Gateway May 2018

may 2018

Canada Day celebration planned Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

C Citizen file photo

A fireworks show capped off a full day of Canada Day celebrations in Prince George on July 1, 2017.

anada Day in the Park is one of the most beloved events on the Prince George calendar.

The extravaganza happens at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park, the primary site of the First Nation village that established this community dating back at least 9,000 years at the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers.

From the Exploration Place and Fort George end of the park to the side where the Kiwanis Bandshell is situated, the entire greenspace is thick with people celebrating Canada’s birthday each July 1.

The event always features the cutting of the national birthday cake at noon, and an all-day schedule of multicultural entertainers on the bandshell stage.

Ethnic associations also circle the festivities with their food trucks and kiosks, serving the tastes of the world to the thousands of attendees from all walks of life.

If the weather is nice, as many as 12,000 people have participated at once. There are also information booths, children’s activities, arts and culture displays, and of course rides on The Little Prince train and

endless laughter in the large municipal playground all on-site.

The event is put on each year by the Multicultural Heritage Society (MHS).

“Originally, the society was intended as a platform for staging a new multicultural event on July 1 to celebrate Canada’s birthday,” said MHS executive director Marlies Greulich, describing how the organization began in 1974. “Over the years, it has evolved to meet the needs and aspirations of the cultural communities it serves. The society’s mandate includes implementation of the federal and provincial policies of mulitculturalism and the promotion of cross-cultural relations.

“We are particularly committed to furthering the relationship between culture, heritage and public education in order to ensure the full participation of all individuals in the community,” she added.

“The society also functions as a referral service for inquiries concerning community services, cultural groups, artistic events, community and academic research projects, translation services, anti-racism and human rights issues.”

Canada Day In the Park is always free of charge to attend (payment is required for some goods/services, admission and the purchase of food), and focused always on family festival fun.

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Province announces funding for broadband access Citizen staff

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inister of Citizen Services Jinny Sims announced $16 million in provincial funding on May 3 for broadband connectivity, targeted to remote and rural communities in central and northern B.C. The funding will be in the form of grants for which internet service providers, First Nations communities and community organizations will be able to apply. The government will begin accepting applications for these ‘last mile’ projects as of July 1. Last mile projects allow for the final connection to a high-speed network. Another intake period for applications for transport fibre projects will commence on Sept. 1. The grants, part of the $40 million Connecting British Columbia program initially announced in 2017, will be administered by the Northern Development Initiative Trust.

Sims said the new provincial funding, along with the recently announced federal

and provincial funding for a $7 million fibre-optic loop along Highway 97 between Prince George and Dawson Creek, will help connect some of B.C.’s most remote communities.

“The very people who we want to access that digital service are the ones that don’t have the connection. So if we’re going to reduce the economic divide, we have to reduce the digital divide,” Sims said. “In communities where they even get a few blocks of fibre-optic down, they have seen a huge growth in the tech sector, in attracting businesses, in attracting professionals to work in municipal government and in local industries.”

Sims said the funding is being allocated in the form of grants in order to allow rural and First Nations communities to identify their priorities in terms of connectivity.

“Sitting in Victoria, we can’t decide or determine the needs of each and every community,” she said.

“So they have to do some homework.”

— see ‘THESE INVESTMENTS, page 4

Citizen file photo

Minister of Citizens’ Services Jinny Sims announced a $16 million grant for internet service providers and other community-based organizations to improve connectivity in rural, remote and indigenous areas in Prince George on May 3.

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‘These investments by the province... have really made a difference’ — from page 3 “They have to decide what their needs are, what they’re going to use that last mile for,” Sims added.

Bob Allen, president of the B.C. Broadband Association, said federal and provincial funding for broadband access has been essential to the approximately 100 small internet service providers in rural areas of the province. Without this funding, the prices paid for broadband by users in rural communities would be far higher, he said.

“That’s been an ongoing issue from the very beginning of our internet cycle, is that the urban speeds have risen and package prices have not particularly come down,” Allen said. “These investments by the province, that have matched the federal dollars consistently over the last ten years of the federal programs, have really made a difference in terms of the quality of the internet that our members can provide.”

Sims said the commitment to broadband access for rural or remote communities was part of the commitment of the Horgan government to fulfilling the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission, as well as the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. When asked if the current funding might be used for the establishment of Wifi hotspots along areas of the Highway of Tears where people commonly gather, as some family members of missing and murdered indigenous women have suggested, Sims said her ministry, along with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, was looking into this possibility.

