NadaliN profiles clasiNa vaN adrichem page 15
UNBC students adjust to online learning
After one last-blast farewell party the previous night at the UNBC student residence, Ty Cloarec said goodbye to some of his university friends as they loaded up their belongings in the parking lot Saturday morning.
The 18-year-old first-year wildlife and fisheries management student was among the 522 students living in the two residence buildings who received a soft eviction notice last week due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus and he was heading back to his parents’ home 45 minutes away near ness Lake.
“We’ve been told that moving out would be the best because it would decrease our chance of getting infected,” said cloarec. “Some people are worried about it. A lot of people have already moved out, i’d say there’s about an eighth left here.”
While they have been encouraged to leave to protect their own safety, it is not compulsory and students are still allowed to finish the term living in the residence.
That’s reassuring for international students, most of whom can’t return to their home countries with international flights canceled and borders closed.
UnBc announced last weekend the end of face-to-face learning from.
Professors now use online software that allows them to deliver lectures either live or on demand for students to download.
Students are using electronic audio/ video setups to present term papers or projects and they receive new assignments and submit reports through email.
Because there is no way to ensure the integrity of testing procedures outside of a monitored classroom, students facing final exams worth 30 or 40 per cent of final grades will instead be given open-book tests which count for only five or 10 per cent of the course grade.
Marks from assignments will carry more
Gurleen Bajwa, a first-year computer science student at UnBc, stands in front of the nearly-empty student residence on the cranbrook hill campus. students have been asked to leave the residence and the 19-year-old international student from india has had to adjust to online learning now that face-to-face learning with instructors has been stopped due to the coViD-19 pandemic.
weight in determining grades and that news came as a huge relief to cloarec, whose biggest worry this semester was what he thought was coming his way during the April 14-24 exam period.
“(Going to online instruction) changed
all my midterms and finals into open-book exams,” he said.
“That took a lot of pressure off and increased my grades. i thought finals would be the hardest part.”
— See ‘THIS IS THE BEST on page 3
The City of Prince George is encouraging residents to take advantage of several remote-paying options for utility bills and property taxes.
residents can pay online through their bank or credit union, use a credit card to pay via the PayTM mobile app, mail a cheque to city hall or sign up for a preauthorized payment plan, a statement released by the city said.
“in recent years, roughly half of utility and tax payments were paid in-person at city hall,” the city statement said. “While payment in-person at city hall is presently available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, the city encourages residents to utilize remote payment options in response to the coViD-19 pandemic and the importance of practicing social distancing. online payments are also accepted for monthly parking and dog licences.”
There is no change to payment deadlines for utility bills or property taxes, the city statement said. Utility payments for the first half of the year are due April 3 for properties on flat-rate billing. Property tax payments are due by July 3.
“even though the deadline for filing 2019 income tax has been extended to June 1 by the federal and provincial governments, municipalities in B.c. don’t have the authority to change tax collection dates or waive penalties/interest for late payment; these are governed by provincial legislation,” the city statement said. “in addition, nearly 30 per cent of the funds collected through property taxes are directly transferred to cover hospital and school taxes, the regional district, Bc Assessment and the Municipal Finance Authority.” city utility bills provide the full operating funds for the city’s water, sanitary sewer and solid waste services, and delaying collection would have a “significant impact on the city’s cash flow,” the statement added.
Arthur WilliAms Citizen staff
ted ClArke Citizen staff
citizen staff Photo
‘
This is the best alternative’
— from page 1
Cloarec went through a similar experience in December after the two-week faculty strike. The strike ended just before the Christmas break and instructors had no time for final exams at the end of the term. Cloarec said he helped himself by completing all his required assignments for his five subjects early this term, which left him with just one biology lab exam, which likely won’t happen.
“No finals last year and open-book this year – that’s pretty amazing,” he said. “After the strike, it was super-easy because I didn’t have to do finals and I thought this year was going to be so much harder. I was praying for this to happen. Not the virus, but easier exams.”
With students and instructors no longer interacting directly on campus, lab activities have for the most part been canceled, but interview sessions to test what was learned in lab sessions will be ongoing. Some instructors will base their assessments on phone interviews.
Aman Yadav, 19, who came to Prince George in January from Indore, India, for UNBC’s economics/international and global studies program, says there’s no way to replicate online the labs he would have had in his first semester. His final exam in history has been converted into a project he will submit online.
“Everything is online because there is no other choice,” Yadav said. “Online is not much effective and (students) are not able to interact with teachers and we need that interaction. Economics is a social science so we need more interaction, so it’s very hard for us to communicate with our teacher.
“But we have to deal with that. This is the best alternative.”
Gurleen Bajwa, a first-year computer science student from India, plans to stay at the residence until the end of April and will have to find a place to live in the city until the fall term starts in September.
She welcomed the switch to online instruction only using the Blackboard Learn software, which gives her the freedom to plan her study time around her own schedule.
“I think this way of studying is way better than going to classes,” said Bajwa. “You are in your comfortable space in your room and can study there and look through lectures later on if you miss anything because it’s live and it’s recorded. If you didn’t get it once you can see it again through the recording.”
“It’s better, because the students are communicating more with their professors. You have to communicate because they give you updates and I think these changes are benefiting the professors as well. In a class of 100 students you don’t expect the professor to know the name of each and every student but now they do
because he is chatting with them personally.”
Bajwa is fluent in English but not all international students are, so having lectures delivered online helps break down language barriers for some students, who might be reluctant to ask questions in a classroom setting. Now they just can type their questions for personal feedback from their instructors.
Bajwa is from Rampur in northern India, a city of about 100,000 near the capital, Delhi. She arrived last May and like Cloarec had to endure the uncertainty brought on by the faculty strike in her first semester.
“People have mixed reactions to the situation; they are happy because the classes are online and there are no strict deadlines and there is less weight on the final exams and with more focus on assignments,” said Bajwa.
“But they’re sad because this has been happening for two semesters in a row that we are not able to get our finals and it’s not like a normal student life.”
The student cafeteria remains open as per normal school hours but food is no longer served buffet-style and instead is served by staff. The Northern Sport Centre is so Bajwa can no longer use the weight room, fieldhouse or gym or can’t take part in the exercise programs she was involved in.
“There’s barely anybody here now,” she said. “They strongly recommended for us to leave the rez but we international students don’t really have any place to go and I think this is safer than going into town. I don’t think the school is going to open for the summer semester because they stopped the registration as soon as the school closed.”
Bajwa, 19, had an internship lined up in San Jose, Calif., but that won’t happen with the Canada-U.S. border now closed. She’s worried about the COVID-19 outbreak getting a lot worse in her home country, where her younger brother, parents and grandmother live.
“It’s so bad in the U.S. right now and people in India are saying we will have the same conditions as the U.S. maybe in two weeks,” she said. “The cases are increasing so fast because we also have a large density of people, so if it gets to one person it’s going to spread to more people.”
Yadav plans to remain living at the residence until the end of April. He’s convinced that with all the precautions in place and the fact most people aware of the threat of COVID-19 and how it is spread he’s now in one of the safest parts of the province.
“It’s away from Vancouver and there is not day-to-day communication from Vancouver to here so I don’t think Prince George will be affected severely,” he said. “It will be a great place as compared with other places.”
man arrested after items stolen
Citizen staff
A Prince George man was arrested following a brazen attempt to get away with nearly $4,000 worth of items from a local business. Lionel William Tanguay, 41, has been charged with seven counts, including break and enter with intent to commit a crime.
Prince George RCMP said officers were called to a 600-block Central Street West
business at about 2:40 a.m. last Wednesday. It’s alleged Tanguay smashed a window then loaded a shopping cart with merchandise.
He was arrested nearby and police recovered the items from Tanguay, the shopping cart and a nearby dumpster, RCMP said.
Tanguay remained in custody following an appearance in court by teleconference last Wednesday.
B.C. man worried he infected area residents
christine hinzmann
Citizen staff
A Lower Mainland man who travelled through the Vancouver and Prince George airports multiple times believes he may have exposed area residents to COVID-19.
“I could’ve infected Prince George,” Gordon Mohs said from his Mission home where he’s self-isolated.
Mohs said he made the trip from Mission to Quesnel three times - that’s six times coming through the Vancouver and Prince George airports - to help his step father through pre-surgery prep. His 91-year-old stepfather needed hip replacement surgery and the preparation included a meeting with the anesthesiologist, getting an ECG, blood work and urine
samples which were all taken by staff members on March 6 at University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George. Mohs said he was in close contact with many hospital staff members. He always tried to take his step dad and sit away from everyone else in common areas.
“I didn’t want him getting sick,” Mohs said. “I was sniffing a little bit and sneezing at the time and thought well, it’s allergy season down here (Mission), maybe that’s what it was.”
He was very cautious about wearing his FN95 mask at the airport, on the plane and wiping down surfaces more for protection from others but later on as he got five out of six of the listed symptoms of COVID-19 he grew more and more
concerned looking back about how he may have spread it to others. He didn’t wear the mask at the hospital because he thought he was safe, he said. He stayed at a downtown hotel and ate at a couple of restaurants, he added.
By March 16, his symptoms were worse. After 181 calls to 811 and finally going to a walk-in hospital to try to get tested with his trusty mask in place, a doctor told him he did indeed need to be tested.
Mohs said he got “the secret email address” that leads to a direct link to testing and he made it as far as the testing arena in Abbotsford before he was sent home to self-isolate as he’d been doing all along without being tested. He was told tests were for medical professionals and
vulnerable seniors, he added.
“At that point I was in bad shape,” Mohs said. “I actually couldn’t believe in how bad shape I was and I got worse on the 17, 18 and 19. It was very frustrating. No doctor would see me.”
Coughing for eight hours at a time at the worst part of his illness with intermittent fever, chills, chest pain, sweating, wheezing, sneezing and sniffles.
“The only thing I didn’t have was the ongoing fever,” Mohs said about the typical symptoms of COVID-19.
Mohs still doesn’t know if he’s got COVID-19 but he’s got a connection with a biomedical lab that has self tests and has arranged to get one for himself and one for his wife.
