Gateway to the North by Prince George Citizen

october 2018

Russell Peters bringing comedy tour to Prince George Citizen staff

S Russell Peters hosts the Juno awards show on April 2, 2017 in Ottawa. Peters will be performing at CN Centre in Prince George on Nov. 5.

omeone’s going to laugh real hard. I’m not going to say who... but... somebody. The man who waved the red, white and brown and became one of the most popular comedians in the world has made an appointment with Prince George. Standup comic Russell Peters is the star of his own comedy specials, TV shows ranging from sitcoms to hosting gala specials, a number of movies, even a CBC Radio-play series called Monsoon House about a book publishing company. Perhaps that life could imitate art he wrote his own book entitled Call Me Russell, a 2010 autobiography. With all that’s happened since then, it could probably use an update. Peters has been on a breathtaking pace, selling out arenas with his personal appearances and hitting bestseller lists with his DVDs. His original stand-up specials started with Outsourced in 2006, the global smash

Red White & Brown in 2008-09, The Green Card Tour: Live from the O2 Arena in 2011, Notorious in 2013, Almost Famous in 2016, and his most recent hit is the TV series Indian Detective which also stars Anupam Kher, Christina Cole and William Shatner. The path was a long one from the suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area to the toast of the international comedy industry, but Peters is indelibly one of the nation’s most celebrated ambassadors of joke. He is a master of acerbic self-deprecation, with a journalistic eye for material, a magician’s deft touch for surprise, and a swashbuckler’s zeal for thrust-and-parry. He is raw, unfiltered and live at CN Centre on Nov. 5. Other upcoming shows at CN Centre include John Mellencamp Nov. 4, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band along with rising stars Nice Horse on Nov. 9 and countryrocker Tim Hicks along with special guests Tebey and Andrew Hyatt on Nov. 29. Pick up tickets for all these events online at ticketsnorth.ca or go in person to the CN Centre box office.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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McLeod Lake First Nation leader Chingee dies Citizen staff

O Handout file photo

Harry Chingee spent decades as an elected councillor for the McLeod Lake First Nation. He died on Sept. 21, at the age of 96.

ne of the area’s leading political and cultural figures, Harry Chingee, has passed away at the age of almost 96 years. Chingee spent decades as an elected councillor for the McLeod Lake First Nation, much of that time as chief. Today, the MLFN is considered by many to be a national model for holding fast to his community’s traditions while also fully participating in the natural resources economy. “Harry will be sorely missed for his kindness, smile and warmth, but his teachings will not soon be forgotten,” said a statement issued by his loved ones. “He left us on Sept. 21, 2018 in the same graceful and gentle loving way that we’ve all come to know of him.” Chingee used his traditional upbringing to great affect in his life.

He was a professional hunting guide, using his intimate knowledge of the land plus the lessons passed down to him from his elder generations. “When he and his wife, Patricia, were raising their 13 children at McLeod Lake, Harry’s skill as a hunter provided most of the family’s meat,” said Citizen reporter and local author Bev Christensen, writing about Chingee in 1989 in the Oct. 21 edition of Plus Magazine. She told the story of two grizzly bear encounters he remembered well. “I was hunting back up in the hills, hunting moose at about this time of the year,” he said. “I saw moose tracks but never saw or heard anything. I was walking around when I heard something behind me and there was an 800- or 900-pound grizzly coming right at me so I dropped my gun and pumped a shot into him and he dropped seven or eight feet from me.” — see ‘ALL THEY WANT, page 4

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‘All they want is the chance to work’ — from page 3 He admits he was lucky to hit the animal in the head because, if he’d hit it anywhere else, it could have killed Chingee with one swipe of his paw before it died, Christensen said. Another time a grizzly rose up in front of him then dropped down on all fours and charged. Again he dropped it with one shot. Chingee first became chief of the MLFN in 1950s, holding the position again in the ’60s and ’70s. It combined his instinctual passion for the outdoor traditional lifestyle with decision-making on behalf of future generations. Not all members of the McLeod Lake Indian Band are hunters, he explained to Christensen, telling her some have “become ‘Safeway hunters’ because then they know they’ll get something to eat.” Chingee worried that “these young natives have ‘lost track’ of traditional hunting skills. Some are getting back to it but they need help.”