She did not offer a specific timeline, but suggested a collaborative application for funding from First Nations communities.

“If three, four or five communities can get together, it actually has a huge impact,” Sims said.

She pointed to a January announcement of $45 million in funding from federal and provincial leaders for broadband connectivity in northern and southern rural communities along the coast.

This initiative, supported by 154 communities, including 56 First Nations communities, drew a high level of funding because of the widespread regional support, she said.

Citizen file photo

Bob Allen, president of the B.C. Broadband Association, speaks about a provincial plan to invest $16 million to enhance internet service in rural areas of B.C. in Prince George on May 3.

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UNBC prof named research chair Citizen staff

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NBC professor Greg Halseth has been re-appointed as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair for his work examining the challenges faced by rural and small towns.

Halseth was one of the first UNBC faculty members to be named Canada Research Chair. He was initially awarded a Tier 2 chair in 2001, and became the first UNBC faculty member named a Tier 1 Chair in 2011. His work has examined strategies for community development in rural communities, with a focus on northern B.C. resource-based towns.

Tier 1 Chairs are seven-year appointments and come with $1.4 million in research funding. The appointees are nominated by their peers based on research excellence in the disciplines of engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.

During his first Tier 1 appointment, Halseth and his team of researchers looked

Halseth at how economic and social challenges facing rural communities differed around the world. His research was shared in two publications, Transformation of Resource Peripheries, which was edited by Halseth, and Towards a Political Economy of Resource-dependent Regions, written by Halseth and Laura Ryser.

During his second Tier 1 appointment, Halseth hopes to focus his research on developing solutions for rural and small communities in northern B.C.

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Small business task force to visit Prince George Citizen staff

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small business task force will visit Prince George as part of a province-wide consultation.

The three-member group, whose appointments were announced Wednesday, will be in this city on June 14. A specific location and time are still being firmed up.

The task force is a special initiative of B.C.’s Small Business Roundtable and the stop in Prince George will be one of seven to be held that month.

Members will hear from B.C.’s small business community, including chambers of commerce, entrepreneurs and First Nations. People will also have a chance to participate online through a public engagement website.

From there, the task force will submit its final report to the minister, including its recommendations in fall 2018 on how the Province can further support small business in B.C. Michael Hwang, founder and principal lawyer at Amicus Lawyers, will chair the task force. The other members are Cybele Negris, vice-chair of B.C.’s Small Business Roundtable and CEO and co-founder of Webnames.ca, and Shahraz Kassam, owner and CEO of Shamin Diamonds.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology Bruce Ralston said in a statement.

“The small business task force will make recommendations to build on this sector’s strong growth, and enhance job creation for people in every corner of B.C.”

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Indigenous artists’ collective launched Citizen staff

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he oldest of the area’s cultures is now the newest of the area’s arts organizations, and in the same way that mainstream culture and Indigenous culture has become inter-layered, the fresh group is wrapped in an established one.

The Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective (NIAC) was launched on May 2, independent of but supported from within by the Community Arts Council (CAC). It has its own office, common space and display gallery at the Studio 2880 arts complex where the CAC is headquartered.

But instead of being just a user group under the CAC roof, this group was born from the Commu-

Citizen file photo

Ivan Paquette, right, liaison between the new group and Community Arts Council, introduces the steering committee – Darrin Corbiere, Shirley Babcock, Carla Joseph, Dianne Levesque, Len Paquette and Jennifer Pighin – for the Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective on May 2. nity Arts Council’s executive.

Ivan Paquette is the conduit member of the two groups. After

seven years on the CAC board, taking on the role of aboriginal liaison, he was instrumental in

drawing together a family of other artists to steer the creation of this stand-alone partner agency.

“As far as we can find, NIAC will be the first aboriginal arts council in B.C.,” said CAC executive director Sean Farrell.

The steering committee is currently comprised of Shirley Babcock, Darin Corbiere, Carla Joseph, Lynette La Fontaine, Dianne Levesque, Len Paquette and Jennifer Pighin with Ivan Paquette’s hands-on help and Kim Stewart earlier in the process.

As a group they issued a statement about their mandate.

“The founding members of the Northern Indigenous Artists’ Collective feel strongly that the time is now for Indigenous artists to stand up and ensure that there is fair and stable support for Indigenous artists in both the urban and rural areas of the northern region of B.C.” — see ‘THERE’S NOTHING, page 10

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‘There’s nothing happening like this in all of British Columbia’ — from page 8 “Individually and collectively we have all experienced challenges and vulnerabilities that exist in the marketplace and that tend to be unfavourable for many Indigenous artists,” the group’s mandate says.