COVID-19 cases kept confidential, B.C. public health officer says
Citizen staff
B.C.’s public health officer says she will name a specific community where there is a confirmed case of novel coronavirus only under exceptional circumstances.
“We will not be identifying the specific location of confirmed cases unless public health providers cannot be certain they have reached all those who need to be contacted,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said in an emailed statement. “We want people who have symptoms to contact us, and to feel safe contacting us, knowing their privacy will be protected so the steps to protect the health and safety for all can be taken.”
That approach has not sat well with
many, including Steve Adams. The Vancouver resident said his 70-yearold mother lives in Fort St. James and recently learned four people there selfisolated after coming into contact at a wedding in Vanderhoof with a Vancouver resident who later tested positive.
“While there is no immediate threat to the community I believe Dr. Henry and her team are doing Northern Health a disservice by not providing more precise locations to the people who are testing positive,” he said. “More precise information will allow people to understand that COVID-19 poses a bigger risk than they think.”
Airport sees reduced service, operations
Ted Clarke Citizen staff
If you’re planning on flying from Prince George to Vancouver or Calgary, Air Canada and WestJet are still providing that service, but the frequency of those flights to and from YXS will likely be cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Passengers expecting to fly in and out of Prince George Airport will have fewer options to make their domestic flight connections as a result of reduced or suspended schedules announced this week.
“You’ll still have access to the large hubs that we’ve had before, admittedly it will be on likely a reduced schedule and at this point we don’t know for sure which flights are coming out and how frequently that will be,” said Prince George Airport Authority president and CEO Gordon Duke.
“Air Canada has already reduced their domestic network by about a third and that initial cut did not feature flights to Prince George. What you may see is more daily cancellations that happen while Air Canada and WestJet reduce their networks overall. They’re still serving Prince George, but instead of five flights every
day you may see three.”
Air Canada announced last week it is reducing its seat capacity by 50 per cent. It has laid off 5,100 flight attendants at least through April and has reduced its domestic network from 62 airports to 40. The airline suspended most of its service to northwestern B.C., cutting flights to Prince Rupert and Sandspit (Haida Gwaii) for the month of April.
WestJet is cutting in half the number of flights to domestic destinations but will continue service to all of its Canadian destinations. It urges passengers to check the status of flights they’ve booked before leaving for the airport.
As of Tuesday, Pacific Coastal Airlines suspended all flights with plans to resume scheduled operations on Sunday, May 3, if conditions of the coronavirus crisis will allow it. Pacific Coastal provides service to 16 B.C. destinations, including Victoria, Vancouver, Trail, Cranbrook, Powell River, Williams Lake and Tofino.
Central Mountain Air is temporarily reducing its schedule starting next Saturday and that reduced service will continue at least until May 3. The changes will mean CMA will fly three days per
week (Monday, Wednesday,Thursday) to Edmonton, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna and Terrace/Kitimat, and two days per week (Monday, Thursday) to Fort Nelson. The regional airline will temporarily suspend service to Smithers.
“What they’re doing is compressing their operation to keep it going,” said Duke. “This is really tough on airlines and airports. We know as an airport we’re a key piece of infrastructure for the community so we’re going to be staying open and airlines want to stay operating, but at some point you have to recognize you’re bleeding cash.
“People are being told to hunker down and that’s what’s best for society right now.”
Duke advises against travelers going to airline ticket agents at the airport to cancel or rebook flights and said it is easier to make those changes with the airline website.
Duke says there are anywhere from 700-800 people whose ground operations/ front-line service jobs depend on airport operations and many of those workers are now facing layoffs.
He oversees a staff of 36 at the airport
VIA rAIl serVIce chAnges crItIcIzed
The suspension of Via Rail’s passenger service from Prince Rupert to Jasper is hitting small communities hard, according to one regional district director.
Via Rail’s service on the line has been suspended since rail blockades in solidarity with a group of Wet’suwet’en hereditary
chiefs shut down traffic at the beginning of February. In a statement issued on Thursday, Via Rail said the Prince Rupert-Jasper line will be suspended until at least May 1.
The current suspension is part of measures taken by Via Rail in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In our rural communities we depend on that rail service,” Regional District of Fraser-Fort George director Dannielle Alan said. “Many of our local businesses depend on those passengers. It’s a huge deal for us. I can’t emphasize enough how destructive it is to have a lack of passenger service.”
Alan, who represents the Robson
authority who are now mostly working at home or on staggered shifts to minimize contact. The airport is using the reduction in passengers and flights to focus on cleanup/painting duties at the terminal and has accelerated staff training programs originally planned for later in the year. The restaurant in the terminal is closed.
Duke does not anticipate any layoffs within the airport authority and will instead cut capital projects to defer costs. He suggested some of the staff will get involved in community services as delivery drivers for organizations such as Meals On Wheels.
“This is pretty extreme times for us and at the end of the day we recognize people want to be home, they want to be safe and healthy and we’re going to do everything we can to make that happen,” he said.
“We’re cautiously optimistic when you look at the trajectory of this that by summer we should be OK and returning back to some kind of normalcy. We’’re planning eight weeks out but that’s sort of a bestcase scenario. This has affected every aspect of all of our lives.”
Valley-Canoe area, said the rail line is a federally-mandated service. She called on the district to write a letter raising their concerns to Transport Canada.
“We’ve had rural passengers in McBride waiting weeks to take the train home,” Alan said. “We need to stand up and make a big noise or we are going to be steamrolled.”
Regional district sets tax rates
Citizen staff
Prince George home owners will see the property tax rate they pay to the regional district drop from $53.16 per $100,000 in assessed value last year to $51.20 per $100,000 in assessed value this year, after the regional district approved its 2020 budget last Thursday.
For a typical single-family home in Prince George worth $371,443, the regional district portion of property taxes will amount to $190.18.
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors approved the district’s 2020 budget with total expenditures of $71.4 million. The budget includes almost $23.4 million in capital spending and $11.1 million in debt servicing, with the remaindering being operational spending and transfers to reserve funds.
To meet the budget, the district approved $19.8 million in property taxes, up $513,000 or 2.66 per cent from 2019.
“We’re running close to what the current inflation rate in B.C. is,” district chairman Art Kaehn said.
“It was going to be a pretty exciting year for the regional district. Of course COVID19 has changed things. From day to day, you don’t know.”
Some on the initiatives featured in the 2020 budget include the purchases of new fire fighting equipment for several of the volunteer fire departments in the district, Kaehn said. Several major projects at the Foothills Regional Landfill are planned as well, including the expansion of the landfill gas capture system and relocation of the landfill entrance.
Kaehn said it’s hard to know how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will impact
operations and spending at the district over the course of the year. Plans to start work on project may have to be delayed because of public concerns, he said.
“We’re still going to buy the fire trucks, but the factories are closed,” he said. “Our primary concern is for the health and safety of our residents and staff.”
District chief administrative officer Jim Martin said the district has plans in place to continue providing essential services even if additional social distancing measures are put in place by provincial public health authorities.
“The idea right now is continue the best we can. We’re trying to be business as usual,” Martin said.
TAX RATES BY AREA
Property taxes in the regional district vary by municipality and rural electoral area, spending on what services the district
Recycling depot options sought
Citizen staff
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George is looking for alternatives to operating the Quinn Street Regional Recycling Depot.
The transfer station provides a place for residents to drop off recycling, yard waste and other materials without having to go up to the Foothills Regional Landfill.
The district board approved hiring engineering consultants to determine if a replacement facility is needed. The regional district has operated the facility since 2013 on land owned by the City of
Prince George. Regional district general manager of environmental services Petra Wildauer said the district currently is operating the facility with a one-year lease agreement. That current from the city lease ends in April.
“We do have a verbal agreement (with the city) to find a solution to meet residents’ needs,” Wildauer said. “This is what we are hoping to determine, what we plan to do next.”
The consultants will be expected to examine the city’s need for the land, expansion limits at the current site and safety factors.
The consultation process was expected to cost more than $100,000, Wildauer said.
“Really, from a regional district perspective, it’s something we’re not too concerned about,” district director Dannielle Alan said. Alan represents Electoral Area H, Robson Valley-Canoe.
Since 2017, the City of Prince George has been planning to convert the Quinn Street transfer station to a road salt storage site.
In a report to city council in 2018, city general manager of engineering and public works Dave Dyer said the city’s road salt storage at the 18th Avenue City Works Yard is in violation of the Code of Practice
provides in each area. Regional district taxes are cumulative with the property taxes imposed by the municipality. Property values are up an average of 6.87 per cent across the district, resulting in reductions in the nominal tax rate in every municipality and electoral area. All tax rates are per $100,000 in assessed value:
• Prince George: $51.20 ($53.16 in 2019)
• Mackenzie: $59.19 ($61.16 in 2019)
• McBride: $398.97 ($415.61 in 2019)
• Valemount: $266.26 ($283.58 in 2019)
• Electoral Area A: $116.04 ($120.76 in 2019)
• Electoral Area C: $127.11 ($135.03 in 2019)
• Electoral Area D: $136.50 ($142.54 in 2019)
• Electoral Area E: $152.64 ($159.81 in 2019)
• Electoral Area F: $145.79 ($154.58 in 2019)
• Electoral Area G: $108.02 ($112.54 in 2019)
• Electoral Area H: $126.56 ($131.22 in 2019)
for the Environmental Management of Road Salts.
“At this time, these piles are not contained and the storage availability does not meet the necessary requirements,” Dyer said in his report. “In administration’s opinion, the highest and best use of the city-owned property located at 1783 Quinn St. would be the establishment of a salt storage facility; thereby enabling the city to implement a crucial recommendation of the city’s Salt Management Plan...” A new, covered salt storage facility would need to be located near to the 18th Avenue Yard for efficiency, Dyer wrote.
United Way starts COVID-19 relief fund
Citizen staff
The United Way of Northern BC has started a relief fund for the most vulnerable in the community.
“We are reaching out to community partners across Northern BC to collect information on emerging needs and to share information and resources so we can come together to do whatever we can to help,” Trista Spencer, Executive Director, UWNBC, said. “Agencies and their clients, the most vulnerable in our communities, need us more right now than ever. We are hoping the COVID-19 Relief Fund we have enabled will give people the opportunity to help in this crisis, getting direct assistance out as rapidly as possible to the people of
Northern BC.”
