Prince George Citizen June 4, 2020

West Coast olefins boss replies to Marie Hay letter, page 8 stumbles happen on tHe patH to purpose, Dave Fuller writes, page 10

Prince GeorGe

Thursday June 4, 2020

Your community newspaper since 1916

Dentist knows the drill to reopen

Ted clarke Citizen staff

After more than two months of keeping his drills, scalers and probes parked in their chairside racks with his other dental instruments, Terah Albertson has the tools of his trade back in his hands.

on Wednesday, Albertson and his staff at Timber ridge Dental in Tabor Plaza resumed helping patients relieve their toothaches and polish their smiles for the first time since March 16, when the province, in response to the pandemic, put the clamp on non-essential medical services.

He’s used his time away from his profession to tackle some home renovations at the Mud river home he shares with his wife and five children and that’s kept his mind occupied, knowing he hasn’t been able to do what he’s trained for since he began practicing dentistry in 2012.

As one of the dentists who make themselves available on-call one day or weekend per month for Prince George dental emergency services, Albertson knows some patients have suffered as a result of the coViD-19 restrictions that kept dental offices closed.

“i feel bad for patients who have dental emergencies and are not receiving ideal treatment,” said Albertson. “For someone with an infection, usually you’d want to prescribe them an antibiotic, control the infection and then remove the source of infection. in some situations they’re being treated with prescriptions, where some type of definitive treatment in the dental chair would be more ideal. Those patients have been asked to stay away from the office if possible, which isn’t ideal. When you’re trying to exercise social distancing and limit contact between people, that’s what was recommended.”

after being shut down for two months due to the pandemic, Prince George dentist terah albertson has resumed treating patients in his timber ridge dental office.

The college of Dental Surgeons of Bc has urged that all elective and non-essential dental services be suspended until the threat of the virus spreading diminishes but dentists can resume treating patients with urgent needs. cleanings and other less urgent procedures are also allowed under the new provincial order, left up to the discretion of each dentist.

“if someone had (gum disease) symptoms, because of gingivitis or periodontitis, that might be a situation where we’d

consider doing a cleaning,” Albertson said. “But if it’s a healthy 20-year-old just having no symptoms, we’d say let’s wait until things are more safe.”

Like many dentists, Albertson decided to delay opening his office again by a couple weeks to allow him to gather personal protective equipment and prepare his staff for the new requirements.

Plexiglas screens have been installed in the reception area and some of the chairs where patients sit in the waiting area have

been removed, as have toys and books for kids, which could transmit the virus. Basic masks and surgical gloves are to be used on all patients. Unless a patient is deemed high-risk to be infected with coViD-19, Albertson won’t have to dip into his precious supply of n95 medical-grade masks, gowns or face shields.

“That’s been one of the challenges and one of the reasons we’re not open yet, to track down some PPe,” said Albertson. “There are some items – n95 masks and surgical gowns - i ordered two months ago and i had to find a different source because the first source hasn’t delivered it yet.”

Whenever possible, physical distancing measures must be followed. Staff are instructed to disinfect doors, pens, surfaces and washrooms after contact with each patient. The province also recommends that dentists have the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAc) air filtration system of their office evaluated as an added precaution.

“A lot of offices are having patients wait in the car and they are called once the previous patient has left, so there’s no overlap of patients in the office,” Albertson said. “They haven’t given a lot of specifics, more guidelines because each office will have a unique situation as far as the layout and the space they have available.”

Before they arrive in the office for an appointment, patients are pre-screened over the phone and are asked a series of questions from a list compiled by the Bc Dental Association to determine if they have any coViD-19 symptoms.

“The big push from our overseeing body is in the triaging and making sure we’re not having patients with a risk of having coViD-19 coming to the office,” said Albertson. “They’ve left that up to the practitioners’ professional judgement.”

police Watchdog seeks charges

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is calling for charges to be laid against five RCMP officers in relation to the death of a Prince George man in 2017.

on July 18, 2017, at around 10:30 p.m.

Prince George rcMP officers were called to investigate a report of a man casing parked vehicles in the 1,000-block of central Street West. Then the officers attempted to question the man, he allegedly fled on a bicycle, a statement issued by the iio said.

“While attempting to take the man into custody, a struggle ensued between him and the officer and additional officers then arrived. oc (pepper) spray was

used. The male appeared to be having trouble breathing and police requested medical assistance,” the iio statement said. “officers reported that the male was removed from the police vehicle when emergency Health Services (eHS) arrived, and collapsed. The male was pronounced deceased shortly thereafter.”

iio chief civilian director ronald J. MacDonald determined “reasonable grounds exist to believe that two officers may have committed offences in relation to use of force, and three others may have committed offences regarding obstruction of justice.”

The iio forwarded it’s report to the B.c Prosecution Service for consideration of potential charges.

The iio is not releasing any additional

information about the case while it is before the crown.

in a second, unrelated case, the iio cleared Prince George rcMP officers of any wrongdoing in an incident that happened on May 19.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. police were called to a report of a man chasing another man with a weapon downtown, near the intersections of Third Avenue and Dominion Street.

After being taken into custody, the man was found have injuries and was transported to the University Hospital of northern B.c for treatment by paramedics.

After reviewing the evidence, MacDonald ruled that the man’s injuries were suffered from a previous incident and were not caused by police actions.

NiNe years has passed siNce MadisoN scott’s disappearaNce

Citizen staff

It’s been nine years since Madison “Maddy” Scott went missing but both police and her parents continue to seek answers to what may have happened.

On Fri., May 27, 2011, the then-20-yearold woman had driven her white 1990 Ford F150 pick-up truck to a party at Hogsback Lake, a Forest Service campsite about 25 kilometres south of Vanderhoof, pitched her tent and joined a group of friends from the community.

At 4 a.m. the next morning, everyone but Scott had left. She remained on her own in her tent and has not been seen since.

Scott has been the subject of a very public campaign seeking answers to the mystery but so far there have been no breaks in her case. But her parents, Dawn and Eldon Scott, are urging anyone with information to come forward.

“These are not easy times - our daughter is still missing and we need your help,” they said in a statement issued by the RCMP. “We have learned a lot through this process, but one thing that has become apparent is that information is what drives an investigation.

“There is no excuse not to call the police with what you know. There is no way to rationalize talking about this case with others and not the police.

“If you want to know how you can help us, call the Vanderhoof RCMP or Crime Stoppers if you wish to remain anonymous,

with any information that you may have because we need to find Maddy.”

RCMP said the case remains open and active and the police continue to follow up on and investigate all tips that are received regarding Scott’s disappearance, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

“We believe that something criminal may have occurred between 4 and 8:30 a.m. on May 28, that led to her disappearance, we do not believe she simply walked away,” said Sgt. Matt MacLeod of the North District RCMP major crime unit.

“We know someone out there has information that can help us find Maddy or identify the person(s) responsible.”

If you have any information that can help police with this, you are asked to call the Vanderhoof RCMP at 250 567-2222 or Crime Stoppers at 1 877 222 8477.

madison scott

Nail saloN adapts to paNdemic rules

staff

There’s always been 100 per cent effort given when it comes to sanitization at one local nail salon.

Now TL Nails owner Long Trinh said they’re giving another 100 per cent to make sure everyone who enters the doors is safe.

Once a client enters the door, they are offered a sploosh of hand sanitizer and directed to the seat they will take for the service they would like to access.

Employees are all masked and transparent shields are strategically in place for everyone’s protection.

The salon opened May 19 and coming back from the forced closure to follow provincial health guidelines in response to the coronavirus pandemic has seen fewer clients returning for their usual manicures and pedicures, Trinh said.

“It’s really nice to see customers coming

back healthy,” Trinh said. “We are excited to get back to work.”

Trinh said he’s hoping all businesses will adhere to the guidelines put in place by the provincial health officer and that will continue to flatten the curve so everyone continues to stay safe and business can carry on as usual.

The lack of funds coming into the business when the bills still had to be paid put the pressure on but they are slowly coming back from that, he added.

Teresa Nelson is a faithful customer who is happy to be getting her nails done and as a treat got a manicure and pedicure.

Usually it’s a once-a-month manicure.

“It’s wonderful to be back,” Nelson said. “I couldn’t wait for them to open again.”

Back in the hair chair after shutdown

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

When it’s time to get up close and personal with your hairdresser, waxer, piercer, spa primper and preener, it’s not as simple as it was before the coronavirus pandemic.

Walking into Trendsetters Hair Studio and Day Spa can only happen after a phone call from the parking lot at your previously set appointment time and a masked worker then greets you as they unlock the door. Immediately the client is asked to make use of the hand sanitizer and if there’s not already a mask on your face, you’ll get one to put on before being seated only where the service you’ve come in for takes place. Gone are waiting area chairs or walk-in clients.

This is what salons look like in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Craig Landon, co-owner with wife Sonya of Trendsetters, said during the closures the business offered some curbside services.

“My wife and I have been answering a lot

of questions and it’s been an interesting process,” Craig said.

“The first concern was to make sure we had the PPE (personal protective equipment) for our staff to open and one of the first things we wondered about when we heard we could reopen was what the guidelines were going to be.”

Craig said the guidelines put in place by the province are on par with what’s required in other provinces but are pretty lax in his opinion and he’s put in his own protocols to make sure that both staff and clients stay safe.

“Some of the things we’re doing and I’m sure other places are doing as well are not letting people who are not getting services done come into our business,” Craig said.

Each client will be taken to each station if they are getting multiple services with no waiting in between.

“We are also implementing full time sanitization roles so we have one employee who cleans all day long,” he said. “Before we would clean in between clients but now it is ongoing throughout the whole day.”

For piercings or waxing of the face where a client can’t wear a mask, the extra step falls to the staff who will don a face shield, glasses and a mask to offer extra protection to employee and client, Craig added.

“That’s a quick service but the prolonged services will be taken off the menu for now until we feel comfortable or something has changed with COVID-19 - until we’re less vulnerable,” he said. “So we’re not going to be doing massages for now.”

Tanning is also off the menu just because sanitization of the booth would be daunting.

There are no body wraps, either.

There is an additional $5 fee charged to each client to help offset the additional cost of the hand sanitizer, the mask and the extra employee now on staff to clean.

“Everyone seems quite thrilled to be coming back to the salon and everyone is reacting quite positively to the $5 COVID fee,” Craig said. “Clients understand what the additional time and energy spent and expenses are and they don’t mind paying the extra $5 to make sure everyone is safe.”

Jennifer Tompkins, a client for more than 10 years, was Sonya’s first client after Trendsetters reopened last week.