Chingee also presided over an agreement Chingee was not shy about taking strong by a pulp mill operating on McLeod Lake stands on behalf of his constituents. territory to hire a set percentage of his band He participated in more than one blockmembers as a condition of working on their ade of industrial activity on McLeod Lake then-unceded lands. territory. As a forest industry Those blockades Chingee worried that worker as well (he was were part of the learn“these young natives have a forestry technician ing done by the provin‘lost track’ of traditional by certification, and cial government and private industry that is hunting skills. Some are also did logging jobs), extended that encommonplace today to getting back to it but they he terprise to include the include First Nations in need help.” formation of a logging any business done on company (it has grown the land. He led by example. He and his apprentice to include a construction division as well, today) to carry out forestry operations on guides (including some of his children) McLeod Lake’s landscape and partner with would take high-paying foreign hunters other proponents of industrial projects. into the remote mountains of the region, “I think the biggest problem we have is then use the meat (foreign tourists are inelthat our people can’t get work. That’s why igible from taking the meat for themselves) we want to get control of our own resourcfor the benefit of the band members, using es,” Chingee told Citizen reporter Gordon every last morsel including the nose, then Clark in 1987 when he led a blockade of also tan the hides of the game they took for Carp Lake Provincial Park in answer to making commercial leather items.

logging going on without permission on a nearby parcel of McLeod Lake’s land. “All they want,” he said of the protesters, “is the chance to work like the rest of the people in Canada. White society is racist (by making it) difficult for native people to find work. “You remember the recession? It was hard on whites, but it was 10 times harder (on Aboriginal people because First Nations workers are) the first to go when the times get tough. It’s hopeless for us until we can get something going on our own.” That they did. When Chingee stopped being chief in 1997 (after a 23-year run of consecutive years in elected office), the movement was well underway to bring McLeod Lake into the Treaty 8 agreement (that was ratified in 2000), they were operating a number of successful businesses in mutual partnership with the private sector and other forms of government, and his personal family had grown widely. — see CHINGEE, page 5

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Baldy Hughes graffiti removal service a success Citizen staff

graffiti removal service run out of Baldy Hughes has earned accolades. From May 1 to Aug. 31, clients at the therapeutic and farm removed graffiti from 34 buildings around the city under a services agreement with the city. About half are located in the downtown and a further half dozen in the Carter light industrial area. Going out and “literally knocking on doors” and letting people know they could help was a big reason for the number, social planning manager Chris Bone told city council on Monday night. Last year, they relied on responding to reports to the city. “We had several comments from down-

town businesses very pleased with the service provided,” Bone said and added that one of their largest jobs was to repaint an entire side of the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society building on Second Avenue. “And to date – I checked recently – it has not been tagged,” she said. She said Baldy Hughes is paid a “very reasonable” service fee and in turn, it was used to purchase some playground equipment and basketball hoops to give the children of clients a place to play when they pay a visit to the site about 30 kilometres southwest of the city. “We had a great working relationship with Baldy Hughes. They were responsive and I really hope that we are able to renew this initiative next year,” Bone said. Mayor Lyn Hall called the initiative a “very successful campaign.”

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Chingee was dedicated to family — from page 4 Family was fundamentally important to him, since he was forced out of his parents’ home when Aboriginal children were wrested from their homes on punishment of arrest during the residential school sweeps of his era. He spent a number of years at Lejac Residential School but no official records of his attendance survived to the modern age so Chingee was forced to go through

a protracted legal process to obtain the standard compensation owed to all victims of the residential school atrocity. Chingee was predeceased by his wife Patricia, daughters Florence, Molly, Caroline, Bernadette and Jackie. He is survived by his daughters Sheila and Anna, sons Victor, Gilbert, Ralph, Lester, Bernard, Harley and Charles plus numerous grandchildren. Some of them have taken up Chingee’s place at the council table.