These are some of the issues that have been identified in the community.
•Seniors isolation – this is a long running issue, particularly for the rural and remote region. Unfortunately, the current situation has amplified this exponentially and these seniors don’t just have lack of socialization, they need food, prescriptions and personal care items to sustain a healthy way of being.
•Food security – people need food and we are getting reports of food banks closing or having no food or funding to help. Many programs across the north that need to close due to social distancing, are also the opportunities that people have to get necessary food and care items. This is
Community Foundation donates to Food banks, united way Fund
The Prince George Community Foundation is doing its part to help those need it most to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.
The foundation is providing $60,000 to fund three charitable organizations in the city that have a long history of providing some of the essentials of life for disadvantaged people.
Of the total being handed out, $25,000 will go to the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food bank, $25,000 will stock the food bank shelves of the Salvation Army and $10,000 will be directed to the United Way of Northern BC and its COVID-19 Response Fund.
“Our community is facing new and unforeseen challenges as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mindy Stroet, director of development for the Prince George Community Foundation. “It is at times like this where we must do all that we can to support one another. These dollars will provide much-needed resources to help these organizations with their onthe-ground response efforts.”
Stroet encouraged others to support the three organizations through donations and provided the following contact information:
St. Vincent de Paul – www.canadahelps. org/en/dn/30452 or 250-564-7871
Salvation Army Prince George - www. sapg.ca/ or 250-564-4000 ext. 221
United Way of Northern BC – COVID-19 Response Fund - www.unitedwaynbc.ca/ or 250-561-1040
On Twitter, go to #allforourcommunity.
being reported across the region.
•Capacity for community services – a significant number of responses from communities include a reduction of hours, closures of programs, or complete closure of the service agency. Resources would help them to continue to do their vital work.
•Mental health & addictions – not only is there more stress on the entire population at this time, our population that deals with mental health and additions issues has become particularly vulnerable, especially with their supportive programs needing to close their doors.
•Volunteer support – while there are some volunteers moving into isolation, there are others who want to help out. We are hearing that critical programs are at
risk because their volunteer support has dropped or completely gone away. We are looking for the opportunities to deploy volunteers where they are needed.
“While our regular mission is to be there for the communities we serve, this global crisis has sparked us to do whatever we can in this incredibly challenging time,” Spencer said. “As we are driven to help, we know that others are looking to do the same. Our human need to connect and help is strong, but it’s particularly difficult now because of the true need to distance ourselves from others.”
To donate to the Unite Way of Northern BC’s COVID-19 relief fund, visit the website at unitedwaynbc.ca/donate and click on COVID 19 –Fund.
krss questionnaire launChed
In response to the dispute about the Kelly Road Secondary School name change as a hot topic in Prince George, there is an online public participation questionnaire to be launched Friday on the School District 57 site.
“The purpose of the online engagement platform is to hear from the public in an accessible forum and receive ideas on how to preserve the past (Shas Ti) and present (Kelly Road) in the new school building, opening September 2020,” SD 57 said in a news release.
To access the questionnaire on Friday visit www.sd57.bc.ca.
harley raffle winner piCked
Mike Provencal was the winner of a 2020 Harley Davidson Glide, the top prize in the Prince George Fire Fighters Harley Davidson raffle.
The second prize of a $500 Harley Davidson gift certificate was Darryl Fiddler and third prize, a $250 gift certificate, went to Mike Bachand.
In all 3,500 tickets were sold and the proceeds will go towards the purchase of two portable echo ultrasounds at University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.
Citizen staff
Citizen staff
Citizen staff
note from the pubLisher
Dear reader, advertiser, sponsor and community member:
I am writing this to let you know that we here at the Prince George Citizen recognize the significant challenges that the current COVID-19 pandemic is creating for many of you.
The prime minister continues to make significant comments and announcements in regards to the federal government’s actions and recommendations.
We will behave completely within those guidelines and requests as we take this issue very seriously.
We remain 100 per cent committed
to serving the needs of the community especially at this unsettling time.
Our newsroom staff are fully engaged (by phone and email) with community news happenings and particularly events and changes around the very fluid COVID-19 pandemic.
We will keep you fully updated 24/7 on the website, pgcitizen.ca.
We understand the need to have the most up-to-date information available at all times.
We will continue to print and deliver our newspaper once a week. The content will provide up-to-date COVID-19
information as well as all the other community news that you expect.
Carriers have been asked to be especially diligent in providing social distancing for readers at their homes. Please respect their wish for social distancing as well.
The Citizen’s parent company Glacier Media have made the decision to create work from home solutions for all our employees. This will affect our ability to provide personal service at our office. As such, our office is now offering restricted access to employees only. Please call ahead to make arrangements
Please stay current
You hold in your hands a stable piece of old, stale technology.
Newspapers have been reliable sources of information for centuries. They have changed the world, holding up the very best and worst of humanity for all to see.
And yet in this time, with a pandemic rapidly sweeping through the global population, the newspaper’s imperfections are on full display.
Since The Citizen became a weekly last fall, each print edition is compiled Monday from the stories of the previous week, printed Tuesday afternoon in Vancouver, stuffed with the flyers Tuesday night and then trucked to Prince George, arriving Wednesday morning. From there, the
newspaper fans out across the city for the next 24 hours, to neighbourhood boxes, stores shelves (and now, once again, paid home subscribers).
So, to put it bluntly, there is no timely information in this newspaper about COVID-19. The story has been evolving and changing so fast that we can barely keep up on the website, never mind a weekly publication. There are COVID-19 stories in print this week, like there were last week, but we’re only publishing stories that will stand the test of time, from how seniors can protest themselves to how walking and other outdoor activities are good things to do, if done safely, while isolating and social distancing yourself.
What you won’t see are the latest numbers regionally, provincially and beyond of the rate of infection and the number of deaths. You won’t read about
most government decisions, health warnings and other updates because they would be irrelevant long before you would actually read them.
As always, there are good, important stories and opinion in The Citizen worth reading each week. This week is no exception.
But you need more than that. For the most recent, accurate reporting on COVID-19 (or anything else), please visit our website (pgcitizen.ca) and follow our Facebook page. If you look under the menu on our homepage, you’ll find the link to the page devoted to COVID19, where you can read all of our local reporting, plus stories from our sister Glacier Media publications and the Canadian Press. The page also has links to online resources from the World Health Organization and Public Health Canada to the B.C. Centre for Disease
Letter compLaint dismissed
National NewsMedia Council relase
The National NewsMedia Council has dismissed a complaint about a letter to the editor published in the February 27, 2020 edition of the Prince George Citizen. Complainant Olivia Jaswal said the letter, “Racist Confession,” was a blatant, racist rant that should not have been given a platform. She said publishing the letter was especially concerning given cases of violence against Indigenous people.
The Prince George Citizen responded by saying the paper’s goal is to show the community as it is. It made clear that it does not condone the views of letter writers, but offers the platform to all viewpoints as its professional responsibility to allow people to speak out, within the limits of libel and hate speech laws.
The NNC recognizes that the letters to the editor section is a traditional part of any newspaper. It supports the widelyheld view of letters to the editor as a venue for public comment on current events and community issues, to applaud or criticize public institutions, or serve as a gauge of public opinion.
Letters themselves are not held to journalistic standards, as they are not produced by journalists and are generally not edited as a news or opinion article would be edited. Nonetheless, the NNC’s view is that a news media organization is responsible for the content it publishes.
While the complainant described the letter in question as a “rant,” the NNC did not find evidence to support that view. The writer described making effort to understand a different point of view,
if you wish to visit one or more of our employees.
Many of them will be taking the work from home opportunity and will not be available at the office. The newspaper boxes outside the front door will remained stocked with papers.
We hope that all of you remain safe and healthy during this outbreak of COVID-19. Practise personal hygiene, maintain social distancing and selfquarantine at the very first sight of symptoms.
Control and Northern Health.
The best way you can keep yourself and others safe and well is to have the information you need. Stay current through our website and other reputable news media outlets.
One final piece of advice: give yourself a break.
Spend time with your immediate family, talk to your friends online and on the phone, read, watch funny TV shows and movies, exercise, sleep. Take as good care of your mental health and you are of your physical health.
When you are ready and need to know more about what’s happening today and this minute about COVID-19 or anything else, we’re as close as your phone, your tablet and your home computer. And each week, we’ll be here for you in print, too.
— Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
was clear that he does not condone the “terrible things” related to residential schools, and stated that he came to his point of view “sadly and without pride.” There was no evidence that the letter writer or language used incited hatred or advocated any action.
In reviewing the complaint, the NNC found the Prince George Citizen letters to the editor section contained two letters that took the writer to task for his argument and made the case for an opposite point of view. Also published were letters for and against renaming a school, and commenting on regional and municipal ventures.
The NNC’s view is that the scope of letters to the editor and varied points of view indicates that the Prince George Citizen was fulfilling its role as a community
newspaper by giving space to citizens to make an argument or state a position, and at the same time giving space to those with a differing view to rebut, argue or state an alternate position. While the NNC does not condone the content of the letter to the editor, it finds that letter writers, like opinion writers, have wide latitude to express views that may be hurtful or offensive.
For the above reasons, the NNC dismissed the complaint.
The NNC is mindful of ongoing controversy over local and national land and protest issues, and about the impact of inflammatory statements in a time of heightened emotion and polarized opinion. At the same time, it upholds the media’s role as a platform for frank, democratic discussion.
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Colleen Sparrow Prince George Citizen publisher
Ahead of their time
In studying the history of social change, I am moved by the number of great people who left this world never knowing the full extent of their contribution to a better world. Three examples from the 20th century are Raphael Lemkin, Peter Bryce and Viola Desmond.