“We look forward to finding ways of improving this situation, in the spirit of the calls-to-action of the Truth and Reconcilia-

tion Commission, to create an Indigenous arts industry in Northern British Columbia where all Indigenous artists feel welcomed, supported and valued.”

It is already working, according to its newest member. Corbiere is Anishinaabe and recently moved here from Ontario.

“My artistic endeavours have taken off, with the help of this group,” he said. “They

adopted me and I appreciate the opportunity to be here on this land.”

“What really drives us is community,” said Pighin.

“These things (making art, improving art skills and marketing the art) are hard to do when you are isolated.”

“We expect to see our numbers grow dramatically,” said Joseph, as Aboriginal artists come to learn of NIAC’s existence.

Len Paquette spoke of the Two Rivers Gallery taking him under their wing to demonstrate his master carving activities, and how that kind of partnership becomes easier to forge and stronger to radiate if a concerted group effort is behind it.

“It’s for the benefit of all people, not just artists,” he said, as an eagle was spotted soaring above the inauguration. “I’m the richest man in the world, because I have culture.”

He then strongly sang a pair of songs in his language, accompanying himself on the hand drum.

Ivan Paquette closed the proceedings with an original song accompanied on acoustic guitar, celebrating how the committee was now a board within another board, all cultures and all forms of artist all pulling together.

“There’s nothing happening like this in all of British Columbia,” he said.

“Prince George has a reputation for starting things the rest of the province, the rest of the country, want a piece of. P.G. is amazing. It’s the soul of the province.”

Anyone wishing to join NIAC need only be of aboriginal descent and send an email of introduction to niacpg@gmail.com.

Information is available at www.niacpg. ca, call 250-563-2880 or drop in to visit the Studio 2880 complex at 2880 15th Ave.

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Bursary clears way for indigenous health students Citizen staff

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t the age of 17, Niky Tevely decided she wanted to help heal the psychological trauma of First Nations people in Takla Lake, where she grew up.

Even at a young age, she had become aware of the inter-

generational trauma caused by the legacy of residential schools and Canada’s colonial history. Tevely, who also spent her teen years in Prince George, decided to enrol in the psychology program at UNBC. After leaving the program in her early 20s to move to Fort McMurray, Alta., she has once again found herself back at the university thanks, in part, to a new bursary program

initiated by Northern Health and the First Nations Health Authority.

The program, known as the post-secondary student awards program, is a bursary program designed to reduce barriers for indigenous youth looking to study in healthrelated disciplines. The bursary program offers awards ranging from $500 to $2000 to students studying at northern postsecondary institutions, including UNBC, the College of New Caledonia, Northern Lights College and Northwest Community College.

Margo Greenwood, vice-president of indigenous health at Northern Health, said Tevely is one of 42 students who have received the post-secondary award. She said the two health authorities established the program in 2016 to help meet the demand for health professionals in B.C.’s north.

According to a report prepared in April, Northern Health currently has 486 postings for positions that have yet to be filled.

Greenwood said the program is offered to

Tevely students in a broad range of health-related disciplines.

— see WIDE RANGE, page 15

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Wide range of programs eligible — from page 14 “It could be medicine, it could be nursing.

But it also could be things like early childhood, human service workers, healthcare aides,” Greenwood said. “All of those are all part of the health system when you’re thinking of health in its broader sense.”

Greenwood said applicants are judged based academic merit and financial need.

For Tevely, now 31, the bursary was a significant help. She, her husband and her four children were displaced from their homes by the Alberta wildfires in 2016.

The displacement brought them both back to B.C., but took an enormous financial toll on the young family.

“It put us at a disadvantage. There were times when we couldn’t make rent and our landlord had to give us a few extra days,” Tevely said.

The bursary program allowed Tevely to re-enrol at UNBC as a third-year student in the psychology program. Returning to student life involved significant juggling in order to manage both her finances and a

busy schedule.

“It was definitely a financially hard time for us,” she said.

“Three of my kids were in before- and after-school care so I could go to my courses and my classes. My daughter was in daycare full-time so that’s a pretty big bill every month in itself. The financial awards I received were definitely helpful. They definitely helped tide me over month-tomonth.”