She needed some highlights and a trim that added more layers to her long hair. Tompkins, who is a nurse, wasn’t uncomfortable with the mask and the new

protocols put in place at the salon.

She was surprised when she got the call from Trendsetters offering her one of the first appointments available as she, among many others, had their appointments canceled when the order came in March from the provincial health officer to close the doors to non essential services.

“I think we were both a little nervous to do this,” Jennifer said. “I think we’re doing the best we can, taking the best precautions that we can take with the masks and the sanitizing and it’s also nice to try to get back to life as well in a safe way. Sonya has made it really easy and she’s such a great conversationalist and I love the way my hair looks.”

Sonya said she finds it strange to be wearing a mask but it’s important to keep everyone safe.

“Jennifer is my first client and she’s perfect because she’s very chill and her hair turned out amazing,” Sonya said. “The biggest thing is having to wear the mask but because this industry is such a personal, hands-on kind of thing it makes it a little bit hard.”

The volume of clients looking for appointments is daunting and Sonya alone is booked up to the beginning of July but once the wave of clients calms down it should be business as usual.

“We just have to get through this together,” Sonya said.

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen

Citizen staff photo

Danika Cundy, nail technician, works on Teresa Nelson’s hands at TL Nails in Parkwood Mall.

Business frustrated by garbage dumping

mark nielsen

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A business in the light industrial area west of Queensway is expressing frustration as a spot behind the building is being turned into a dumping ground for unwanted junk and a magnet for troublemakers.

Erik Madsen of Fraser Plumbing and Heating said he and his co-workers have noticed a rise in the frequency and size of the messes found in the alley at the back of their 430 Third Ave. place of work.

The trouble reached a new level in late April.

“We showed up one day and there was an entire trailer load of garbage dumped,” he said.

The pace since then has continued with the biggest messes showing up on Mondays. It appears to be a combination of homeless people turning a space behind the dumpsters into a place to hunker down for the night and someone simply dumping unwanted junk at the spot.

Bike frames, a bi-fold door, a rusty frame for a patio umbrella, part of a stand for a bed along with an assortment of discarded daypacks, shoes and other items of clothing are among the refuse they have found. And, of course, needles - plenty of needles.

“We had well over a dozen needles and

other drug paraphernalia dumped right in front of our dumpster,” Madsen noted.

It’s meant extra calls to the waste disposal company to get the dumpsters emptied and, on one occasion, a junk removal company was called in to clean up the mess, adding to the business’ expenses. Neighbouring businesses have had similar troubles but not on the scale of Fraser Plumbing and Heating.

“It’s probably because it’s out of the way - I’m speculating of course - but we’re

in an alley downtown, the dumpsters are not quite against the fence, it’s a little bit sheltered and [the alley gives] easy access from Cottonwood Island Park up to the downtown,” Madsen said. Either way, it’s left employees like Stephanie Allen feeling worried for their safety.

“I walked back there and there was a female coming out from behind the dumpster pulling up her pants or doing whatever,” Allen said.

Summer road projects in works

Citizen staff

Nearly $9 million worth of work along Highways 16 and 97 in and around Prince George are in the job jar for this paving season, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said.

Over eight kilometres of Highway 16 will be resurfaced between 20th Avenue and the Old Cariboo Highway, as well as nearly 20 kilometres of Highway 97 between the Salmon River Bridge and O’Dell Road and 15 kilometres of Upper Fraser Road.

In partnership with the city, the ministry will also resurface 130 metres of 11th Avenue between Vancouver and Victoria streets.

In all, the ministry is contributing $8.9 million and the city $32,000 with the work to begin in the coming weeks.

The city also piggybacked on the work when, last week, a crew took the opportunity to replace an aging section of watermain at Third Avenue and Victoria Street, kick-starting a strategy

to replace the city’s oldest, and most break-prone mains along Third between Vancouver and Victoria Streets later this summer.

It is part of a larger program to replace 23 kilometres of the city’s oldest watermains. They break at about nine times the rate of those outside the downtown area and are past their 60-year service life, the city said, adding that while they make up only four per cent of the city’s mains, they account for a third of all breaks.

Other paving projects around the region are set to begin in the coming weeks:

- A passing lane on Highway 16 at Broman Lake, west of Burns Lake, that includes construction of a two-kilometre westbound passing lane, extension of the eastbound passing lane by 400 metres, and improvements to the entry and exit lanes to the brake check and chain off areas at Six Mile Summit (budget: $15 million).

- Construction of a rest area at Savory,

east of Burns Lake, with the widening of about 420 metres of Highway 16 to accommodate a deceleration lane and a left-hand turn into the rest area (budget: $2.3 million).

- Resurfacing 29 kilometres of Highway 97 from Whiskers Point to Parsnip River Bridge and 25 kilometres of Highway 39 from the junction of Highway 97 to Mill Road south of Mackenzie (budget: $3 million).

- Resurfacing 18.7 kilometres of Highway 5 from the regional boundary through Avola, south of Blue River (budget: $2.7 million).

- Resurfacing 26.6 kilometres of Highway 16 in the Smithers-Telkwa area from Nouch Road to Fort Telkwa, excluding the Smithers arterial (budget: $3.4 million).

- Resurfacing 68 kilometres on Highway 16 east of Smithers, from Wakefield Road to 6 Mile Hill, excluding the Houston arterial. The project includes resurfacing side roads in and around the Smithers area (budget: $4.1 million).

The city’s bylaw services department, the Prince George RCMP and Northern Health’s needle exchange have been contacted. With the help of security cameras, they have also been able to get video of the culprits who dumped a heap of junk at the spot earlier this week.

City spokesman Mike Kellett said bylaw officers are continuing to investigate and are asking anyone with information regarding the matter to contact the office by dialing 311.

via back on track

Citizen staff

Via Rail service between Prince George, Jasper and Prince Rupert will resume on July 5. Passenger rail service on the line has been suspended since Feb. 12, when the rail line was blockaded by protesters near New Hazelton. Service from Jasper to Prince George will run on Sundays and will continue east to Prince Rupert on Mondays each week. Trains will leave Prince Rupert for Prince George every Wednesday, and run Prince George to Jasper on Thursdays.

Previously Via Rail trains ran three times per week in each direction.

In last week’s statement, Via Rail said work being done on the line by CN Rail was the cause for the lengthy delay in restarting the service. Jasper will be the end of the line for passenger service until Nov. 1, when The Canadian line - running from Vancouver to Toronto – resumes service.

A heap of garbage found behind Fraser Plumbing and Heating in the light industrial area east of Queensway Street.

Changes in store at two rivers

Two Rivers Gallery announced the Artist Development Program about a month and a half ago. The program is designed to support five artists. The artists are both established and emerging artists that reside within 325 kilometres of Prince George.

A total of five awards were available, two for emerging artists and three for established artists. Each artist is to receive funding in the amount of $1,000 to help with a project they are currently working or a project they would like to bring to fruition.

The following are the artists chosen by the Two Rivers Gallery team:

Audrey MacKinnon - a fabulous portrait artist and someone I have done battle with at this past year’s Art Battle and who has also joined me as a guest on the Arts North Podcast

Betty Kovacic - another fantastic artist whose work touches on social topics such as violence against women, social inequities, human rights and the stories of the underrepresented segments of our population. I’ve worked with Betty and am hoping to continue working on a wonderful project she has whispered to me.

Bryan Chubb was born in Edmonton and grew up in small Alberta towns. He began painting in the early 1970s and in 1975 left a position as graphic artist and cartographer to paint full time. Several of his paintings can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Whyte Museum of the Rockies.

Sydney Andres is an emerging Indig-

ARTS NORTH

MICHAEL KAST

enous artist from Vanderhoof. She is in the process of obtaining her bachelor of fine arts at the University of Lethbridge. Andres’ paintings explore her lived experience with domestic and wild animals through mark-making, texture, and experimental colour palettes.

Terri Smith is a Quesnel based artist who creates magical worlds out of wool, wire, found objects, and organic materials. As a biodynamic farmer who was raised in the woods and meadows of the Cariboo, Terri spends much of her life outside. Her work is often about the beauty, wonder and playfulness of the natural world.

Congratulations to all the well deserving artists. I am looking forward to seeing what outstanding works you create. I did forget to say that part of the program was the possibility/probability of having an exhibition in the Rustad Galleria.

In other news from Two Rivers Gallery, the gallery is saying goodbye to Carolyn Holmes, its current executive director.

After attaining her bachelor of fine arts from Queen’s University in studio arts and a master of museum Studies from the University of Toronto. Carolyn worked in several galleries including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. She moved to Prince George and implemented a number of

educational programs as well as programs that “brought the gallery to the people”, as it were. Carolyn took on the executive director role in 2015 and I have to say the cultural landscape of our region is all the richer for having her in Prince George.

Congratulations Carolyn and how lucky is Nanaimo?

One last thing before I close. I would like my peers to think about this question; Do we, as artists, have a responsibility in the realm of social commentary? Get a hold of me on Facebook at Arts North BC and let’s start a dialogue.

Influencer focuses on positive

Christine hinZMAnn Citizen staff

Jonita Hayer, who goes by the handle Lemon Poppyseed Girl online, is a social media influencer from Prince George. She offers tips and information about lifestyle, fashion and beauty, with a focus on positive body image.

Hayer has been a longtime resident of Prince George, only leaving town to go to university. She’s happily married and has an 18-month-old son who keeps her busy. It seems it was a happy accident that started Hayer on the path of online influencer.

Her husband gifted her with a ticket to a makeup artistry workshop in Los Angeles that found her side-by-side with Kim Kardashian. When Hayer posted the photo of the two of them together on her Instagram account, it blew up.

Hayer had previously used the site more to document her travel for family and friends but after posting the photo with the reality TV superstar, Hayer now has more than 89,000 followers, allowing her to offer a wider audience advice, tips and information about things that are important to her.

According to digitalmarketinginstitute.com, a social media influencer is a person who has established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a huge audience and can persuade others to act based on their recommendations. An influencer has the tools and authenticity to attract many viewers consistently and can motivate others to expand their social reach. An influencer may be anyone from a blogger to a celebrity to an online entrepreneur. They must simply capitalize on a niche to attain widespread credibility. She does make a living at it but it was

never about the money.

Hayer said she’s turned down many offers to promote products to her followers. The reason she’s declined certain products is because they do not align with her beliefs.