Lemkin was a brilliant lawyer and professor. He was also a Polish Jew who fled for his life during the Second World War, eventually ending up in the United States. Having studied the Armenian Genocide, he became an advocate for human rights. While teaching in America, he coined and defined the word genocide. Lemkin was able to get the United Nations to accept a somewhat watered down definition of the word and pass the Genocide Convention in 1948. As the Cold War gained steam, Lemkin’s efforts to have further laws passed to protect human rights were largely ignored. He died penniless, exhausted by his efforts, in 1959 at the age of 59.
Peter Bryce was a prominent doctor, the first secretary of the Provincial Board
LESSONS IN LEARNING
GERRY CHIDIAC
of Health of Ontario. In 1904, he was hired by the Government of Canada. In 1907, he filed a report on health conditions at Indian residential schools where he found that roughly 24 per cent of the children were dying of tuberculosis. Bryce proposed solutions that would have improved these conditions and saved many lives. His report was ignored by the Department of Indian Affairs and he was eventually pushed into retirement.
As a private citizen, Bryce courageously published his findings in a book he called The Story of a National Crime. This generated little interest in the media or among the Canadian public. Bryce died in 1932 at the age of 78. He never knew the significance his work would have when his writ-
Shifting lifestyles
The United Nations sustainable development goal 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. For that reason, a recent article in the Proceedings of the American National Academy of Sciences addressed the need for pandemic risks to be incorporated in sustainable development planning.
While global warming remains a controversial issue and even a non-issue to many people, the current COVID-19 pandemic is not as contentious. The message is clear. Deaths are real. Runs on toilet paper, of all things, are real. Worries about adequate food supplies, medicines, testing kits, hospital bed availability, etc. are immediately real, not decades away.
Despite the relative importance to human life, many countries were not as prepared as they should be when the virus hit. Worse still, the U.S. is stuck with a president who simply does not comprehend the complexity of the situation, blaming others for his deficiencies.
Many nations recognize humans are causing unparalleled environmental degradation, climatic change, social inequality, and other negative planet-wide consequences. We have a continuing human population increase, spread of wealth and
ECO
JO GRABER
a resulting increase in energy demands and human use of natural resources to keep pace with dietary shifts to increased consumption of animal products.
Many consider sustainability goals to be linked, not isolated. Understanding those dynamics is key to achieving the UN vision. Emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, cause large-scale case mortality (infected population rate of death) and morbidity (population rate of disease), disrupt trade and travel and stimulate civil unrest. When local emergence leads to regional outbreaks or global pandemics, the economic impacts can be devastating: the SARS outbreak in 2003, the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, and the West African Ebola outbreak in 2013–2016 each caused more than US $10 billion in economic damages.
Both the disease and the fear of disease impact the current world economy and society due to restrictions on international
ings surfaced again in the 1990s.
Viola Desmond, now recognized on the Canadian ten-dollar bill, tried to raise awareness of the unjust and largely unwritten race laws that targeted black people in Canada. As an entrepreneur on a business trip, she was manhandled, arrested and put in jail one night in 1946 for sitting in the whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
Of course, there was no law saying that black people couldn’t sit in this section and Desmond was not charged with a race crime. Seats were more expensive in the white section, so she was charged and convicted of defrauding the government the additional sales tax she would have had to pay for the more expensive ticket.
Though Desmond received support in the black community and tried to fight the charge, a new trial would not reverse the conviction. Desmond was never the same person after the ordeal. Her marriage disintegrated and she gave up her business. She moved to Montreal and then to New York,
where she died in 1965 at the age of 50.
Today Lemkin, Bryce, and Desmond are celebrated as pioneers of human rights. We recognize that they did the right thing, despite the efforts of others to suppress their voices.
Their example demonstrates that whether or not others are willing to listen is of little importance. We control ourselves, we control our voices, we control our actions and we have to look at ourselves in the mirror every day.
There are certain principles that may not always be popular but they are always true. All people are equal, all people deserve to be treated with respect and “the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.”
As Mohandas Gandhi said, “It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It… may not be in your time that there’ll be any fruit…. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
travel enforced by increasing countries, the quarantining of tens of millions of people, dramatic drops in tourism, and disruption of supply chains for food, medicines, and manufactured products. Estimates of the likely economic impact are in excess of US $150 billion.
Although technologies to monitor emerging infectious disease risks are advancing rapidly, policies to deal with them are primarily reactive such as outbreak investigations and control as well as vaccines and therapeutic drugs development. Those processes should integrate with those necessary to achieve multiple societal goals such as fear reduction and continuation of a viable economy. An inability to integrate pandemic management processes create blind spots that must be addressed to ensure that sustainable development efforts are not counterproductive, compromising global health security.
Almost all recent pandemics originate in animals, mainly wildlife. They emerge through complex interactions among animals and humans. Disease emergence increases with increase of human population density and wildlife diversity. It is driven changes such as deforestation and expansion of agricultural land, intensifica-
The more things change
My readers will know that I am not fond of sayings like:
“We know better now. We don’t do that anymore. It’s 2016! (or whatever year).” We haven’t learned, It seems we don’t learn. It is always easier to declare, rather than engage. It is easier to engage, rather than listen. It is easier to listen than it is to absorb and reconsider for the good of all. School District 57 trustees were faced with a proposal from a stakeholder group, and instead of taking time to consider and consult, they instantly voted for a name change process to begin for Kelly Road Secondary School. I can sympathize with the difficult situation. Voting against the motion would have exposed every trustee to charges of racism or betrayal. History and the usual solution to problems have repeated itself. At the time of colonization, progressive leaders (including some Indigenous chiefs), thought that
THINKING ALOUD
TRUDY KLASSEN
forcefully assimilating Indigenous children was the best. Decisions like the Indian Act, the reservation system, banning ceremonies, the Sixties Scoop, were all thought progressive and modern at the time. Fast forward 100 or so years later and we see the problems caused by those heavyhanded decisions.
Too frequently, those who believe in the power of government to do good force their ideas upon the population “for their own good.” This may work for a time but eventually the public’s tolerance for bad decisions runs out and the people revolt. Then it gets ugly.
Whenever we see visceral reactions by the public, it is a sign that those in power have gone too far.
One can always hope that we learn things. Indeed, in the Aboriginal Education department meeting of December 2019, the district makes it clear that employees are to utilize collaborative decision-making, a clear recognition that top-down decisions do not bring about desired results. This is a good thing, and will hopefully spill over into other departments.
The Kelly Road renaming process began the old-fashioned way, with a top-down, heavy-handed decision by well-intentioned people.
It is a very bad start to what should bring people together. Anything done in the name of reconciliation should be collaborative, democratic and consultative. This process is not. There is too little time to do it properly; there has been too much
tion of livestock production, and increased hunting and trading of wildlife.
Advancing the integration of emerging infectious disease risk into planning for sustainable development requires a cross-disciplinary research approach; disease emergence involves socioeconomic change, pathogen dynamics, and biological and behavioral aspects of humans, wildlife, and livestock. A multisectoral approach is critical to promoting greater alignment and unique solutions that bridge sectors and stakeholders relevant to health, environment, and other dimensions of security at global, national, and community levels. Such approaches are essential now. The current path of global change is projected to have a dramatic and irreversible effect on the environment and its ability to sustain our lives. To achieve sustainable socioeconomic development, society will need to pursue a combination of technological advances and shifts toward less resourceintensive lifestyles.
As my daughter wrote me from her Ottawa-area restaurant business which she closed voluntarily till the pandemic is over:
“We are all well overdue for getting back to living within our means - maybe this is what it will take to bring us back to reality.”
bad blood.
I suggest scrapping the motion and starting from scratch, this time including all the stakeholders. With schools closed for the next several months, this is a good time to come up with a better idea. If ideas are needed, begin with storytellers and elders from the ancestral lands and the colonial elders of each area exchanging stories. Allow them to share histories and then share them to the wider communities. Then come up with an idea that would work across the entire district, rather than just one school. Or something, anything, other than this very flawed beginning. We can do better than this.
Even if you disagree with my entire argument, I would like you to consider compassionately the following words of one KRSS parent: “We feel like the entire burden of reconciliation has fallen upon Kelly Road.” And that is unjust.
LETTERS To The ediTor
Diabetes Clarity
I was troubled to read the article by Ted Clarke about Brendan Boyle’s hypoglycemic seizures (“Cougar back after diabetic attack”). I am glad to hear that Mr. Boyle has recovered from this frightening, life-threatening episode. However, as a pediatrician with expertise in Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), I have concerns about some information in the article.
T1DM is a lifelong disease in which the body cannot produce insulin, a hormone that controls blood glucose (sugar). People with T1DM must check their glucose level frequently (by finger pokes or continuous glucose sensor) and must administer insulin frequently (by injection or insulin pump). Diabetes management involves diligent attention to diet, activity and glucose values. Blood sugar levels change from minute to minute. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is a medical emergency and can develop quickly. It can result in confusion, coma and seizures. Mild to moderate hypoglycemia can be treated with fast-acting sugar taken orally (juice, honey, dextrose tablets or gel). Semi-liquids (honey or gel) must be swallowed to work; they are not absorbed from the lining of the mouth.
Severe hypoglycemia resulting in unconsciousness or seizure (such as Mr. Boyle experienced) should not be managed with oral sugar. It must be managed with glucagon (the counter-hormone to insulin, which raises blood sugar levels rapidly).
As identified in Mr. Clarke’s article, glucagon can be injected (intramuscular), but there is a new product that enables glucagon to be given by nasal spray (intranasal). This product (Baqsimi) has been available in B.C. since January and is a single-use, pre-filled, ready-to-use device. It makes the administration of this lifesaving treatment simple; anyone can do it.
Studies demonstrated that untrained providers could effectively give intranasal glucagon 93 per cent of the time (compared to zero per cent for injectable glucagon!).
Every child or adolescent (and I propose every adult) with T1DM should have glucagon available at all times, ideally the intranasal product.
To be clear, administering honey into the cheek with a tongue depressor is not an appropriate alternative to glucagon when treating severe hypoglycemia due to T1DM. I encourage individuals with T1DM (and those who know and care for them) to request information about intranasal glucagon from their diabetes care team.
I also want to promote the amazing resource we have in the NHA Prince George Diabetes Education Centre, staffed by some of the most highly trained diabetes care providers and educators in this province.