But Tevely’s studies at UNBC have also rekindled her interest in language and cultural revitalization. She is quick to credit a number of her instructors for encouraging her, including psychology instructor Loraine Lavallee and First Nations Studies instructor Judy Thompson, who has been active in language revitalization efforts with the Tahltan Central Government.

Tevely has recently been accepted to a mentor-apprentice Sustudene language program set up by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council.

— see ‘OUR LANGUAGE, page 16

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‘Our language and our culture brings strength’ — from page 15 The program allows adults to learn their traditional language by pairing them with a native speaker and elder from their community. Apprentice students are required to spend close to 13 hours each week in an immersion setting, speaking only their traditional language.

Tevely’s mentor for this program happens to be her mother, Irene French, a

Hereditary Chief of the Takla Lake First Nation.

“The way I see it, our language and our culture brings strength. The more of our language and the more of our culture we know, the more healing that can be done,” she said.

While her language studies begin in June, she will continue her fourth year studies at UNBC.

Multi-million-dollar settlement reached for Tasered youth Citizen staff

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he province has agreed to establish a fund capped at $3 million to pay for the future care of a youth who became the central figure in a report by B.C.’s former children’s watchdog highly critical of his treatment after he was jolted by a police Taser at a Prince George-area group home.

The fund is part of a settlement reached in early February that ends a lawsuit filed in 2014 by the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia against the Ministry of Children and Family Development for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

It alleged the youth, now 18, endured years of emotional and physical trauma while living in numerous foster homes and group homes across the province. The province’s director of child welfare, the

two owners of a Dawson Creek-area foster home, and a social worker were also listed as defendants in the case.

Under the agreed terms, the province will contribute $615,000 every six months starting June 15 into a “care fund” to be held by the PGT to pay for services provided to the youth by Community Living British Columbia once he becomes an adult.

He turns 19 years old 10 days before the payments begin.

Once the fund reaches $3 million, the province will suspend payments but continue to top up the fund when it falls below that level.

In consenting to the settlement, the province did so “without any admission of liability” and “does not accept the characterization of many of the events giving rise to the litigation,” according to a response to the proposal filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

— see ‘THE MINNISTRY, page 18

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‘The ministry repeatedly failed to provide a safe, stable and nurturing home’ — from page 16 Instead, it did so because the settlement was in the youth’s “best interest” and “consistent with its mandate as legal guardian under the Child Family and Community Services Act.” But B.C.’s current Representative for Children and Youth, Bernard Richard, cast doubt on that claim, noting the province also agreed to provide a $2.75-million lump sum payment of which $2.64 million will pay for legal costs.

The losing side in a civil suit typically covers all parties’ legal costs.

The rest will go to the youth to pay for general damages related to pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity and reduced life expectancy as well as the cost of any behavioural management services prior to his 19th birthday.

The province will also provide further disbursements adding up to $209,025.88, also largely for legal costs.

“I know the ministry is not assuming responsibility and that is pretty common in these types of settlement agreements but clearly, the payment in itself is a form of admission in my view,” Richard said.

In its notice of claim, the PGT alleged MCFD consistently put the youth in homes where he suffered emotional and physical abuse.

“The ministry repeatedly failed to provide a safe, stable and nurturing home for the plaintiff,” it says.

“Rather than providing supports for foster parents, or pursuing the option of adoption, the ministry moved the child into a series of

Rather than providing supports for foster parents, or pursuing the option of adoption, the ministry moved the child into a series of group home settings...

— Bernard Richard B.C. Representative for Children and Youth group home settings that could not provide security, stability or a long-term sustaining relationship for the plaintiff.”

The document says the Taser incident happened in April 2011 at a group home in the Tabor Lake area of Prince George, when the boy was 11 years old. About a week after he moved into his sixth group home, he escaped into a nearby trailer and then stabbed the group home manager with a steak knife.

Prince George RCMP were called, and when the boy stepped outside the trailer, police zapped him with a Taser.

The document alleges that happened because the government put the boy through living arrangements that “created a situation of isolation and anxiety.”

The boy’s traumatic childhood was documented in a scathing 2013 report by the province’s previous children’s watchdog.

— see ‘THERE HAVE, page 19

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‘There have been improvements since 2013’ — from page 18 Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said the youth’s suffering could have been prevented if the government had invested in proper residential care.

Richard said his office continues to monitor the province’s progress on meeting the recommendations set out in TurpelLafond’s report.

“There have been improvements since 2013, including adding complex care residential beds in Prince George, so certainly that’s important,” Richard said.

