Prince George November 28, 2019

THURSDAY

Northern Hardware’s legacy

Valerie Giles

Special to the Citizen

In a very real sense, the business which came to be known as the Northern Hardware & Furniture Co. Ltd. has been an economic driver in the development history of Prince George. The extent of its reach in shaping our society deserves to be known and remembered for two reasons: its story defines the city’s history and it is truly a gripping tale.

PLASTIC BAG BAN PLAN ON HOLD

City council’s quest to formally rid the Prince George’s checkout stands of plastic bags has been put on hold.

It’s known as Canada’s Forgotten Battle.

Over 11 days in August 1917, three divisions and one reserve of Canadian troops took what became known at Hill 70 near Lens, France, fending off five German divisions in the process.

The battle took place four months after the Battle of Vimy Ridge, regarded as the day Canada became a nation and so, has overshadowed Hill 70.

Company founder, Alexander Bohannon Moffat, established the business and ran the company with a strong work ethic and a commitment to Christian principles of fairness and kindness. He lived and practised what he believed and quickly established a reputation for leadership. At a time when some segments of society were shunned and not allowed even to have bank accounts, A.B. Moffat made sure they knew there was a welcome at his store. He allowed them to barter for things they needed and even granted small loans – all done on a handshake and with just a note kept in the accounting ledger until the debtor returned and repaid. Later on, during the years of the Great Depression in the 1930s, that courtesy was extended to the broader society because very few people had actual cash available. They could buck up wood and bring it in to the store’s woodlot in exchange for whatever goods and supplies they needed. Those who had an income source were allowed to charge their purchases and take up to a year to pay – with an initial 90-day interest free period.

But thanks to an eight-year campaign that raised $12.5 million in donations and gifts in kind - almost all of it from private sources - a memorial is now in place to commemorate the battle.

On Oct. 2, more than 30 Rocky Mountain Rangers were among those who attended a day of commemoration to formally open the memorial and also to remember the sacrifices of one of their own.

Private Frederick Lee was a member of the Rocky Mountain Rangers’ forerunner, the 172nd Battalion. Lee, who grew up in

In addition to all the work and responsibilities of running a department store, A.B. Moffat also turned his attention to community service. He served as a school trustee and later as an alderman on city council. In addition, he took on active involvement in the Chamber of Commerce and in Rotary. That dedication to community set the example for his son and successor, Harold Moffat, who served almost a quarter century on

Kamloops and was a Canadian-born soldier of Chinese heritage, died in the battle.

“At the time, Canada didn’t recognize Chinese Canadians as citizens,” noted Adam Davey, an officer in the Rangers’ Bravo company in Prince George. Alpha company is based in Kamloops.

history books simply cannot deliver - how daunting the task was for the troops.

City council members unanimously agreed during the Oct. 23 meeting to wait until a provincial government public consultation on the issue has been completed before taking any concrete steps. The consultation was launched after the Canadian Plastic Bag Association convinced the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn a ban imposed by the City of Victoria. The court found the ban was outside municipal jurisdiction because the purpose is to protect the natural environment and that is a provincial responsibility.

At the centre of the Hill 70 Memorial is a striking white limestone obelisk, overlooking an ampitheatre partly surrounded by an elevated walkway. It is named after Lee, who came to symbolize the 1,877 Canadians who died in the battle.

Following the main ceremony, a Ranger honour guard marched along that path and to a pair of park benches made possible through donations from the Rangers’ retired members.

the school board and a decade as mayor. Harold played a prominent role in the Downtown Businessmen’s Association raising money to research and produce a report focused on the city’s future. All of his community involvement occurred while he managed the store from 1955 to 1993 when heading the store was passed to his son, Ted. Well into what would have been retirement years for anyone else, Harold continued to work every day. He held forth at the back counter on the ground floor. Any day he could be found there engaging with customers, giving advice and keeping current with what was happening in Prince George. On many occasions, he actually talked customers out of making an expensive purchase and recommended a just-as-good alternative.

“The whole site is quite fascinating,” Davey said. “The Frederick Lee walkway is supposed to resemble the trenches, so it’s concrete on either side and as you’re walking up this hill, it then opens up to the cenotaph at the top.”

For Davey, who served in Afghanistan, the walk brought home something the

Modern retail management systems of the mid-1990s were brought in with Ted Moffat as president. He modernized not just the appearance of the store

“As an infantry officer, I’m looking at the ground and thinking ‘wow, it would’ve been nearly impossible to take the position tactically,’” he said. “It was certainly quite emotional.”

But take it they did, and then fended off 21 German counterattacks after doing so.

but updated to computerized inventory and accounting systems. It was a huge responsibility which required his fulltime attention and long hours spent at the store. Ted was there at store’s opening and could be found there any time friends or customers came in looking for him.

Much of the credit has gone to a Canadian-born commander – Arthur Currie.

He would good-naturedly get up from his desk and come out to sit on the comfortable couches in the furniture department to visit. Conversations were sometimes fun, sometimes serious but always entertaining. Some of his most spirited discussions seemed to revolve around civic, provincial or national political issues.

By then the portly real estate speculator from Victoria had gained the respect of the high command as the chief planner for Vimy and had been promoted to lieutenant general and given command of the Canadian Corps. He had then been ordered to attack and capture Lens, a small industrial city north of Vimy, to divert the Germans from reinforcing Ypres.

“It’s expected that by late 2019, further direction and guidance will be given by the province on the jurisdiction and powers of local government in regulating plastic waste and single-use plastic bags,” Engineering and Public Works General Manager Dave Dyer told council. “City staff will prepare a report to council once this direction is announced to consider next steps.”

ber of Commerce, the Old Time Fiddlers, the Railway and Forestry Museum and Theatre NorthWest. His considered opinion and guidance also benefitted the boards of BC Rail, the BC Forest Alliance and the national Home Hardware network.

MURRY KRAUSE

In July, council unanimously endorsed Coun. Murry Krause’s proposal to direct staff to draft a report on how best to “regulate” single-use plastic bags.

Currie refused and had he been a newlyminted British lieutenant general, he probably would have been sent home, historian John Cowan said in an account posted at Hill70.ca.

continued on page 3

Somehow, Ted found the time to continue serving this community as he was sought out by organizations wanting his expertise in serving on their boards. Outside the business community, he served the Child Development Centre, the Golf and Curling Club, Junior Cham-

In deciding to take a wait-and-see approach, council also directed staff to develop a public education campaign on the issue. Cost of such a campaign is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.

All of the foregoing examples of community leadership had their beginnings at The Northern Hardware. It was there that people in this community and beyond recognized the values of a strong work ethic and dedication to community service embodied in the succession of owners. Each developed a loyal staff which helped make shopping at the Northern such a wonderful experience. Through long service and by caring about doing a good job, store employees contributed enormously to the store’s reputation as the place to go for product advice or how to fix or repair just about anything.

According to a staff report, Prince George residents go through an estimated 14.8 million plastic checkout bags a year.

citizen file Photo harold Moffat in front of northern hardware in March 2000.

P rince G eor G

Members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers at the Hill 70 Memorial near Lens, France.

MARK NIELSEN Citizen Staff

MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff

‘It’s a good endIng’

Mark NielseN Citizen staff

Northern Hardware, the century-old cornerstone of downtown Prince George, will be going out of business early in the new year.

Kelly Green, the store’s president, chose to emphasize the positive in breaking the news Nov. 20.

“Everything has a life span and we made it to 100 and that’s a good ending,” she said.

The Northern will be holding a customer appreciation day on Sat., Dec. 7. Liquidation will begin in January and the doors will close sometime in February.

Green attributed the decision to a range of factors “compounding all at once.” The growth of big box stores and online shopping to a struggling regional economy to a reluctance for many to shop downtown were on the list.

“Just with Prince George changing and retail changing, it’s been hard to adapt,” she said.

Moves have included getting out of appliances and putting that building, at First and Queensway, up for sale about a year-and-a-half ago. But the change in consumer habits proved overwhelming.

“I overheard someone say the other day, ‘I wonder where I can get Kenmore vacuum cleaner bags,’ and the first thing that someone said was ‘Amazon,’” Green said. “Online is just getting stronger and stronger and it will be interesting to see where retail is in about 10 years, if brick and mortar will even exist.”

The Northern’s more-than 30 employees, some of whom have worked at the store for more than 40 years, were given the news about two weeks ago.

“For some, it was a big surprise and for others who have been with us for a lot of years, it wasn’t a shock because they’ve seen the changes,” Green said. “Downtown used to be the heart of the

northern hardware president Kelly Green in front of the store at third avenue and Brunswick street downtown.

city and hustling and bustling and busy, and it’s really changed.”

It’s been a family-run business since day one. Alex Moffat and partner Frank Whitmore founded the company after buying out the Northern Lumber Company in 1919. It was passed down to Harold Moffat, a former city mayor, and then to Ted Moffat. Green took over in 2013 after her father passed away. She had been working in the store since she was 16 years old.

“Our kind of store, I always felt it was more about customer appreciation more than profit,” Green said.

“Like Lowe’s announcing that they’re leaving because it’s a non-profiting store - well that was never what we were about. We were about providing a place for employees to work, giving to the community, the community giving back, it was never about profit. If that’s what it was, we would’ve been gone a long time ago.”

ALWAYS WELCOME AT THE NORTHERN

NOrTHerN HarDWare, from page 3

That kind of genuine caring and attention to customers is central to what made the store so successful and, in turn, the business benefited from an unshakeable loyalty. There are many homeowners proud to say that all their appliances and furniture were bought at the Northern.

The Northern Hardware has become a much-loved business. Apart from being a destination whenever people come downtown, it is fair to say that crossing the threshold of the entrance doors is entering a state-of-mind. It always felt good to go into that atmosphere. You were always bound to stay much longer than you expected. Sometimes that was caused by

the cast of characters working there who had something new or different to show you or to alert you about different products coming in or just to remind you that there was something you wanted to check.

How they managed to remember that level of detail about people’s circumstances was really remarkable.

It’s something that just does not happen in big chain stores with lots of staff turnover.

There has always been something else compelling about the Northern. Because it was rare ever to go there without running into someone you know the store became a meeting place. People actually stopped to engage in conversation. The shopping experience at the Northern will be remem-

bered as conducive to witty conversation, hearty laughter and extremely fond memories.

— Dr. Valerie Giles is the author of Harold Moffat and The Northern Hardware: Prince George Icons.

Business has been most brisk Monday to Friday when people working downtown patronize the store. The neighbouring Farmers’ Market also helped draw people to the Northern on Saturdays during the summer.

The Northern celebrated 100 years of business in March.

“It is a loss, especially for downtown Prince George, but we are choosing to focus on the good, like the 100 years,” Green said. “It’s a great way to end.”

Northern B.C. drug runners sentenced

Citizen staff

Four men involved in a Fraser Valley crime syndicate with ties to northern B.C. have been sentenced, B.C.’s gang task force says.

Clayton Archie Eheler, Mathew Jordan Thiessen, Kyle Harrower, and Andrew Vithna Va were all recently sentenced for drug trafficking, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia said Nov. 20.

The agency began its investigation in Chilliwack in 2014, and which ran for more than a year with the help of RCMP in Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Prince George, and Quesnel.

The investigation led to the arrests of several people and the seizure of millions of dollars worth of illegal and deadly drugs, the CFSEU said.

The investigation came to Fort St. John in May 2015, when investigators intercepted a drug deal just outside the city and seized 1.8 kilograms of powdered cocaine, 1.6 kilograms of crack cocaine, and $138,000

in cash. Two men were arrested.

Investigators also seized in more than $200,000 in cash and more $2 million worth of drugs, including fentanyl, during a bust at two properties in Chilliwack in February 2015. Eight guns, prohibited magazines and silencers were also seized. Four men and a woman were arrested. In November 2014, investigators seized eight kilograms of powder cocaine and one kilogram of crack cocaine, along with a cocaine press, cutting agent, and packaging materials from an apartment in Chilliwack. Both Thiessen and Eheler were in the apartment at the time.

The CFSEU said the following sentences have been issued:

- Clayton Archie Eheler, nine-year prison term;

- Mathew Jordan Thiessen, six-year prison term;

- Kyle Harrower, 18-month prison term;

- Andrew Vithna Va, three-year prison term.

Two more sentences are expected this week.

Fill a purse for a sister

Citizen staff

Fill a Purse for a Sister campaign Prince George is asking for donations of purses filled with personal care items for those who are in crisis, residing in transition homes and those who are fleeing from violence.

In a gently used or new purse include

personal necessities such as feminine hygiene products, tissues, shampoos, toothbrush, a hair brush and more.

Drop-off by Dec. 1 at Contours for Men and Women, #110-5212 Domano Blvd., RE/MAX Centre City Realty, 611 Brunswick St. and Blissful Bubbles Boutique, #110-3831 Austin Rd. West.

Prince George RCMP launches online crime reporting service

Prince George RCMP has begun accepting reports of crimes that do not require police followup online.

Through www.princegeorge.rcmp.ca/report, you can file reports for any of seven types of offences:

- damage to property under $5,000;

- damage to a vehicle under $5,000; - hit and run to property or an unoccupied vehicle;

- theft of a bicycle under $5,000; - theft of property under $5,000; - theft from a vehicle under $5,000; - lost property.

The service is part of a pilot project also being run in a handful of other communities across B.C.

“This online reporting tool will provide a

more convenient way to report less serious incidents that do not require police followup, while allowing frontline officers to focus on emergency and more serious calls for service,” Staff Sergeant Kent MacNeill said.

“Ultimately, this will enhance our service delivery to residents of Prince George and surrounding communities.”

In order to make a report online, the following conditions must be met:

- You use your real name and have a valid e-mail address;

- There cannot be any witnesses or suspects;

- Follow-up by police is not required

- The reports cannot involve personal identification (passports, drivers licences, etc), firearms, licence plates or validation decals on licence plates;

- The user must agree to the terms and conditions of use.

Collision sparks impaired driving investigation

and the scene was closed for about three hours to allow police to collect evidence.

Police are investigating whether the driver of a pickup truck was impaired by alcohol at the time he collided with a sport utility vehicle at the intersection of Foothills Boulevard and Chief Lake Road midday Saturday.

A man and a child in the SUV were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,

The pickup truck’s driver, a 38-year-old Prince George man, was taken into custody and later released on a promise to appear in court at a future date.

His name was not released.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300.

citizen staff

citizen staff

RCMP heightens battle against impaired driving

Prince George RCMP are taking steps to clamp down on a darker aspect of the holiday season.