Kirsten Miller Prince George
History ignoreD
Elizabeth Ann Byron has made a touching defense of a school name (Kelly Road) with a past that reaches back into the mists of antiquity—or at least several decades.
Her emotional response to proposed changes to something that she and, obviously, many other current students and alumnae of the school, value so much should actually wake her and the others to the extraordinary pain that Indigenous people all over what we now call Canada suffered as the names for their lands (as well as the lands themselves) were stolen away. I guarantee her that when that happened back then, it did not entail opportunities for public discussion of any kind!
Indeed, John Kelly, for whom the road and, thereby, the school was first named was a prime developer and beneficiary of the Crown’s theft of all the territory around here. Kelly, like so many other early European settlers and explorers, is very well represented today.
A book about street names in Prince George by the Canadian Federation of University Women traced and explained name origins. On release by a group that is not exactly made up of flaming radicals, its spokesperson took note of the underrepresentation of aboriginal names (see Frank Peebles article in the Citizen Jan 11, 2017).
Looking further afield in B.C., we still see streets in our capital city named for the likes of Amor de Cosmos who campaigned avidly for exterminating Native people and our highest mountain still bears the name of Alfred Waddington whose scheme for a road through the Coastal Mountains brought about the Chilcotin (Tsilhqot’in) War and, thence, the murder of several Tsilhqot’in chiefs—as approved by another chap whose name still graces the B.C. rural and urban landscape, Judge Begbie.
So nobody would have a better understanding than First Nations of the pain that can come from having dear places summarily renamed.
Ms. Byron, and all those who she’s ready to stand “arm-in-arm” with, should be taking this situation as a reconciliation teaching moment about what others have suffered to a far greater extent than she and her comrades will ever know.
Norman Dale Prince George
Hearts on Display
It’s a simple thing. Paper hearts in windows. I smiled at every house that had hearts in the window on the way home today. It reminded me that we are all facing the same crisis and we are all trying to do the best we can.
Thank you to everyone who put a heart up. I put up a couple when I got home.
Shandra Murphy Prince George
letters welCome:
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. They can also be faxed to 562-7453, or mailed to Box 5700, 150 Brunswick st., Prince George V2L 5K9.
Maximum length is 400 words and 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.
Burls cut off Ancient forest cedArs
Mark NielseN Citizen staff
Outdoor enthusiasts are raising alarm bells after discovering burls on about a half dozen cedar trees in Ancient ForestChun T’oh Wudujut Provincial Park have been cut off, exposing the long-lived trees to potentially-fatal disease.
Sean O’Rourke came across the damage a bit more than two weeks ago when he set out on his snowshoes to check out the “crown jewel” of Ancient Forest Provincial Park, a tight cluster of about 15 Western redcedar trees in an area known as the primordial grove.
“When I saw it, I was quite upset because it almost felt as if I was walking into a museum and someone had vandalized a statue,” O’Rourke said.
Greed was the motivation for the acts in O’Rourke’s opinion. The burls can be made into bowls and other items that can be sold at a premium over those made from regular wood. Even the unprocessed burls can go for more than $100, according to an internet search.
However, the real cost could be the life of the tree. Portions of the trees bark were removed, leaving an unsightly scar and exposing the inner trunk to fungi and pests, “which can kill them,” O’Rourke said.
Darwyn Coxson, a professor of ecosystem science and management at the University of Northern British Columbia verified O’Rourke’s concern. The removals “expose the trees to additional stress, potentially making them more susceptible to pathogens and drought,” he said.
(The website gardenguides.com recommends waiting for to tree to die before removing its burl.)
Located about 115 kilometres east of Prince George, the park covers 11,190-hectares and protects a portion of the planet’s only known inland temperate rainforest. It is home to Western redcedar trees up to five metres in diameter and perhaps 2,000 years old, according to BC Parks.
“These large ancient cedar trees are very rare in our regional landscapes, so the
potential damage is all the more troubling,” said Coxson, who played a key role in landing provincial park designation for the area.
Coxson said the burls come about when the cambium, found just below the layer of bark, is disturbed by anything from infection by fungi to growth of parasitic plants, to insect outbreaks to even physical damage as from storms.
Nowell Senior, who was also instrumental in getting provincial parks status for the area, went out with O’Rourke this week to get a look at the damage and confirmed the trees are within the park’s boundary. Reaching the site requires some bushwhacking but said it’s about 100 metres off Highway 16 and about a kilometre from the park’s main parking lot.
He said the sight left him both sad and angry.
“I’m very fond of those cedars and to think they’ve survived every natural threat to their existence...and then we come along and cut them down with a chainsaw, we cut burls off them,” Senior said.
But Senior said he was at a loss as to finding a way to prevent such acts.
“Your article that you’re going to put out to make the general public aware of it, it might put this person on the defensive but I think that’s asking too much,” Senior said.
He also worried more damage will be found once the snow has melted and noted the burls that were removed were about a metre off the ground.
O’Rourke said he has contacted BC Parks about the matter. In a statement, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy said BC Parks is aware that a number of burls have been cut off and removed from trees in the park.
“BC Parks is initiating an investigation and will be conducting regular field checks to monitor the situation.
“Anyone committing such an act within a park and/or protected area could be charged under the Park, Conservancy and Recreational Area Regulations and face a fine of up to $200,000.”
Alzheimer’s wAlk orgAnizers considering AlternAtives
Many organizations have had to cancel or postpone their fundraising efforts due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Alzheimer Society of B.C. has decided to perhaps try an alternative to their major fundraiser that was to be held May 3 in Prince George and other communities in the province.
“Our first priority is the safety of our participants, staff, volunteers and their family and friends,” Cathryn France, the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s director of resource development, said.
The event offers people the opportunity to remember and celebrate people in their lives who have been affected by dementia, while raising funds to support people living with the disease today and to enable research into the causes and cure for the disease.
“We are so grateful to the generosity and support of all of our volunteers, participants, sponsors and donors who have contributed to this event so far,” France said. “Due to your tireless energy and contributions, together, we make a real difference to people in our province affected by dementia.”
More information about the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s and how you can attend will be available within the coming weeks. Even though it will look different, the event will undoubtedly remain a chance to honour and celebrate people affected by dementia.
The society provides support and education for people who are affected by dementia – and it will be crucially important for British Columbian families affected by dementia to feel connected and supported in the coming days.
While the in-person programs and services have been postponed, the society is increasing its phone outreach via support calls and has extended the hours of its helpline, which is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. to provide evening service in English.
The Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi support is available between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. English: 1-800-9366033, Cantonese and Mandarin: 1-833-6745007, Punjabi: 1-833-674-5003
Visit the society’s website (www. alzheimerbc.org) for more about dementia, including information about upcoming webinars, newsletters and emails.
Citizen staff
Inmate fIles lawsuIt over jaIlhouse attack
Mark NIELSEN
Local
Journalism Initiative Reporter
The victim of an assault at the Prince George Regional Correctional is suing the provincial government and the inmate who allegedly attacked him.
In a notice of claim filed Monday at the Prince George court house, Kelly Michael Richet says he was in the showers on March 18, 2018 when, “suddenly, and without provocation,” Jeff Lapier attacked him with a bladed weapon.
Richet says he needed 20 stitches to close deep cuts to his body and specifically his right arm.
Richet also claims that in the days that followed, Lapier pasted signs around
the facility saying Richet was a “rat” and shortly after two unknown inmates tried to attack him.
Richet says he locked himself in his cell to secure his safety and was then placed in protective custody.
“Lapier was known to the inmate community and the community staff at PGRCC for having a history of assaulting others, including assaults with weapons such as knives/razors,” Richet says in the claim.
He says Lapier had just been released from the jail’s special handling unit on the day of the attack, “knowing that Lapier was a danger to other inmates,” and had attacked staff at the jail on that day prior to going after Richet.
By releasing Lapier, PGRCC staff “acted negligently and fell below the standard of care required of them.”
Richet also says he was denied any pain medication for the wounds while at PGRCC, but in August 2018 he was transferred to a federal institution where he was prescribed pain medication.
The transfer occurred after Richet was sentenced to a further five years and four months for his role in a July 2016 targeted shooting in Mackenzie.
Lapier, meanwhile, was sentenced in November 2018 to a further 23 months in jail for a February 2016 shooting of a woman in Moore’s Meadow.
As a result of the attack, Richet says he
outstandIng warrants remaIn on fIve
Five down, five to go.
Two weeks after Prince George RCMP released images and information on 10 people wanted on active arrest warrants, five have been rounded up and five remain at large.
All are considered violent and should not be approached. Call police immediately, if you see them. Here’s a look at those who remain on the loose:
- David Charles Cox (born in 1980) is wanted on two counts of breaching probation.
weapons, drugs seIzed
Cox is First Nations, 180 cm (5’11”), 84 kg (186 lbs) with brown hair and brown eyes.
- Victor Junior West (born in 1986) is wanted on counts of resisting arrest, possessing a controlled substance, breaching release conditions and two counts each of fleeing police and driving while prohibited from incidents in February, May and November 2019.
West is First Nations male, 178 cm (5’10”), 93 kg (205 lbs) with black hair and brown eyes.
- Tristan Alan Olson (born in 1997) is
Prince George RCMP’s downtown safety unit came across drugs and weapons during a vehicle stop March 16 on Massey Drive.
Police said the items included a substan-
wanted on counts of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and two counts of breaching release conditions from incidents in July and September 2019. Olson is Caucasian, 183 cm (6’0”), 82 kg (181 lbs) with brown hair and brown eyes. He may be in Kamloops.
- Cheri Leah Bullshields (born in 1981) is wanted on counts of assault causing bodily harm, resisting arrest, uttering threats, breaching probation and two counts of mischief from incidents in March, June and August 2019.
tial amount of drugs and cash, along with several weapons including hatchets, hunting knives and ammunition, all of which were seized.
As well, a 46-year-old man, who was a
suffered nerve damage to his right forearm and his ability to work has been severely diminished.
Richet also says he has suffered posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and nightmares and attends counselling sessions on a weekly basis.
If staff had followed standard operating procedure, Richet says he would not have become the victim of a “brutal assault” from which he sustained personal injury, loss and damage.