“You are considered a small-business owner,” Hayer said. “And you’re constantly doing what any other small business doeswe just don’t have a retail front. Essentially what I’m doing right now is only taking any kind of sponsorships or promotions that align with my brand. So if a diet company comes to me - and they have - and they say ‘oh, can you promote this protein shake or diet pill’ - that will not be shown on my channel because I have a demographic that starts as young as 11 years old. So I wouldn’t do that.”

She’s done collaborations with other bloggers and others in her community of Instagrammers and it all started growing from there.

Hayer also has her own YouTube channel where she talks about lifestyle, beauty and fashion, she added.

“So now my message is more about female empowerment and body positivity,” Hayer said. “Even trying to get more women in front of the camera - and that’s more about body positivity and that all works with the fashion world. Like when you do your hair and makeup you feel good about yourself - and it doesn’t have to be crazy makeup - but it could be crazy, depends on how you feel about it all - so it just kind of grew from there.”

Visit any Lemon Poppyseed Girl sites and platforms for more information on and from Jonita Hayer.

Visit her recently revamped website at www.lemonpoppyseedgirl.com.

Citizen file photo

Carolyn Holmes in October 2015, when she was named executive director of Two Rivers Art Gallery.

School district looks to reduce fees

Arthur WilliAms Citizen staff

The School District 57 board of trustees plans to reexamine school fees and potentially look for ways to reduce fees for families struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During its regular meeting last Tuesday, the board approved the 2020-2021 schedule of fees and deposits, with the caveat that the fees be brought back for reexamination in the fall.

“We know finances are a major stressor for our families,” trustee Trent Derrick said. “What would be the cost to the board if we waived the fees? This would be one less thing for people to worry about.”

It’s difficult to know now what the

economy will look like in September or if a second wave of COVID-19 will cause further disruptions to families, Derrick said.

“We’re kind of looking at a moving target for decisions,” he said. “That’s a big concern.”

District secretary-treasurer Darleen Patterson said she would have to crunch some numbers to calculate the cost to the district of waiving school fees, as fees vary between programs.

“I think it would be financially prudent to allow those who can afford to pay to pay,” Patterson said.

Other levels of government are offering financial relief or payment deferrals, she said, but are asking those who don’t need them to not defer payments.

“There is no significant increase in fees

for this school year,” district superintendent Anita Richardson said. “Our intention is not to have families struggle to pay for fees.”

The district has a hardship clause that allows school administrators to waive fees for families that can’t afford the cost, Richardson added.

School principals in the district are proactive in helping families in need access that relief, she said.

No fees would be charged for programs or services that can’t be offered because of public health measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

The uncertainty around the pandemic may mean some programs can’t be offered at all, while others may face increased

costs, board chairperson Tim Bennett said.

Participants in the Canadian Sport School pay $180 per month for transportation and access to the UNBC Northern Sports Centre.

The university sports centre isn’t open currently, Bennett said, and may not be in the fall.

“Policies around transportation may look very different. Transportation is already a big cost for field trips and extra-curricular (actives,)” he said.

Trips that previously needed a 15-passenger van or single school bus may require multiple buses, to allow for safe social distancing on board, he said.

“I think it is definitely something we continue to monitor. We don’t know what the school system will look like in September.”

Trustees consider developing school naming policy

Arthur WilliAms Citizen staff

School District 57 took steps towards developing a formal policy for the naming, renaming or dual-naming of schools last week.

Trustee Sharel Warrington put forward a motion calling for the board to develop a standard policy for naming schools in the future. Instead the board passed a motion, put forward by board chairperson Tim Bennett, to have district staff look into the issue and report back to the board. “It is an important conversation that needs to take place, when it’s the appropriate time. I don’t want that conversation to

be lost,” she said. “The board has not had a policy in place to name, rename or dual name schools. A policy does need to be developed and attendant procedures need to be developed.”

Warrington said her motion was a direct response to the controversy around the naming of the secondary school opening in the Hart to replace the current Kelly Road school. She said she wanted to see the board adopt a policy with clear guidance around consultation with stakeholder groups and the public.

The concern raised by other members of the board is that the school district is currently engaging in public consultation

on a proposed new board policy manual. The deadline for public and stakeholder input on the draft policy manual in June 6 at 4 p.m.

The draft manual and information on how to submit feedback, can be found on the school district website.

“I think we need a clear process for when we, or a future board, are faced with this again,” Bennett said. “(But) as a board, we have policy out for consultation. (The draft policy manual) was developed prior to moving into the process for renaming Kelly Road. I believe administration has learned a lot through the last four months.”

District administration and the board

have work to do, reviewing the input on the draft policy manual, Bennett said. School naming and renaming may be able to be covered under an existing policy, he added, rather than requiring a new one.

Trustee Trent Derrick was the sole trustee to oppose the motion. He said having a clear policy may still not prevent controversies like the one about the Kelly Road/Shas Ti naming process.

In addition, having a proscriptive policy ties the hands of the current and future boards, he said.

“When it comes down to it, naming of a school is a board directive,” Derrick said. “I won’t be supporting it.”

RetaileRs adjusting as they Reopen

christine hinzmann Citizen staff

There’s some good news and bad news from the independently owned and operated retail stores in Prince George as they slowly reopen their doors under the COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery plan.

For Simply Beautiful Jewelry Design and Clothing owner Patti Perrault, it was all about keeping up with her Facbook page, providing updates and information to clients and building a website soon after the forced closures took place in March to offer online purchases with doorstep delivery.

“It was about thinking outside the box,” Perrault said.

She reopened the downtown store on May 21 with hand sanitizer at the door and a shield up at the counter between herself and paying customers.

If there are three people in the store, a chain goes up across the open door and potential customers are asked to wait outside until another customer exits.

First-time in-store customer Rose Hitz said she loved the Mother’s Day gift boxes Simply Beautiful offered online during the closure.

“My mother is immune compromised so I haven’t been able to see her and she was thrilled to receive the orchid bouquet for Mother’s Day,” Hitz said, who was in the store buying face masks made from bamboo for her mother. “My mother said she hadn’t had orchids since grad and she was just about in tears when she got it - the bouquet was delivered right to her door so that was awesome.”

Because of the wonderful service she’s received from Simply Beautiful, both online and in person, Hitz said she’ll be a repeat customer.

To create Mother’s Day gift packages, Perrault collaborated with local businesses including Something Blue Floral Design, Wildwood Handmade Soap Co., Blissful Bubbles Boutique, Lavender & Lace and Tabor Mountain Candles.

“We had to do something extra to make this work for everyone,” she said.

On the business end, Perrault pays for all her merchandise up front.

With stores closed for two and a half months, the pressure is on to make up those losses quickly.

She opened the store in the Hart Mall three years ago and the downtown store at 421 Dominion St. is a year old.

For now, just the downtown store is open Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with personal shopping available between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Perrault was able to take advantage of the government’s rent subsidy for both locations and the online sales took care of the utility bills, she said.

Perrault employs four people.

“The big thing is my girls were all taken care of with government money so that made me feel not as bad because they weren’t hurting,” she said.

When she reopens the Hart Mall store, there will probably only be one other person needed.

“I will be working long hours,” Perrault said. That will be her reality for the rest of the year to make up for the financial losses

experienced during the COVID crisis.

“Because we were able to continue a bit online it helped us but other businesses that are coming back after being closed will have a hard time,” Perrault said.

Park Avenue Apparel is one of those businesses.

Wendy Chartrand reopened the doors at her Bon Voyage Plaza location May 20 and it’s been tough. During the closure, Chartrand offered shop-by-appointment but people just chose to stay home, she said.

“A few ladies that came in when we opened last week were so happy to come back to the store,” Chartrand said, who has had the store for three years.

“People can feel safe coming in to shop. I probably won’t allow more than two people in the shop at a time. There’s

plenty of room for social distancing and I am sanitizing the place all the time. I would love for my customers to start coming into the store to say hi and have a look around. Hopefully things will pick up again soon.”

The spring and summer stock is in the store and Chartrand said the vendors have been really good about not expecting payment as quickly as they usually get it.

Future success is certainly not a guarantee.

“What’s going to happen with all the small businesses if there’s a second wave?” Chartrand said. “Another wave of thiswe’re not going to be able to make it.” Park Avenue Apparel is open Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and hours will be extended as the provincial economic plan is expanded.

Citizen staff photo

Wendy Chartrand, owner of park avenue apparel reopened her store in the Bon Voyage plaza and the store is open Wednesday to saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

simply Beautiful Jewelry Design and Clothing store owner patti perrault,

Mosquito battle in full flight

Ted clarke Citizen staff

In case you haven’t noticed, the mosquito buffet is on and those miserable uninvited pests are feasting on humans and other animals who venture into the great outdoors.

The good news is the city’s swat team is on the case, trying to prevent those pesky critters from developing from the larva stage into full-grown adult bloodsuckers.

Two crews from Duka Environmental Services are on the hunt searching for mosquitos armed with what it takes to wipe them out.

Starting in late April and continuing until the end of June, the teams of environmental technicians have been treating the water pools with a natural bacteria larvacide to try to control the buzzing swarms.

When the larvae count in a sample scoop is sufficient, bits of larvacide which look like kernels of corn are dumped, which float on the surface of the water.

“Mosquito larvae hatches and goes through four stages before it pupates and becomes an adult and while they’re in that larvae stage we find them,” said Claire Watkins, an city environmental technician.

“The mosquito larvae eats the bacteria and it crystalizes in their guts and they die. It’s very specific and only works on mosquito and black fly larvae and certain midges.”

Cottonwood Island Park where the Nechako River meets the Fraser is prone to flooding this time of year and is one of the known hotspots for mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, because a lot of those back channels are connected to the river, the city is bound by federal regulations which

to not allow larvacide treatment in areas connected to fish-bearing water.

“When the water disconnects and there’s still larvae present then we can treat,” said Watkins. “But if the rivers are rising and lowering and we get some back channels for a few days and we know the river is going to rise again we can’t treat. A lot of time the larvae hatch and there’s nothing we can do about it. Anywhere there’s fish present, we can’t treat.”

Watkins offers a few tips for residents hoping to rid their own yards of swarming mosquitoes.

Ditches of remaining snow-melt that dry into small puddles tend to concentrate mosquito larvae and getting rid of standing water is key in the bug battle.

One of the puddles she sampled last week contained 125 mosquito larvae in a

300-millilitre scoop.

“Old tires are the worst, because they’re black and it’s hot and they’re protected,” she said. “Even changing your dog’s water or birdbaths helps. Clean out your gutters. Keep the grass in your yard trimmed.”

Pond owners can wipe out mosquito larvae by installing a fountain that moves the water.