In response to a recent spike in collisions in which alcohol and drugs are involved, RCMP said they will be increasing efforts to target people who choose to drive while impaired.

“We recognize that the majority of the driving public do not drive while impaired, however the small portion that do, put ev-

eryone on the road at risk,” said Cpl. Craig Douglass. “We will be looking to remove those persons from the road to make roads safer for the rest of us.”

Police use a variety of tools to help them detect and apprehend impaired drivers, including approved screening devices, physical coordination testing, and a drug recognition expert.

If you witness an intoxicated person get behind the wheel or see a vehicle being driven in a dangerous or erratic manner, call 911.

Mackenzie woman reported missing

citizen staff

citizen staff

Mackenzie RCMP are asking for the public’s help in locating a woman who has gone missing.

Angela Christina Lascelle, 37, is described as 5’ 10 (177 cm) tall and weighing 166 lbs

(75 kgs) with brown eyes, brown, shoulderlength hair and a fair complexion. She was last seen on Tues., Nov. 5 when it’s believed she took a neighbour’s dog for a walk. The dog returned home by itself. Anyone with information is asked contact the Mackenzie RCMP at 250 997-3288.

oPinion

A way forward

on the streets of Prince George each day, from downtown to Parkwood, to the Gateway, up to Pine centre and through the vLa and surrounding neighbourhoods, there is suffering.

People gather in doorsteps to shelter themselves from the elements, smoke crack, hide from the police and the city bylaw. before they leave, they might urinate on the door or defecate on the step. they will step around the needles and the food wrappers and the condoms left by the people that were there before.

these people are here for so many reasons but there are common denominators to each of their stories – mental illness, addiction, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, other trauma both recent and distant, abandonment, racism, poverty.

Prince George streets are where they went to escape from where they were before – the family, the neighbourhood, the social workers, the teachers, the foster parents, the town, the cops, the violence. the street is terrible but it is better than going back, facing the hurts received and owning the pain caused. they need more help. Free needles are not enough. a soup kitchen meal is not enough. a bed in a shelter isn’t enough. Lining up for some money at the welfare office isn’t enough. shouts from angry business owners, loud opera music, flashing lights and stern lectures from people in uniforms are little more than annoyances. that suffering has led to other suffering. the fear downtown business and property owners feel for themselves and their customers is as real as the needles and the garbage and the human waste they clean outside their doors and along their storefronts. For years, most of them only wanted to stress the positives of downtown, to fight the stereotype, trying to convince themselves as much as other residents that downtown was clean, safe and a good place to work, shop and live.

Fewer customers, declining sales, more confrontations with those suffering on the streets and more calls to the cops and city hall speak a different truth, a harsher reality.

suffering brings with it other ills – anger, resentment, frustration and hate. While some people try to counter this with compassion, conversation and respect, others lash out, equating their outrage with action.

some self-proclaimed advocates for the street population show their caring on Facebook, by attacking anyone with the audacity to disagree or challenge their worldview, never leaving the comfort of their computer screens to be present on the scene with the true advocates to help with their hands, to share their expertise, to listen to others, especially the ones who disagree.

some self-proclaimed advocates for the business community believe their difficulties entitle them to peddle conspiracy theories about social service agencies, the health authority and local government and politicians, to pitch solutions that will lead to more suffering of everyone but themselves, to move the street population somewhere, anywhere else, so they don’t have to deal with them.

others feel sorry for themselves, like Prince George city council did last week, each of them wanting to talk more about how they weren’t getting enough credit for the work they had done and less about how they needed to use their power and authority to do more than talk and pass bylaws.

enough already.

it’s not just about you, mayor and council. it’s not just about you, business and property owners. it’s not just about you, disadvantaged people on the street and those who devote themselves to making things better for you. anyone who spends more time blaming one group or another and less or no time talking about concrete action they are doing or prepared to do with others to make things better is serious about hearing the sound of their own voice and not much else.

everyone can do more, especially those with the authority to do so.

street populations are, by their very nature, disenfranchised. they lack wealth, power (the soft power of politicians and bureaucrats and the hard power of law enforcement), social standing and platforms in which their voices can be heard. they can only be called upon to contribute when their basic needs are satisfied - food, clothing, shelter, health care, education and the support network to address the roots of their suffering, not just more needles to numb the pain.

the advocates for street populations, which can and should include business and property owners, senior bureaucrats and political leaders, have far greater means to bring about change but they must be willing to do more, to change, to admit their previous efforts either weren’t enough or led to unanticipated negative consequences that must be addressed. the decision makers – the politicians, the bureaucrats, the managers of the social service agencies and the business groups – need to use the tools at their disposal to listen, to study, to explore, to consider and then to act. and keep acting. Keep working. there is no checklist and once those items are checked off, the work is done, because the work will never be done. that reality shouldn’t foster apathy or ignorance. all the things people want for themselves – peace, safety, security, good health and access to assistance when one or all of those things has been lost –cannot be fully enjoyed unless they want them for everyone else and are willing to contribute in meaningful ways in that effort.

the solutions are there but they come at a cost, some financial, some ethical, some legal, all human.

zoning social services to a specific area comes with significant benefits (better access to services, easier monitoring of both harmful and vulnerable individuals) and different problems (restricting the street population to a ghetto, where should that be?).

a needle exchange that not only provides needles but requires them to be used on site, in supervised rooms where addicts can shoot up safely, while also offering other forms of assistance, includ-

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ing therapy, costs much more, requires much greater responsibility but prevents far more harm in the immediate and long term.

Long-term care in isolated facilities, such as baldy hughes, are expensive. While they take people away from the people and the environments enabling their addictions, they can also isolate people from the family, cultural and spiritual supports that could help.

Perhaps less action is required. decriminalizing and even legalizing some or all recreational drugs has been tried in other jurisdictions and countries, taking law enforcement right out of the equation, so drug use can be dealt with strictly as a health and safety issue. significant improvements have been seen, such as reductions in crime and violence, but that has also allowed easier access, across society but particularly for youth, to highly addictive and dangerous drugs. almost everyone would agree that the status quo is unacceptable and changes have to be made. that means everyone has to be willing to embrace new ideas and try new things, including the ones they might be opposed to for personal, political or moral reasons. if being wrong, losing face, violating traditions and social norms, thinking and acting in a different way, blaming others less and accepting more responsibility reduces and alleviates suffering, shouldn’t we all be willing to put up our hands to help?

there are no solutions here. there are only better and worse ways to manage these problems where everyone – particularly the most vulnerable and powerless –is treated fairly, with respect and dignity. Let’s work from there.

editor-in-chief neil Godbout

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British nurse found home in Prince George

RSENIORS’ SCENE

KATHY NADALIN

etired registered nurse Ann Tiffany was born in York, England in 1933. She was raised and educated in York. After high school, she continued her education by completing her registered nurse training and went on to become a certified midwife. She was a pupil midwife for one year in the port city of Plymouth.

Ann explained, “Plymouth was bombed extensively during the war and housing was at a premium.

Most babies were born at home in those days so we delivered them all over the place including run down apartments, in the spare bedrooms of grandparents or anywhere that there was space.”

After her training, both Ann and a fellow nurse were eager to travel so they decided to apply and immigrate to Canada. There were many work opportunities for trained nurses at the time and they were ready for an adventure.

It just so happened that before the paperwork was completed, both Ann and her friend met their respective husbands. They cancelled their applications and got married instead but the dream of Canada never left Ann.

Life in post-war England was not easy. Britain emerged victorious but bankrupt from the Second World War. The young couple opted to come to Canada thus fulfilling Ann’s dream.

Ann said, “We arrived in Montreal by boat in 1964 and took the train west so we could see as much of Canada as possible. The trip took five nights and four days. We were in for a real culture shock on the first full day on the train as the only sign of life we saw from the window was that of one

lone moose.

“Our destination was Prince George where we had friends. We had thought to stay for one week and then move to Vancouver. We liked the beautiful countryside of Prince George and the people were so warm and welcoming that we decided to stay.

“The timing was good as this was the year that the pulp mills came to town and the beginning of a boom period. My husband David landed a job as site engineer for the Northwood mill building project.

“Prince George was a small town back then and I can still remember shopping at Woolworths, the Northern Hardware store and Yip’s grocery store.

“The Parkwood shopping mall was built that same year with Woodward’s as their anchor department store. Who could forget their $1.49 day advertisement as we all swarmed to the store for their bargains.”

Ann and David had three children –Philip, Jo-Ann and Rachael – and now have five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. They divorced in the 70s and Ann became a single parent.

She worked as an RN at the hospital for eleven years and then worked in a medical office because the regular hours were a better fit for the children.

She always found time to volunteer for the things that mattered to her such as the Red Cross Blood Donor Clinics.

Ann said, “The big trucks loaded with beds and all the supplies and equipment needed for the clinic arrived in Prince George from Vancouver. The clinic was set up in the old Civic Centre. We monitored and looked after the blood donors and offered them orange juice and cookies.”

Ann was a member of Beta Sigma Phi and met many new friends at the meetings.

She enjoyed listening to the music of a mixed choir so she became a long-time member of the Cantata Singers.

She said, “I am an active volunteer for

the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. I love talking to the audience members as I collect their coats and hats and check them in. I am the coat check chick.”

When Ann was in her 70s, she studied English and anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia and earned her bachelor’s degree followed by her master’s degree.

Over the years, she wrote the occasional column for the Prince George Citizen and wrote about everyday life, the war years in England and what it was like when the lights came on again after the war was over.

She has also written several short stories and a novel about Prince George during the war years.

Ann concluded and said, “I keep active and stay involved which I believe is the secret of a long and productive life.”

A special November birthday greeting goes out to Jack Milburn who just turned 98.

citizen Photo by James doyle

Ann Tiffany in her Prince George home.

White collar versus blue

Unions are dominating the headlines lately. All I can say is it’s about time the people doing the actual work get some press.

The management fretting and spewing psycho-babble inside and outside negotiating rooms is especially entertaining; after expanding at a rate only comparable to infectious disease, now the white shirts are claiming the cupboard is bare. It’s the best political theatre we’ve had since our Prime Minister decided to play Mr. Dressup in India.

Of course, an honest treatment of the issues at hand is required if one desires to keep their journalistic reputation outside the wastebin occupied by the Tyee. The first distinction is between government and private sector workers. This will naturally lead to the issues of white collar versus blue collar, or intellectual versus musculature labour. Finally, the future of unions, as regards an evermore hostile socio-political situation aided by technology, will bring us home.

The plainest fact that greets us in this discussion is that unions operating in the private sector are at the mercy of

Last week, we were talking about the periodic table. Each element is defined by its atomic number rather than its mass. This is due to the presence of neutrons in the atomic nuclei which leads to atoms, called isotopes, with the same number of protons but varying numbers of neutrons.

The concept of isotopes was first expounded by Frederick Soddy in 1913 as an explanation for the results he was observing in the various radioactive decay series. The explanation for isotopes was provided by Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron in 1932.

The simplest example of isotopes –meaning “in the same place” – is hydrogen. For some people, the multiple use of the name hydrogen to mean the element (H), hydrogen gas, or a hydrogen atom with a single proton in its nucleus is confusing. However, when speaking of elemental hydrogen, chemist mean the collection of hydrogen isotopes. These are protium or hydrogen-1, deuterium or hydrogen-2, and tritium or hydrogen-3.

In each case, the atoms have only a single proton and in the case of protium, the nucleus is simply that – a single proton. For deuterium (symbol D), the nucleus of the atom has both a proton and a neutron. With tritium (symbol T), there are two neutrons combined with the one proton with the imbalance resulting in tritium being highly radioactive. Chemically, these three isotopes typi-

RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE

market forces in a way their government brethren are not. It cannot be overstated how drastic a difference is found between them: even in the same area of work, a government employee is almost always better paid and certainly better pensioned. This sows division within the movement, challenging the solidarity that should mark all unionized labour. Solutions to this dilemma are not obvious, especially given the fact that unionization in the private sector has declined steeply for over a generation. To reactionary readers, I can only remind them that a “trickle down effect” does occur economically thanks to unions. Yet I would also caution progressives that radical social agendas are obstacles to spreading the gospel of organized labour: wages and working conditions are the

best topics to draw in new members. Class distinctions are also a source of division within the movement. Teamsters and tradesmen exist inside the public sector, but with the socialization of education and healthcare, the average public employee’s experience differs vastly from most private blue collar workers. Thus, a professor and pipeliner may both have union cards, but in every category, from safety at work to political party affiliation, these members of the working class could not be further apart.

This has harmed the solidarity of the movement more than anything else in the last few decades. It is not that unionized social-democrats in the public sector should suddenly become rip and ship Manchester Liberals; but a lack of empathy for those who rely on resource industry dollars or the strength of their own body and will has turned former allies into enemies. I can only point out that a rapprochement is necessary if unionists of all classes hope for political power. Globalization has had an unfair effect on those in musculature labour. Government work cannot be outsourced, as that

The dope on isoTopes

RELATIVITY

TODD WHITCOMBE

cally behave in a similar fashion. That is, you can make water with any of the isotopes. Whether it is H2O, HOD, D2O, etcetera, the molecule is called water and is the result of combining hydrogen and oxygen.

But the large mass difference between the hydrogen isotopes has a significant impact on the physical properties of the water molecules. Deuterium is twice as heavy as protium and the resulting water molecules reflect the extra mass by having a slightly higher boiling point: 101.4 C versus 100.0 C for normal water.

Water composed of D2O is called heavy water and it can be distilled from ordinary water by the simple process of boiling. Indeed, every time you boil a kettle or a pot of water, you are creating isotopically enriched water with a slight increase in its heavy water fraction. Conversely, the water vapour is deuterium depleted relatively speaking.

The large mass difference also leads to something called the kinetic isotope effect. This is most prominent with hydrogen-1 and hydrogen-2. When these isotopes participate in bonds such as in

an organic molecule, the rate at which the carbon-hydrogen bond breaks is slightly different. The same thing occurs in water versus heavy water. The result of the kinetic isotope effect is to enrich or deplete one of the chemical species in the one of the isotopes.

While this might seem a little esoteric, it has allowed chemists to probe reaction pathways and obtain an understanding of exactly what is occurring when two molecules react. If breaking a C-H bond is critical to a reaction pathway, then studying the reaction rate will show a pronounced kinetic isotope effect and confirm the mechanism proposed.

Similarly, using radioactive tritium in some organic molecules has allowed biologists to follow their distribution and fate within living organisms. For example, it is possible to follow the fate of tritium labelled glucose by tracking its radioactive signature. By understanding where each atom ends up, biochemical pathways can be elucidated.