The provincial government and Lapier have not yet filed responses and Richet’s claims have not yet been tested in court.
The full notice of claim is posted with this story at www.princegeorgecitizen.com.
Bullshields is First Nations, 180 cm (5’11”), 80 kg (177 lbs) with black hair and brown eyes.
- Edith Mary Joseph (born in 1981) is wanted on counts of theft under $5,000 and possessing stolen property from two incidents in August 2019.
Joseph is a First Nations,163 cm (5’4”), 45 kg (100 lbs) with black hair and brown eyes.
If you have any information about these wanted persons, contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300.
passenger in the vehicle, was recognized and found to have an outstanding warrant, police said. He was later released pending pending further investigation and charge approval.
suspects nabbed
Citizen staff
Police nabbed two suspects and are on the lookout for a third in relation to a pair of thefts from vehicles early last Tuesday morning.
Murphy John George, 36, and Joseph Patrick Courtoreille, 36, both of Prince George, were arrested after RCMP were called to the 1400 block of 20th Avenue just after 1 a.m.
Police said the suspects fled down Pine Street but were located at the Lombardy Mobile Home Park off Norwood Street in the VLA.
One was apprehended without incident but the other fled into a nearby alley before he was caught.
A number of stolen items were found, RCMP said.
George and Courtoreille were each charged with theft under $5,000, possessing of stolen property under $5,000. George was also charged with resisting arrest
and Courtoreille with possessing break-in instruments.
Both appeared in court on Tuesday and were subsequently released on $500 bail and on orders to appear on May 13 for arraignment hearings.
A bit more than two hours later, at 3:15 a.m., a security company reported a suspicious male in a pickup truck in a Rec Place Drive auto dealership.
The suspect jumped out of the vehicle and fled across Highway 16 before police arrived. A service dog and handler were called in but were unable to find the suspect.
The suspect is described as a First Nations male, about 183 cm (6’) tall and wearing a toque, black hoodie under an olive green ski jacket and dark pants.
A number of items stolen from the truck were recovered and returned to the owner.
Police are reminding the public to lock vehicles doors and never leave anything of value in the them.
Prince George RCMP are asking the public’s help in finding a man suspected of stealing roughly $5,000 worth of electronics from a local store.
He is described as South Asian, about 25 years old with dark hair and a trimmed beard and mustache, two piercings in each ear and wearing a grey and black jacket, white ‘Under Armour” brand ball cap, jeans and red, white and black high top runners at the time.
He is suspected of making off with a laptop, drone and cell phone from a Walls Avenue retailer on February 19. The suspect fled in a silver sedan before police were called, RCMP said.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.
They can also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www. pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only).
Van Adrichem looks back on full life
CSENIORS’ SCENE
lasina (Nederpel) Van Adrichem, one of eight children, was born in Den Haag, Holland in 1928. She remembers growing up during the war years and the many hardships on families.
She went to school until the war started so her education ended at the age of 13. Because of the previous death of her father, the family was divided; her mother and the four youngest siblings had to evacuate to a safer place, while Clasina and her three older sisters stayed behind because they all had various jobs and were expected to support themselves.
Clasina met Mike, her future husband, through family members in Holland in 1950. In 1951, Mike and his brother went to Canada and while he was away, he wrote many letters to Clasina and they talked about her coming to Canada and getting married. In 1952, Clasina left for Canada and the young couple were married upon her arrival.
They settled near Victoria and Mike worked on a loganberry farm. One year later, Mike found work on a government experimental farm. Ten years later, a government position became available in agricultural research for the Federal Department of Agriculture out at the Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm here in Prince George.
Mike, Clasina, their four children and their one-month old baby eagerly made arrangements, packed up and caught the train and arrived in Prince George two days later. They would live in Prince George for the rest of their lives. Mike worked at the experimental farm and retired in 1978. For the next 10 years he worked as the Superintendent for Catholic Independent Schools, Prince George
Teresa (Jean-Paul) St. Laurent, Liz (Bob) Fiege, Agnes (Chris)
SeniorS advoCate offerS tipS
It’s not forever but it’s deadly serious. That’s what B.C. Seniors’ Advocate Isobel Mackenzie is saying about the COVID-19 pandemic and how seniors need to self-isolate to be safe.
B.C. residents who are 80 years and older are more vulnerable as it is a respiratory illness.
The mortality rate for seniors 80 years and older who get COVID-19 is 15 per cent, which is the same percentage that is seen for pneumonia but she stressed that these are early days for statistics on this new illness.
In response to the Provincial Health Officer’s limit of public gatherings, the Prince George seniors’ centres are now closed. These centres have memberships of more than 1,000 people and some of them rely heavily on the midday meal provided at low cost from Monday to Friday. Along with getting nutrition at the centres, many socialize during time spent at the centres. Finding themselves with nowhere to go and self-isolating at home poses a mental health risk as well as a nutritional challenge for many.
“The message to the whole Prince
George community is we’re coming together now, it’s neighbour helping neighbour, really reach out to the elderly people you know in your life, whether they are family, neighbours, friends, the person you go to church with, the person you met at the senior centre and that senior centre is now closed,” Mackenzie said.
“Don’t assume they’re OK. Reach out, try to get phone numbers, knock on a door, leave a note under a door with your phone number - ‘give me a call, I want to make sure you’re OK.’ Once you establish those connections you can continue those connections.”
There will be heightened anxiety amongst some seniors because COVID-19 is most serious for seniors, she added. Those most vulnerable among the elderly have COPD, asthma, heart disease, diabetes and compromised immune systems.
“We are telling people, particularly older seniors, not to go out to the grocery store if you can avoid it because you’re at higher risk if you contract it,” she said.
“And even if they are capable of going out to the grocery store we’re telling them not to go.”
As far as dealing with the anxiety caused by knowing there is a risk, Mackenzie
Lapointe, Anne Marie (Todd) Daudlin and Robert (Deborah) Van Adrichem; who in turn gave them 17 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Clasina was a stay at home mom and loved every minute of it. She volunteered with everything to do with her children. With a twinkle in her eye, she said, “When the children grew up, I walked the streets and went from door to door collecting for all sorts of good causes including the Heart Foundation, the Cancer Society, United Way, the March of Dimes and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.”
Some of her hobbies are knitting, reading and doing puzzles, plus she used to sing in several choirs.
Her pride and passion - for the past 62 years - has always been her volunteer work as a member of the Catholic Women’s League. Since the mid-1980s, Clasina has been involved with the CWL catering at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. It wasn’t long before it became her job to manage and facilitate the funeral lunches after a funeral service.
Clasina said, “After 30 years of volunteering and at the age of 85 I retired and left the task of catering to a younger pair of old legs. If you have ever done any catering you know what a huge task it is. First you do the grocery shopping, then the team puts it all together. Then we not only serve food and drinks but you have to arrange for volunteers to set up, serve and then clean up afterwards. I just want to say that I could not have done all of this without my great team of volunteers.
“I knew for sure that I had to give it up when Mike started having serious health issues.
“I am now 92 and I am in good health and I am independent. I have many good friends and a wonderful family that I am extremely proud of.
“I feel it is important to relax, spend quality time with family and friends and learn new things. My latest new thing is trying to master this magical thing called an iPad. Thanks to the help of my family I am getting pretty good at it.”
encourages seniors to talk to others about their concerns.
“Now at times talking to others can increase anxiety - depending on what the other person says and where the conversations goes,” Mackenzie laughed. “But I think it’s the fear of the unknown. We don’t know how long this is going to continuewe know it’s not going to be forever, we do know that. We do know that it’s probably going to be more than a few days, more likely a few weeks to a couple of months.”
People are worried about things that have not happened yet, she added. For instance, they haven’t run out of groceries yet but they will. They haven’t run out of their medications yet.
“But they’re going to at some point, right?” Mackenzie said. “So if connections in the community are established neighbour to neighbour, family member to family member to say ‘I’ll go and get your groceries for you and I can put them away for you or even drop them off at the door for you’ and ‘I can go pick up your medications and bring them to you, I can make up some meals and bring them over.’”
That’s the calm reassurance seniors need so they can feel good about being isolated for their health’s sake.
Mackenzie said it’s of the utmost importance that seniors stay connected to the community even if it’s just a phone conversation.
The Prince George Council of Seniors has sent their volunteers home from the resource centre but the four staff members are in the closed-to-the-public office answering questions by phone Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the Friendly Phone Call program is in full swing as volunteers are working from home and are open to more seniors looking for some conversation. To request a friendly phone call, seniors can call 250-564-5888.
Other seniors will need help of a different kind.
“Some seniors will just need people to look things up on the internet for them,” Mackenzie said.
She ended with a specific message to seniors:
“This is not forever so please self-isolate,” she said to seniors. “This isn’t for the rest of your life, this is just for a few weeks but we can deal with this and the issues it presents in order to keep ourselves safe and if not for ourselves for our loved ones - our loved ones want us to keep ourselves safe as well.”
Diocese and retired in 1988. Sadly, Mike passed away in 2014 - at the age of 91 - and after 62 years of a good marriage.
Together they had eight children; Mary (Al) Mottishaw, Monica (Rick) Hines, Michael Jr. (Miae),
Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff
Submitted photo
Clasina Van Adrichem in her prince George home.
KATHY NADALIN
Fear, panic and leadership
Like you, I have been really scared a few times in my life. You know the feeling, the adrenaline rush that hits you when you believe that you are about to lose something. That increase in heart rate, tightening of your muscles, shortness of breath, narrow focus of time and your surroundings.
If you think back to times when you have been afraid, I bet you can remember with vivid detail what was happening. Like you, I can remember the feeling of being out of control and scared, in speeding cars, of heights, in dangerous situations and even in relationships.
In fact, one of the most fearful times of my life was in the hour before I got married.
At 31, I was successful, lived by myself and had a good life. Yet as I stood up by the altar that day, my knees were knocking and I was almost panicked and was literally shaking in my boots.
Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. Healthy fear will stop us from making stupid decisions that might put the lives or livelihood of ourselves or others at risk. Fear spurs that fight or flight response that tells our brain that we better get off our butts and do something or there are going to be serious consequences.
