per cent; increased saturation 5 per cent; increase clarity 5 per cent. Photo looks like they are having fun but truthfully they stood there freezing in minus 30 weather, standing still like mannequins for 30 seconds.

your photos. Kind of a worry free fix like wearing your boxers in the pool.

Where do I get me some editing software, and what do I use?

If you are new to editing software you can start off with something easy and cheap. Fotor is a great editing tool with all the features of most edition software’s. Best part is it is 100 per cent free to download. It is really user friendly and it doesn’t take a workhorse computer to run smoothly. If you want to step it up a notch you can try a software created for Ubuntu users called GIMP. It is a great rival to premium software and also free to download. It has all the functionality of the

Bad color and lighting Yup, it happens a lot—wrong white balance, whites are too bright, or pale blue dead looking subjects. All part of learning to be great with a camera. It’s going to happen unless you are super camera guru and you never mess up.

They do exist. The easiest and most common way to edit a really off color image is to go monochrome. Black and white. Poof, problem solved. Every editing software has that option. It will save

full Photoshop software, however it is not intended for new users and is pretty intimidating. Don’t let that scare you though. For every type of editing there is an online tutorial on YouTube.

Do your best and be critical of your own work before you plaster it all over Facebook.

I do two types of photography, Portraits and landscapes, My landscapes are often edited cause I shoot mainly at night and half the time I’m over exposed, the other half is underexposed and bland because it is dark out and hard to see. Ill tweak the shadows and highlights and lately I’ve been turning up the saturation because people seem to like bright colorful stuff. When I’m

shooting portraits I don’t edit. I make sure to get it right in camera by watching my exposure meter and choosing the proper white balance for the surrounding’s.

If you have troubles with an image and need help, message me on Facebook and I’ll gladly help providing I have popcorn. I always have popcorn.

Happy shooting.

Darcy Shawchek is a photographer based in Fort St. John, who is on a mission to capture the breathtaking and majestic Peace River area through the lens, day or night. Email him your photography questions at dr.shawchek@ gmail.com

Wind and solar are now called advanced energy sources

Y

ou may have noticed: the conventional energy scene (coal, oil, gas) is a wee bit volatile these days.

First LNG is going to put a trillion dollars in B.C.’s coffers, then almost overnight it’s not. Natural gas, our “30 year transition fuel” has suddenly become our “10 year transition fuel,” and now it’s looking like we barely need a transition fuel at all. All we have to do instead is simply get on with the transition.

Site C dam seemed OK at first. A reasonable extension of the existing dam network on the Peace River, and after all hydropower is “renewable” (not “clean,” by any stretch of the imagination in this case, just renewable).

And we were reassured that we “need” the power “for all those electric cars that David Suzuki wants” (B.C.’s energy minister actually said that on CBC radio last year). Now, after a closer look at the figures, Site C seems more a product of ego and politics than actual need.

And Shell is pulling out of the Alberta oil sands! Instead it’s upping its investments in renewables to $1 billion a year, because of the disappearing “acceptance of the energy system as we have it.” What?!

This kind of volatility and unpredictability in the conventional energy scene has long been expected during this time of rapid transition.

The good news, of course, is that the alternative energy scene, mostly wind and solar, is showing unprecedented, predictable growth. Oh sure there will be setbacks, as vested interests try to put the breaks on, but it’s clear now that the shift to clean energy is unstoppable.

It just makes too much sense.

HOW BIG IS HUGE? Regular readers of Watt’s Happening will already know that global investment in the clean energies of wind and solar has exceeded investments in fossil fuels and nuclear combined for two years now. Well, it just keeps on going.

Don Pettit WATT’S HAPPENING

ive, we already know this. Bear Mountain Wind Park was B.C.’s first commercial wind facility, and one might have expected huge push back as local residents faced the unknown.

But Peace Energy and their partners held some 30 public meetings, long before such

meetings were required by the environmental assessment.

Real information and community engagement made all the difference, a lesson Ontario has now learned the hard way.

By the way, the new term for energy derived from wind and solar in no longer “alternative

energy.” Now it’s called “advanced energy.”

I like that, because that’s what it is. Forward ho!

Don Pettit is a founding member of the Peace Energy Cooperative. He can be reached at dpettit@pris.ca

The clean energy industry in the U.S. alone is now worth an amazing US $200 billion a year, which is about the same as America’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and catching up with consumer electronics.

Worldwide, it’s the same story. Clean energy is a US$1.4 trillion industry globally, well ahead of air travel, tied with apparel and catching up to media.