Analyzing the distribution and chemistry of isotopes is not restricted to just hydrogen. Of the 80 or so stable elements in the periodic table, 54 exhibit multiple isotopes. The distribution of these isotopes – due to their relative mass –provide important clues about the origin and distribution of compounds.

For example, two lead isotopes are the end product of two distinct radioactive decay sequences with slightly different

puts the nation-state at risk. But evidence the same applies to industry, as China’s malfeasance amply shows, has been ignored. Even administrative jobs are sent overseas: RBC made current workers train their replacements, a story Amanda Lang tried to bury to protect the executive she was dating at the time. Truly, wickedness knows no bounds.

Finally there is the question of technological development and the social upheaval it has caused. The prospect of automation displacing thousands of people who drive for a living is best left to a longer meditation.

But the shifting attitude instant communication has created is a more immediate threat: the gig economy, with unlicensed, unbonded, non-unionized, third-parties has set former allies against each other. Of course this pleases the oligarchs who profit from all of it.

The labour movement must recommit to growing the membership and the solidarity that preserved it through the toughest times.

As the old rallying call goes: “do not mourn - organize!”

timelines. The ratio of lead isotopes in any sample of lead is therefore a telltale signature of the origin of the lead atoms. This can be used forensically to trace bullets back to their manufacturer since different lead deposits have unique isotope signatures but more importantly, it was the ratio of lead isotopes which allowed Claire Patterson to provide an accurate date for the age of Earth and the solar system.

On a different note, the enrichment of nitrogen-15 relative to nitrogen-14 in salmon fry has been used to demonstrate their consumption of their parents’ carcasses while nitrogen isotope ratios provide the basis for understanding the role of salmon in fertilizing the rain forests of the west coast.

Isotope ratios even allow us to determine global temperatures over geological time. The uptake of oxygen-16 versus oxygen-18 is sensitive to the surface air temperature. The difference is not a lot – a matter of a few parts per thousand – but it is enough to allow geologists and climatologists to assess atmospheric conditions millions of years ago.

Chemistry is mostly about electrons but sometimes an atom’s core really does matter.

LETTERS

Problems unaddressed

An open letter To Mayor Lyn Hall and Prince George City Council:

Mayor Hall, I have not been writing letters over the last while, as I have not had a lot of general complaint about your leadership, other than the amount of monies you have been spending during your term. But that will be a future letter, directed at your leadership.

My concerns at this juncture are about the larger most established businesses in this city that are leaving, for a variety of reasons, some that are the fault of the city’s lack of response to ongoing problems.

First, let’s deal with Northern Hardware. This is a company that has city involvement for over 100 years and I feel has been the mainstay of the city. The next company is Spee Dee Printers, another company that has been a leader for over half to three quarters of a century.

I see Lowe’s is also leaving, what a shame for the mall, all malls need an anchor. Now they will say that the reasons are varied, the trend today is to e-commerce, consumer trends changing, populations declining etc. but the main issue as I see it, and I have been here for well over a half century myself, is the changing nature of the downtown core. That is the inability for the city guardians to manage the events around the city.

I know in the time I have been here, and only in last few years, the downtown core has been over run with panhandlers, addicts, thieves, and homeless types, but the majority of them are homeless because they do not wish themselves to partake of the services, because they do not want to conform to

whatever house rules that they might have to adhere to for shelter etc. I do know that my wife and I will not venture downtown after dark, because of the danger to ourselves, as a result of the addicts, thieves and panhandlers that are there, all the time.

The problems around these people has been going on for some time, Mayor and councils have chosen not to find solutions, nor for that matter have taken any positive steps to control these issues. I know, I know, you will say what do you mean we have built needle exchanges, we have built transitional housing, we have held public meetings, we have held private meetings, but the problems just get worse and worse.

We have opened our doors to the dregs of other communities, during times of need, and guess what these people stay because of all the facilities we have, far better from wherever they came from. I spoke to a policeman earlier this year and he said to me the small town in the Kootenays does not have these problems, because as he said we have no facilities there, so they travel right on through.

I ask are these the contributing members of society which we are trying to attract to our once thriving community? I think not.

I know you are going to say our community is still thriving and building permit values have reached an all time high but is that a result of cost going up, or other factors as a year of your obscene spending, fire halls, swimming pools, police stations, a couple of major hotel, motel buildings? Yes there is some residential construction, but not as result of anything you have done I am sure. I also see there there is a proliferance of pot

stores to open in Prince George, I know you can hardly wait for the revenue stream to start with them, but they will likely fail also, as they can not compete with the illegal business, is it not strange that you pay $50 for two grams of pot, and you can buy a barrel of oil for about the same money!

When the Northern and Spee-Dee goes, I am sure there will be less and less people going to town. I am sure that there are a bunch of smaller businesses that are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, putting up with a losing battle and with the above mentioned downside, of nothing being done, that will be closing their doors. What a shame, I love my city, where I have been paying taxes for years, but hate to see it slipping away.

You spend hundreds of thousands on city wages, on overspending city workers, take for example the sink hole at Massey and Carney this year. Absolutely no reason for it to take six months and likely millions to repair. I am sure a contractor would have had that done in a month. I said in my last letter to you that if mayor and council was running the city, and not the unions, things might be different.

The city, the RCMP, and all the government agencies are the ones that have to make the decision to have, enforce, and utilize the power and the balls to make it work. Oh, and as a final shot Mayor Hall, someone in the administration must be asleep at the helm, for the life of me I can not understand why, in the 90s we had a population of approx. 80,000 people, now we have a stationary population of around 70,000 people, we have vacancy rate of about four per cent, we have new residences being built in several new

subdivisions. My question is with a stagnant population, first who is buying these new houses, and who is buying the houses where people are moving up into the new houses, and why do we have such a low vacancy rate?

One would have to think we likely have an increasing population, and if we are, why are we not getting the extra federal increases to support this population expansion?

A concerned citizen

Bill Manders

Prince George

Honest gas Prices

A century or so ago, John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company held a virtual monopoly in the American petroleum industry. It was he who devised that little 9/10 cent tacked onto the posted price of his gasoline. He knew that people have a left digit bias, a psychological quirk exploited by sellers adding nines to prices of goods to disguise real costs. Rockefeller made billions with his extra fraction of a cent. Rockefeller’s innovation was a gift that has not died with him. We usually ignore that 9/1 0 of a cent per litre. What is a fraction of a cent?

Well, when added price per gallon it was less than when we are paying by the litre. That small addition per litre amounts to an extra four cents per gallon. Suddenly that looks like real money every time we fill the tank.

It is time for Rockefeller’s trick to die so prices become more honest, even if still in lock step through corporate collusion.

James Loughery

Prince George

Letters we Lcome: the Prince George citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. submission should be sent by e-mail to: letters@princegeorgecitizen.com. no attachments, please. maximum length is 400 words. writers are limited to one submission every three weeks. we will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. unsigned letters will not be published.

Get it toGether, UNBC

HOME AGAIN

MEGAN KUKLIS

Iremember when the university was being built. I was in elementary school and it felt like the whole town was a part of the construction. We were going to be a part of something grand: we were going to have a university! Students who wanted to complete their degrees didn’t have to move away from the region. It was, and still is, exciting.

When I moved from Victoria to Prince George, I was so excited when I got my job at UNBC. And although I no longer work at UNBC, I still love it. I love the community, my colleagues, the faculty and the school. UNBC has seen me through my pregnancies, my babies, professional ups and downs and now, my graduate degree. I have made lifelong friends and learned more about myself

as a result of this wonderful institution than I would care to admit. I want to be upfront and clear that I love UNBC. If I was still working at UNBC, this would have been my fourth strike in ten years. What does that tell us?

It tells us that there is something rotten at the heart of the bargaining process at UNBC.

I have heard reports that senior university officials have stormed out of bargaining meetings and chastised members of the faculty bargaining team for responding too quickly to proposals and counteroffers. If this is true, and I have no reason to not believe it, I find it exceptionally embarrassing to know that grown-ups who are responsible for bargaining on behalf of the institution are acting this way. Isn’t speed necessary and appreciated? Are there toddlers in the meetings bargaining on behalf of the university because, last I checked, everyone involved is an adult earning a professional wage. People, many people, have been out of work for over two weeks – everyone ex-

walk along University Way

cept for members of the executive team.

For every strike that I have participated in, (two CUPE strikes and one Faculty Association strike), I have suffered financially and now, over 500 people have been without a paycheck with only a month left until Christmas. I don’t know about you readers, but I would be hurting without a paycheck – particularly so close to Christmas.

Students want to go back to class; faculty members want to go back to class; CUPE members want (need) to go back to work. And in the end, the executive and exempt staff are still getting paid and the university is saving money by not paying everyone else. I can guarantee that there are people within the execu-

tive team at UNBC have the best interests of the institution, and the community, in their hearts. I want to, as a student, appeal to your better angels and remember that, at the end of the day, we all still live in and belong to the same community. I no longer work for UNBC but I still love it and believe that we can do better to sustain our fabulous research university.

Get your act together, UNBC, and work towards what is right and what it fair for its faculty, staff and students.

Prove to the community that you care.

To my brothers and sisters on the line, stay strong, stay warm and I am with you in solidarity.

Citizen Photo by James Doyle

Picketers

on Friday morning in front of UnbC.

Safety key strike issue, CN worker says

Ted Clarke Citizen staff

As one of the 3,200 striking CN Rail employees across Canada, Nathan Briggs wants to make it clear that this labour dispute is not about money, it’s about safety.

Joined by his wife and two young kids who brought a cup of coffee to him on the picket line last week on First Avenue, organized by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference CTY Division 843, Briggs simply wants the company to reconsider its stance on working conditions.

He shares his union’s concerns that the company is seeking longer working hours, shorter rest periods, fewer days off, crewsize reductions and the removal of yardroad distinctions in collective agreements which could result in requirements for fewer yard crews.

“We’d just like to be less tired,” said Briggs, 31, now approaching his seventh year as a conductor.

“We’d like to know when we’re going to work and be rested for that work. We don’t have regular shifts. For the most part, just

a few yard jobs, six or eight people and the yardmasters, have regular shifts. The vast majority of us are just waiting on-call.

“It’s about trying to get a better work-life balance.”

In a typical week, operating on the trains out of a terminal whose territory extends from Smithers to the west and McBride to the east, Briggs works 10-12-hour shifts on the road, then is expected to spend anywhere from eight to 19 hours in a hotel before the eight- or 12-hour return trip to Prince George. It’s a round trip of 30 or 40 hours and he does that two or three times a week. That lack of time off is taxing on his body.

Conductors work with locomotive engineers (who drive the trains) and the conductors handle the paper work and coordinate the loading and unloading of the train cars. Part of the job of conductors is to line up the trains in the yard using remote control boxes to drive the engines.

When he does get called for a shift, Briggs is given two hours notice and has to show up within that time frame or face repercus-

sions. An overnight stop could mean he stays in a hotel in Smithers of McBride, but sometimes that means an extended stay in a bunkhouse on the rail line in Endako, west of Fraser Lake.

“There’s nothing to do there,” Briggs said. “Sometimes you get cell service with Rogers but if you’re on Telus or Bell you’re not having a good time.”

Several other CN Rail unions are not part of the strike but are required by the company to cross picket lines. That includes locomotive engineers, carmen who repair train cars, engineering crews who handle line maintenance and VIA Rail employees, who are not part of the strike. CN managers are acting as conductors and yardmen during the strike.

Division 843 includes 109 CN conductors, trainmen and yard workers who operate out of the First Avenue rail yard, and their picket lines have been up 24 hours a day since the strike began.

The other TCRC local in Prince George, Division 105, formerly BC Rail, represents 76 conductors who are work on the northsouth rail line from Chetwynd to Quesnel. Division 105 has 24-hour pickets set up in two locations in the BCR industrial site - one on Eastern Street, one on Boundary Road, and also on Pulpmill Road near Intercon Pulp.

The workers have been without a contract since July 23.

So far, the show of support had been encouraging to the striking workers, with plenty of honking horns from passing motorists and other unions and local businesses dropping off food and beverages.

“Nobody wants to be out here, we would like to get back to work,” said Briggs.

“The support has been fantastic. We’ve had several other unions dropping off supplies and saying their thanks and walking with us. We’re a 24-hour job and this is a 24-hour picket.”

Nationally, TCRC represents about 12,000 workers in the rail industry and the union has for the past two decades been urging the federal government to make crew fatigue a priority to minimize risks for workers and the public.

Negotiations between the company and TCRC over the past seven months leading up to the strike were focused on discussions about staffing levels, work hours and sleeprelated fatigue.

The issue of rail crew fatigue gained national attention in the Foisy Report which looked into the Feb. 8, 1986 Hinton, Alta., collision between a CN freight train and VIA Rail which killed 23 people.

CN operates 22,000 kilometres of rail line it uses to move goods and resources through global shipments from Vancouver to Halifax and south to the Gulf Coast. While rail service is essential for grain farmers, potash miners, chemical manufacturers and crude oil producers, in the Prince George area the lumber industry will potentially feel the effects the most.

The Globe and Mail reported last week that CN will be laying off 1,600 of its 24,000-employee workforce, citing lower global demand for rail transportation in a weakening North American economy. CN reported its revenues for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30 at $3.83 billion.

Man found guilty of second-degree murder

Mark NielseN Citizen Staff

A B.C. Supreme Court Justice found Perry Andrew Charlie guilty of second-degree murder last week in the drug-related shootings deaths of two men and the serious wounding of a third nearly three years ago.

Justice Marguerite Church found Charlie pulled the trigger on one of the three shotguns used in a Jan. 25, 2017 roadside hail of gunfire that led to the deaths of David Laurin Franks and Thomas Burt Reed, as well as Reed’s Shih Tzu dog, Molly. Bradley William Knight, who dove onto the back seat floor, was the sole survivor.

Co-accused Seaver Tye Miller and Joshua Steven West have each pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and Aaron Ryan Moore to two counts of criminal negligence causing death.

All four had initially faced counts of firstdegree murder and attempted murder. Charlie opted to contest the counts he was facing and a 10-day trial was held in June with Church reserving decision.

Much of Church’s verdict hinged on testimony from two witnesses. Thomas Lee was unemployed and driving for hire and, on the night of the shootings, agreed to drive the four accused around the city in his minivan. Lee’s friend, Steven Ray was along for the ride.

According to their testimony, they eventually ended up at a roadside pullout on Foothills Boulevard near North Nechako Road, ostensibly to purchase some cocaine from Franks.

Lee testified he saw Miller and West get out of the passenger-side doors, each carrying a shotgun and then heard 15-20 rounds of gunfire go off over about 30 seconds.

