Gateway Nov. 2017

GATEWAY

Your community voice for the north!

THURSDAY November 16, 2017

NEWS AND EVENTS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND CENTRAL INTERIOR

Festival of Trees promotes health in northern B.C. Citizen staff The Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees takes place at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre from Nov. 24 to Dec. 3.

All proceeds from the gala fundraising event and silent auction support health care services in northern B.C. The Festival of Trees schedule includes: • Nov. 24: Fashion show sponsored by Sandra Da Silva, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

• Nov. 25: Public opening 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; holiday dinner and dance presented by Dunkley Lumber, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Nov. 26: Northland Auto Group Santa breakfast 9:30 a.m. to noon;

Citizen file photo

Attendees view some of the trees on display at the 2016 Festival of Trees in Prince George.

public opening noon to 8 p.m.; Canadian Tire Family Day noon to 4 p.m.; Civic Light Up 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

• Nov. 27: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Medichair Seniors Luncheon noon to 2 p.m.

• Nov. 28: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Nov. 29: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Chamber lunch 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Nov. 30: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Scotiabank Senior’s Tea 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

• Dec. 1: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Northland Auto Group Gala Fundraising Auction, 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Dec. 2: Public opening 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Dance & Dine Among the Pine, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Dec. 3: TD Teddy Bear Breakfast, 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; public opening 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, go online to www.festivaloftreespg.ca.

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GATEWAYnews

Kevin Smith coming to FanCon Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

A Ap file photo

Kevin Smith arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of Ghostbusters at the TCL Chinese Theatre on July 9, 2016.

s the old saying goes “always be yourself...unless you can be Batman...always be Batman.”

Kevin Smith just happens to know Batman, so he’s closer to the source material when he has his flights of personal fancy.

Smith is the host of the mega-popular podcast Fatman On Batman. He also happens to be one of the most respected and appreciated film directors in Hollywood, he’s got his own fan base as an actor (You know the recurring character Silent Bob? Yeah. He’s Silent Bob.), and he is a close personal friend of Ben Affleck who is the most recent inhabitant of the Batman part in the blockbuster film franchise.

On the podcast, Smith goes deep into his

comicbook fandom, a part of his life that has been depicted numerous time in the movies he’s made. At Northern FanCon two years ago his most frequent collaboration partner Jason Mewes told stories about he and Smith bonding over comic books in their younger days, and as they grew more and more famous for films like Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl, they saw no reason to simmer that down.

In fact, they ramped it up, proud of their geek status.

The dead giveaway was Smith’s TV series entitled Comic Book Men. Some believe Smith, Mewes and his pals were partly responsible for the wave of chic-geek acceptance that has spawned the likes of The Big Bang Theory, the eruption of Marvel and DC characters on screens of all sizes, a new layer of Star Trek success and so on.

— see SMITH RECORDING, page 5

GATEWAYnews

Smith recording podcast in P.G. — from page 4 Anyone with questions about that can ask Smith directly. Fatman On Batman will record a podcast episode live in Prince George, where Smith will also be one of the featured special guests at Northern FanCon. The podcast, for those who have not yet heard it, delves into the deep well of history on the Batman character. The talk goes to the comic books, the original television series with Adam West, all the animated TV branches, and of course all the blockbuster movies. But as much as it’s about Batman, it is also about modern times and western culture.

Smith has access to some of Hollywood’s most interesting people who have guested on the show, and he has a boyish curiosity that goes after his topics with journalistic zeal. His on-air guests have included people like Mark Hamill, Chris Daughtry, even Stan Lee himself.

Fatman On Batman will record a podcast episode live in Prince George...

The additional depth of the Fatman On Batman show is Smith’s position on the Wayne Foundation. He’s the vice-president of this advocacy organization named after Batman’s alter ego. It is a charity that stands up for kids who have been sexually exploited, victimized by sex trafficking, or otherwise sexually abused.