Yet the acronym for FEAR is False Expectations Appearing Real. So what are some false expectations that appear real when we make day to day decisions in our lives or our businesses?
BUSINESS COACH DAVE FULLER
Often we fear that if we lose one of our staff members that our business will fail. We prolong making tough decisions to keep people accountable because we are afraid they are going to quit. We are afraid that competitors are going to take all of our business.
We are afraid that if we take holidays, our staff will fail us. We fear that someone is going to steal from us, that we don’t have enough money to pay our bills, that people will see that we don’t know what we are doing, that we are going to get sick and die.
Our fears seem endless and in many cases we believe in our minds that the possibilities of our destruction are considerable.
Unfortunately, the more we focus on these fears, the more we become frozen by inaction and surround ourselves with the worst-case scenarios, the more those fears appear to be a real possibility. Science shows us that our brains will attempt to give us what we focus on most. If we seem to dwell on being afraid, our brains want to help us get more of that.
There have been times in business where I was afraid that a key member
of my staff would quit and the business would fail. The result though, was that when that person quit, others stepped up and ended up doing a better job.
I remember being worried that a competitor was coming to town and was going to disrupt my business. I was afraid that my sales would drop and that fear spurred me into making some changes to the business resulting in a more proactive approach. Not only did I not notice any drop in sales, I ended up selling more product!
I can honestly tell you that I had some serious reservations about selling my business at the age of 52 and facing the unknown. Yet looking back these years later, I still believe I made the right decision.
Yet fear is a part of life for many people because we have those false expectations that do appear real. So what can we do to face and overcome these fears? Here are four steps to help in overcoming fear:
Name the fear – What are we really afraid of? What is it that we are imagining? I am afraid that if the competitor comes to town all my customers will flock to them and I won’t have any sales; I will have to lay off my staff; I won’t be able to pay my bills and I will have to declare bankruptcy.
Write down the possible outcomes:
Best outcome: Competitor comes, our sales stay the same or grow
Probable outcome: Competitor comes and our sales drop by x per cent
Worst Outcome: Competitor comes and takes most of our business and we are forced to shut down.
For each outcome, write down the possible consequences. For example, if our competitor comes and our sales drop by x per cent, we will have to lay off two employees and spend more money on advertising.
Write down a plan for each scenario or outcome. Worst outcome, we are forced to shut down. If this happens, we will liquidate our assets and our owners, managers and employees will find other jobs paying $x, and some of these will go work for the competitor.
Tragic as some of the outcomes we can imagine for our fears, the reality is that life will go on, if not for us, for the next generation. When we have clarity about what the plan is if our worst fears come true, we are less likely to panic.
Writing down outcomes allows us to get these false expectations that appear real, out of the darkness of our mind and into the light of day on a piece of paper where the truth can become more apparent.
Perhaps if I had done this before I got married 24 years ago, I would have been shaking less at the altar.
As leaders, our job is to instill a sense of calm into those around us. When we have a plan and can demonstrate that we have considered the options and consequences of actions, we show confidence and as a result those around us feel more secure and less panicked.
Bold action needed to keep economy intact
kirk lapointe
Special to The Citizen
It is time for big decisions from governments of all sizes and stripes in Canada. One week of workplace hemorrhaging from COVID-19 has punched a sinkhole into the economy, with a half-million Canadians into employment insurance. This, next, and the weeks to follow will see monstrous displacement of workers across sectors.
Canada can learn one of two lessons: the ravages of some countries whose economies have sunk and stand to stay so, or the staunching of the wreckage in Denmark, Sweden and Britain to keep people in place with unprecedented wage subsidies in the hope their economies will recover much more swiftly.
The latter course is basic common sense.
Why make people idle, detach them from their work, and make any rebound more remote, when they can lend their hands to the hardship but also creatively contribute to a company’s crisper return to form?
For 20 or 25 percentage points atop the
employment insurance benefits, this is the price of a still-producing, still-retained workforce.
We don’t need another Great Depression.
We need a Great Expression.
We can quarrel on whether the strategy to suppress COVID-19 was the right one. Might we have averted this walk off the cliff had we shut the country down earlier for a couple of weeks, quarantined the most vulnerable beyond that, and dealt with the emerging cases as part of a mitigated health problem that didn’t take the economy down?
It’s too late to be the Monday morning quarterback – we are where we are – but in moving ahead our economy cannot be in permafrost when the thawing can resume. We have to think far enough ahead to be where we need to be when the world opens again for business.
It’s important that these funds not be captured by slow-moving task forces to take weeks and months from transferring into businesses.
Other countries enacted their measures
in relative light speed.
Ours can, too.
It was heartening to see what the John Horgan government was able to do Monday to apply funds now and later, to defer taxes now and later, and to make clear that it will be listening now and later.
But this is a Justin Trudeau matter of national employment consequence; his is the treasury with the extra zero at the end of the budget, so the order of magnitude is his order to give.
We know that many businesses are pressed with staffing levels that will be hurt by sickness in the weeks and months to come.
They need the flexibility to operate, to find people to backfill if the numbers we expect of those afflicted come true, and they will often need to step in that morning from home and not that week from recall.
Moreover, the brightest ideas to regenerate our economy are going to come from workplace teams in collaboration.
We are a small country with a finite talent pool and can’t afford to sideline experienced, committed workers to the
monumental tasks that await businesses that will need to get on their feet quickly.
A displaced workforce will be a distanced workforce when it returns, with its relationships in need of repair.
There is no need for that when you examine how little additionally is needed to preserve it.
We have the strongest economy of any of the G7 in entering the COVID-19 crisis. We can emerge as the strongest, too, if we are able to regain that form months, even weeks or days, faster than other jurisdictions.
So, yes, accept that the economy is roughly at a standstill. But give it a standing start when it has to start running again. Keep the country on the payroll.
We want a successful operation that doesn’t unduly hurt the patient.
As miserable as this time feels, the time will come when we have to reignite.
We won’t regret doing too much as we will too little.
Kirk LaPointe is publisher and editor-inchief of Business in Vancouver and vicepresident, editorial, of Glacier Media.
Snowgranny StepS up with love
Ted Clarke Citizen staff
Like many grandparents who can’t hug their grandchildren in these COVID-19 times, Myrna Lemky has tried to find other ways to keep those connections tight.
That dump of wet snow she found on her front lawn Monday morning provided that opportunity, one that will allow Lemky to touch the hearts of all kids in her Prince George neighbourhood.
She used that fresh white stuff to make Snowgranny, an apron-wearing snowwoman.
“I’m isolated, of course, like everyone else, and my grandchildren are isolated, so I can’t go near them or anything,” said Lemky. “So I made a big granny snowman for them on my front yard that everybody is stopping and looking at and saying, ‘Hey, that makes me feel better.’
“It’s just kind of to send my love out there to all the grandchildren out there who maybe don’t have someone to give them that love right now or they’re isolated people and they just need a bit of that.”
She and her oldest granddaughter have been making snowmen and dragons on the lawn every winter for several years and they’ve always taken pictures with them standing next to their creations but this year didn’t get that chance.
“I just wanted too make that for her and let her know I was thinking of her,” said Lemky.
On the stick arms of her snowwoman, decked out in its bright red apron, Lemky hung cutout cardboard hearts and also
stuck some of those hearts on the front window of her house at 4187 Baker St.
The heart-in-the-window concept is part of growing made-in-Prince George phenomenon that’s developed into an online scavenger hunt. To help keep them occupied during spring break, kids are being encouraged to make decorative hearts for their own houses. They’ve been posting photos of those hearts on Facebook sites they see
Lemky and her husband Ken have made a point of staying away from everybody to protect themselves from the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has proved especially deadly to seniors and people with compromised immune systems. Lemky’s eight-year-old granddaughter understands why they can’t get close to grandma and
Myrna Lemky poses with snowgranny, the snowwoman she made Monday in her Baker street yard to put smiles on the faces of her two granddaughters who she can’t hug right now due to the CoViD19 pandemic.
grandpa, but that’s difficult to explain to her younger sister, who is not yet two.
“She asks for me but there’s really nothing we can do,” said Myrna.
“They live in Prince George but we’re all staying totally isolated away from everybody to make sure we don’t get into any trouble or mischief. It’s just the thing to do right now and we have to make sure we all do that.”
Coping with COVID-19 (and TEEN-16)
Iput a note on Facebook on Friday morning asking for readers to drop me a line on what they’re doing to keep themselves safe during the COVID-19 crisis.
I loved this response I received from Susan Jensen:
“Here is a general idea what my day is like. I am a 72 year old senior.
1. Get up and prepare a good breakfast and watch the news and read Citizen online.
2. TV Is turned off at 9 a.m. unless there is something urgent we all need to know about.
3. Go for a brisk walk around my neighborhood, implementing social distancing.
4. If horrible weather, I do exercise at home
5. I clean all bathrooms, kitchen, doorknobs, fridge handle, microwave etc. I do this often and I wash my hands a lot.Clean towels every day for husband. I change sheets every 2 days.
6. After general housework is done, I read, write or work on my boxes of photos.
7. I prepare lunch and relax by listening to radio, Facebook, answer emails or messages.
8. In the afternoon, I rest and watch some TV.
9. Quick walk around the townhouse then home to prepare dinner.
10. Evening is spent TV, reading, writing and connecting with family and friends.
NIGHT SHIFT
NEIL GODBOUT
11. I go to bed early as rest is important but before I do I feel blessed and hopeful family and friends will weather through this and will be OK.
Sending wishes to you and your family.”
Thanks, Susan, and all the best to you and yours. You’re setting a fantastic example of how to keep yourself safe and how to protect others from getting sick.
I wish my youngest had a better handle on how to conduct herself. She’s 16 and fiercely independent (or know-it-all rebel, depending on your viewpoint). She’s also a social butterfly who deeply values her friendships, so social distancing and self-isolating when possible seems like a cure worse than the disease in her world.