Charlie’s involvement was less clear. Ray

and Moore had been told to go to the back of the van and keep their heads down while Lee testified someone who went by the nickname “Unique” sat directly behind him. Lee further testified he thought he heard the driver’s side rear door slide open and then the sound of gunfire from that side but was not completely sure.

During the trial, defence counsel Jason LeBlond raised some uncertainly over Lee’s identification of Charlie from a police photo pack. Lee initially identified another man as Charlie but then changed his mind when he got a look at the actual photo of Charlie.

LeBlond vigorously cross-examined Lee over the apparent discrepancy but Church noted that not only did Lee identify Charlie when he saw the photo but noted that the accused went by the nickname “Unique.”

During the preliminary inquiry, Lee also identified Charlie as he sat in the docket while also commenting that he looked much different. Church said she found that comment compelling given that another witness familiar with Charlie said the weight of the accused fluctuated considerably.

Evidence also showed Lee had previously driven Charlie to a meeting with a probation officer, leading Church to find he was familiar with the accused prior to the night in question.

Other evidence putting Charlie at the scene included a banner emblazoned with the nickname on his Facebook and a tattoo with the same word in a similar script on one of his forearms. A shoe print found at the scene was of the brand Charlie was wearing at the time of his arrest but no accidental characteristics to confirm the match were found. As well, a shoe box for that brand was found in a closet in Miller’s home.

Forensic analysis concluded the 14 of the 15 shotgun shells were fired from any of three guns, while the source of one shell could not be determined.

Given Lee’s identification of Charlie, his testimony that West and Miller exited the passenger side and Ray’s testimony that Moore had stayed in the back, “by process of elimination,” Charlie was the third shooter, Church found. However, Church found the evidence presented by the Crown “falls far short” of

showing there was the planning and deliberation for first-degree murder.

It had been the Crown’s theory that a hit had been ordered on Franks after he had offended someone in the local drug scene and had been lured to the scene on the pretext of selling some cocaine to a known customer.

Church said defence counsel countered with an “equally possible interpretation” that drug dealing can be a dangerous business and that the shooting began after “something went wrong.” A knife was found in the car and, according to testimony, Franks was out of the car for about a half-minute before the gunfire erupted.

Knight is in his late 60s and Franks was 46 years old and Reed was 51 at the time of their deaths. In contrast, at the time of their arrests, Charlie was 24, Miller was 21, Moore was 27 and West was 33.

Also on Tuesday, Church agreed with a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels to sentence Moore to five years. Less credit for time served prior to sentencing, Moore has 282 days remaining if the term is issued. Miller, West and Charlie will be sentenced at a later date.

investigators on the scene of the January 2017 double murder of David laurin franks and thomas Burt Reed.

Rapist used mouthwash to lure victim

A 60-year-old man was sentenced Nov. 14 to five years in prison for plying a woman with mouthwash, luring her to a secluded spot and then raping her.

Less credit for time served prior to sentence, Charles Roger West has threeand-a-half years left to serve for the Nov. 22, 2018 attack for which he pleaded guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm.

In endorsing what was effectively a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels, Provincial Court Judge Michael Brecknell saw a pattern in West’s “alcoholism” of befriending people and then attacking them. West has more than 50 convictions on his criminal record, all of them for offences committed in the last 20 years.

Most are for petty thefts and breaches but five are for violent offences, including one in which he choked a woman and tried to put his hand down her pants, the court was told.

Gaps in his convictions appeared to coincide with times when he was not drinking. Brecknell said the pre-sentence report for West indicates the member of the Takla Lake First Nation stays out of trouble when living on the reserve but “alcohol overtakes his life” when in Prince George.

West also appears to have cognitive difficulties although their extent is not known because he refused to participate in a forensic risk assessment.

The court heard that West and the woman knew each other for about eight years through drinking. On the day in question, they met at a bus stop where

West invited her to join him on a trip to a local big box store and on the way either “forced or encouraged” her to drink the mouthwash he had.

After shoplifting candy from another nearby store, West convinced the nowintoxicated woman to follow him to a secluded spot. The next thing she remembered was West forcing her onto the ground and then alternately putting his forearm across her neck and his hand over her mouth as she screamed for help.

For an unknown reason, West stopped after five to 10 minutes and she remembered grabbing her handbag, getting on the bus and making her way to the Association Advocating for Women and Children shelter downtown where she reported the incident.

The investigating RCMP officer noticed

red marks around her neck and blood on her nose, around her lips and on the inside of her mouth. The woman said West had hit her in the mouth with his forearm.

When he was later apprehended, West admitted to being at the store but denied knowing the woman. He has remained in custody since his arrest and, in February, pleaded guilty to the count.

On Wednesday, West was also sentenced to a concurrent term of 30 days in jail for theft $5,000 or under from an attempted shoplift of about $150 worth of meat in October 2018.

In issuing the terms, Brecknell urged West to take advantage of the help that is offered in the federal penitentiary system for inmates like him.

“Nobody can help you until you’re ready to be helped,” Brecknell told him.

Residents unprepared for big power outages

Some 60 per cent of British Columbians aren’t ready to handle prolonged power outages resulting from harsher weather patterns, according to a new BC Hydro survey.

As well, the survey found that half of British Columbians don’t have a storm preparedness kit, and of those without one, only 12 per cent plan to buy one this year.

The report said that in the past four years, British Columbians have experienced two of the largest individual storm events in BC Hydro history. Each caused extensive damage to the province’s electrical system, resulting in over 700,000 losing power.

Data from 2018 shows customers, on average, experienced more storm-related power outages than ever before, with adverse weather and trees and vegetation coming into contact with BC Hydro equipment, causing customers to lose power for over 11 million hours last year - more than double the five-year average of 5 million hours per year.

The December 2018 storm caused unprecedented system damage, leaving

about 750,000 customers without power. About seven per cent of impacted customers were without power for more than 72 hours.

“The survey found the majority of those impacted by the December 2018 storm felt they could have been more prepared for the storm,” the report said. “However, only half have taken steps to be more prepared for winter storms this year.” Province-wide, tree-related outages in 2018 were 29 per cent higher than the five-year average.

Broken down by region, those numbers are up 100 per cent on Vancouver Island, up 16 per cent for the Lower Mainland and down 13 per cent in the North, Central and South Interior.

A well-stocked emergency kit should have enough supplies for each member of the household to last at least 72 hours and should inclulde a flashlight and extra batteries, a first aid kit, required medications and non-perishable food and bottled water.

Anyone who comes across a down or damaged power line, should consider it live and dangerous and should call 911 to report it, BC Hydro also said.

Citizen staff

Mark NielseN Citizen staff

So many joyS in teaching

Astudent recently passed by my classroom and asked, “Mr. Chidiac, why are you always so happy?”

I replied, “I love what I do. I love being a teacher.”

The student seemed satisfied and went on her way.

I thought further about what she asked and about my response. I really am extremely happy, and I suppose that people can see it. Where does this happiness come from, however?

When I was reading one of my favourite books with my students, Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning, I came across the following lines in the forward:

“Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.”

Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.”

That is indeed the answer to my student’s question, and I suppose the deeper meaning to the answer I gave her.

This does not mean that being a teacher is the only meaningful work in the world, only that it fulfills my sense of purpose. My neighbour can have a completely different cause and yet experience the same joy. That which gives our lives meaning is something that we can only discover for ourselves.

So what is it about teaching that is so significant to me? First and foremost, I see something in each person I encounter which is great, though undiscovered. In over 30 years of teaching, I have never met a person who is not a gift to the world. Perhaps the greatest joy I experience is when

LESSONS IN LEARNING

GERRY CHIDIAC

I meet a former student who is now an adult. They are all doing amazing things, often things I would have never guessed; but, my vocation is not to guess, it is to inspire and empower.

Another reason why I find teaching so meaningful is that I know how important it is for good people to bring healing to a hurting world. My role is vital in letting others know, just as I have discovered, that there is great happiness in dedication to a cause greater than oneself.

As I’ve advanced in my career, I have been fortunate to be able to teach what is most meaningful and inspiring to me. Foreign languages, for example, open the world up to my students and promote global understanding. They also allow students to expand their reach in impacting the world, just as they have done for me. I also appreciate the fact that I am given a great deal of freedom to teach topics that are of great interest to me. For example, in my Social Justice 12 class, we examine the most horrific violations of human rights the world has ever known, yet we see, as Gandhi stated, “the way of truth and love has always won… Think of it – always.” It then becomes our task to be the voice for this powerful message.

Looking back over decades of my career, I see how happiness and success are intertwined. I continue to find more opportunities to teach, often without consciously trying. Writing, for example, has allowed me to reach a far wider audience than I could ever contact within the walls of a school. I find tremendous joy in putting my ideas and my ideals in print, and I have watched my readership continue to expand. The key then must be to find something to believe in, something which we know within the depth of our being will make a lasting, positive impact on the world around us.

When we can find this something, the pursuit of which is coherent with our talents and interests, happiness and success are all that can ensue from our selfless efforts.

I am so fortunate to have found this something. I really do love being a teacher.

— Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com.

RCMP cruiser in two-vehicle collision

Citizen staff

A marked police cruiser was one of the vehicles involved in a collision over the weekend, Prince George RCMP said Monday.

It involved two vehicles on Massey Drive near the Highway 97 on ramp and occurred on Sat., Nov. 24 at about 10:20 a.m.

Both drivers were transported to hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries and later released.

The scene was closed to traffic while officers gathered evidence and took photos.

Witness statements were also obtained.

“The investigation is continuing,” RCMP said.

“Further details may be released as they become available.”

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.

Hendrickson’s perfect 5-pin game

Ted CLARKe Citizen staff

Ben Hendrickson flirted with 5-pin bowling perfection last year and with one strike to go his radar wavered.

So when he earned himself another chance to roll that perfect game two weekends ago in the BC Open north zone trials at his home base at Nechako Lanes in his first adult tournament, the 19-year Hendrickson knew exactly what to do. He tuned out the crowd that started to gather around his lane in the 10th frame of his seventh game of the day and finished it off with three consecutive strikes. Perfect.

“Last year I was on 11 in a row and when I was going for my last ball on the 12th I punched a three pin and had a 438, so I made sure this time that’s not happening again,” said Hendrickson.

“Once I threw the first ball, everything felt good after that first ball in the 10th and the 11th ball felt even better. I guess you feel the pressure going into the 12th and you kind of feel eyes watching and you just have to deal with it.

“The pressure used to get to me when I was younger but then I just kept playing in tournaments and that goes away. You just have to focus on yourself and your game and you just block it out.”

After already bowling six games, having spent most of the day at the bowling alley, there was no signs of fatigue creeping into his game as he lined up for his seventh game.

“My first three games I started out pretty good and I just finished it,” said the Duchess Park Secondary School graduate. “It helped (bowling at Nechako), I’m pretty comfortable with those lanes.”

Hendrickson didn’t get much time to savour his 450 game. He had another game to bowl that night and went home just before midnight, knowing he’d be back the following morning to roll eight more games in the second round of the BC Open at Black Diamond Lanes starting at 9 a.m. He handled that extremely well and won the men’s singles title, averaging 276 over 16 games.

“It was definitely a rush, I didn’t expect it to happen the way it did but I am pretty excited to go to provincials with those guys,” he said. “They’re people I watched a lot at adult tournaments because I couldn’t bowl. Just being able to show I could bowl with them too made me happy.”

Aside from the hugs and high-fives to celebrate his perfect game, Hendrickson won 52 weeks of free pizzas from Dominos and will also receive a few gift certificates.

Hendrickson, who won a Prince George Sports Hall of Fame Youth Excellence Award last year, bowled two games that year of 400 or better and had a three-game 1,000 total the same year.

Now in his ninth season of bowling, Hendrickson has qualified for the provincial 5-pin championships in April 10-12 at Scottsdale Lanes in Surrey, with a chance to move on to the Canadian finals in Gatineau, Que., June 3-7.

“That’s going to be a blast, I’m really excited about our men’s team,” Hendrickson said. “It’ll be good competition.”

This is Hendrickson’s final season in the Youth Bowling Canada league and he will go to Quesnel for the zone singles championship Dec. 8 to try to qualify for the YBC provincials in March.

Friendly Phone Calls make a difference

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

All it takes is a Friendly Phone Call to make someone’s day.

In all relationships, there’s give and take and for those who are at home alone taking a phone call is just as much fun as it is volunteering to give the call.

Rod Mulligan is the only original volunteer for the Friendly Phone Calls program that started at the Prince George Council of Seniors/Seniors Resource Centre in 2008. Mulligan’s history goes back to 1990 when the program was with Community Policing and the two programs eventually amalgamated in 2013.

“I think they’re providing a really good service, an important service,” Mulligan said, who was honoured with a volunteerism award for his friendly phone calling in 2018.

He believes it’s important for those who are living independently to have that check in phone call five days a week.

People have always responded well to the program and sometimes it’s just about simple things like not having to get dressed for an in-home visitor as people can connect over the phone in a more informal way.

“We discuss anything the person wants to discuss,” Mulligan said.

“So I just got off the phone and we were talking about impeachment.”

Other topics include more personal subjects like personality conflicts.

“I try to help them cope as best as I can,” Mulligan said. “It’s mostly about coping with their daily problems and how they can resolve them.”

Rod mulligan works the phone on Wednesday morning at the prince George Council of seniors to showcase the Friendly phone Calls program that is in need of more volunteers and recipients.

Mulligan had a suggestion about the personality conflict.

“Maybe a person has to be a little bit more understanding,” Mulligan said. Words to live by.

Mulligan has always been a dedicated volunteer and spends two other days a week at the information desk at the hospital.

“I think it’s important to contribute to the community,” Mulligan said about his

ongoing volunteerism.

“And the best way I know how to do that is to make contact with individuals.”

Mulligan said he has met some of the people on his call list and it’s always nice to put a face to the name.

Mulligan will continue to volunteer his time for as long as he can.

Lola-Dawn Fennell, general manager at the PGCOS, said if a volunteer friendly phone caller is away and doesn’t make

that anticipated call there are clients that will call the office to check up on them. That’s a nice give and take twist on the program that delights the staff at the Resource Centre.

There are five volunteers that cover the five days a week the program is in place. Some volunteers make morning calls, while others cover off the afternoons. Those five volunteers spend about 30 hours a month making about 220 phone calls and there’s always room for more recipients if someone wants to get on the list.

Those wishing to get a phone call must be over 55 years old, be isolated, either alone or lonely, have phone access in Prince George and be able to communicate over the phone.