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Cancer survivor gives back Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca

A Handout phto by Marianne Koops

Leora Wildi, wearing pink in the centre, shares a special moment with her sister Sarah, left, and the Prince George Secondary School teachers who made such an impact on her life as she struggled to graduate secondary school while battling cancer a few years ago.

lthough certainly not unscathed, Leora Wildi is a cancer survivor who has surpassed many serious health challenges and is now a thriving college student who just turned 23. Wildi was diagnosed with two kinds of leukemia at the age of 14 and was near death when she and her mom Lynn were flown by air ambulance to B.C. Children’s Hospital just hours after her diagnosis on Dec. 30, 2009. As a friend of the family for the last 18 years, I have only seen a few of the ups and downs and mostly from afar as Leora was treated in Vancouver while she and Lynn lived in Ronald McDonald House during the extensive year-long treatment which was required to save Leora’s life. Low points like when she stopped breathing during surgery, received the maximum

radiation treatments a body can endure and experienced many bouts of excruciating pain that came with the side effects of the many medications she was forced to take to combat cancer and the ailments that come with it were so very hard to watch - even from a distance. But nobody likes to dwell on those memories and there were great moments of triumph as well. One that stands out in my mind in particular was when I traveled to the Lower Mainland in 2013 to visit family and was able to connect with Leora and Lynn as Leora attended a G.F. Strong intensive rehabilitation program that offered an eightweek blast of physiotherapy to combat yet another side effect. Leora’s tendons were seizing up, so walking heel-toe like the rest of us lucky ducks was impossible and using her hands that had curled up into little balls that got tighter and tighter over time was also a huge challenge. — see LEORA, page 8

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Leora surrounded by family, support — from page 6 Leora was forced to walk on tip toe at an awkward angle that offered almost zero stability. But I must add that tenacious young lady teetered along as best she could whenever she could. During my Vancouver visit in the summer of 2013, I was delighted when the two dynamic ladies accepted my dinner invitation to a small restaurant in the heart of Vancouver. Lynn brought Leora to the restaurant using a wheelchair, a regular sight, as uneven sidewalks would pose a challenge and a fall could be devastating to the fragile, cancerrecovering young lady. It left me stunned when we were all seated and Leora placed her hand on the table and it lay flat. Once I knew I could talk about it without sobbing, I quietly made mention of it. Lynn leaned over to me and told me that Leora could walk with her heels down on the ground, too. It was all thanks to the wonderful staff at G.F. Strong that made

mother Lynn and younger sister Sarah, who this small miracle happen. (Not to get steadfastly stood by the side of her sibling too preachy but that’s what physio does through her many, many struggles. for a body in need – we don’t have nearly I told you that story about Leora to tell enough physiotherapists to meet the deyou this one. mand in Prince George Leora was ap– that’s why Leora had I cannot tell you the proached by Hope Air to go there to begin number of times this young to share her journey with.) woman just kept amazing of surviving cancer When we left the thanks to the excellent restaurant Leora all those who are proudly walked down privileged enough to be care she received at B.C. Children’s Hosthe street unassisted part of her world... pital. Leora was able and flat-footed and we to fly to Vancouver all cried with joy. thanks to Hope Air, which provides flights In this one little story, I cannot tell you the number of times this young woman just to those who need health care outside of their hometowns. It’s been years of backkept amazing all those who are privileged ing and forthing for Lynn and Leora for enough to be part of her world but let me treatment and extensive follow up and just say she is an astounding, outgoing, every time Hope Air was there providing feisty woman who wouldn’t be alive today the flight. if she didn’t will it to be so. Leora didn’t hesitate to agree to help Leora is surrounded by dedicated family, Hope Air and off on an adventure we all including the unwavering support (and went. I mean never-leave-her-side support) of