“These beds are set aside specifically for children in care who have very high needs or complex needs.”

“But we’re also expecting more progress made in terms of the overall care that’s provided to these youth. We think that there are still gaps. We are not of the opinion that not all of the recommendations have been implemented and the ministry agrees with us on that point.”

Richard called the settlement significant and said such costs can be defrayed with proper care in the first place.

“At least some of them,” he added. “Children with complex care will always require significant services and those services cost a lot of money.”

In an amended response to the PGT’s claim, filed in September 2016, the province said the youth lives in a “specialized

residential resource” in the Lower Mainland.

“The facility was designed and constructed specifically for him and is located in a rural area, close to hospital, police and community services,” it said, adding it’s staffed by “highly trained professionals, chosen based on their experience and compatibility with him.”

He also continues to be very active and enjoys bike rides, going to the skate park and local youth centre and doing errands.

He also visits his mother and siblings twice a year, facilitated by the ministry, according to the filing.

In a statement, a Ministry of Children and Family Development spokesperson said the ministry respects the decision and appreciates the roles of the PGT and the BCRCY “in advocating for the best interests of our most vulnerable children and youth.”

“In instances where the system doesn’t function as it should, these agencies provide an added safeguard to help protect the long-term interests of young people and hold the ministry to account,” the spokesperson continued.

“As this is a legal matter involving someone who received services from the Ministry, we need to be respectful of their right to privacy and cannot comment further.”

Turpel-Lafond could not be reached for comment.

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Father at a loss in dealing with daughter’s tormentor Citizen staff

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Prince George father is frustrated with what he says is inaction by authorities against a boy who has been bullying his teenaged daughter.

“He’s breaking the rules and the school doesn’t care and we’re having a hard time getting the legal system to do anything about it,” he said this week.

According to the father, the boy had been tormenting his daughter for some time when,

in April 2017, he pulled enough hair off the back of her head to leave a bleeding wound and then followed her out to the school bus where he tried to slam a window down on her fingers. When she confronted the boy, he threatened to stab her to death, according to the father.

When his daughter came home and told him what happened, he called the police and then the principal.

“I take threats to my daughter’s life seriously,” he said.

The boy was suspended for five

I take threats to my daughter’s life seriously.

— Unnamed father days but continues to attend the same high school.

The girl, meanwhile, was so distraught she refused to attend class for the remaining two months of the school year. Dissatisfied with the penalty, the father took the

issue to court in hopes of forcing the boy to attend another school.

But the best he could get was an order preventing him from getting any closer than three metres of her while on school property and 50 metres while off the property and securing the order took a further 10 months.

Moreover, he claimed the boy has been flouting the terms with impunity.

“Now that it’s in place, nobody wants to enforce it,” the father said.

The order includes a caveat – it

provides for “incidental contact” while at school although he still must not remain within three metres of the girl. The father said that creates a “grey area,” which he contends has made the order meaningless.

Meanwhile, he said his daughter continues to be a target of the boy’s intimidation. It has affected her marks, he added.

“We’ve been fighting this for a year now, and it’s just so frustrating to see her struggle like that,” he said.

— see ‘WE’RE STUCK, page 22

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‘We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place’ — from page 20 “She’s a smart kid but she’s so stressed out about this boy hurting her that she can’t concentrate,” the father said.

School district superintendent Marilyn Marquis-Forster declined to comment about the specific case due to privacy issues but maintained that whenever court-ordered conditions are imposed on a student “we bend over backwards to ensure that the school environment is respectful of that.”

As to whether or not a student can be forced to transfer to another school, Marquis-Forster said the School Act enables school districts to bar anyone who is deemed to be unsafe. But she said it’s part of a system of progressive discipline.

The matter could end up going back to court.

The father said the boy may have been caught on the school’s surveillance cameras violating terms imposed on him by the court and by the school twice in one

day. In one instance, he stood outside her classroom and in the other he followed the girl out to the bus then rode off on his bike rather than leaving the building through a side exit as required by the school.

The father said the boy also walked up to the daughter as she sat a a picnic table during lunchtime and “looked right in her face and just stayed there pretending to talk to a friend. And as soon as my daughter got up to leave, he left.”

However, he said, the motion-sensored cameras deployed at that part of the school did not activate.

The father said he was not allowed to view the footage due to privacy issues but it has been seized by police. Whether it will be enough for the court to impose a tougher order on the boy remains to be seen.

“I just wish people would stand up for their kids more and were able to do more,” he said. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

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