When the podcast is recorded on the floor of CN Centre during this year’s Northern FanCon event, this work to help children and reduce crimes against children will be front and centre. Special guest host Marc Bernardin will also be alongside Smith for this once in a lifetime event.

Northern FanCon happens May 11-13.

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GATEWAYnews

Liberal candidates debate northern B.C. concerns Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca Six leadership candidates for the province’s Liberal party gathered in Prince George Saturday to address the concerns of people in northern B.C. and the Interior regions worried about the future of the natural resource sector.

Former forestry and finance minister Mike de Jong took the current NDP government to task for its reluctance to grant final approval of the Site C hydroelectric dam project near Fort St. John.

“Can you believe there is a government

seriously contemplating writing off $4 billion and getting nothing for it?” de Jong asked. “Site C represents clean renewable reliable energy into the future. We thought it was bad when the NDP wrote off $500 million for three fast ferries, this is a whole fleet of them. We’ve got to fight this and make sure the project proceeds, the future of our province depends on it.”

The candidates were asked what they would do to strengthen the forestry, energy and mining sectors to keep British Columbians working.

— see HEALTH CARE, page 8

Citizen photo By James Doyle

Todd Stone speaks at the Coast Inn of the North, November 4th, during the second of six BC Liberal leadership forums.

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GATEWAYnews

Health care, forestry and mining industry part of discussions — from page 6 “We’re less vulnerable today than we were because of steps we took to diversify our international markets and you know about that here in Prince George” de Jong said. “This is not just the northern capital, it’s the forestry capital and it’s why I think the forestry ministry should be located here in Prince George.

“Not doing a bad deal is important. We’re going to have to stick together in that respect because the American protectionists want to impose quotas on our mills and that’s a bad deal.”

Andrew Wilkinson, a former advanced education minister first elected in 2013 in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding, said if he becomes leader of the party he would make it easier for resource-based industries to obtain the permits they need to start up projects.

“What we need to do is have a leadership approach that says what you can do, how to build industries here that otherwise wouldn’t settle here,” Andrew Wilkinson, the MLA for

Vancouver Quilchena, said. “This applies to the forest industry but to mining as well.

We’ve got to clean up our permitting process so that when people are applying to make investments and create jobs they have the knowledge they’re going to get answers in a timely fashion. Right now it can take years, and that’s simply not acceptable in a competitive world.”

Candidates in the 90-minute debate talked about their plans to defeat the NDP-Green coalition and take back the government the Liberals held for 16 years leading up to last spring’s election.

They stated their opposition to the NDP’s proposed change of the province’s electoral system to proportional representation, which would allot the number of seats each party receives in the legislature based on their percentage of the popular vote. It would replace the current first-past-the-post system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.

The NDP passed legislation a month ago

that will ask voters in a referendum in the fall of 2018. The vote will require 50 per cent approval to pass.

“When we look at proportional representation, that is my No. 1 priority and I’m hellbent in terms of making sure that we defeat that referendum,” said Dianne Watts, the former MP for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, who resigned her federal seat Sept. 30 to seek the Liberal leadership.

Former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan, MLA for Vancouver-False Creek, said the rural-urban divide leaves B.C. residents who live outside population centres in Vancouver and Victoria feeling alienated and undervalued for the contributions they make to the provincial economy.

“Within walking or wheeling distance from my home there’s over 1,000 mining and resource companies with their address in Vancouver-False Creek, so I know that when the northern and interior communities succeed and prosper, Vancouver-False Creek succeeds

and prospers,” said Sullivan.

“I don’t think that message is delivered well enough in our urban areas just how dependent we are on each other.”

Sullivan also said the health care delivery has to be more flexible to reflect the differing needs of urban and rural communities. Health care takes half of the province’s budget and despite that, Watts says too many patients are falling through the cracks.

