ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS
A2 | NEWS | THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
Red Dress Day held Tom Summer tsummer@ahnfsj.ca
TOM SUMMER PHOTO
Charmaine Hunter and her mother Chief Darlene Hunter of Halfway River First Nation met with friend Mindy Henyu for a small and personal walk at Kin Park in Fort St. John on Thursday to honour the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.
10 Fort St. John nursing students complete first year of training Dave Lueneberg sports@ahnfsj.ca A collective sigh of relief is likely to come this month from a group of Fort St. John university students. May will mark the halfway point for the first cohort of UNBC’s Northern Baccalaureate Nursing Program for registered nurses. The program, which began last fall, is being taught at the Northern Lights College’s North Peace campus. Originally set to start in September 2020, it was sidelined for a year by the pandemic. “Things have been very busy,” said the program’s coordinator Raelene Marceau during a panel discussion on healthcare at the North Central Local Government Association convention Wednesday. “You know, coming out of this Covid fog, it’s been a little bit overwhelming for students and faculty, and myself.” But, she believes brighter days are ahead. “I think because of Covid and the challenges, it’s been difficult to build a program. We’re hoping to continue
the momentum that we’ve started. Get out and about. Engage with community members and stakeholders in a difference way, rather than virtually. Spread the word and provide tours.” While many university students might come home and, maybe, pick up a parttime summer job, students in this group will continue on in their training in the coming weeks, in what’s termed a ‘spring and summer interception.’ “This program is an immersive, condensed 18-month program so there’s really not a lot of breaks,” says Marceau. “So, they won’t get much of a summer break. A few weeks off in August, before returning to class in September.” A nurse practitioner herself, she’s proud of the fact that many of the students enrolled are from the region and plan to work close to home thanks to an already-set up pre-screening process. “We screen our applicants using a remote and rural suitability index to see whether they’ll stay in the north. We’re
hoping the process is going to work,” says Marceau. “Obviously we truly hope to have a lot more local applicants. We want to grow our own. We want applicants to have the opportunity to be fully trained and not have to go anywhere.” “I really liked when I heard that part of the application and interview process is about,” says Taylor Mayor Rob Fraser. “Are you willing to stay in the north? What are your connections to the north? I was glad to hear that.” Northern Health’s northeast CEO couldn’t be happier with the success to date. “I think it’s been tremendous. You can see it in terms of the pulse at the hospital,” says Angela De Smit. “They have students that are local and they’re enthusiastic about that because it’s a lot of work upon the direct staff to be a trainer.” By being local, De Smit feels existing staff are more likely to consider their time, not as a task, but an investment. As many as 16 new candidates will begin their training in September.
Notice of Public Hearing ZONING AMENDMENT BYLAW NO. 2481, 2022
FILE NO. 22-002 ZN
When: May 24, 2022 | 6:00pm
Charlie Lake Area
Where: 1st Floor Meeting Room
Address: 13392 Old Hope Rd.
Pomeroy Sports Centre
Proposal: To rezone a ±30.8 ha portion of the subject property from Large Agricultural Holdings (A-2) Zone to Residential 5 (R-5) Zone and the remainder to Small Agricultural Holdings (A-1) Zone to facilitate a subdivision.
9324 96 St.
The South East 1/4 of Section 11 Township 84 Range 20 West of the 6th Meridian Peace River District Except Parcel A (F2774)
The Peace River Regional District is hosting a meeting to discuss the proposed Zoning Amendment.
Fort St. John, B.C For More Information: Contact: Development Services 250-784-3200 Toll Free: 1-800-670-7773 Email: planning@prrd.bc.ca www.prrd.bc.ca Written comments or concerns accepted until 4.00 pm May 24, 2022. Documents may be viewed Monday-Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm at 1981 Alaska Avenue, Dawson Creek, BC, V1G 4H8. This public hearing has been delegated to the Director of Electoral Area C.
The Treaty 8 Tribal Association invited the public to gather and honour the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Thursday afternoon. The day is observed every May 5,and Connie Greyeyes, a well-known advocate for social justice and the manager for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, says it’s more than just a day to wear red or walk in people’s memory. “Today is all about honouring the lives of the many women who have gone missing or have been murdered in this community, many of them were my friends,” she said. “And so it’s always important to make sure that we acknowledge that. For me, it’s much more than having a walk, or putting on a red dress or a shirt, it’s much deeper than that, and it has to be.” Greyeyes attended Jody Wilson-Raybould’s keynote speech at the North Central Government Association’s 2022 convention and agreed that it’s time to go beyond symbols and performative reconciliation. “It’s about making a real
concerted effort to change your thoughts and views on indigenous people in Canada and trying to understand the intergenerational trauma that we’ve all experienced through residential schools, day schools, from time immemorial, from first contact,” Greyeyes said. “All of these factors play into why we are so much more at risk.” Greyeyes says everyone should be mindful of the impacts from resource industries in Northeast B.C., and how that can affect vulnerable populations. Indigenous women are five times more likely to go missing compared to their peers, she says. “When industry comes to town, everything gets driven up, which causes people that are already marginalized to be further marginalized. They can’t afford things, so they do things that may put them at risk,” she said. “Walking home from a midnight job and having to walk home in the middle of the night.” “It’s important to have those conversations so that people understand that there’s many, many factors that contribute to this crisis of our women and girls being more at risk.” -Local Journalism Initiative
Spring not in sight Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca The unseasonably soggy, chilly spring in Fort St. John isn’t about to let up, at least not for a couple more days, according to weather forecasters. According to Environment Canada, the city saw 64mm of precipitation in April — 319.4% of normal, with single-day records set April 8, 18, 19, and 28 — and another 42.4mm so far this May, already ahead of a seasonal average of 37.9mm for the month, and with one unofficial single day record on May 6. “It’s been much wetter than normal,” says meteorologist Ken Dosanjh. “That follows in Chetwynd and Dawson Creek as well, where they are also reaching two to three times the normal precipitation for April.” Temperatures in Fort St. John are also “considerably below seasonal norms,” says Dosanjh, with daytime highs hovering around four degrees, far short of the usual 16 C. Dosanjh says that’s because a cool air mass and centre of low pressure in the northern Prairies continues to wrap around the B.C. Peace region from the east and northeast, rather than
the typical weather system from the west or southwest. That cold air, backfilled with plenty of moisture, is bringing “very unsettled conditions.” “It’s an influx of colder air and its happening throughout all of B.C. The flow has been very stagnant. Nothing is pushing this colder air out, it’s just continuing to come in,” said Dosanjh. Precipitation is expected to continue falling for the next day or two, and winds will switch to a more southerly direction, Dosanjh says. Temperatures will creep into the low double digits by Thursday and Friday, though still cooler than average, he says. “As this system over the northern Prairies weakens, then we can start to see a bit of clearing, and thankfully the end of this long precipitation event you have been having,” said Dosanjh. “By the end of week, hopefully everyone will enjoy a nice weekend. Unfortunately this upper low pattern happens to be with us for the next week or so.” A special weather statement was in effect for Fort Nelson and Muncho Lake and Stone Mountain Park earlier in the week. Environment Canada said the low pressure system over the Prairies was bringing additional snow accumulation near 15cm for that region.