Mosquito dunks of bacterial larvacide are readily available for property owners who have lagoons and they last for about 30 days.

“I don’t recommend mosquito zappers because they get all the good bugs too, like parasitic wasps (which kill caterpillars, flies and beetles) and all these good bugs that keep everything in check,” said Watkins. “Any flying insects are attracted to mosquito zappers.”

Couple scores Spruce Kings show home

Ted clarke Citizen staff

Merv Lupul was driving on the highway heading for Wolverine Mine in Tumbler Ridge to pick up a load of scrap metal Friday afternoon when his phone lit up.

Cell service was sporadic and the 57-year-old Prince George truck driver kept getting texts congratulating him. When he finally did get a phone connection it was his wife Raylene breaking the news they had just won the grand prize in the 38th annual Spruce Kings Show Home Lottery. “I wasn’t thinking about the draw at all,” Merv said. “I kept getting the text mes-

sages and a couple times Raylene tried to call and I thought the worst because we have a couple family members that aren’t well. Finally she got through, hysterically screaming, ‘We won,’ and I figured it out it was the house.”

Lupul was standing next to a co-worker helping him load his truck and they did what comes naturally, despite pandemic protocols.

“He heard me screaming and figured it out,” said Merv. “He gave me a hug, even though we’re not supposed to.”

The $730,000 show home at 2738 Links Dr., custom-built by Hopson Construction

in the Aberdeen Glen subdivision, comes with all the furnishings and appliances.

The Lupuls live on an acreage in the Buckhorn area and haven’t decided whether they will live in their new digs. They have two children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, most of whom live in the city, and some of them are already making plans for keeping their dream home in the family.

Merv works 60-70 hours a week for Allens’s Scrap Metal & Salvage and Raylene is manager of the Mark’s Work Wearhouse store in Spruceland Mall. The house win is a life-changer for both of them but neither

is contemplating early retirement.

“We’re going to work until we fall over,” laughed Merv. “Maybe I’ll slow down a little but I can’t say that, I’m very dedicated to work and family. We work hard to keep the kids going and we spend a lot of time with them. We’ve lived in the country all our lives and it’s going to be quite a change, one way or another.”

All 11,000 tickets were sold in the lottery. The date of the draw was extended a month due to the pandemic, which allowed the community-owned BCHL hockey club an additional month to sell the remaining 500 tickets at $125 each.

Questions for hay

Does Marie Hay believe that it is her role to speak for the provincial regulatory authorities? Who out there believes that B.C. does not have very strict regulatory standards and that their government is not ensuring they are enforced? Who said that stringent emission controls are not incorporated into the design of the WCOL facilities? Is Marie Hay trying to imply that by moving the facility north, there will be less emissions controls and therefore a cheaper plant? It will actually cost more to build the facility to the north)

Is Marie Hay’s view based on her belief that the Lheidli T’enneh back her agenda? Would her view change if they actually came and supported a project?

How many people does Marie Hay think are going to die from “toxic” emissions from the plants and what are the facts that she bases this claim on? She has raised several concerns and ignores facts that refute her assumptions.

Why does Marie Hay not portray her perspective from her area of expertise, which is as a pediatrician? Her expertise is not petrochemicals or their effects on humans and we would guess that she has no firsthand expertise in this field.

Does Marie Hay believe that 500 hours of research by hundreds of “noise makers” (1-2 hours per person) really constitutes scientific research? We don’t think this is the process that the medical community believes constitutes adequate scientific research for new drugs or procedures.

I can tell you that the real shareholders in this company are virtually all BC investors, with the majority of them from Prince George who believe that British Columbians can do a project like this more responsibly than anyone else. Does Marie Hay think that Dow, Bayer, Celanese or Nova Chemicals are better suited to work with and listen to the community to develop a project that addresses impacts and provides major benefits to the community than local investors?

It’s not clear what the purpose of Marie Hay’s questions are – she seems to be implying what people related to the project might be thinking, without having actually talked to most of them. We have met with Marie Hay on a number of occasions and it was her that first suggested that we relocate to the Hart North site to mitigate the impacts of the project on the Prince George airshed. Clearly, moving the project has not satisfied her and we can only conclude that she is against any development in the region.

Ken James, Calgary

Questions for giede

I would like to ask Nathan Giede a few questions about U.S. President Donald Trump.

Within days of taking office, Trump organized a committee to verify that more people attended his inauguration than Barack Obama’s. Photos from a helicopter would challenge that.

At about the same time, Trump made

inquiries as to if Obama’s folks hotwired his phone at Trump Tower. Have either reached any conclusions? A most judicious use of taxpayers money is needed, would you not agree?

He also said that he knows more about war than the generals. I gather that would include such notables as Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, Douglas Macarthur, George Marshall et al. I am curious to know the source of this vast military knowledge. Any ideas?

Before the passing of Sen. John McCain, the president said that he didn’t have as much respect for those soldiers that got captured. I have a friend whose father was captured days following the D-Day landing and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. I told him that the president has less respect for his military service.  Nathan, do you think that being captured by the enemy should be a black mark on your record?

Last week, Trump announced that he is planning to ban all mail-in ballots as they are a source of bribery and fraud. The head of the U.S. Postal Service vehemently denies this but then what does he know about mail fraud? By the way, in the last Florida election, Trump voted by mail. Kind of a case of do as I say, not as I do.

Don’t get me wrong, Nathan. For the sake of full disclosure , me and my mates get together on a Friday night at our favorite watering hole and after four or five rounds, the conversation can best be described as mental constipation and verbal diarrhea. The only differences are that we don’t have as big a megaphone as the Donald and we will often apologize for our stupidity.

Anyway Nathan, good luck to your candidate in November. I think he is going to need it,

Doug Strachan, Prince George

ChidiaC mistaken

Gerry Chidiac’s assertion that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insinuated that those who support Palestinian rights must therefore be anti-Semitic is a complete misrepresentation of Trudeau’s statement and is categorically false. Furthermore, Mr. Chidiac’s claim that those, like himself, who question the actions of the State of Israel, “have no place in Canada,” is absurd.

That being said, kudos to Mr. Chidiac for being a part of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and 80s, however his depiction of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as being the same type of movement that advocated for the liberation of Nelson Mandela in South Africa is not just preposterous, but an insult to those advocates who risked their lives in the fight to end apartheid.

In reality, BDS is a fundamentally racist global campaign to boycott, divest from, and sanction the one and only Jewish and democratic state, the State of Israel. The movement’s purpose is not to protest Israeli policies as Mr. Chidiac claims, but to isolate and pressure Israel until it collapses as a Jewish and democratic state. Furthermore, BDS dehumanizes Israelis

and actively harms peace efforts by opposing Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. The BDS movement is actually an expression of the new anti-Semitism that targets the Jewish state of Israel instead of the Jewish people directly. BDS denies the Jewish people their right to self-determination and consistently employs traditional anti-Semitic canards against Israel and its supporters.

Contrary to Mr. Chidiac’s belief, the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is not narrow, it is actually considered to be the most comprehensive and widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism to date. It Is important for the world to adopt the IHRA definition especially at a time when anti-Semitic incidents have reached near historic levels and Jews remain the most targeted minority group in Canada. Without a recognized definition for the term, there’s no way for various stakeholders (school administrators, police, union representatives, judges, etc.) to enforce laws and policies to counter the scourge of anti-Semitism. We need to know how to identify anti-Semitism and its many manifestations to know how to combat it.

Noah Lewis, Toronto

right ban needed

Your recent editorial on face masks brings out the virtues of wearing a mask as a symbol to fight the COVID-19 virus. The article went into a lot of symbolism on the reasons for wearing a mask, even if they are in reality very close to useless. A person with a severe cough needs to wear one, but that person should be at home, not out in the public.

Today, you published an article saying that cruise ships will be banned from Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31. This is more than symbolism. Cruise ships appear to have been incubators for COVID-19 and banning them may be useful.

I just have to wonder where the ban of another incubator for the virus is - where is the ban on the international airline fleet? This ban would be harsh but I would personally support it, rather than the wholesale destruction of the Canadian economy.

Wayne Martineau, Fraser Lake

help Communities

Our community is facing a crisis. The COVID pandemic impacted everyone, and local governments haven’t been spared. Municipal governments are an important economic driver in our communities. They provide vital services like libraries, road construction, policing and fire fighting, garbage and recycling collection, and many more services we take for granted.   However, COVID is having an impact on the ability of our local government to deliver the important services we all rely on. Therefore, theses services in Prince George are vital in our communities.

Local governments help keep people safe and directly help citizens to weather the storm, and they need the help of the federal government to be able keep doing this important work. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has asked for immediate action from the federal govern-

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ment to provide emergency funding to get through this crisis. We, at the North Central Labour Council, agree.

We are asking for the federal government to deliver targeted emergency operating funds to all local governments in order that services can be maintained. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is calling on the federal government to give cities the help they needed and has proposed a model based on the federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) that includes general operation for municipalities and the maintenance of public transit and transportation.

The need is immediate and urgent. We call on the federal government to save our cities, town and municipalities from financial distress by providing emergency assistance.

Natalie Fletcher,

Prince George

take time for grief

How do we grieve when our ways of grieving are taken from us? Our funerals, celebrations of life and gatherings are gone for now. They have all been put on hold. We adapt by doing video conferencing but there is something healing about being in the same room with people who love your person. There is an energy in togetherness that is powerful. The love in the room is felt.

And so, we wait for a time when we can gather and in the waiting, we put our grief on hold.

Our places where we grieve - our mom’s house, our brother’s back yard, our dad’s place - are not available now. We have to stay away from the spaces that your person occupied. Our remembering is not as tangible now.

The other side is that we are immersed in the spaces our person occupied and it might become overwhelming. There is no way to distract because we can’t go out and about like we used to. Our grief can become all encompassing.

Even sitting with a friend and having a cup of tea or coffee, or dare I say a beer - it is in these social encounters that we allow ourselves to grieve.

Then of course, there are the heartfelt hugs, the holding of hands and the seeing someone leaning forward to be closer – to listen. Just to listen. These moments are not available right now.

We grieve in community. We grieve with people crying together, laughing together, being silent and still together.

COVID-19 has interrupted our healing. It has taken away the ways we grieve. This is not a good thing.

Do not put your grief on hold.

Find small ways to acknowledge your loss. Perhaps it is a phone call or a Zoom call. Stay connected to your community in some way.

Perhaps you can create a small ritual. Set aside a window of time each day to simply remember.

Somehow, in whatever way works for you, find a way to honour your grief. Do not put your grief on hold. Honour your person, honour yourself, honour this important and difficult time in your life.