We compromised last Thursday night and allowed her to have one longtime friend come over. Unfortunately, as parents with teenagers know all too well, an inch given quickly turns into a mile taken. My wife and I both went to bed early. Unbeknownst to us, the visit with the friend became a sleepover. And so the hammer came down. Friend visits are now off indefinitely. Considering her older brother has a heart defect, that’s a responsible course
of action at the present moment. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for COVID19 or the equally dangerous condition I call TEEN-16.
Teenagers of all generations, past and present, have little to no grasp of risk. I’ve often wondered why high school math courses don’t use more risk-benefit analysis models to give real world significance to mathematic concepts.
Question 1: There are 100 candies in a bowl and one of the candies is poisonous and will kill you. Would you take a candy and eat it? Explain mathematically why or why not.
Question 2: You and the other 19 students in the class have to each take one candy. Should you all eat your piece of candy? Explain mathematically why or why not.
Question 3: Repeat questions 1 and 2 but instead of one poisonous candy, there are 7, 17 and 77 poisonous candies in the bowl.
Question 4: Repeat questions 1 and 2 but with one thousand, one million and one billion candies in the bowl.
Question 5: With your mathematical answers to questions 1-4 in mind, add the following benefit: if you eat a candy and live, you receive a million dollars. Does that change any of your answers? Why or why not?
Nicholas Nassim Taleb, the curmudgeon intellectual and author of Black Swan and Antifragile, wrote this on Twitter on Feb. 23: “When paranoid, you can be wrong 1,000 times & you will survive. If non-paranoid; wrong once,
and you, your genes, & the rest of your group are done.”
Taleb’s point is that paranoia can be healthy and calculating the mathematical odds of an outcome has nothing to do with calculating risk. His prudent answer to all five questions would be absolutely not because death as a potential outcome is so catastrophic that it negates any and all benefits, regardless of the odds (and presuming you value your life above candy and money).
Put another way, the current odds of getting sick with COVID-19 are exponentially higher than winning the lottery while the potential negative consequences are far more serious with COVID-19 than the money wasted on a losing lottery ticket. There’s a big difference between betting a few dollars and betting your health and your life.
To be fair to my daughter, there seems to be a lot of TEEN-16 going around right now. Too many people are calculating the odds of getting sick and dying of COVID-19 in Prince George and area (never mind spreading it to others as well) as if it’s a lottery they have no chance of winning.
COVID-19 isn’t a game of chance. It’s a life and death scenario, especially for seniors and people with pre-existing health conditions.
Susan Jensen is playing it smart, both for her benefit and for the benefit of others. From a risk standpoint, everyone wins.
Let’s all follow her example.
in their neighbours’ windows when they go for walks.
Citizen staff photo
In Memoriam
BRIAN AUSTIN PRIESTON
December 11, 1970 March 28, 2002
Eighteen years ago we lost you. Sometimes it still feels like yesterday. Forever in our hearts and our minds.
We love and miss you. Love always your family
CL ASSIFIE DS
KAREN SNODGRASS
2x56.8
PGC001980
Davis,LarryW. August23,1943-March13,2020
ItiswithgreatsadnessthatthefamilyofLarryWalter DavisannounceshispassingattheRotaryHospiceHouse inPrinceGeorgeonMarch13,2020,withhiswifeand soulmateathisside.LarrywasbornAugust23,1943,at McBride,BC,andheleavestomournhiswife,Brenda; sons,Lance(Georgia)andDaryl(Ruth);granddaughter, Amberwithgreat-grandchildren,Keagan,MaxandRyker; andgrandsonColt(Jordan)withgreat-grandchildren, JaxsenandGabriel.Larrywaspre-deceasedbyhisson, Clayin2018.Thefamilywouldliketogiveaspecialthank youtoDr.Nijm,totheexcellentmedicalstaffinthe EmergencyDepartment,theFamilyMedicineUnitandthe InternalMedicineUnitattheUniversityHospitalof NorthernBC,andtothenursingstaffandcare-giversat HospicefortheirexceptionalcareofLarryandhisfamily duringthismostdifficulttime.Afamilyservicewillbe heldinthesummer,andinlieuofflowers,pleasemakea donationinLarry’snametoyourcharityofchoice.
JOYCE, James “Peter”
It is with great sadness that the family of James “Peter” Joyce announces his passing after a long battle with cancer, on Sunday, March 15, 2020, at the age of 78 years.
A very devoted husband and father, Peter will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 55 years, Sandi and his children, Ron (Stacey), and Dan (Debbie). Peter will also be fondly remembered by his five grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Collin, Declan, Dane, and Dyson, by his brother, Fred (Lorna), nephew Derek (Kathy), niece Michelle (Mike), and many more extended family. He was predeceased by his father Bill, mother Ann, brother Lorry, and sister Donna.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances regarding the global pandemic of COVID-19 we will be remembering Peter with a graveside service for family only. A great way to celebrate Peter during these challenging times is to grab a cup of your favourite coffee and take a nice walk with someone you love, as that was one of his favourite things to do.
The family wishes to recognize the outstanding personal care of family physician Dr. Brian MacKay, Dr. S. Rao and all the amazing staff at Kelowna Cancer Centre, the exceptional nurses at KGH Ambulatory Care, as well as the compassionate staff of Kelowna Hospice House. Finally, we are incredibly grateful to the many wonderful friends who have provided support during this difficult time.
Those we love can never be
More than a thought away.
For as long as there is a memory
They live in our hearts to stay.
Those who so desire may make memorial donations in honour of Peter to –BC Cancer Agency or Kelowna Hospice House.
MARIA APA, passed away in hospital on March 16, 2020 at the age of 85 years. Maria is survived by daughter Gina (Geordon) Lloyd and son Franco (Jackie). She will be remembered by her grandchildren; Samantha Lloyd (Heston), Shawn-Elisa Lloyd, Mathew Apa (Ashley), Timothy Apa (Kyl-c) and Grace Apa, as well adopted grandchildren; Keisha (Josh) and Meagan (Grant). Maria is also survived by her brother Salvatore Bevacqua, sisters Rosa (Gariano) and Franceschina (Luigi) all of Italy. She was predeceased by her husband Rocco. A visitation for Maria will take place on Thursday March 19, 2020 from 7:00pm to 9:00 pm at Sacred Heart Cathedral. In light of the present community concerns and the understanding that we are mandated to 50 people at one time please stagger your visitation between those hours. A private family entombment will take place at Prince George Memorial Park Mausoleum. The Celebration of Maria’s life will be announced at a later date. Assman’s Funeral Chapel in care of arrangements.
John Hodgson
December 5 1936- March 15 2020
John Hodgson was born in Nkana Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
He and his family moved to South Africa when he was three years old. He met and married his wife Beth in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. In 1970, John and Beth immigrated to Canada with their daughters Lynn and Elaine. John and Beth recently celebrated their 58th year of marriage. John was predeceased by his daughter Elaine in 2008, and is survived by his wife (Elizabeth) Beth, daughters Luanne (Blaine), Lynn, and Jill (Davy), and their children and grandchildren.
Funeral Service to be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Vincent de Paul.
Aug 16, 1940 - Mar 11, 2020
It is with unfortunate sadness that the family of David Charles McCoy announces his passing on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at the age of 79.
After experiencing many of life’s battles and lessons, David retired to country living in Longworth, BC, Canada, living life the way he wanted with the freedom to choose. Formerly a skilled Cat operator whom worked on many forestry and government highway projects in Western Canada, his later ambitions were simply the love of nature’s fish and wildlife that surrounded his country property.
David will be remembered by sons William and Barry, ex-wife Dorothy, granddaughter Antasia (Randal), great grandchildren Harlyn and Stylez, granddaughter Candace and her family, surviving brother Robert (Iris) and their families, predeceased by brother Wayne and the many numerous friends and unmentioned family members who knew David was great at telling you a questionable story that “just might be true”.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to the World Wildlife Fund and/or the Save the Salmon initiatives in British Columbia.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Longworth, BC at a later date this spring.
MARIA APA
McCOY, David Charles
Notices / Nominations
Auctions
Business Opportunities
Notice
Established Franchise Photography Business Serving Northern B.C for over 35 years
Gross Revenues of $150.000 plus annually from seasonal work Lots of opportunity to expand the business. Transition support available to the right buyer
Serious Enquiries Only
Office 250-596-9199
Cell 250-981-1472
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
BLACK PRESS - CLASSIFIEDS
R0011808810
3.00x42.0-4C PG16 /
BLACK PRESS - CLASSIFIEDS
R0011800274
3.00x84.0-4C
PG16 / 615595
MAINTENANCE SUPERINTENDENT
Hampton Canada Services Ltd. is currently searching for a full time Maintenance Superintendent to join our Fort St. James Forest Products operation. The Maintenance Superintendent reports directly to the Canadian Regional Operations Manager and is responsible for day-to-day comprehensive maintenance activities for the operation.
The successful candidate will have strong communication, mathematics, organization and problem solving skills. Red Seal certification in industrial mechanics (Millwright) is preferred. Good hand-eye coordination and a strong understanding of mechanical and engineering concepts are required. You should be detail oriented with an ability to meet deadlines and oversee teams, and have advanced knowledge of Microsoft applications (specifically Excel). Familiarity with financial and production metrics, dimension sawmill and planer operations (including maintenance requirements), capital projects and budgeting would be an advantage.
Core responsibilities include: coordinating activities such as cleanup, training, staffing, and tracking the maintenance needs for the facility, working closely with each department to ensure machine centers produce what’s needed to fulfill our customer obligations and ensure that the facility is properly maintained and protected from losses.
We offer competitive compensation, benefits and the potential for advancement and provide equal opportunity for employment.
Resumes will be accepted until March 31, 2020. We wish to thank all those who apply; however only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please forward your resume to: Anne Currie, Human Resources Assistant Hampton Canada Services Ltd. 503-291-5591 (Confidential Fax) #HRCanada@hamptonlumber.com
Fort St. James Forest Products, Fort St. James BC r0011800274
~1450sqftspacenear NorthNechako.Zoned M2.Thefrontconsistsof customerentrywith countertopareas,office, andbathroom.Rearhas a10’wideby16’tallrollupbaydoor.’Stratafees included.Availablefrom May1.Rentis $1200+GST.