Beth Coates, 97, is one of the many recipients that use the program and she said she really enjoys her talks with Mulligan.

“It’s nice to get a phone call and just check in with that person and talk to someone different,” Coates said.

It’s one of the things that helps keep the brain active.

“I think that’s one of the most important things,” Coates said.

“Do anything you can that keeps your mind working. Anything that keeps you thinking and mentally active is good. I play crib whenever I can and you just do whatever you can to keep your head working and keep going day by day. Some days a phone call makes quite a difference.”

Anyone interesting in volunteering for or receiving a Friendly Phone Call can contact the PGCOS office by calling 250564-5888.

2020 masters badminton championships will be fast and furious

Ted Clarke Citizen staff

Vonda Hofferd had never seen badminton played at high level until she went to Quebec City last April and had her eyes opened at the 2019 Yonex Canadian masters championships.

Her fact-finding mission to Quebec as co-chair of the 2020 tournament, April 27-May 2 at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, left Hofferd dazzled by what she saw on the court and thrilled that Prince George audiences are about to get to see that for themselves.

“I was fascinated by the speed of the game, the athleticism is remarkable, the speed at which they react to the shuttle is phenomenal,” said Hofferd. “I was brand-new to the sport and what I’ve seen has always been the lob, back and forth. But these ones, I literally could not see the shuttle, it was going so fast, and yet they were reacting to it and returning it for a good solid rally, like five or six returns. It’s something you need to see to believe.”

The six-day tournament is expected to bring a $760,000 economic boost to the city and will attract 250 players aged 30 and older. Some of them will be well into their 80s.

“I watched the men’s doubles and they were in their 60s playing two men in their 30s and there was no discrepancy in skill, they matched each other,” said Hofferd. “Even though they’re getting older, their reflexes and skills were still the same.”

Masters championships co-chair Lisa Davison said the calibre of some of the players will be higher than what the city experienced in March 2015 watching teenagers on the cusp of national teams play each other at the Canada Winter Games.

“What you’ll see at the masters is lot of those previous national team players who are now in their 30s and they’ll have that same level of competition, if not more, because they’ve evolved in a different capacity,” said Davison, who joined Hofferd in presenting a tournament

update to city council last week.

“The game will be fast and the rallies will be long and you’ll have lots of action. When you get to your semifinals and finals, it’s pretty darn amazing. Everybody will have maybe a few wrinkles and in some events they might be moving a bit slower, but they’re pretty darn wise and crafty on the court. You can never underestimate anybody. Experience goes a long way on the court.”

Davison speaks from firsthand experience as a national-level masters player. She entered the tournament in Quebec, winning a bronze medal in the women’s doubles 50-plus event, and plans to play in the tournament again in April.

The city has already provided a

$10,733 grant to the local organizing committee and with further funding from Hosting BC and Tourism BC which boosted the promotional budget to $31,633. That was used to produce pamphlets and send a delegation to Quebec City. The grant money will also pay for webcasts during the tournament.

The host committee still needs to raise $63,000 and is now focused on trying to line up new sponsorships and engaging the local community to participate, as athletes and volunteers.

Proceeds from the tournament will be turned over to KidSport Prince George, a charity which pays for registration and equipment to help economically-disadvantaged kids take part in organized

sports.

Ticket went on sale on Friday and will be available at the Northern Sport Centre, Loxx Academy Hair Design and the Tourism Prince George headquarters on First Avenue. Tournament passes which include all matches will cost $25. Individual day passes are also available for $10 (adults) and $5 (students/seniors). Kids under 10 will be admitted free. The committee is trying to round up for volunteers to sign up for duties which range from pre-event administration, hotel/venue hosts, line judges, results recording and scorekeeping.

For more information, go to the tournament website www.mastersbadminton2020.ca.

Citizen Photo by James Doyle

Jarin Davison plays his shot in April at Duchess Park gymnasium during Mens Doubles Group A round-robin action of the 2019 North Central Junior B, Open, and Masters badminton tournament. There’s a masters’ championship coming to the Northern Sport Centre in April 2020.

ring of fire

Family friendly ferret fundraiser

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

A festive ferret frolic took place at Total Pet in the heart of Prince George Saturday.

Hosted by Ferrets North Information and Rescue Society as it celebrated its 10th year, guests could find out just what it takes to successfully invite a fuzzy friend into your home.

Ferrets are curious, busy, active, playful bundles of energy and as with all animals, some have really outstanding personalities.

For one foster ferret father it’s all about the roll and wrestle, the bounce, hop and dook (little noises made by facetious ferrets) and all the fun those words evoke.

Rick Roberts, along with wife LoriAnne, are dedicated fosters who have created an entire room for the ever-busy, hyper-focused creatures to explore, complete with a rice pit and a dirt box.

Right now, the family has seven ferrets in care, which makes theirs a busy household.

It started when daughter Quin worked at a pet store about four years ago and brought home Baby. Now there’s Gus, Koba, Dot and Tips, to name a few.

“Ferrets are like a kitten and a dog combined,” Roberts said.

Roberts uses social media to connect with ferret fans from across the world.

Shalina Edge is the founder of the rescue society and as she chatted Saturday she was holding Tips a foster ferret who was in constant motion. Edge used her hands as kind of a treadmill to keep Tips moving without him really going anywhere until he tired out.

“They sit nicely for five minutes,” Edge said, as Tips cuddled into her arms.

And then things changed quickly as Tips shook his little body and found his way into the arms of an interested patron’s jacket at Total Pet. Tips made himself at home in the man’s hood but only for a minute, as ferrets do.

“People always say curiosity killed the cat but there’s definitely got to be something said about ferrets,” Edge said.

Ferrets have no survival instincts so guardians have to be vigilant, she added.

Edge talked about one ferret she had when she was younger that went straight up to the fire in the fireplace and came so close before she could catch up to the little animal that when she pulled him away his whiskers were singed and he just turned around and went right back.

Ferret-proofing is highly recommended.

Derian Chambers is the manager of

Shalina Edge, founder

Information and

is celebrating 10 years and hosted a celebration at Total Pet on Saturday. Tips the ferret was kind enough to slow down enough for a quick photo.

Total Pet and she offered the Ferrets North Information and Rescue Society the space to host their celebration because she knows it’s important to support good causes, especially when it comes to animal rescue societies.

“It’s great for people in the community to support each other,” Chambers said. “And when it comes to things like this you just want to be part of it.” Chambers thoughts turned to the upcoming holiday season.

“We just want to get as many rescue animals homes for the holidays,” Chambers said. “It’s the same for rescue puppies and kittens - all animals need a home.”

Chambers said she does not sell ferrets in the store because housing, exercise, care and feeding for the animals is more than most pet stores can manage successfully so she will often refer customers coming into Total Pet to a rescue to help pets find a loving forever home.

“I feel more confident referring people to the ferret rescue and it’s the same thing with bunnies - I will send people different ways to get their pet,” Chambers said. “I love ferrets. I think they are an amazing animal to have but they can be a lot of work and that’s where the education part comes into it - we have to teach people about animals and their needs. We live with them, ferrets don’t live with us and that’s just a really special thing.”

Ferrets North Information and Rescue Society is looking to raise $500 to help offset operating costs. There were door prizes, baked goods, stocking stuffers and pet accessories for sale as part of the fundraising efforts.

For more information about the Ferrets North Information and Rescue Society check out the Facebook page.

Citizen staff photo

of Ferrets North

Rescue Society,

Citizen Photo by James Doyle

The cast does a performance of Ring of Fire on stage at Theatre NorthWest on Wednesday during a media availablity for Ring of Fire - The Johnny Cash story.

Friendship centre seeks volunteers

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

The end of a decade and the beginning of a new one offers a time for reflection. If part of that is making a commitment to give back to the community, the Native Friendship Centre wants to hear from you.

There are several ways to volunteer at the friendship centre, which is one of the biggest community service agencies in Prince George.

Clientele is Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples who have been supported by the centre’s programs for more than 40 years. The PGNFC provides culturally appropriate programming to meet the community’s diverse needs. The centre offers services that include education, employment, health, and social programs.

Emergency resources has quite an active food bank and clothes closet in the basement of the Friendship Centre, Emma Faulkner, health team leader for the Native Friendship Centre, said. Faulkner said they need help there and ask for a commitment of two-hour shifts

Monday to Friday, either from 10 a.m. to noon or 2 to 4 p.m.

“Volunteers pack all the dry goods for the non-perishable food portion of the hamper,” Faulkner said. “They then prep the perishable portion of the hamper. We have quite an active stream of donations for clothing so volunteers also organize a free clothes closet.”

Ideally people work in pairs during their shift because of size constraints of the space. Many of the volunteers are elders and seniors so some of the volunteers needed would just be to fill in the odd shift every now and then.

The Native Friendship Centre also has a Better at Home program for elders 55 years and older.

“We’re looking for volunteers for that program for Friendly Visiting,” Erin Anderlini, director of health at the Native Friendship Centre, said. “We have a lot of elders who live alone or even if they live with family who work a lot, they can struggle with loneliness or depression so we’re looking for people for two to four hours a month just to visit elders and

hang out with them - play card, go for a walk, have tea - it’s really a very rewarding experience.”

Right now there are about 20 elders who are waiting to be matched with someone. There are 35 volunteers who have already been matched with an elder.

“We try to match people by their interests, abilities and comfort level,” Anderlini said. “So the first on the list doesn’t automatically go with the first on the other list. Sometimes it takes a while to match people well.”

There is also the Learning Circle literacy program that is looking for volunteers at the friendship centre facilitated by Roxanne Umpherville.

“There are many components to the program but the biggest one is the oneon-one tutoring that needs volunteers for basic English, basic math, and basic computer skills,” Faulkner said. “Each learner has diverse needs and might only need help in one of those areas and some in more than one of those areas.”

Like with the Friendly Visiting program

Incentive program nears deadline

CitiZen stAff

Time is running out on a five-year program aimed at drawing more multiplefamily developments to the city.

Launched in December 2015, it ends in about 13 months time, city council was told on Monday night.

It gives a 10-year exemption from property taxes for projects located in any of five “primary growth” areas immediately to the west of the central business district and a five-year exemption for those in either of two secondary zones in the Hart and College Heights.

Incentives also include a waiver of development cost charges for projects backed by non-profit organizations and, in the primary areas, reductions for those that meet standards for low environmental impact.

As it stands, three projects worth

nearly $24 million in total and adding up to 209 units have qualified since the incentive was put in place - the Riverbend seniors complex at 1444 20th Ave., Ts’oo Yoh at 1811 Spruce St., and 9 on 7th at 1694 Seventh Ave.

All of them are in any of the primary growth areas.

The breaks are also open to renovations of existing multi-family buildings in those areas, but so far there have been no takers.

If the total value reaches $75 million before the five years lapses, the program will end but that appears unlikely, city planner Tristan Deveau told council.

He said backers of one of the projects were thinking of building in the city’s downtown, where they would also would have gotten a tax exemption, but opted for one of the sites just outside

sAntA ClAus is CoMing to town

tutors are matched up with the person in need based on availability of connecting with one another, the goals set by the learner and the pace they wish to achieve that goal, Faulkner added.

The learners’ needs are very diverse,” Faulkner said. “I remember years ago there was a gentleman past his 40s who had never read in his whole life and his goal was to be able to read and he learned to read at a very introductory level but it was very empowering for him.”

Faulkner said volunteers of the past who had occupational therapy experience or mental health counseling background added a really helpful layer onto their skill set they needed to be very supportive to clients who might be multiplebarriered coming into the program.

As part of the process to volunteer at the Native Friendship Centre everyone has to be 19 years and older and have a criminal record check.

For more information call the Native Friendship Centre at 250-564-3568 ext. 261.

because of the breaks on development cost charges.

All of the projects exceeded the 50 per cent minimum for so-called adaptability requirements to make them friendly for occupants with mobility issues, Deveau also noted.

Under legislation passed this year, proj-

ects that qualify for the incentive also get a break from the provincially-imposed school tax on property.

Developers have until Dec. 14, 2020 to submit an application and the project must be ready for occupancy by Sept. 30, 2023 to qualify for the breaks under the existing program.

Citizen Photo by James Doyle

Nusdeh Yoh Dummers lead Santa Claus into Canada Games Plaza on Sunday

United Way tree needs lighting

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

While the United Way Tree of Lights kick off took place on Saturday, the real work begins now.

The Tree of Lights fundraising effort last seen in 2016 has been resurrected atop the Coast Prince George Hotel and shortly after the tree was lit Saturday, it went dark only to be lit up one bulb at a time by the community’s fundraising efforts during this holiday season of giving.

The Christmas wish of the United Way of Northern BC is to raise $25,000 during the Tree of Lights campaign, with all funds raised staying in the north.

The regional United Way is an umbrella organization that supports more than 500 community programs, 120 organizations, 86 Aboriginal communities and five regional districts across the region that encompasses the area from Haida Gwaii to the Alberta border and Quesnel to the Yukon border.

The organizations United Way supports will lift people from poverty, supports children’s development through their important early years and works for social inclusion for all members of the community.

“We, as a non-profit ourselves, are always looking for the opportunity to connect with people and community and the Tree of Lights really stood out as an opportunity for us to give back more,” Trista Spencer, United Way’s interim executive director, said. “As we say on the

The United Way of Northern B.C. Tree of Lights is illuminated on the roof Coast Prince George Hotel by Apa during a ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

poster ‘help us light the tree this holiday season and bring the light of hope to your community’ because we started

hearing that and people are looking for that. It’s so exciting to bring that back.”

The way it works is for a minimum

donation of $5 per bulb, children with their allowance, community members, fundraising organizations, small businesses, corporations - everyone is asked to donate what they can to make that Tree of Lights shine bright in the heart of downtown Prince George.

“People really get that sense of magic and investment when they can say I helped light the tree, I lit that bulb,” Spencer said. “That’s where our hearts lie in the community.”

An example of how the United Way of Northern BC responds to the needs in the region, staff recently reached out to the town of Mackenzie, that has taken an economic hit with all the mill shut downs, to see what residents needed the most. Answering the call, the United Way just sent 21 boxes of winter clothing and boots to one of the town’s shops that will facilitate the chance for those in need to pick up the cold-weather wear they need for free.

There are several ways to donate to the Tree of Lights fundraising campaign, the most convenient, of course, is online at unitedwaynbc.ca or the United Way of Northern British Columbia’s Facebook page, other locations are the Coast’s front desk with cash or cheque or at the United Way’s office at the Native Friendship Centre at 1600 Third Ave. The tree will be fully lit on Dec. 22 as a show of appreciation to the community for their fundraising efforts.