Donna Flood, Prince George

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Public health requires transparency

In the last two weeks of March, many of us were glued to the news, checking and rechecking the stats, watching COVID-19 infections spiking ever upward.

The horror of watching Italian hospitals triage ventilators made the sense of urgency very real and valid. Combined with the knowledge of how poorly prepared Canada was for a pandemic, this was enough to convince most of us into compliance with whatever our public health officials recommended.

Now that the curve is flattened, it is time to begin thinking long-term about how to open up our province for business and to think about other things that could kill us. Things like delayed surgeries, treatments, medical appointments and exams. Suicide, overdoses, and domestic violence all spike when social isolation and economic hardship increases.

The number of delayed surgeries alone is alarming. “By May 18, 2020, an estimated 30,000 non-urgent (non-emergency) sched-

THINKING ALOUD

TRUDY KLASSEN

uled surgeries will have either been postponed or left on a waitlist due to COVID-19.

A further 24,000 patients could also be without a referral to a waitlist,” according to the provincial government.

That’s a lot of people in pain and/or not working.

To deal with the surgery backlog, the BC government is spending an additional $250 million per year but it will take two years.

“Health authorities will extend operating room hours into the evenings and weekends, open old operating rooms, and continue to pay for surgeries at private facilities,” Health Minister Adrian Dix told the Vancouver Sun.

Public health should be front and

foremost during a pandemic, but when the risk has been reduced, we need to bring in knowledge and data from a wider range of concerns to avoid causing more harm with the cure, than from the illness itself. These decisions and directions need to be made by politicians, considering the advice from experts, representing a broad range of health, economic, and social considerations from across the province.

Another aspect to consider is that we do not want to open up only to shut down again, due to a huge spike in cases. As a viable vaccine may be unlikely (there is still no MERS or SARS vaccine) we need to understand more about how the virus is spreading so that opening decisions can be made more wisely.

For those who would like to learn more, there is now some interesting data to be found about how COVID 19 spreads. Jonathan Kay, Canadian editor of The Quillette has a podcast and a few articles compiling the available data about how the virus seems to be spreading in “Super-Spreader”

Step up for one another

Another month of self-isolation has gone by and hopefully we are all still holding up during this challenging time. We need to stay positive and take note of some of the many uplifting things that are happening all around us as a result of this coronavirus pandemic.

When you really look at it, some of these things were going on all the time and maybe we just never noticed it or took it for granted and now we are saying thank you. For example, the men and women in our health care services have always been there for us. Now we are publicly thanking them, bringing them meals, providing hotel stays to help keep their families safe and recognizing their sacrifices and long hours of work. They have always been there working under pressure and now, that pressure has been ramped up and we are recognizing it and showing appreciation. What a wonderful gesture.

Next in my thoughts are our neighbors and not necessarily our next-door neigh-

SENIORS’ SCENE

KATHY NADALIN

bors. We went about our busy lives every day and they did the same. Now we phone and check in on them to make sure they are okay. We will deliver their groceries if they need it. We are socializing at a distance, sending emails, phoning, arranging video chats and making an effort to keep in touch.

Mother Earth is healing because of less traffic in the skies and on the roads. To make a long story short, there is now less pollution and the skies are clearing up. All of this helps to calm me as I sadly watch the statistics rise of those who have not survived this awful virus. We must all continue to do our part to get to the end of these challenging times.

Once again, I do not have a story for you

today due to this virus thing – but I do have my list of seniors that are celebrated birthdays and anniversaries in the month of May. Stay well, wash your hands, be kind and stay at home.

May Birthdays that I know about: Lino Nadalin, Silvia Spoletini, Dawn Wigmore, Betty Broderick, Sharon Hurd, Irene Switzer, Sandra DaSilva, Kenneth Toombs, Brian Bailey, John Scott, Rita Wiebe, Alannah Shandler, Joe Anderson, Dan Watt, Willa Osis, Sally Roe, Evelyn O’Sullivan, Isabel Fleck, Larry Young, Margaret Humphreys, Olga Boudreau, Margaret Gauthier, Neal Cook, John Hiebert, Susan Chin, Germaine Bachand, Shelby Cooke, Gail Lindley, Luanne Koocher, Richard Mintenko, Clyde Smaaslet, Steve Sintich, Sanna Denicola, Heather Mohr, Ruth Orydzuk, Irene Sitoski, Aileen St. Germain, Susan Adair, Gladys Cormack, Jeannie Knox, Colleen McLachlan, Keith McLachlan, Victoria Petraschuk, Orest Petraschuk, Kevin Blood, Stewart Law, Ray Kempster, Denise McLeod, Shirley Smith, Ann Dekker

Online shopping tests patience

It’s frustrating having a brain injury. Because I was highly skilled in so many areas, I forget about my new normal. I am reminded of this every day.

Because of our pandemic, I’ve been needing some items that I’m unable to purchase in stores. I decided to order summer clothing online. One of my friends Lynn is a consultant for a line of cute women’s clothing, shoes and accessories. She provided me with a 10 per cent discount and directed me to register on the company web site.

It was too much for my little brain to handle so Lynn registered me. Then I attempted to order shorts, tops and sandals. Nope, couldn’t do that either. There were too many steps to follow and my brain shut off. So, Lynn ended up submitting my order. I’m very lucky to have friends who understand my struggles and help me out often.

My friend Pam is a regular customer with Hello Fresh, a meal kit delivery service.

BOGGLED

DIANE NAKAMURA

Pam constantly raves about the food so I was interested in trying it out. She called me one day and said Hello Fresh was offering one week of free meals to friends of regular customers. I was so excited!

Pam explained I could choose a meal plan and select from a variety of tasty dishes. I got on my computer, went to the Hello Fresh site and began to order my one week of free meals. Again there were too many steps, I developed a headache and gave up.

If Pam lived here in Prince George, she could have come over to help me. I was very disappointed that I missed out on this opportunity.

With brain injury, it is very common for survivors to experience problems process-

events where many people get infected at once.

His main point is we need better science to make better decisions to avoid future shutdowns, so that our economy and social life can adjust to the new reality. With only a declining number currently in ICU due to COVID-19 across the province, the worst danger seems past. However, the middle and ending of a pandemic probably present more political danger than the beginning; so, in order to maintain the public’s trust, any increased restrictions (like the maximum 50-car public event) will have to be carefully explained scientifically, so that people can understand the rationale. Otherwise, the public will ignore the warnings. Public Health depends on the public’s trust in the decision-makers, so we need good decisions that are scientific and make sense. Remember, our goal was to flatten the curve so that our healthcare system could handle it, not to kill our economy and lifestyle.

(94), Vern Goglin, Ruth Reid, David Burns, Marion Idiens, Louise Phillips, Jo-Anne Stainton, Bud Burbee, Ida Bailey, Jim Liness, Elizabeth Eakin, Judy Griffith, Tom Whyte, Cornelius (Corny) Hughes, Ellen Norman, Sandra Goodkey, Roy Goodkey, Diane Ellis, Traixie Bartlett, Havy Brantnall, Ellen Bracey, Bill Burt, Henry Deslaurie, Patricia Horning, Lorraine Prouse, Katie Prevost, Brenda Beaulieu, Ernie Gregorash, Debra Pfefferle, Jim Weisbrodt, John Hiebert, Richard Giroday, Bruce Gibson, Elizabeth Warren and Ray Cosh is 90. May Anniversaries that I know about: 72 years for Les and Dorothy Always, 67 years for Joe and Sophie Chartrand, 67 years for Laurie and Molly Rustad, 59 years for Bill and Sharon Baxter, 58 years for Supi and Lil Peter, 57 years for John and Ame Hiebert, 57 years for Kenneth and Hedwig Toombs, 52 years for Bob and Fran Dods, 51 years for Garry and Pat Watson, 51 years for Terry and Heather Carter and 33 years for Robert (Archie) and Christine Nicholson.

ing information whether it’s verbal, written or online. Unfortunately I experience all three like many of my peers.

Last fall, I had a neuro-psychological assessment done. The results were devastating. For processing and short-term memory, I am at the 10th percentile. This means that 90 per cent of women my age and similar education are that much higher functioning than me in these areas. These were key skills I needed to have in my job as a social worker. I have since been able to achieve a level of acceptance of where my brain is at. However, I am constantly reminded of my deficits and this is difficult to manage at times.

Thankfully my language skills had not been impacted from brain injury. If it had, I would not be able to write this column. Being able to write these articles has truly been a life saver!

At the Brain Injury Group (BIG) where I receive individual and group support, our favourite saying is “it is what it is.” This has become my mantra. I can’t deny that

I am grieving the loss of the person I once was. I really miss her.

However, I have to keep telling myself that I am living a new reality now. To fight against it would cause me and the people in my life immense pain and torment. I can’t help where I am. I need to keep going and find other meaningful projects and activities that I can be successful at.

Recently, I was running out of groceries and wasn’t interested in waiting in a lineup and practicing safe distancing. I thought “I can order on line and have the groceries delivered!” Having poor shortterm memory can be such a pain because I forget I don’t have the skills anymore to order online. I started ordering groceries and when I arrived at the payment section my bill was close to $600. What the heck? I was confused and upset. Why were the groceries so expensive? After I calmed down and went through my order, I discovered I had duplicates and triplicates of items. It is what it is. (Sigh).

Stumbling to discover life’s purpose

There once was a young man who spent five years in university and graduated with a professional degree. Upon graduation, he started down the road to success and fulfillment, bright eyed and bushy tailed with hopes of changing the world for the better.

However, it wasn’t long before a harsh reality set in and what started out as a passion became a task and then a chore.

Disillusioned because his chosen profession seemed so mundane, he felt that he had wasted his time, his education and his life.

He became angry.

He told anyone who would listen, including his children, to avoid his profession and the path he had chosen.

One day, everything changed.

A customer came in and for some unexplainable reason, our young man, now 20 years older in his mid forties, filled with bitterness for his profession, took 15 minutes to explain the process of what the customer was buying and how it would affect that person.

The customer was amazed and grateful. Our professional repeated the same thing on the next client who was using a different product and the results were the same.

His customer was enormously grateful for his insight and explanations and said that they had been using the product for eight years and nobody had taken the time

BUSINESS COACH DAVE FULLER

to tell them how it worked before then. It was at that point that a light went on.

The professional realized how important his job was, that he had wasted 20 years of his life because he had underserved his clients.