The growth rate of the global economy is about 3 percent per year. The growth rate of the clean energy sector is close to 7 percent annually.

So don’t let anybody tell you that renewable energies like wind and solar are a niche market or a passing fad. Hardly.

ALBERTA’S CARBON TAX After just a few months, Alberta is putting its carbon tax to work. Albertans are being offered rebates for rooftop solar panels and a program to install free energy-saving lights, showerheads and thermostats. That’s putting money in the pockets of Albertans, and cleaning up their environment at the same time.

That’s how carbon taxes are supposed to work: tax the carbon emitters, and use that money to encourage low-carbon energies, preferably right back to the folks who paid the tax in the first place. Too bad B.C. hasn’t figured out how to use their carbon tax yet.

WIND FARMS NEED COMMUNITY A new study shows that wind farms in Nova Scotia are three times as popular as wind farms in Ontario. The study concludes that involving local communities in the planning and benefits of wind farms makes a big difference.

At Peace Energy Cooperat-

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COMMUNITY

Corn brings out sweet side

C

orn is the sweet side of North American history.

Currently, we use it for eating, animal feed and ethanol gas.

Though current corn production spans the continent, the first variety grew in Central America. Native peoples living in Central America greeted European settlers with both food and seeds for planting corn. To this day, corn harvests bring out our sweet side.

The original maize plants only grew 25 mm long corn cobs, one per plant. They were transformed by many centuries of indigenous seed selection.

This new corn plant was capable of growing many cobs per plant and longer. European explorers were all given this special gift of anti-famine food when they arrived in North and Central America. They were starving and many were sick with scurvy without vegetables.

Quickly, European chefs and production investors developed corn syrup and candy sweets. Many corn products have made their impact on North American culture.

Popcorn stands as a an icon of food trends. Chocolate is another gift of the native tribes in Central America. One of my favourite winter night snacks is a combination of the two.

Chocolate covered popcorn 500 g dried corn kernels Salt to taste Butter to taste 100g Bakers chocolate 200 ml whipping cream Place corn into a pot with a lid and handles, place it on a stove top, and stir constantly.

When the corn begins to pop,

R0011391955

PUBLIC HEARING

B16 THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

DATE: MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 TIME: 6:00 p.m.

LOCATION: City Hall Council Chambers Temporary Use Permit Application for 9904 – 94 Street (Passive House) Notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Fort St. John will be considering issuing a Temporary Use Permit for 9904 – 94 Street (Passive House) legally described as Lot 3, Block 8, Section 32, Township 83, Range 18, W6M, Peace River District Plan 3102.

Judah Koile FROM THE FARM TO THE TABLE

continue to stir until it is flying out of the pot and you’re getting hit in the face while trying to block it down with the lid. Stir anyway at the same time. Then place the lid on and every few minutes grab the handles and shake the pot to stir the corn off the bottom from burning.

When the corn has slowed popping, remove from heat with the lid still on. Once it’s done popping, pour your popcorn onto a large cookie pan.

Place Baker’s chocolate in a steel mixing bowl, and place over a pot with water in it. This is called a water bath. Place the pot on the stove and turn it on low.

In another pot, warm your cream to body temperature. When the chocolate has melted and the cream is warm, pour the cream in the chocolate and gently mix the two together. Do not over stir as this will split your gnash.

Butter and salt your pop corn. Drizzle your chocolate mixture over the popcorn and let harden. Break into clusters, add nuts or spices for extra flavour and crunch.

Place in your favourite bowl and find a long, long movie to watch.

Judah Koile is a Fort St. John chef and co-owns The BEAM with his wife, Jiwon Kim. Koile has more than a decade of culinary experience, and has worked in restaurants across Canada and South America.

The City and the UNBC Community Development Institute (CDI) have entered into a four year agreement for the CDI to develop a social policy framework, economic development strategy and strategic land assembly. The City’s Passive House was selected as the location for the CDI’s local office. The property is currently zoned R2 and the proposed use would exceed the regulations for a Home Occupation, therefore a Temporary Use Permit is required.

A Temporary Use Permit can be used to allow a use on a temporary basis that is not otherwise permitted in the City’s Official Community Plan or Zoning Bylaw. The permit may be granted for a period of three years and may be renewed once, subject to Council’s approval.

Copies of the relevant documents and related information may be inspected at City Hall – 10631 – 100 Street, Fort St. John, BC between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from March 20 to 27, 2017.

At the Public Hearing, the public will be allowed to make presentations to Council or to present written submissions respecting matters contained in the application for a Temporary Use Permit.

www.fortstjohn.ca

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