For more information call 250-5611040 or email info@unitedwaynbc.ca.

Citizen photo by James Doyle

CeltiC fusion show set for prinCe george playhouse

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

A Celtic fusion band is making the Neighbourhood Rounds with a stop at the Prince George Playhouse on Sunday, Dec. 1.

Cod Gone Wild, a five-piece band, will take to the stage to perform old favourites and new right in time for the holiday season.

In Newfoundland it’s tradition to go house to house as part of the holiday celebrations so lead singer of Cod Gone Wild, Andrew Mercer, thought doing a 16-stop tour of B.C. would be an extension of him making his Neighbourhood Rounds like he did growing up.

“I grew up on a small neighbourhood street called Newfound Lane, in the town of Bay Robert’s Newfoundland,” Mercer said.

“On this street there lived a tight knit group of neighbours who regularly got together to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Years ago a tradition was started at Christmas time to go around the neighbourhood and visit each house, taking the time to have a drink, some food and to spin a few yarns (tell stories) at each stop along the way.”

Cod Gone Wild performs in Prince George quite often and during the show audiences won’t be disappointed.

“We’ll be playing material from the Neighbourhood Rounds album with

other music mixed into the show,” Mercer said.

“So people are going to get a taste of all of that material and anybody who has seen us before will hear their favourites as well.”

Mercer is a musical transplant to Vernon from a desk job in Newfoundland.

That’s quite a leap.

“A desk job just isn’t what I was cut out for in life,” he said. “I didn’t have anything tying me down at the time so I just decided on a whim to give it a try.”

Mercer said he first came out to B.C. in 2007 when he had written a song for a friend’s wedding.

“When I got here I looked around and said why am I not living here?” Mercer said. “So a couple years later I made the move and I’ve pretty much been doing music ever since.”

He recently moved to Kamloops for his family.

Included in Cod Gone Wild are Susan Aylard on fiddle, Sean Bray on electric guitar, Dan Fogarty on bass and David Mihal on drums.

“Having musicians from various musical backgrounds in the band allows us to create something a little more modern and edgy that will have a broader appeal to audiences across the country and around the world,” Mercer said.

The tradition of the neighbourhood rounds is alive and well and Mercer

Traditional story telling with a musical twist

A choral storytelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas takes to the stage Saturday at the Civic Centre as the multiaward winning choir Nove Voce offers its annual performance suitable for all ages. The show is a delightful 30 minutes long and will be performed at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Choir members take turns performing on stage and supporting the audience as Whovillagers.

“The kids love it and the parents seem to really love it, too,” Robin Norman, Nove Voce’s choir director, said. “We’ve got kids who’ve been coming to the show for years now and that’s really sweet. We started in 2010 so we’ve got some kids

who have been coming for nine years so now some of them are 14 and others are young adults.”

It’s nice to be part of families’ Christmas traditions, she added.

“It’s created a tradition in town that was never our intention,” Norman said.

“It was supposed to be just a fun show and now here we are.”

Richard Bjarnason once again reads the original story as Nove Voce sings Whoville favourites like You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch, Trim Up the Tree and Welcome Christmas.

“Richard will once again be our Grinch narrator,” Norman said.

“He reads the book and we insert various songs from the movie and the cartoon as well as some Christmas classics

Cod Gone Wild will perform at the P.G. Playhouse on Sunday, Dec. 1 to showcase their Celtic fusion musical style.

wrote the title track of the album to remind people to come together this holiday season.

“It is my hope that in the spirit of the season, despite this tumultuous world that we live in, that people can come together,” Mercer said. “Visit your neighbours, check in on a friend that you haven’t spoken to in a while, and most

importantly, make time for family.”

Tickets for the Prince George show are $25 in advance and $30 at the door (plus applicable taxes and fees). Tickets are available at the Central Interior Box Office by phone at 250-596-0020 or on-line at www.centralinteriortickets.com. For more information about Cod Gone Wild visit www.codgonewild.com.

The cast of the Nove Voce Choral Society’s production of How The Grinch Stole Christmas in 2016. This year, the performances take place on Saturday.

and that’s how we created a little show. It’s still just reading the book but we’re reading the book with a lot of heart and a lot of spirit.”

Tickets are only $5 each and available for cash only at the door.

Shows always sell out so come to the Civic Centre early in the day for tickets to the preferred performance to avoid disappointment.

For more information visit www.novevoce.ca.

Handout photo

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

Handout photo

Around Town

Around Town Community Calendar

Part of the miniature festive Christmas village was set up at The Railway and Forestry Museum during the annual Celebration of Lights in 2015. This year the museum is hosting the event from Dec. 18 to 23.

Wildfire risk reduction Workshop

Thursday, Nov. 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Prince George Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Way, the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative presents an agriculture and wildfire risk reduction workshop for agricultural producers, wildfire response and emergency personnel and local government representatives. This workshop is free, with lunch and refreshments provided. For catering and planning purposes preregister at https://bcwildfirepreparedness2019.eventbrite.com

ring of fire

Thursday, Nov. 28 until Monday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m. at #36-556 North Nechako Rd., Theatre NorthWest presents Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, which features five actors, 10 instruments and more than 30 songs played live to tell the amazing true life story of Johnny Cash through song. Tickets at theatrenorthwest.com.

tapestry

singers

Thursday, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and 12 at 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Trinity United Church Downtown, 1448 Fifth Ave., the junior component of Tapestry Singers welcomes new members for 2020. Junior singers include non-auditioned singers in Grade 4-7. As a community choir Tapestry Singers invite all children to join; private, public, online and home school students. For more information visit tapestrysingersd57.weebly.com or email carolynduerksen@hotmail.com.

hoW the grinch stole christmas

Saturday, Nov. 30 from 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Way, the national award-winning choir Nove Voce presents A Choral Storytelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The show is for Whos young and old, and will have the audience singing along to favourite Whoville tunes. Shows always sell out so get tickets early on Saturday at the door. All tickets for all shows go on sale at 9:30 a.m. for $5 each. For more information email general@novevoce.ca or visit novevoce.ca.

a christmas celebration

Saturday, Nov. 30 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 483 Gillett St., the Northern Orchestra presents A Christmas Celebration, featuring highlights from Handel’s Messiah, with special guests the Synergy Handbell Choir. Tickets are at the door. Adults are $25, students and seniors are $15. artisan faire

Saturday, Nov. 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Two Rivers Gallery, 725 Canada Games Way, the gift shop hosts the Artisan’s Faire which features a collection of area’s finest artisans. Hand-crafted items for sale include soaps, bath products, pottery, turned wood bowls and photographs, jams and jellies as well as skin care products. Contact: 250-614-7800 | shop@tworiversgallery.ca

emerging adult social

Monday, Dec. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, this emerging adult social is geared for those 19 to 30 years old to kick back, eat snacks and try different activities with other emerging adults. Contact: 2505639251 | adhanjal@pgpl.ca

celebration of lights

Wednesday, Dec. 18 to Monday, Dec. 23 at the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum, 850 River Rd., the museum transforms during its Celebration of Lights event. Enjoy a walk taking in the sight of more than 100,000 Christmas lights or hop onto the Cottonwood Minirail Express to explore the eight-acre park for a small fee. Guests are invited to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a bonfire or have a meal from the concession for purchase. People can enjoy a visit with the special guest in a red suit and live entertainment. On Dec. 18 admission to the park will be with donation of a non-perishable food items. For more information visit www.pgrfm.bc.ca.

grieving parents

christmas dinner

Sunday, Dec. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Omineca Art Centre, 369 Victoria St., the

Grieving Parents United organization is inviting those who have lost an infant or experienced loss in pregnancy to gather together to enjoy a traditional turkey dinner together. During the free event guests are invited to create memory boxes that will be donated to the hospital. Everyone is welcome to attend the dinner, including those with living children who can show their support and help raise awareness for this kind of loss. Guests must RSVP by emailing Shayla Mena at shaylamena@outlook.com or Natasha Saunders at tashtalkshealing@ gmail.com.

adult band

Every Monday until June 29, 2020 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 483 Gillett St., the Alban Classical New Horizons Adult Band meets. For more information visit www.albanclassical.org. Contact: 250-563-4693 | admin@albanclassical.org pJ storytime

Every Monday until Dec. 9 from 6 to 6:30 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, bring the little ones dressed in their PJs for stories, rhymes, and songs before bedtime. Suitable for children up to five years old. Contact: 2505639251 | adhanjal@pgpl.ca

heartbeat meetings

On the third Monday of the month at the Foundry, 1148 Seventh Ave., at 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. for youth between 12 and 24 and for adults at 6:45 to 8 p.m., there is a peer support group meeting offering empathy, encouragement and direction for those who have lost a loved one by suicide. If the door is locked, please knock. For more information contact Sandra Galletti at galletti@telus.net or call 250-961-9330.

acapella chorus

Every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Studio 2880-15th Ave, back entrance, the White Spruce City Acapella Chorus is looking for women of all ages to tuneup and re-energize their passion for singing. Everyone is welcome for fun, laughter and friendship. For more information call Pam 250-562-9855.

youth needlecraft

Every Tuesday until Dec. 3 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, there is Tens to Teens Needlecraft. Those 10 to 18 years old can join Alise to learn the basics of knitting and crochet. Yarn, needles, and hooks will be provided. Call 250-563-9251 ext. 108 to register.

mental health meetings

The first and third Wednesday of every month at 11:15 a.m. at 1139 Sixth Ave., the Prince George Mental Health Consumer Council welcomes the public to regular meetings. For more information call Sherry at 250-562-1839.

cantata singers

Every Wednesday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at , St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church, 1505 Fifth Ave., the Prince George Cantata Singers, a group of about 60 voices (ranging in age from 17 on up), come together each week to sing in harmony for musical performance. The choir performs about two to four major concerts per year, divided into two sessions from Sept. to Dec. and Jan. to June. Event fee is $90 per session.

dJ

dance nights

Thursdays until Dec. 26 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St., Thursday DJ Dance Nights are presented to get a body grooving and keep spirits and energies high. There are licenced and dry DJ nights each month featuring local, regional and touring DJs. Entry is by suggested donation of between $5 and $20, but no one is turned away due to lack of funds. For details visit www.ominecaartscentre.com. Contact: 250-552-0826 | info@ominecaartscentre.com

friday night mics

Every Friday at 7 p.m. Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., in Cafe Voltaire, hosts an open mic night for all musicians local or just passing through. The weekly event features great music, audience engagement, tasty beverages and treats while intermission finds people browsing through book shelves filled with contributions from local authors as well as best sellers. For more information visit www. booksandcompany.ca.

family gaming

Every Saturday until Dec. 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Nechako Branch, Prince George Public Library, 6547 Hart Highway, bring the family to monthly gaming afternoons at Nechako Branch and play a variety of tabletop board games and video games. Contact: 250-563-9251 | ask@pgpl.ca.

scrabble sundays

Every Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., in Cafe Voltaire there is Scrabble Sunday every weekend. Bring friends, family or yourself and your scrabble board.

Contact: 250-563-6637 | orderbooks@shaw.ca

Wordplay open stage

Third Thursday of every month Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., hosts Wordplay Open Stage Night in Cafe Voltaire from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. This event is geared for poets and storytellers, aspiring, published or professional. Bring original work, take the stage and share with a creative reading.

Citizen photo

Shooting stops fleeing suspect

Vaughan is all round athlete

Ted

CLARKe

Citizen staff

Libby Vaughan's ability to swim faster than most of her 13-year-old peers in the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club is no fluke.

She's not just a swimmer, she's an athlete.

Now in her fifth season training with the Barracudas at the Prince George Aquatic Centre where she swims six days a week, Vaughan also knows her way around a volleyball court as part of the Grade 8 girls team at Prince George Secondary School.

She has a passion for basketball. Put a Frisbee in her hand and she excels on the field playing ultimate on days when its warm enough for the Barracudas to take their dryland activities outdoors.

"She's an athlete and she's very good at everything," said Barracudas coach Jason Smith.

"Her hand-eye co-ordination is very good and that helps quite a bit in the pool when you're much more aware of your surroundings. She's focused on her swimming skills and focused on trying to improve every practice and she's having fun."

Sports are a way of life for Vaughn and her natural athleticism and ability to co-ordinate her body movements in the pool helped her break into the fast lane with the Barracudas last year when she joined the youth national group under head coach Jerzy Partyka. Vaughan trains with the youth national group three times a week for two-hour sessions and also practices three times a week for 90 minutes at a time with Smith’s elite group swimmers.

Vaughan was in her element two weekends ago representing her club at the Medical Northern Sprint Fall Invitational shortcourse meet at the Aquatic Centre. She raced in eight events at the Fall Invitational and finished with medals in the 100m backstroke (bronze, 1:11.12), 200 breaststroke (gold, 2:20.25), 200m freestyle relay (gold with Jordan Vertue, Jenna Frie and Sage Forseth), 200 medley relay (silver, with Vertue, Frie and Forseth) and 400m freestyle (silver, 5:01.35).

"The meets are really fun, I love how energetic it is" said Vaughan, 13, while watching clubmates Chloe Vertue and Masha Wood fight duke it out for medals with

Sienna Angove of Kamloops in the 13-12-year-old girls 200m freestyle final.

"Before races I get a little nervous and feel a little weird but once you're in the water it's all OK. I like racing and trying to keep up to everybody."

She raced a month ago in Prince Rupert at an invitational meet and all her times were personal bests, which is proof to Vaughan the hard work she puts into it is worth the effort.

"You just to keep pushing yourself and even if you have some setbacks, if you really enjoy it you will go forward," Vaughan said. Only a few club swimmers 13-14-year-old in her age division can match Vaughan's backstroke efficiency and she's strong in butterfly and freestyle but is not a big fan of the breaststroke. She's getting close to the provincial standard in the 200 IM so she can compete at the provincial championships in Kamloops, March 7-10. She's also trying to nail down a backstroke qualifying time for the Western Canadian championships Vaughan has practiced with Haley Black, the first professional swimmer ever to come out of the ranks of the Barracudas.

Black now lives in New York where she competes with the New York Breakers of the International Swimming League.

Seeing 19-year-old Avery Movold coming back from U.S. college ranks in Akron, Ohio to compete in the Fall Invitational while she prepares to join the University of Calgary swim team was also a source of inspiration for Vaughan.

"That could be me someday, reaching my goals and getting to where I want to be," said Vaughan. "I would like to take it to college and get a scholarship. That would be cool."

Vaughan and the Barracudas will be back racing Dec. 13 at the Ice Classic in Kamloops.