As he wrote to me in his own words:

“Suddenly I had passion for what I had chosen as a profession because I finally realized my value to my clients. It transformed me from the anger of wasting five years of university for a poor choice of a life profession to a passionate professional wanting to help every one of my customers.”

Finding purpose and meaning in life is something that each of us is challenged with.

As youth, we yearn to find our place in life and we try to choose paths we think will be the most rewarding.

Some people seek fame and fortune, others want to create something with their hands.

There are people who want to work alone in a quiet atmosphere and still others who gravitate towards helping others. In my years as a business coach, I regularly come across leaders who feel unfulfilled.

Some are making huge amounts of money and others have no interest in monetary remuneration.

Knowing that I was going to write about purpose this week, I sent out an email on Friday evening asking people if they could help me out with my article and answer three questions:

Question One: In a few words, what is the purpose of your life?

Question Two: What is it about what you do in your job, or business, that gives you purpose or meaning?

Question Three: In the last few months have you questioned what your real purpose is?

Bonus Question: What should someone struggling with purpose do?

The response I received was overwhelming.

Over the next couple days, I received dozens of emails and had people reaching out to me in various forms willing to help out and tell me about their purpose.

Some people were definitely unsettled by the questions, others were challenged and put considerable effort into their response, including the professional above.

Surprisingly, quite a few respondents who had clarity about their purpose had similar answers.

There was an underlying theme that consistently ran through the responses where people said that they had clarity about their purpose in life.

It didn’t matter whether the respondents

were young or old, doctors, pharmacists, realtors, or financial planners, executive directors of non-profits, business owners of retail establishments, or construction companies, mothers, fathers, or employees of organizations.

Repeatedly the theme of people who said they had clarity about their purpose in life was, in 10 short words: “To help others and make a difference in their lives.”

It seems that where people clearly found ways through their lives to make a difference for others, there was a sense of satisfaction in their fulfillment of that purpose.

Unfortunately, not all of us are able to have such clarity or understanding about how we make a difference for others or how our lives have meaning.

Yet like the professional at the beginning of the article, when we take the time to go through the process and see how the little things we do can make such a difference for others, it can transform our lives and those of the people around us.

Having trouble finding your purpose?

Respondents told me to tell you not to over think it.

Struggling through this is normal and as more than one person wisely said “Find your passion and your purpose will follow!”

- Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award-winning professional business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Stuck? Email dave@pivotleader.com

Artists excel during tough times

The lives of people in Prince George have been impacted on many levels as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on. Thankfully as we move forward, more and more normalcy seems to appear.

Figuring out life with a very serious and sometimes deadly virus dwelling among us is undoubtably stressful. In this time of isolation, when so much has changed and been taken away, perhaps there are also opportunities to do things we have thought about but just never had the time for. Art might fit the bill.

Using our imagination and getting creative promotes mental health and wellbeing. It is a deeply human exercise in self-expression that enables us to process and reflect upon our thoughts and feelings, both good and bad.

In its many forms, whether it is visual, design, sculpture, photography, writing, performing arts and much more, art has the capacity to increase mental and physical endurance, reduce stress and anxiety, and can serve as powerful therapy during times of uncertainty, stress, injustice, protest, chaos and collective pain. Art can heal.

To test my theory about being creative during challenging times, I asked fabulous local potter Karen Heathman, who was recognized with a Healthier You Award in April 2019 for the development of Healing Arts Kits, about her life during the pandemic.

“For me, I am still working in my studio. I am still making pots, but quickly filling up my space with no sales. I know that I will need to find new and innovative ways to get my art to my clients.”

LATITUDE

LINDA REMPEL

Creativity breeds creative action.

Karen also shared some positives during the pandemic.

“I am incredibly lucky to be able to work independently in my home and have taught myself for more than 35 years to work on my own. This pandemic is not really a challenge for my artistic expression. I do miss seeing my mom and my kids and having coffee with my friends. Dinners out with my husband are also missed but I remind myself I am in a good place.”

Karen remarks on the laser focus artists often possess that is helpful at a time like this.

“Artists make the best practitioners of self-isolation. They are used to working long hours by themselves in studios, basements, converted bedrooms, and closets. They are used to going days on end with minimal social contact. They are used to going to the stores once a month, and then only for the necessities, like art supplies. They are used to sacrifice.”

The Community Arts Council of Prince George and District has served artists in our city for more than fifty years and has helped give rise to a robust creative community that offers a multitude of styles and methods to anyone who wants to get involved in the arts. To name a few, we have the Potters’, Fibre Arts, Quilters’, Stitchery, Carvers’ and Woodturners’

Dance Centre, Two Rivers Gallery, Miracle Theatre, PG Folkfest Society, Omineca Arts Centre, Watts Art Academy, Theatre NorthWest, Exploration Place, Federation of Canadian Artists, CFIS Radio, CFUR Radio, Prince George Cantata Singers, White Spruce City Chorus, Bel Canto Choirs, Nove Voce Choral Society, PG Speech Arts

Karen heathman won a 2019 healthier You Award for her work developing healing Arts Kits. She’s kept busy on her artistic pursuits throughout the pandemic.

& Drama Festival Society, PG Dance and Music Festivals and certainly numerous others as well. During the days of the pandemic many of these organizations have innovated and offer on-line lessons and opportunities to join in.

Now just might be the perfect time to take that leap.

Thank you, Karen for your beautiful pottery and many contributions to the arts in our great city.

Guilds, Artists Co-op, Northern Indigenous Arts Council, Prince George Symphony Orchestra, Judy Russell’s Enchainement

Submitted photo

America’s racism prevails

There is a video circulating on social media of a white woman in New York City calling 911 to report being threatened by “an African American man.”

The truth is that the woman was allowing her dog to wander in a bird-watching section of Central Park and the man asked her to put her dog on a leash. Rather than comply, the woman became indignant. Wisely, the African American gentleman took out his phone and began filming the incident. Had he not done so, it would have been his word against hers, and history demonstrates that this does not normally turn out well for black men.

News outlets are finally beginning to report the deadly, blatant racism demonstrated toward African American men. We are shocked to learn about people being hunted down and shot by white men or strangled by police officers.

The truth is that this has been going on, literally, for centuries. It has become so ingrained in Western consciousness that when one is in doubt as to who committed

letters

nurses need PPe

I’m writing in response to your recent article, “Hospital keeping COVID-19 at bay,” that quotes Dr. Marietjie Slabbert, head of UHNBC’s critical care department, as saying “front-line workers have sufficient PPE supplies.”

If this is true, then perhaps Dr. Slabbert can explain to her fellow colleagues why

LESSONS IN LEARNING

GERRY CHIDIAC

a crime, it is easy to point the finger at a black man.

The United States has an incarceration rate far higher than any other developed country, and according to NAACP statistics, “African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites.”

Archie Williams, a black singer who recently auditioned for America’s Got Talent, was wrongfully accused of a crime and spent over three and a half decades in the maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary better known as “the Angola Plantation.” Williams states: “There are many innocent people at Angola – guys who have served over 50 years. I’m happy to be cleared finally, but I’m not free until they are free.”

To be perfectly honest, the racism dis-

they are being told they must wear one mask per shift unless it becomes soiled? These same nurses must leave their masks on paper towel while they go on breaks. And just the other day, a nurse tells me she had to wear the wrong-sized gloves on a shift because there were only two boxes available for the entire unit.

The fact that nurses at UHNBC and across the province are having to take these unconventional measures is deeply

played toward African Americans strikes me as very strange. I lived in the United States for years, including one year in the 1980s on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, not far from New Orleans. I felt very welcome in the African American community, especially when I went to church.

I also noticed that there was always a white Catholic church and a black Catholic church, even in very small towns. I was never shunned in the white churches, though I did find the atmosphere rather austere. The two words that come to mind when I think of the African American communities are warmth and joy. Though the religious celebrations were certainly more exuberant than I was used to, I got the feeling that people were sincerely happy to see me and I immediately felt at ease.

A few years after I left Mississippi, I went to Africa, to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was struck by the same welcoming spirit. Though I was different and I struggled with the language, I was accepted for who I was. While I did experience some animosity due

concerning. Moreover, it is very disappointing that this article paints a vastly different portrayal of what nurses tell me is their new, unsettling reality.

Nurses are willing to be collaborative, but they deserve to know the truth about the state of PPE supply at their worksites and even more so, they deserve to have their professional judgement respected and have access to the appropriate amount of PPE at all times.

to mistrust of white colonialists, I found that when I was unfairly judged, someone else would speak out on my behalf. This did not only happen once or twice, it happened every time. In other words, not only was there a welcoming spirit, there was a sense of moral courage that permeated the culture.

So what is the lesson here? First, we need to look at statistics and ask open minded questions to determine why things are the way that they are. Increased crime rates, for example, result from social problems, including lack of access to education. If we address the underlying issues, the situation always improves.

In order to address these issues, however, we need to acknowledge the impact of racist myths. There is no good or bad race of people, there are just people. We also need to remember that when we take accountability for our behaviour and stop looking for scapegoats - as the woman in New York could have chosen to do - we have taken a significant step to improve our society.

BC has done an impressive job to flatten the curve and nurses are truly thankful for people doing their part. As we continue to navigate these uncertain times, it is integral that our health care workers have access to the very supplies that will keep them and their patients safe against COVID-19.

Christine Sorensen

BCNU President Burnaby

The plight of the young

An open letter to the Class of 2020:

Greetings. While I’m well aware that far more separates us at this point than could ever be properly catalogued, we do have something in common - coming of age in the midst of an economic catastrophe. And given that I am just half a generation older than you, having lived in the post Great Recession reality for over a decade, I have a few pieces of advice to offer you.

I was raised a son of privilege, making me over eager and under prepared for a world that was transforming at an incalculable rate. But my parents, as well as my faith, did furnish me with a character that if nothing else understood perseverance, fortitude, and how to suffer. That would be my first piece of advice - prepare to take up your cross, in a socio-economic sense, because unless you become part of the protected class, life will often be excruciatingly difficult.

My second piece of advice is do not join the protected class, who are all those still being paid as if nothing has happened. I

Please let’s not go back to warehousing the elderly in for-profit homes where they cry for help for hours and are force fed. Please let’s not go back to stuffing people onto airplanes like sardines in a can. Please let’s not got back to pretending animals don’t suffer before becoming food on our plate.

Please let’s not go back to pretending people don’t suffer in the production of cheap clothes. Please let’s not go back to pretending the environment doesn’t suffer when we get on a plane or start up our trucks. Please let’s not go back to pretending minimum wage is fair market value for essential workers.