You see, Leora wanted to give back to the community that supported her in the last nine years. Hope Air and Studio M brought a documentary film crew to Prince George who helped organize and provide an event to a few of her supporters so that she might show her gratitude. After waiting for what seemed like forever I finally got notice telling me at the last minute the location of the first phase of filming. I was to meet the film crew along with Leora’s longtime family friend, a wonderful woman Leora calls ‘Auntie’, Marianne Koops and Leora’s loyal bestie, Katrina Framst. We waited on the street and were told absolutely nothing until an envelope was handed to us. We were on Leora’s scavenger hunt. This wasn’t Leora’s first rodeo as she had organized at least one such activity in the past simply because she loves scavenger hunts. — see TEARS FLOWED, page 9

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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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Tears flowed during Thanksgiving dinner — from page 8 So suddenly the three of us were mic-ed up and walking down Third Avenue talking about the clue to finding a giant reptile in Prince George, which, of course, led us to The Exploration Place. We did our part at the museum as well and the clue from there led us to Northern Lights Winery where that evening, after much speculation, the entire group met Leora for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. There were people from Ronald McDonald House, B.C. Chil-

dren’s Hospital, local teachers that heavily influenced Leora’s educational path, friends and family. There was so much ugly-crying going on during our greeting to Leora who was standing and walking unassisted and while she offered a most eloquent speech where she thanked us all for what we’d done for her throughout her cancer journey and beyond. After we all sat in stunned silence for a while I said I hadn’t cried like that in a very

long time and one of the teachers sitting across from me said she’d never cried so hard in her entire life. As we chatted amongst ourselves words like surreal, whirlwind and unbelievable were thrown around as we each tried to understand the depth and breadth of what Leora was saying to us during her thank you speech. The tables turned so quickly with us all leaning towards Leora in empathy and deep emotional connection, enthralled

with her expressive words of gratitude that when she said the last sentence we were all shocked to hear it. You see, Leora said she’d like to thank us all and also Hope Air for giving her the gift of flight and now she’d like to give the gift of flight to us. In a surprise announcement Westjet provided each of us with a flight for two anywhere they fly. And we all sat in stunned silence. The gears had switched too quickly. — see LEORA AN INSPIRATION, page 11

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Province sticking to guns in debate over Employers Health Tax Citizen staff

he provincial government appears steadfast in seeing through its plan for implementing the Employer Health Tax despite pleas from local politicians and the business community to reconsider. To replace the Medical Services Premium, the EHT comes into effect on Jan. 1, 2019. Businesses with payrolls under $500,000 are exempt from the tax, but for companies with payrolls over $500,000 who did not pay premiums for their employees, it will be a new expense. Moreover, complete elimination of MSP premiums won’t occur until Jan. 1, 2020, although it was cut by 50 per cent this year, leading to accusations that the government is “double dipping.” The Prince George Chamber of Commerce estimated the EHT will amount to a $150,000 hit to an average member business each year and twice that during the

double dip years of 2018-19. It was a concern it brought to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services when it was in Prince George on Sept. 18, taking submissions in advance of the provincial government’s next budget. “They’re feeling that the responsibility for provincial health care is falling on the backs of businesses, and it’s really impacting their ability to continue to employ individuals locally,” Chamber president Lorna Wendling told the committee. “Any additional dollar they’re paying in tax is taking away from their ability to contribute to our economy in that way.” Likewise, Coun. Garth Frizzell reiterated council’s position on the issue - that it will cost the city more than $700,000 per year and translate into a 0.69 per cent increase in the property tax levy. He also noted the provincial government achieved a $300-million surplus for 2017-18 – the third surplus year in a row. “But by off-loading the health funding to