ANDERSON KWIATKOWSKI

DENICOLA

Sophie Jensen,8,(Ted's granddaughter),Mayor Dan Rogers,and Ted Moffat cut the cake at the 90th anniversary celebration of Northern Hardware on Saturday afternoon.

VAUGHAN

Author explores subdivision's history

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

Trelle Morrow, local retired architect and author, has written his 16th book of his Fort George Heritage Preservation series.

This one is about the history of the Nechako subdivision called A Milestone on the Nechako.

Morrow said the development of the Nechako subdivision was a turning point in how neighbourhoods were planned in Prince George.

Morrow is a member of the local Heritage Commission and he said his book was inspired by the work being done about residential heritage properties.

“Fostering heritage awareness in the city is very important,” Morrow said.

“I have isolated four or five heritage recognition areas which I am attempting to write about.”

The Nechako subdivision is the first.

“I got interested in it because I lived

there for 10 years when it was first developed,” Morrow said.

“It is a significant development for the city of Prince George from a planning point of view because after the 1913 plan was put out that Fred Burden surveyed for the city on behalf of the Grand Trunk Pacific there was no changes made to the city for 40 years.

“In 1953 the city decided to expand and it expanded westward from Carney Street.”

Carney Street was the original cutoff for the city on the 1913 plan, he added.

The city had initially expanded out to Quinn Street and the Nechako subdivision is part of the 1953 expansion but they didn’t do anything with it right away, Morrow added.

“By 1958 the city was really strapped for housing,” he said.

“There had been some settlement after the Second World War but with the an-

nouncement of pulp mills and expansion of the railway northward the city began to expand but there were no houses. We had all kinds of forestry people coming into Prince George at that time because the forest industry was starting to boom and the city was in dire straits.”

In the book, Morrow talks about how alderman Charles Cranston approached CMHC to plan and develop the Nechako subdivision, how the design of it went a whole other way from its local predecessors and much of the architectural work featured the Modern Movement.

The book is sold at Books & Co., the UNBC book store, and can be found at the Prince George Public Library.

Citizen photo by James Doyle

Trelle Morrow, retired architect and local author, has a new book out about the Nechako subdivision entitled A Milestone on the Nechako.

Ocean’s 27 sets sail tO shOwcase mOre diversity

HannaH SampSon

The Washington Post

There’s an old seafaring superstition that says women are bad luck at sea. It’s a trope that Nicholine Tifuh Azirh, a second officer with Celebrity Cruises, even heard when she was training for her maritime career, according to the cruise line’s CEO.

But next year, Tifuh Azirh and 26 of her colleagues at the Miami-based cruise company will set sail on a trip on the Celebrity Edge that seeks to make history and prove a larger point about women working in the cruise industry. The March 8 trip - International Women’s Day, not coincidentally - will be led by an all-woman bridge and officer team, Celebrity announced recently.

The idea came out of a meeting cruise line executives had this year. Celebrity, which has a female CEO, had celebrated the women’s holiday in the past. But they wanted to make a bigger splash this year, and the marketing and public relations team suggested an all-women team on the bridge, or operational control centre.

“I wasn’t sure we could pull it off,” CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said. “I said, ‘Could we actually do this? Do we actually have women in every single position on the bridge where we could put together an entire bridge team for one ship?’” Her staff was confident. Within approximately two days, the entire bridge was staffed with women.

But the idea didn’t stop there. LutoffPerlo said the company has worked hard to hire women for “hotel-side,” too, overseeing areas such as culinary, financial, guest services, housekeeping and medi-

cal. The next thought was: “Wouldn’t it be great if every major decision or function onboard was run by a woman?”

That’s how the group of women from 17 countries got assembled for the trip. They will be in roles including captain, hotel director, staff captain, doctor, cruise director, food and beverage director, safety investigation officer, environmental officer and third engineer.

“It represents such a change in the way that future generations will view working at sea,” Peter Giorgi, the cruise line’s chief marketing officer, said. “It just opens the door in terms of representation and inclusion; when young girls see that this is possible, they’ll think differently about what they want to do.”

Captain Kate McCue, who became the first female American cruise ship captain in 2015, has been referring to the bunch as “Ocean’s 27.”

“Excitement does not even begin to describe how I’m feeling about working alongside these incredible, barrier-breaking women on Celebrity Edge for this truly historic sailing,” McCue said in an announcement. “I am inspired every day by the amazing women we have working throughout this organization - both on land and at sea. They’re proof that there’s power in diversity.”

Lutoff-Perlo said the March 8 cruise is possible only because of the work the line has done in recent years to diversify the fleet’s workforce, especially on the bridge.

Since 2015, the company said, the percentage of women working on Celebrity’s navigational bridges has increased from three to 22 per cent. Celebrity says

women make up just 2 per cent of the world’s mariners.

“I don’t think anybody realizes how difficult it is to find women for these positions,” Lutoff-Perlo said. The company, which is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises, has dealt with maritime academies where less than 20 per cent of the student body is female and women are only about 10 per cent of the graduating class she added. Factor in the complexity of living on a ship for months at a time, as well as societal expectations, and the job becomes even tougher.

Still, Lutoff-Perlo said she wants to keep raising the bar. She said she would consider it a “stellar” achievement to get to 35 per cent of women in bridge roles.

More cruise lines have highlighted their own women in leadership in recent years. On International Women’s Day this year, Regent Seven Seas Cruises said that one of its captains, Serena Melani, would be the first woman in the industry to captain a new ocean ship at the time of

its launch. In 2016, Windstar Cruises introduced captain Belinda Bennett as the first black female captain in commercial cruising. And newcomer Virgin Voyages appointed a woman, Wendy Williams, as captain of its first ship launching next year.

Lutoff-Perlo said that if her company’s efforts and next year’s cruise are seen as a challenge to the rest of the industry, that’s fine with her.

“They need to continue to push forward just like we are,” she said.

While the March 8 cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida will be full of celebrations of women - exhibitions of art by women, a film series featuring work by female directors, themed trivia and panel discussions - men will be more than welcome, Lutoff-Perlo said. She said she actually heard from a man on social media who booked a trip on the sailing after hearing about it.

“It was just such a lovely thing,” she said.

Photo by Celebrity Cruises

The all-female bridge and officer team that will head the Celebrity Edge is seen in this photo.

Show home a real treat

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

Win a home fit for a king.

That’s what it says on the Spruce Kings Show Home Lottery website and seeing is believing.

Located in Aberdeen Glen subdivision at 2738 Links Dr., the home immediately draws the eye up to capture the entire two-storeys with ground level entry.

And yes, that top balcony is a walk out from the master suite.

The home is 3,100 square feet plus a double car garage with a bump out that’s big enough for a classic car, a workshop or just more room for your stuff.

The home is worth $640,000 and with Theory Hardware’s contribution which includes all furnishings that brings the total of the grand prize to $730,000.

Built by Hopson Construction and designed by the company’s co-owner, Katie McCutcheon, the home offers four bedrooms, four bathrooms and vaulted ceiling. The kitchen, dining and living room open concept is sure to please.

As luxurious as this house is, the most important feature of the show home is the reason behind it.

The Show Home Lottery is a fundraiser for the Spruce Kings hockey team, which is operated by a non-profit society which uses the proceeds from the lottery to help

offset the expenses of running the successful BCHL team. Each year operating costs run more than $500,000 and about $300,000 of that comes from the lottery.

The Spruce Kings hockey club, which began in 1972, offers players the opportunity to excel in their sport, as well as have the opportunity to earn National Collegiate Athletic Association scholarships for post-secondary education.

The Spruce Kings are the only nonprofit team in the BCHL.

Every member of the community is encouraged to support the team by purchasing tickets for $125 each at the show home at 2738 Links Drive Monday to Friday from noon to 4 p.m. or Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.. to 5 p.m. while touring the home in person or get tickets at a variety of locations throughout Prince George. Details for location and hours can be found at www.sprucekingsshowhome.ca.

There are only 11,000 tickets sold and there’s early bird draws for those who buy their tickets soon.

There’s also another opportunity to support the team by purchasing 50/50 tickets for $25 each. The Mega 50/50 lottery is divided into three periods just like a hockey game. The first period draw takes place Dec. 30 and last day to buy tickets for it is Dec. 26.

Citizen photo by James Doyle

The Prince George Spruce Kings Show Home is ready for viewing. Tickets to win the home and all its furnishings are on sale now.

From surviving to thriving

While the overall numbers seem to indicate that the economy of the country is firing on all cylinders, the truth of the matter is that there are areas both geographically and by industry where businesses are struggling. Having lived through a number of difficult times in my 30+ years owning and running my own businesses, I have learned that there are a number of things that you can do that can help to improve your business fortunes.

1. Think lean holistically: It’s natural to look for ways to cut our expenses during times when our cash flow is impacted by slowing sales. However, we often myopically focus on the expenses in only one or two areas. In my book Profit Yourself Healthy, I noted 107 areas in your business where you can probably find some savings and bolster your bottom line. In addition some business owners hastily resort to cutting jobs and marketing expenses only to regret some of those cuts later.

One study that looked at 4,700 public companies before and after a recession found that those companies that didn’t cut their employees and expenses more

BUSINESS COACH

DAVE FULLER

than their competitors and invested in growing their business, thrived better than similar businesses in their industry that simply cut back to survive.

2. Grow your sales strategically: When our sales start to decline, many business owners panic and rush out to find new customers. The problem with this is that it can cost up to 30 times more to find and onboard a new customer than to figure out how to sell more to your existing customers. That is not to say that we don’t need new customers. We absolutely do.

However, we need to be deliberate and purposeful in where we are going to spend our marketing dollars and sales efforts. Often there are strategies we can implement in both our marketing and sales that can generate more leads and sales by simply focusing on results and keeping these departments more account-

able.

3. Be aggressively positive: It’s good to be positive, however positivity alone is not going to get you through the tough times. In fact, studies of prisoners of war survivors found that some of those prisoners who tried to raise spirits of other prisoners by having them concentrate on getting out of prison by a set day, suffered severe depression and often lost hope when that day passed unfruitfully.

Those prisoners who were realistic and focused on survival often did better than those who were just positive. Being aggressively positive is different. It means that you are not going to lose heart during difficult times but will work towards surviving and thriving during those long periods of dryness in your business.

To be aggressively positive, we need to realize that as leaders we can’t do it alone but we need to use our skills to inspire and engage our team to rise to the occasion.

Being aggressively positive means that we believe that we are going to get through this difficult period we are facing and will make the necessary adjustments to the business to ensure this happens and while we continue to provide

employment for our people and remain profitable. Being aggressively positive means that when we have made strategic decisions we will work with the vision that we will be successful and implement actions to ensure that success.

The difference between surviving and thriving is momentous and the mindset is significant. If we are looking to just get through a difficult time we can often feel the prolonged pain of every bump we face along the route. However if we are focused on thriving and growing during periods of difficulty and change, our brains look for these opportunities to help us achieve our goals. It takes effort to grow and thrive during challenging times, however the energy required is often not much more than what it requires to simply survive. Running a business is often challenging and there will be undoubtedly difficult times yet with persistence and the right mindset we can move beyond surviving to thriving, if we are prepared.

— Dave Fuller, MBA is an award-winning business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Need more business tips? Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com

Trade tensions to hit global economy hard

Earlier this year, flamboyant IsraeliAmerican entrepreneur Adam Neumann sold the word “we” to a corporate investor for $5.9 million dollars. He was shamed into giving it back -- not owing to that transaction’s brashness, but because it was just a cash-inthe-crack-of-the-couch throw-in to the even larger fandangle.

Several months earlier Neuman was figger’n on bigger’n, and bigger he did. He bagged $4.4 billion of walking around money during a 12-minute stroll through his swanky digs with that same investor. He had no clear business plan, but the long-haired, dooby-smoking frat-boy levered his unbounded enthusiasm in a hand-shook deal, which the gullible Japanese financier could afford to lose. Good thing he could afford it. Just a few weeks ago, Neumann was given $1.7 billion in exchange for his promise to stop coming to work in the morning.

If there are any kindly overseas investors reading this article, I’ve got a full sentence for sale for a meagre $1,000,000. “What on earth was I thinking?” It’s a bargain, and can be

IT’S ONLY MONEY

MARK RYAN

re-used in several different situations. Better still, three full paragraphs from our RBC Economics team to discuss the current state of markets in Canada. After keeping noticeably quiet in recent months, the Bank of Canada gave us a bit more food for thought in its November statement. Trade tensions were a key theme with both Governor Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins noting that the US-China trade war could cost the global economy around $1 trillion in lost output by 2021. While that’s taking a toll on Canada’s economy, the impact to date hasn’t been significant enough for the Bank of Canada to join its global counterparts in lowering rates. One reason it has remained on the sidelines is household debt. Regarding October’s steady rate decision, Wilkins reiterated that taking out insurance against downside risks

“wasn’t worth the cost” of adding to vulnerabilities around high household debt down the road. That said, the bank has opened the door to a rate cut, and will continue to weigh the costs and benefits of such insurance in the coming months.

Our forecast is for a 1.5 per cent annualized increase in Q3 GDP, just a touch stronger than the Bank of Canada’s 1.3 per cent projection. Both would be down from average (but choppy) growth of 2.1 per cent over the first half of the year. The negative impact of global trade tensions will be evident in soft business investment (also weighed down by ongoing challenges in the energy sector) and weaker exports. We expect the two combined to shave about 3/4 of a per cent off growth in Q3. That leaves households to do much of the heavy lifting, with housing activity alone likely contributing 1/2 per cent to growth. Lower market interest rates (reflecting global central bank easing) have helped spur on demand, with mortgage debt now rising at its fastest quarterly pace since 2017 (hence the bank’s fresh worries about

household debt).

As the bank noted in October, the household sector will be key in upcoming monetary policy decisions. Signs that trade tensions and slowing global growth are having an effect beyond business investment and exports could make a dose of insurance worth the cost. Even an increase in trade tensions, or more pronounced slowing in exports and investment, could nudge rates downward. However, ongoing resilience in consumer spending and a further acceleration in housing activity would reduce the need and raise the cost. We see the potential for a rate cut early next year, although not likely sooner.

Mark Ryan is an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (Member–Canadian Investor Protection Fund), and these are Ryan’s views, and not those of RBC Dominion Securities. This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a professional advisor before taking any action based on information in this article. See Ryan’s website at: http://dir.rbcinvestments. com/mark.ryan

THE PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

A kind, gentle, generous spirit, full of love, hope, and wonder He was a gift.