Please let’s not go back to dehumanizing the street people, the poor, the sick, the drug and alcohol addicts, the mentally ill, the traumatized, the lonely and the lost. Please let’s not go back to treating Indigenous people like they are little more than welfare cases, like they contribute nothing to society, like their history and language and traditions don’t matter and like they are second-class citizens in a land where they arrived first.

Please let’s not go back to treating resource development companies and the people who work for them like they are only pillaging the planet for profit while ignoring the good-paying jobs they provide and the schools and hospitals they pay for

letters political excuses

The pandemic has exposed Canada’s shortcomings in many areas. It is disingenuous for the prime minister to react in a sullen anguished manner to the report on long term care in Canada. I personally wrote to him in 2016 regarding long-term care: the system; the selection; the shortage; the atrocious care for many seniors in these homes.

My letter went into specifics about my father who spent two years in hospital at extraordinary cost to taxpayers because of the policy, process and lack of any due diligence to place seniors who can no longer care for themselves. I had to place him in a private care home that was less than

RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE

mean no disrespect to essential employees (they know which of their managers aren’t worth a stack of beans). But we cannot run a country with the protected class as our breadwinners, and clingers in communications, consulting, or internships, which is where they put new hires. You deserve a real, primary wealth producing job - please fight for it.

The third piece of advice: stay out of debt at any cost. Nothing is worth going into debt for save the house where you will raise your family, and the financed asset you used beforehand to prove to the bank you deserved a mortgage. I’m only going to say this once - school is not worth it if it means going into debt. There are thousands skills you can pay for with cash that have a better return on investment than all post nominals below professional degrees.

I said what I said.

A fourth offering: travel is best done in concentric circles, not international zigzags. There is nothing wrong with seeing the world. But unless you have really drank the cosmopolitan Kool-Aid, where somehow we can have citizens with no countries, like people with no families, it is a great idea to spend time somewhere else but still in our borders. It will help you understand the realities of your country better and empathize with fellow citizens. Thailand can wait, honestly.

Five - golden rings. If I have a single regret about the last decade that is indissoluble, it is that I did not find a beloved to wed and start a family with. To be clear, the economic conditions necessary for such a venture did not materialize for me. But, using items listed above, when you find yourself not gasping for air is probably as good a moment as any to start your own kingdom with a willing other half - bonus points for starting young and having several children.

Final thoughts: these “once in a lifetime” economic events are getting more frequent

Please let’s not go back to normal NIGHT SHIFT

NEIL GODBOUT

through taxation. Please let’s not go back to treating environmentalists like tree-hugging hypocrites while ignoring how their efforts have made (and continue to make) real, positive change to life in this region and on this planet.

Please let’s not go back to treating our elected officials like self-serving, attentionseeking parasites and instead urge them to be better, agree and disagree with their views with equal respect and enthusiasm and thank them for their commitment to public service. Please let’s not go back to treating judges, lawyers, journalists, teachers and academics as if they are lazy, agenda-driven hacks, instead of the bedrock of our democracy.

Please let’s not go back to treating our doctors like pill pushers, our nurses like maids and our pharmacists like ticket takers. Please let’s not go back to running to the doctor or the hospital every time we stub our toe or get the sniffles.

Please let’s not go back to going to work when we’re sick because the boss

acceptable (good sales job) and then my father went into long-term care and died within two years.

I had to force a medical assessment, enter into an ongoing battle with our province, which resulted in finger pointing between federal and provincial funding. This problem has been going on for decades and it took the military to become caregivers to expose the atrocities, cruelty and inhumane treatment of the people who built this country.

The Canadian government has a colossal failure when it comes to inspections. This exists in our most vulnerable systems to wealthy economy-driven industries. It seems it is on a complaint basis or tragedy driven, whether that is with our seniors, our children, our citizens who have no home, live on our streets, citizens who

– I have lived through three of them, each occurring about once every six years. In ‘08 I was still a student, but the lack of jobs after pushed me towards trades; in the middle of training for the oil field, it collapsed in ‘14; and, six months into my first real job as an adult, having just signed for a truck (remember, the asset before the house?) COVID happened and I was laid off. I’m only 30.

I do not say this so you will despair, nor for sympathy from your graduating class or the elder generation that often berates mine as entitled layabouts - some of us have earned these epithets. But if empathy is still a value we consider important, I state for the record that many of us in the our now very late twenties or early thirtysomethings are still walking around in a daze, trying to figure out when the normal course of life will resume, so we can live as our parents did.

I’m beginning to realize that may never be. And so, it is my duty to warn you who are just after me: it’s a struggle over here. But if you fight hard enough, you will have moments of peace.

demands it or because we don’t want to look weak (and let’s stop judging when our staff and colleagues do call in sick).

Please let’s not go back to claiming gun ownership for uses other than sustenance hunting is a fundamental right.

Please let’s not go back to treating women like they aren’t as good as men, especially in the workplace, and let’s stop making excuses for sexual harassment and assault. Please let’s not go back to using our religious beliefs as weapons to attack those of other faiths, instead of focusing on the core message of loving our neighbour as we would love ourselves.

Please let’s not go back to denying white privilege and male privilege, especially if we’re white and/or male, and let’s listen to people who aren’t white and/or male when they explain how that privilege benefits us and hinders others.

Please let’s not go back to claiming climate change is a hoax, vaccines are poison and immigrants and refugees are threats to Canadian identity.

Please let’s not go back to thinking that paying taxes for the common good is bad.

Please let’s not go back to the sole measurement of productivity being workers at their desks and in their shops, rather than the quality and quantity of their actual work, regardless of where they actually do the work.

cope with mental health on street corners, seniors and minimum wage earners who rely on food banks across the country.

We lack sufficient inspections in our food safety on our farms, to the environment when industry takes short cuts or ignores the rules or fair treatment between citizens and corporate Canada.

We as citizens have learned the foot dragging and excuse making is nothing more than a procrastination and blame game. When there is political will and full disclosure, the government can move through red tape, avoid the finger pointing and do it at warp speed. The take away from this (one of many) is Canadians and policy makers have learned until you do your job, these anguished incidents will continue, after the pandemic is behind us.

The days of government making excuses

Please let’s not go back to long, wasteful commutes to work or flying everywhere for business.

Please let’s not go back to thinking today’s young people are spoiled brats who don’t know the meaning of hard work and tough times. Please let’s not go back to thinking today’s old people are cranky geezers with little wisdom or insight about present challenges.

Please let’s not go back to thinking that everyone gets what they earn and deserve, ignoring how much luck and misfortune shape life’s success and failures.

Please let’s not go back to wealth being the sole measurement of success. Please let’s not go back to money being the sole measurement of well-being. Please let’s not go back to resenting others for having things we don’t, instead of appreciating what we do have. Please let’s not go back to resenting people for not doing enough, instead of doing more ourselves.

Please let’s not go back to dismissing the deviants, the rebels, the malcontents, the artists and the visionaries as abnormal.

Please let’s not go back to thinking normal is fair to everyone.

Please let’s not go back to accepting normal as if it’s great.

Please let’s not go back to believing normal is normal.

Please let’s not go back to normal.

should be over and waiting for life or death to do their primary job. Politicians are laser focused on citizens rights and social safety when they want your vote and the many exposed shortcomings during the pandemic should not be forgotten when we find ourselves at the polls.

Why do we stand for these as separate isolated issues, the reports like that have come up with First Nations; homelessness; child care; mental health care; health care; food bank users rising; salary inequities; dental care; environmental issues; seniors still living in their own homes often choose heat over food and drugs.

We have a pandemic occurring in our democratic system where politicians have been more involved in growing the economy at the cost of our citizens.

Jo-Anne

Berezanski, Victoria

CL ASSIF IEDS

Astorino

May 28, 1931April 12, 2014

In loving memory on your birthday, to a wonderful Father and husband.

Love always, your loving wife Elfida, Norma, Lilliana, Ed and family.

Thinking of you today and always.

MR. JUSTICE C. R. LANDER

SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, RETIRED

MAY 23, 2020

As I turn the last page of the last chapter of my life, I want to say, thank you to all of you who shared - a laugh a philosophical conversation and the Rule in Shelley’s Case. I bid you adieu!

...Ross

To place an ad call: 250-562-6666

2x74.3

PGC002012

DEAN(neeUrquhart),AnneE. January18,1928-May18,2020

Itiswithgreatsadnessthatweannouncethedeathof AnneElizabethDean.Annewasbornatthehomeofher midwifegrandmotherintheLittleWoodyareanearSwan River,MB.Shelivedonthefarmuntil1941,whenthe familymovedtoWinnipeg,MB,andthenontoNew Westminster,BC,in1943.Itwastherethatshemetthe loveofherlife,Doug,whiletheywerebothrollerskating atCultusLake.Theymarriedin1949andweretogether 63yearsuntilDoug’sdeathin2012.Annewasadevoted, lovingwifeandmother.Theybothenjoyedskiing, boating,flying,andtravel.Annehadanartisticflare, whichshowedinhersewing,interiordecorating,painting, andgardening.Shewasalsoanactivevolunteerforthe RoyalColumbianHospitalAuxillaryandKinsmanClub.

Shewillbemissedbyhersons,Gary(Barb)andBryan; grandsons,Rob(Carrie)andBill(Carol);andgreatgrandchildren,Claire,Maren,Lily,Micheala,andRyker; aswellasherfriendsandmembersofherextended family,especiallyBobandNormaDean.

ThankstothestaffatAmicaWhiteRockandDr.Leblfor theircare.

Aninternmentservicewilltakeplaceatalaterdate.

Inlieuofflowers,pleasemakeadonationtothecharityor causeclosetoyourheart.

REMEMBRANCES

July 10, 1945 –May 27, 2020

It is with broken hearts that Roddy’s family announces his passing on May 27, 2020 at the age of 74. He leaves behind his wife of 45 years, Diane; his children Cara (Zack), Cori (Glen), Heide (Dan), Brice (Jessica), Patricia (Lance), and his many grandchildren Alycia, Dakota, Autrey, Macey, Chance, Cheyenne, Jordan, Alexa, Brody, Bradley, Jacob and Makenna. Also mourning his loss are his sister Carol (Bob), his niece and nephews and many extended family and friends. He is predeceased by his mother Anna, father Clarence, and brother Gerald.

Roddy was born in Rose Valley Saskatchewan, then moved with his family to Prince George in 1957 where he completed his education. As a young man, he loved to play hockey and spend time outdoors fishing and hunting. Roddy spent most of his adult life working in the lumber industry and loved to travel.