employers like us while the government of B.C. is in a budget surplus position without considering that it may hurt rather than help people, particularly the disadvantaged, this action is going to result in an unnecessarily higher financial burden to our taxpayers,” Frizzell said. “We emphatically ask again that Prince George and all B.C. local governments be exempt from B.C. EHT.” NDP MLA Nicholas Simmons responded with something of a rebuke. “Tell that to someone who’s not paying $1,800 in MSP. Tell that to some individual who’s not paying $900 in MSP,” he said. “I don’t really buy that argument, but I understand the position you’re in. I just think that, as the only province left with most regressive form of taxation for medical services, we’ve done a really good thing to say: ‘It’s the lowest EHT in the country as well.’ “So that’s just pointing out that with the employer health tax, other provinces have that as well. Ours being low, I think

it actually puts British Columbia in a good position.” In an emailed response to the Citizen regarding the concern over double dipping, Finance Minister Carole James continued in the same vein. “The immediate 50-per-cent cut to MSP premiums in 2018 also means that employers that pay MSP premiums will see savings this year and next,” she said. “B.C. is the last province to have regressive MSP premiums, and as done by other provinces, we’re taking a fairer approach. Transiting to EHT represents a net tax cut of $800 million annually, and B.C.’s EHT will be the lowest rate in Canada. We’ve delivered on our promise to eliminate MSP premiums in a way that is fiscally responsible, improves fairness, and protects small businesses.” In a previous response to request for comment, the ministry said the hike for the average Prince George household would work out to $1.17 per month in 2020 if the city chose to cover the cost entirely through the levy.

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Regional students receive scholarships Citizen staff

en students in the forestry sector each stood on a Prince George stage this week to receive a cash contribution towards their education. The Council of Forest Industries (COFI) is one of Canada’s premier industry associations in the wood products sector. At their annual Prince George dinner they announced this year’s 10 scholarship recipients. Those students are: • Garet Anderson, Prince George • Alex Von Geyer, Prince George • Brooklynn Pearson, Vanderhoof • Daniel Burgel, Nelson • Sonja Hadden, 100 Mile House • Jaydegh Billingsley, Quesnel • Katie Hall, Prince George • Emma Peasgood, Chetwynd • Brianne Ghuman, Smithers • Sheldon VanSickle, Barriere

“The forest industry needs bright, young minds and our industry offers diverse career opportunities in manufacturing, environmental management, technology, trades and professional services,” said Susan Yurkovich, COFI president and CEO. Yurkovich added, “National Forest Week is an opportunity to recognize the one in 17 British Columbian workers whose jobs are supported by this valuable and renewable resource in all regions of the province. “This is an industry with a strong history and bright future. Forestry generates 140,000 total jobs in B.C. while leading the world in sustainable forestry practices. We are proud to support the next generation in continuing their education in forestry and advancing further research and innovation.” National Forest Week is taking place across the country until Saturday. COFI estimates are for the B.C. forest sector to hire more than 25,000 people in the coming decade in communities around the province.

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Leora an inspiration for those around her — from page 9 We could hardly react to the happy news for ourselves because the true gift was seeing Leora looking so healthy and breathtakingly beautiful as she gave her gut-wrenching speech and it was all too much to comprehend. I know I can speak for all those in attendance when I say thank you, Leora. You have taught all who know you what true determination, strength and tenacity looks

like and you wear it beautifully. Thank you for being a source of continual inspiration and I have to tell you, Leora, that you put the whole world in perspective for me because if you can do what you’ve done and continue to fight and make your way in this world despite all the unspeakably difficult challenges you have overcome and have yet to face, the rest of us should be able to do anything we want without complaint.

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Family retires from business after almost a century Citizen staff

A Citizen staff photo

Paul and Joan Williams are retiring from McInnis Lighting after the family owning it for 98 years.

fter 98 years the owners of McInnis Lighting have sold the business. Paul Williams and his wife Joan have decided to retire and sold the business and the building its housed in to another couple who are well established in the community and have other business interests in town. Paul said the unidentified new owners haven’t decided if they will keep the store at the current location or if it will move. The transition from the former owners to the new owners will take place during the month of October. “We’re on a ride,” Joan said about the process. “Hopefully it’s got brakes,” Paul laughed.