“We have to make sure that it is patient-focused but using innovation, using technology, using data that actually looks at outcomes,” said Watts. “We clearly know that in rural and northern British Columbia, there are gaps.”

Developing northern B.C.’s resources is the backbone which pays for the province’s roads, schools and hospitals and Lower Mainland residents need to be reminded of that fact, said Michael Lee, a former business lawyer elected in May as MLA for Vancouver-Langara.

— see TODD STONE, page 10

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GATEWAYnews Todd Stone highlights need to train engineers, approve health care projects in Prince George — from page 8 “There’s a direct connection between urban British Columbia and the rural and north of this province - we built this province on the strength of our resource economy, much of the infrastructure and the benefits for this province derived as a whole have come from this region,” said Lee. “We need to respect that and understand that. We need encourage migration into our regions and build up the capacity around our colleges and university systems here.”

Watts took the leadership candidates in power before the last election to task, asking why they did not approve funding for a new hospital in Terrace and a surgical tower in Prince George at UHNBC, while also failing to bring engineering and physiotherapy postsecondary programs to Prince George.

“I’m wondering why that wasn’t in our last platform,” said Watts. “If it’s this important and we have identified it and we know about it, it should have been in the last platform and I’m disappointed that it wasn’t.”

De Jong revealed the Liberals had plans in their platform to bring an engineering program to Prince George at UNBC and and funding for that program that would have in the spring budget had the government not been defeated.

Todd Stone, the Kamloops-based former transportation minister, also highlighted the need to train engineers in the north and said it would be his priority to approve health care projects to establish cardiac services such as angioplasty to Prince George.

“I think it’s unacceptable that in rural communities like in Fort St. James and along Highway 16 across the north that it can take up to six days to be medevaced and flown to a larger hospital to receive the services you need,” said Stone. “We need to make sure the resources are there for the people who need them. This is not about urban and rural, it’s about making sure that health care, education and critical services are there for people when they need it, wherever they are in this province.”

Stone said the future of rural economic development especially as it relates to the technology sector depends on northern communities having access to high-speed internet and cellular phone connections.

On the issue of wildlife management and how to to balance the needs of hunters, tourism operators, First Nations and environmentalists to protect to environment but also create economic opportunity, Wilkinson says he grew as a hunter in Kamloops and he’s aware of the implications of increased predator populations and loss of habitat due to beetle kill and wildfires.

“We need to whole bunch of work on (hunting allocations) by putting money into that branch of government so we can get better inventories and base decisions on hard science so it takes politics out of this,” Wilkinson said.

Stone said the key to ensuring animal populations will thrive is to collaborate with all stakeholders, including local governments and First Nations, pointing to the example of

the Great Bear Rainforest area on the established on the coast south of Prince Rupert in 2016 which protects 85 per cent of the land from industrial logging.

De Jong asked Watts if she would reinstate tolls on the Port Mann Bridge the NDP removed so that only the users of the bridge, rather than all of B.C. residents, would end up paying for it.

“I don’t think northerners should support tolls on the Port Mann Bridge, full stop,” said Watts. “But I also believe the tolling policy of the previous government was antiquated.

It didn’t work. Tolling individual pieces of infrastructure is not the way to go. What you need to do is look at the whole entire system within the Lower Mainland so it doesn’t cost the people in the north.”

About 300 people attended the second of six leadership debates the Liberals will host leading up the party’s election of a new leader on Feb. 3. The debate was streamed on the Liberal Facebook page. The next debate will be in Nanaimo on Sunday, Nov. 19.

GATEWAYnews

Green light for Cirque Citizen staff After a false start on ticket sales, the fans of Cirque du Soleil have the green light to get their seats for Crystal.

This latest performance innovation by Canada’s superstar circus company brings acrobatics and ice into cutting edge collision.

Crystal will be in full effect at CN Centre for a series of shows in April.

Regular ticket sales are available via online purchase at cirquedusoleil.com/crystal.

