KAMLOOPS BLAZERS RETURN HOME ON SUNDAY, DEC. 29, VS. VANCOUVER • 6 P.M. FACEOFF
DE K A M L O O P S
Union claims nurses leaving Hillside due to violent incidents Page A3
THURSDAY
Thursday, December 26, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 103
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
Sit back, relax and take in the year that was in sports quips Page A19
THIS WEEK
Thompson River Publications Partnership Ltd.
KTW’S PHOTOS OF THE YEAR Turn to pages B1 to B6 to see the best from photographers Dave Eagles and Allen Douglas The year-end interview
The year-end interview
Premier Christy Clark
Mayor Peter Milobar
By Tom Fletcher
By Andrea Klassen
BLACK PRESS
STAFF REPORTER
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
After a whirlwind year that started with a come-from-behind election win, Premier Christy Clark sat down for the traditional year-end interview in her Victoria office. Here are excerpts from that discussion.
Mayor Peter Milobar can pick out a few City of Kamloops highlights of 2013 — an $80-million expansion that broke ground at Royal Inland Hospital and better streetlights on Tranquille, to name two. But, for the most part, the year that was contained more “day in, day out” tasks than epic moments or raging battles. While that doesn’t make for the most exciting memories, Milobar said it’s the way he prefers it. “I’ve always said good local government sometimes almost seems boring,” the mayor told KTW in an endof-year sit-down. “I think that’s been a good thing in terms of how we as a council have done things. We’ve done things very methodically, not rushed things if they don’t need to be rushed.” Not that the year was entirely without event. The city’s decision to swap out its coin-operated meters for pay stations PETER MILOBAR earned a few headlines, as did council’s decision to raise pay for councillors by around $10,000 as of the next term. While KGHM Ajax failed to file for an environmental review of its controversial proposed copper and gold mine in 2013, it didn’t stop delegations, letter writers and two different online petitions from showing up at city hall, calling for council’s support or condemnation of the project. And, starting to loom larger in the minds of those around the council table, is next year’s municipal election, during which at least a few of the issues of 2013 are likely to once again rear their heads.
FLETCHER: Premier, you surprised a few people this year. What surprised you most about 2013? PREMIER: I guess it was the disconnect between the pollsters and the pundits, and the public. I did have a sense all the time that the citizens were thinking something different in the run-up to the election campaign. I wondered — am I missing something here or are they missing something? And I guess it turned out that it wasn’t me that was missing something. CHRISTY CLARK FLETCHER: The liquefied natural gas export project is going to use a lot of natural gas, especially in the early years. Will B.C.’s greenhouse-gas reduction targets [20 per cent reduction by 2020, 80 per cent reduction by 2050] have to be changed? PREMIER: I don’t have a clear answer on that yet. We are working with the companies on exactly how we are going to structure their environmental commitments and costs, and their electricity costs versus using gas — the total royalty-tax regime. We’re looking at that as one package. X CONTINUED ON A15
Three-year-old Grace Lawrence was dancing for her dinner during intermission at an April Kamloops Blazers’ game. Grace’s appearance on the cover of the April 9 edition of KTW caught the eye of CBC Radio, which then did an an-air interview with the biggest little Blazer fan in Kamloops. To see more of our favourite photos of the year, turn to page B1 and go online to kamloopsthisweek.com. Allen Douglas/KTW
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