The family is getting older and the children have all gone their own way careerwise. “So when an opportunity arises, you take a look at it seriously and we did have an opportunity where the business would carry on and the staff will keep their jobs and could carry on as well,” Paul said. “The business will also continue to have the same name for, I hope, many years to come.” The sale of the business has been in the works for the last couple of months. Paul was quick to say that he and Joan will happily stay in Prince George where all five of their children and four grandchildren live as well. “We love this community,” Joan said. “We’re very involved with friends and family and there’s no other place we’d rather be.” — see ‘WE’RE SO, page 13

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‘We’re so grateful for all the years’ — from page 12 John McInnis, Paul’s grandfather, started the business in 1920. He was a home builder who went into the building supply business. “I don’t believe there was anyone else who provided those services at the time,” Paul explained. “And it went along with what he knew. My father joined the firm in the early ‘50s and then myself – so it’s been three generations.” Both Joan and Paul started with the company when they were teenagers, Joan said. Paul and Joan don’t know what retirement will look like exactly for them but Paul mentioned Joan’s amazing garden. “We both like being out in the garden,” Paul said. “We also like to ski and snowshoe, kayak and bicycle. We lead a pretty active lifestyle.” “Yeah, we have a pretty good group of friends who we do that sort of stuff with,” Joan added. Travel is in their future as well, with Paul saying he would like to visit Prague,

Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary to explore their interesting history and unique architecture. Joan said they’d like to explore closer to home for longer periods of time and take a trip to the East Coast. Once word got out about Paul and Joan’s retirement, there was an outpouring of support and well wishes from the community. “People thanked us for all these years and how we’ve been an anchor in Prince George like Northern Hardware and that’s just been phenomenal for us to hear,” Joan said. Paul said both he and Joan are both deeply touched by the public response to their announced retirement. “We’re so grateful for all the years the people of Prince George and area have supported us,” Paul said. “We’re grateful to have always had such an amazing staff. It’s always been so nice to come to work because it just feels like you’re going to your second family, including the staff and the clients coming in. We’re very happy to see the business continue.”

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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Early ice sheet melt exposes route that may have been used for migration Citizen staff

lacier experts from UNBC and The University of Manchester have discovered that an ice sheet at the western margin of the Cordilleran ice sheet – which once covered western North America, including all of present-day British Columbia – retreated earlier than previously thought. The early melting of the western ice margin exposed numerous islands that could have been used by early people migrating southwards. These findings, entitled Retreat of the western Cordilleran Ice Sheet margin dur-

ing the last deglaciation, were recently pub- of the Fraser Valley and Purdue University. “The route for the peopling of the Amerilished in the journal, Geophysical Research cas continues to be Letters. hotly debated,” said Christopher Darvill The new findings Menounos. “One hyfrom the University of add an exciting pothesis proposes that Manchester’s departpiece to the puzzle the First Americans ment of geography and a former UNBC surrounding the colonization originated from Asia and migrated south, post-doctoral fellow is of the continent. down the British Cothe lead author on the paper. Another of the — Christopher Darvill lumbia Coast sometime between 18,000 and paper’s co-authors is 16,000 years ago. This would require large UNBC geography professor Brian Menoutracts of the coast to be free of glacier ice. nos, a Canada Research Chair in glacial Our data and those from recent research change. clearly support an ice-free coast during that The research team also included sciencritical time window.” tists from Tulane University, the University

In addition to British Columbia, the Cordilleran ice sheet also covered parts of Yukon, Washington State and Alaska. Darvill and co-authors used surface exposure dating, a technique that can be used to determine how long quartz-bearing rock has been exposed to high energy particles from space. This procedure allowed the researchers to precisely date when glaciers last left British Columbia’s central coast. “Our work changes the model of when this ice sheet retreated in the past, improving our understanding of past climate change over western North America,” added Darvill. “The new findings add an exciting piece to the puzzle surrounding the colonization of the continent.”

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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