Roddy will be remembered by his infectious grin, sense of humor and kind heart. To honor his wishes, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, donations to the BC Cancer Clinic/Society or a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

He will be forever missed.

July24,1933-May12,2020

PhylisMaeTrask(neeBargy),passedawaypeacefullyin KamloopsonMay12.PhyliswaslaidtorestonMay20. Sheissurvivedbyherthreechildren,Bill,Debbie,and Glenna;herfivegrandchildren;andherdearfriendand caregiver,Martin.Therewillbeacelebrationoflifein Kamloopssometimeinthenearfuture.Ifyouwishto attend,e-mailBillattrask@telus.net.

In Memoriam

Emilio

Roderick Brice Rustad

GARY DEAN

Jun 4 & 5 (New) Jun 6 (Recert) PG Jun 8 & 9 (New)

1-866-737-2389 or roadsafetytcs.com

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PEACEVALLEY INDUSTRIES(2016)LTD HEAVYDUTYTRUCK TRANSPORTMECHANIC HeavyDutyTransport MechanicWantedin ChetwyndB.C. Musthaveknowledge withcomputersfor diagnosticproblems. Mustbecertified,have8 -10yearsexperienceand mustbemotivated.Shift workavailable Emailresumeto: peacevalley @uniserve.com

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• Proficient in Microsoft technologies, certified candidates given preference.

• 2 to 5 years of related work experience with a preference to being A+ certified or working towards this certification.

• Experience working in a ticketing system with detailed note taking skills.

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• Applicants MUST be in Canada and legally entitled to work

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• Salary based on skills and experience

• Complete Group Health & RRSP plan

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1.148

BEAR LAKE GUIDES & OUTFITTERS

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R0011818657

Land Act: Notice of Intention to Apply for Disposition of Crown Land

Take notice that Vincent Cocciolo from Grasmere, B.C. has applied to the Ministry of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD), Omineca Region, for a Licence of Occupation for Commercial Recreation / Adventure Tourism situated on Provincial Crown land located at unsurveyed crown land in the vicinity of Bills Creek, Panty Lake, Easter Lake, Chuchinka Creek and Tacheeda Mtn.

The Lands File for this application is 7405128. Written comments concerning this application should be directed to Chris David, Land Officer, Omineca Region, FLNRORD, at 5th Floor 499 George Street, Prince George, BC V2L 1R5 or Chris.David@gov. bc.ca Comments will be received by FLNRORD up to July 9, 2020. FLNRORD may not be able to consider comments received after this date.

Please visit the website at: https://comment.nrs.gov. bc.ca/applications#splash for more information.

Be advised that any response to this advertisement will be considered part of the public record. For information, contact the Freedom of Information Advisor at Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development’ Office in the Omineca Region

A hard copy MAP showing the location and extent of the application area may be acquired by calling Chris David 778-693-3017 or email Chris.David@gov.bc.ca R0011818657

WAREHOUSEMAN’S LIEN ACT

Give your walls new life with A FRESH COAT OF PAINT

Do you often feel an overwhelming urge to crack out your paintbrush and give your walls a fresh new look inspired by the season’s hottest colours? If you like to stay on top of the latest design trends, here’s what’s in vogue for summer 2017.

• Woodland themes. Colours that bring to mind a peaceful stroll through the woods are must-haves in trendy, Zen-inspired homes this year. For inspiration, think of natural elements like leaves, pine needles, ferns, moss, mushrooms, bark and stone. Adding simple, earthy tones to your home is the perfect way to infuse some peace and serenity into your life.

• Nocturnal skies. This year, colour schemes featuring gradients of blue, grey and purple are transporting trendsetters to a place where the stars — and unexplored galaxies — enchant us day and night. For a truly original, dreamlike

design, consult a specialist about the use of watercolours to recreate the richness and depth of a dark night sky.

• Expert picks. Pantone and Color Marketing Group — two recognized authorities on international colour trends — have both chosen luscious green tones as this year’s top colours. Coincidence or fate? Greenery (selected by Pantone) is a refreshing and revitalizing shade, whereas Thrive (chosen by Color Marketing Group) is more of a warm olive green.

• Sequined elegance. This year, be bold and opt for a chic design using special paint that includes a sequined finishing gel. This ultra glamorous style can be achieved by combining any number of dark colours (midnight blue, burgundy, charcoal grey, etc.) with small, iridescent flakes. In the right light, the end result is simply stunning!

Fall under the spell of MOROCCAN-INSPIRED DÉCOR

Would you like to add an exotic touch to your bedroom, kitchen or family room? Let yourself be inspired by the extraordinary beauty of Moroccan design! There are so many possibilities: lampshades made with stained glass; lanterns adorned with finely crafted metal leaves; pillows, ottomans and carpets boasting complex motifs; or frames, vases and chests carved in exotic wood. Talented Moroccan artisans know how to create true works of art!

COLOURS

Defined by rich, bold hues, Moroccan design often features one or more of the following:

• Fuchsia or coral

• Bright red or maroon

• Violet or dark purple

• Yellow or burnt orange

• Electric blue or teal

• Turquoise or emerald green

WOOD

The types of wood most often used in Moroccan design include cedar and mahogany, as well as bark from lemon and olive trees. These woods are often employed to build decorative objects like picture frames and candlesticks, or other household items like tissue boxes and magazine racks. Fashioned to perfection, these works of art are impossible to resist and deserve a special place in your home.

METAL

The types of metal most often used in Morocco include copper, stainless steel, brass and silver. These materials are often found hanging from ceilings in the form of beautiful lanterns that give off a sensual and mysterious glow. Do you love tea? Get your hands on a Moroccan-style metal teapot inspired by the famous Arabian Nights!

TERRACOTTA

Tour the specialty paint stores in your region to find unique products that will add personality to your home’s interior.

For centuries, Moroccan potters have mastered the art of crafting beautiful, durable items using earthenware materials like terracotta. Pots, garden lamps and amphora jars are but three examples of Moroccan-inspired items that you can use to embellish your home’s décor, inside and out!

ANTIQUE

BIRDCAGES:

precious and romantic

Sometimes, in country-style weddings, a beautiful birdcage serves as a holding chamber for greeting cards. Today, this vintage decorative item is increasingly used to embellish spaces defined by pure, innocent and romantic design.

Often decorated with finely crafted flowers or candles, these metal antique cages are adorable, especially when painted a soft colour like cream, mint green, rose gold, pale blue or yellow.

Visit specialty retailers and vintage shops in your area to unearth an authentic antique cage — or at least a faithful replica — to complete your rustic-inspired décor.

BOHO-INSPIRED DESIGN: eclectic, exotic and nostalgic

Boho-chic is shaping up to be this year’s must-have design trend. Short for bohemian, this relaxed style draws its inspiration from the eclectic 70s — an era known for peace, love, hope and inclusiveness.

Road trips, rock music and sun-drenched summers — those were the days! If you’re feeling nostalgic, travel back to a more carefree time by following these five basic boho design tips.

1. Choose decorative elements inspired by the desert and Native American culture — for example, cactus plants, cow skulls, dream catchers, arrows and tepees.

2. Invest in vintage furniture and pieces that look delicately worn, staying away from anything too clean-cut and modern (sorry, Ikea won’t work!).

3. Don’t be afraid to mix pastels, psychedelic patterns and bright, neon hues. The more eclectic, the better!

If you’re inspired by the eclectic 70s, a boho-inspired interior might be right for you!

4. Incorporate items made of earthy, organic materials like macramé, rattan, wood and wicker. Adding a braided hamac is the perfect way to nail a 100 per cent bohemian design.

5. Add a touch of nature to your boho-inspired décor with a collection of succulent plants like aloe, agave and cacti.

Need more inspiration? Here are a few other items that perfectly complement boho-inspired interiors:

• Woven wall art

• Beaded curtains

• Shells

• Ethnic masks or figurines

• Tassels

• Terracotta pots

• Floral print

• Tie-dye

• Folding fans

The power of HEMP in the household

Hemp, which is used to manufacture a number of consumer goods, including paper, food, skincare products, medicine, textiles, biodegradable plastics and biofuel, is a surprisingly versatile plant; yet, many of its uses remain largely unknown to the general public.

Today, more and more households are making use of woven hemp fibre and its exceptional properties. Soft, lightweight, breathable and eco-friendly, hemp has been cultivated extensively throughout history for myriad industrial uses. It’s incredibly durable and largely favoured for its anti-UV and antibacterial properties.

To benefit from all that hemp has to offer, opt for products that have undergone as little processing as possible, such as those with chemical-free dyes. From tablecloths to dish towels, rags, aprons and curtains, hemp is a staple fibre found in many common household items.

Three ways to GIVE SILVER ITEMS BACK THEIR SPARKLE

Have your precious silver items lost their lustrous shine? Here are three tips to get those teapots, utensils, candlesticks, serving trays, wine goblets, sugar bowls and butter dishes looking like new.

1. Rub the tarnished objects with a moist cloth and baking soda, then rinse. It’s as simple as that!

2. In a container lined with aluminum foil, mix 250 grams of baking soda with two litres of hot water. Leave your silver objects submerged in the solution for 30 minutes, then rinse. The aluminum absorbs impurities like magic!

3. Immerse heavily oxidized silver items in a hot vinegar bath for several minutes for good-as-new results.

Don’t try to remove dark circles and stains from your silver with a scrubbing pad. The fibres in the cloth can scratch the surface and cause irreversible damage.

Give your old furniture A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

The arrival of spring inspires many homeowners to redecorate one or several rooms in their homes. Does your outdated dresser make you cringe? Do your stained pillows leave you feeling embarrassed every time you have company? Do your bedside tables clash with the delicate, romantic design that you have in store for your bedroom? Before donating your old furniture to charity or leaving it by the roadside, consider upgrading its look instead.

The idea is simple: give your old pieces of furniture a fresh new look by changing the colour, adding decorative elements (new knobs, stencilling, etc.) or giving them a new purpose altogether. One of the best things about reconditioning your old household objects is

TRUST A PROFESSIONAL

If DIY projects aren’t your forte, know that there are a number of design professionals that specialize in this line of work. They can transform your furniture to match current trends or your design preferences — the choice is yours!

the money you’ll save. Needless to say that restoring your current furniture is significantly less expensive than buying brand-new items.

For example, wooden chairs that are still solid but showing signs of wear (chipped paint, stained or torn seat cushions, etc.) are not automatically condemned to the junkyard! All you need to do is sand, repaint and reupholster the seats with a fabric that complements your dining room décor.

Is your outdated dresser looking a little too shabby? Restore it with a few coats of paint and some new knobs!