As

Luigi Di Benedetto

February 3, 1925November 22, 2019

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our father, grandfather & great grandfather, Luigi Di Benedetto. He passed peacefully in his sleep Friday November 22, 2019.

Predeceased by his loving wife of 73 years Elvira Di Benedetto April 5, 2019. Predeceased in May of 2012 by his son Peter Di Benedetto of Limerick Ireland.

Luigi will be greatly missed by his surviving children, Carmela (Pasquale) and Paul & Frank Di Benedetto.

Grandchildren Ida (Peter), Carla (Damian) & Oran (Amy) of Limerick Ireland and his great grandchildren Mikaela and Nicolas of Maple Ridge & Cameron, Dylan, Louis, Rian, Flynn & Layla of Limerick Ireland.

Luigi Di Benedetto was one of the early pioneers of immigrant families to settle in Prince George in 1952. Originally living in the Cottonwood Island Community, like many new Canadians of that generation.

In 1964 the family moved to the Spruceland subdivision and this is where he lived until his passing.

Luigi came to Canada as a highly skilled master craftsman & wood worker. He spent his working years as a cabinet maker & residential home finisher with Thompson Construction and Woodland Sash & Door.

His work was greatly admired & sought after by many people in the Prince George community that knew him.

He completed many home renovations & kitchen cabinets upgrades for so many friends throughout his working years. He was known affectionately as “Mastro Luigi”

He lived a long enriched life, with a loving wife, family, grandchildren & great grandchildren and many friends. As patriarch of the family, he will be greatly missed.

Special thanks to Dr. Khan and the nursing team at UNBC PG Regional Hospital for their care in dad’s final months.

Prayers will be said on Friday November 29 @ 7:00 pm at Assman’s Funeral Chapel.

Funeral Mass will be held at St Mary’s Catholic Church on Saturday November 30 @ 11am.

In Lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Marilyn Williams

Marilyn passed away at Hospice House on Nov 22, 2019 with all her family at her side.

Marilyn is survived by her husband Rick, daughters Darleen (Alex) and Sherri and son Bill (Shelly)

Marilyn will also be gravely missed by her grandchildren Alexa (Trevor), Taylor, Dawson, Sean, Jonelle, Keenan and Brayden, her brother Dal (Donna) , sister in law Linda (Uriel) and many caring and loving friends.

A memorial service will be held at Assman’s Funeral Chapel at 1pm on Sat Dec 14th, 2019

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Cancer Research or Hospice House would be appreciated. Thank -you to Dr. Kim Weiserber and Dr. Linda Wilson for their support and care and to Hospice House for their assistance.

SUSAN RASMUSSEN

2x91.8

PGC001930

RASMUSSEN,Tage July20,1933-August8,2019

TagewasborninAarhus,Denmark,onJuly20th,1933. In1953,heimmigratedtoCanadawithhissiblingsand settledinPrinceGeorge,BC.Afterreceivinghispilot’s license,Tage’snewhobbywasflyingsmallairplanes.In 1957,hemethiswife,Wivi,inPrinceGeorge,ayoung ladyfromDenmarkwhoalsoimmigratedtoPrince Georgewithhermotherandbrothers.Theymarriedfive coldwinterslater.TageandWivienjoyedlearningand speakingEnglishastheirsecondlanguage.Tagewasan expertfallerformanyyearsandthenwentontomaster carpentryandstarthisownconstructioncompanyinthe 1970s.Tagedesignedandbuiltmanybeautifulhomesin PrinceGeorge.Hecontinuedworkingwellintohislate 70’s.Whenhefinallydidretire,heandhiswifemovedto Nanaimotobeneartheirdaughters.Thereheenjoyed usingandteachinghiscarpentryandmechanicalskills, reading,walking,gardening,andenjoyingthemild wintersoftheisland.

Tageissurvivedbyanddeeplymissedbyhiswife,Wivi; children,Lena;David,andSusan;andthegrandkitties.He isalsosurvivedbyhissisters,EstherandAlice(Agner) Olesen;brothers,Asger,Henning(Edith),andVaughn; andmanyniecesandnephews.Hewaspredeceasedby hisparents,HansandCaroline,andbrothers,Oveand Gunner.

FamilywouldliketothankNRGHPalliativecareunitfor thecomfortprovidedtoTageandhisfamilyduringhis finaldays.Aprivatefamilyviewingandcremationwas heldbyTage’srequest.

Tagewasaverystrongmanineveryway.Hesuffered terriblyfromhiscancerandisnowatpeace.Heisforever inourhearts.

October 24, 1930November 4, 2019

Steve passed away peacefully in his sleep. He will be dearly missed by his wife of 59 years Marilynn, children Cheryl (Terry), Brian (Gail), Rod, and Gwen as well as numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Born and raised near St Paul Alberta, Steve came to Prince George in 1947 and got a job driving a team of horses at Hoffs Mill; this was the start of what was to become a lifelong love of the woods. He spent 35 years with the BCFS and was involved with Forests for the World for many years. Steve enjoyed hunting, fishing, woodworking, and building a log cabin; he loved to tell a good yarn or two. Steve lived with kidney disease for many years and received wonderful care from our health care professionals.

No service by request. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Dorothy Alvina Wood

April 16,1929-November 16,2019

With great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved WIFE, MOTHER, MOTHER- IN LAW, GRANDMOTHER, GREAT GRANDMOTHER, SISTER, AUNT, and FRIEND. She was the best of all these things to all of us.

She will be dearly missed by her loving husband and favorite dance partner of 73yrs. Delbert (Deb) Wood, her 6 children, “ all on pension” she would jokingly say: Donald (Gail), Diana (Brian) Bailey, Darryl, Dolores Vickers, Doreen MacDermott (Vic), and David (Barb). Also, her 15 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, who will dearly miss her. Siblings: Lena Shep , Neil (Sue) McDermid and in-laws Shirley Mcdermid and John Wood. Not to forget the numerous nieces and nephews and their families. Dorothy was predeceased by her parents Emma and Donald McDermid, siblings: Christina Lofting, Ken, Art, and Willie McDermid and Grace Warn, and son-in-law Von Vickers.

She was born and raised in Wildwood Alberta, married Deb and started their family in Whitecourt. In 1965 they packed up the kids and moved Prince George, and she was here until her final days. She was well known for her time working at KFC and Pine Valley Golf Course, also her need to feed everyone and her delicious jams.

The family would like to extend deepest appreciation to the wonderful and caring nurses and staff of the I.M.U. and to Dr. Schokking, Dr. Enos and Dr. Serwa. Thank You so much.

There will be no service at this time, but there will be a Celebration Of Life announced in the spring, tentatively in April.

Ifdesired,donationsinTage’smemorycanbemadeto theCanadianCancerSocietyortheBCSPCA.

Cameron A. McKaig Born on November 26th

In Memoriam

Steve Marynovich

Vivian Anne Law

June 16, 1933 - November 17, 2019

The family of Vivian Law sadly announce her peaceful passing. She is survived by her husband Stewart and children David, Kathy, Dan and Dean, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Many thanks to the staff at Gateway and Dunrovin Lodge for the care given to her.

A celebration of life will be held at Northstar Baptist Church in Quesnel, November 30th at 1 pm.

Ralph Fetterly

In loving memory of Ralph Albert Fetterly October 18, 1935November 20, 2019. It is with sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Ralph in PG Hospital of heart failure, with loving wife Sylvia by his side.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Sylvia, son Rodney, daughters Linda (Rob) and Debbie (Chris). He was especially proud of his grandchildren, Miranda (Matt), Deric (Vanessa), Aaron (Kelly), Jeanine, Chelsea and Alysha and great grandchildren Charley & Emery. He is also survived by his brother Wilford (Iris) Fetterly; sister in law Patty (Bobby) Horning; brother in law Ron (Brenda) Fleming as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Albert and Violet Fetterly; sister, Alma and brothers Clifford and Elroy; brother in law Bobby Fleming.

Kathi Travers

Sept 1, 1950- Oct 14, 2019

Please join us as we celebrate the life of Kathi Travers

At Café Voltaire, Books and Company December 10, 2019, 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Kathi’s favourite ‘home away from home’ setting will allow for your stories as well as some music at the open mic and viewing of memorabilia from her pre-Prince George life.

If you knew Kathi, please join us and share your memories.

Coffee and tea, along with some munchies will be available.

ROINE - Carole Edith

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Carole Edith Roine on November 18, 2019. Born in 1944 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, spending most of her life in Prince George as well as 15 years in Costa Rica, she was blessed to have numerous close friends and extended family in all places. Carole is survived by her sister Patricia Roine, sons Allen (Tracy) Creuzot, Duaine (Becky) Creuzot, Brian (Shawn) Creuzot and Grant (Kristie) Creuzot, grandchildren Kristina (Darryl) Creuzot, Travis (Kim) Creuzot, Kale Creuzot, Hunter Creuzot, great-grandchild Gage Lester as well as her nieces, nephews and their families.

With the help of all of the wonderful staff at Hospice House, Carole recently celebrated her 75th birthday surrounded by her loving family and friends. No service by request. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Hospice House in Prince George.

Ralph was highly respected in the logging industry as a top-notch skidder operator and later as an outstanding grader man keeping the roads open for his fellow loggers. After his retirement he took much pride in tending his flowers and yard overlooking Ruby Lake. He enjoyed many hours of banter with his cronies.

Celebration of life will be held at Hart Pioneer Center Saturday, November 30 at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations to Prince George Hospice Society would be appreciated. On-line donations can be made at http://hospiceprincegeorge.ca/donate/, select ‘memory donation’ and follow instructions. Donations can also be made at the celebration of life.

AMBER BEAUREGARD

2x10.7

Established Franchise Photography Business Serving Northern B.C for over 35 years

Gross Revenues of $150.000 plus

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Established Franchise Tax Preparation Business Mackenzieservicing and McLeod Lake area for over 30 years.

Gross Revenues of $85,000 to $90,000 Annually and Potential to expand revenues in a growing economy.

Transition support available for the right buyer. Serious Inquires Only Office (250)997-9003 Home (250)997-5538 Cell (250)990-0152

are very active and love swimming. The girl loves music and participates in choir. The boy loves reading and is creative with Lego. These children thrive with structure and routine.

We are looking for an experienced caregiver or couple who are very patient, committed, loving, and understanding. These children thrive with one on one time and will do best living in a home with no other children.

The caregiver should have knowledge of trauma informed care, FASD, and an ability to conduct crisis intervention and conflict resolution or be willing to receive this training.

For more information, please contact Vivianne at 250-563-3360 ext. 122 or vivianne@csfs.org

MAYFAIRGASANDPLUMBINGINC

PGC001880

Wearelookingfortwoexperiencedjourneyman plumberstojoinourserviceteam;weofferacompetitive benefitspackage.Ifthisopportunityissomethingyou wouldbeinterestedin,pleaseemailyourresumetoBrett atoffice@mayfairinc.comoraccounts@mayfairinc.com.

BLACK PRESS - CLASSIFIEDS

2x28.0

R0011756380

RN’s and LPN’s

Casual Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses needed for in home 1:1 pediatric respite care for medically fragile children in your area. Offering union wages, paid training and full support.

For full details and to apply visit www.resourceability.ca

R0011756380

Executive Director

The Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice seeks a permanent full-time Executive Director. The Executive Director is the Executive Lead for the Division and is responsible for the operational leadership and management of the Division according to the strategic direction set by the Board. Find the full job description on our website www.divisionsbc.ca/pacific-northwest

Please submit your application to bhaskins@pnwdivisionbc.ca by January 3rd, 2020 at 4pm We thank all applicants; however, only those selected for an interview will be notified.

NOTICE OF ABANDONMENT

Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Regulation, Part 6 –Abandonment of Personal Property

Anyone who may have a rightful interest in a 1977 Meadowbrook manufactured home, Serial No. 3005; M.H. Reg: 017350 registered in the name of Loris Petri (late) and situated on pad 14-8680 Castle Road, Prince George, BC, V2N 6Y6, be advised that the said home is deemed abandoned and shall be disposed off by Nik Brkich, 8880 Castle Road, Prince George BC, V2N 6C9, phone 250-963-9811, unless you take possession of it, establish a right to possession of it or make an application to the court to establish a right within 30 days from the date of this notice. Before taking possession of it, you must pay for search fees, court costs, unpaid rent and storage charges.

COURT BAILIFF SALE www.northcentralbailiffs.bc.ca

The Court Bailiff offers for sale by tender bid, interest in the following goods of the Judgment Debtor(s): SHANON MARIE GRACE YOUNG, pursuant to a Writ of Seizure and Sale, Registry No. ITA-13568-18.

1992 Thomas 233 Skid Steer Model:92037233HD Serial:LH00970

Item(s) can be viewed at our 2706 Jasper St. & Ottawa St and 3rd Ave compound(s) in Prince George. Go to www.northcentralbailiffs.bc.ca to view photographs. Closing date December 12, 2019. Highest or any other bid not necessarily accepted. Bidders are solely responsible for determining the make, model, year of manufacture, condition, quantities, sets and or usefulness of all items for tender. All items are sold on an “as is, where is” basis with no warranty given or implied. As vehicles have not been inspected, we are declaring that they may not be suitable for transportation and may not be compliant with the motor vehicle act. Sale is subject to cancellation or adjournment without notice. Terms of sale: Immediate payment in full by bank draft or cash only upon acceptance of successful bid. Call (250) 564-4900 for details.

North Central Bailiffs Ltd.

Prince George Branch Court Bailiff Division

Brandon Jacobsen / Court Bailiff

LAND ACT: NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR CROWN LAND

Take notice that One Hope Ministries of Canada, from Winnipeg, MB, represented by Ness Lake Bible Camp has applied to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD), Omineca Region, for a Crown Grant for Community Outdoor Recreation purposes situated on Provincial Crown land located in the vicinity of Murch Lake and Loup Garou, described as PART OF NW1/4, DISTRICT LOT 2219, PART OF NW1/4, DISTRICT LOT 8435, and PART OF SW1/4, DISTRICT LOT 2242, CARIBOO DISTRICT. (Camp Sites).

The Lands File for this application is 7410085. Written comments concerning this application should be directed to Tricia Klein, Authorizations Specialist, Omineca Region, FLNRORD, at 5 th Floor 499 George Street, Prince George, BC V2L 1R5, or Tricia.Klein@gov.bc.ca Comments will be received by FLNRORD up to Dec 29, 2019. FLNRORD may not be able to consider comments received after this date. Please visit the website at http://arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/index.jsp for more information.

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.

A hard copy MAP showing the location and extent of the application area may be acquired by calling the land officer named above at 250-649-4303.