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VOL. 27 NO. 28
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Homeless shelter opens early By JOSH MASSEY A LOCAL emergency shelter run by the Ksan House Society during the winter weather months has opened earlier than normal because of this fall’s particularly inclement weather and the lack of space at the society’s regular housing shelter. While the society is receiving BC Housing operating money from Nov. 1 onward, which is
the first official date for extreme weather shelters across the province, it has yet to receive outside financial assistance for the early opening which began Oct. 9. Ksan society housing director Elaine McGillivray said the decision to open early came out of a meeting with BC Housing officials in early October. “They said we should do it,” said McGillvray of discussion at
the meeting, which concentrated on the demand for shelter given the cold and wet conditions this fall. “We wanted to get people off the streets.” The society’s regular shelter on Hall Street has 22 spots and the demand exceeds their supply. The winter weather shelter at the All Nations Centre on Sparks, officially called the extreme weather shelter, has 20 spaces for
both men and women and opens for the nighttime only. “Last night we had 15 people and our average is running anywhere from 10 to 15,” said McGillvray during an Oct. 30 interview of attendance the first three weeks. A spring count within the city this year determined there were 74 people considered homeless. The winter weather shelter is also called the damp shelter be-
cause unlike the regular shelter, it accepts people who have been drinking. But any alcohol must be turned in before entering the All Nations Centre. Those admitted to the shelter sleep on pads which are rolled up and stored when not in use. This is the second year the Ksan society has used the All Nations Centre.
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City pursues LNG revenue SHOULD ANY number of the proposed natural gas pipeline projects and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants proceed, how northwestern local governments deal with the financial impacts should best be arranged between those governments and the province, says the head of a lobby group made up of project backers. The topic came up in a presentation from BC LNG president David Keane to city council Oct. 26, where he talked about the state of the potential LNG industry, which has become the most talked about economic development prospect in a generation because of the billions in investment that could flow from the projects. Northwestern governments are advocating for a share of provincial LNG taxation revenue because of the impacts and demands on local government services that would come from increased business activity and population growth if any number of the projects proceed. “If you look at one of the large LNG plants alone, it will be somewhere between fourteen, fifteen, sixteen billion dollars of investment just for the plants. There will be seven or eight billion dollars for the pipelines,” said Keane. Councillor Stacey Tyers is the chair of the Northwest BC Regional Benefits Alliance, which is the group made up of northwestern local governments who are looking for a revenue sharing deal with the province. She brought up the issue of revenue sharing with Keane. He said he “doesn’t disagree” with the concept, but noted that from the BC LNG perspective, there would be benefits from thousands of jobs within the area during the construction period and “literally hundreds” of jobs during the operations of LNG plants. “They will be high paying jobs that will have a knock-on effect in terms of increasing jobs and employment for others in the Northwest,” he said afterwards. He also said that the LNG companies are committed to hiring locally in B.C. and Canada but that “doesn’t mean that we won’t have temporary foreign workers.” “I am making sure that we do have labour from B.C. that is ready to go when these projects are ready to go,” he said.
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JACKIE LIEUWEN PHOTO
■■ Fall updo HAIRDRESSING STUDENT Abigail Gosnell styles a beautiful fall updo on a mannequin at the new trades centre in the old Thornhill Junior Secondary building. The Coast Mountains School District celebrated the opening of the Northwest Trades and Employment Centre with an open house October 30. The centre houses a hairdressing studio and its distance education arm and leases space to the UA Piping Industry College of BC. The school district plans further development for the centre over the next three years.
Remember
Byelection set
Helpful hockey
French veteran honoured for his contribution in Second World War \COMMUNITY A14
School district decides on date to choose Thornhill trustee \NEWS A9
Academy teaching athletes to be role models in community \SPORTS A25