Show Schedule: • April 26 at 7:30 p.m.

• April 27 4:00 p.m. at 7:30 p.m.

• April 28 at 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

• April 29 at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

CN Centre and Cirque du Soleil officials called this one-of-a-kind show “a break-

through ice experience” build with the consultation of iconic Canadian ice star Kurt Browning.

“Artists and skaters perform acrobatics on the ice and in the air, seamlessly combining multiple disciplines for a world class audience experience,” organizers said.

“Synchronized skating, freestyle, figure, and extreme skating are featured alongside circus disciplines such as swinging trapeze, aerial straps and hand to hand. The result is an adrenaline-packed show for the whole family that pushes the boundaries and surpasses all expectations.”

As with all Cirque du Soleil shows, the acrobatics must share the wow-factor with globally acclaimed visual effects, lighting, sound, music, costumes and narrative.

For more info, visit www.cirquedusoleil. com/crystal.

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GATEWAYnews

Caribou population declines, habitat deteriorating The Canadian Press Canada’s woodland caribou herds and the habitat they need continue to decline five years after the provinces agreed to develop strategies to preserve them, a federal study has concluded.

And all provinces and territories are on a six-month deadline to lay out plans showing how they will keep the animal that’s featured on the back of the quarter on the land. They have already missed one deadline.

“A number of provinces and territories have taken action,” said Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson, parliamentary secretary to the environment minister. “That being said, it clearly is not enough.”

But a forestry industry representative said not enough is known about the changing boreal forest to make rules on how much needs to be saved for caribou.

“We can’t be cutting corners to the point

where it might be doing nothing for caribou and putting thousands of people out of work,” said Derek Nighbor of the Forest Products Association of Canada.

The report, released Tuesday, found that none of Canada’s 51 caribou herds is growing. Twenty are in decline and not enough is known about 21 of them to even estimate their population trend.

Ten of those declining herds have fewer than 100 animals - some barely more than a couple dozen - leaving them highly vulnerable to being wiped out.

The old-growth boreal forests the caribou depend on are also deteriorating.

Despite five years of attempts to preserve or rehabilitate habitat disturbed by energy development or forestry, only 19 of 51 ranges met federal requirements to be 65 per cent undisturbed - two fewer than in 2012. Industrial disturbance increased in 29 of the ranges.

Only nine ranges were in better shape in

2017 than in 2012.

Last October, a five-year deadline passed for provinces to file detailed plans on how they were going to restore critical habitat.

Several provinces, including Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, have released draft plans. Others have said some of their plans are expected early next year.

None has completely met the terms of the federal bill.

Under the Species At Risk Act, Ottawa will now take until April 2018 to determine whether the provinces have sufficiently protected critical habitat. If they haven’t, the environment minister is required to ask for a federal order to do it for them.

Wilkinson said the federal government and the provinces agree all 51 herds can still be preserved, although that could change.

“We’re certainly open to engaging the provinces as we move forward,” he said.

“There would have to be a scientific underpinning to the argument.”

Justina Ray, head scientist for the Wild-

life Conservation Society, said some herds could disappear in as little as five years if nothing changes. She said the federal report puts the provinces on notice.

“This is the first shot across the bow,” she said. “It is making a statement that there is more work that needs to be done.”

But Nighbor said not enough is known about the impacts of climate change, predators or invasive diseases to pin all the blame on habitat disturbance. He points out that some herds considered stable live on ranges that are 95 per cent disturbed, although those herds are also protected by massive wolf culls.

“You need to look at all the factors,” he said, adding Ottawa also needs to ensure that local communities are involved in decisions.

Wilkinson said governments are willing to take a look at any new science, but something must be done.

“The scientific evidence is very clear, that habitat destruction is directly related to the decline in caribou,” he said.

“We need to take action.”

photo Courtesy of Susan Morse

Boreal Caribou.

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GATEWAYnews

Submitted photo

Air quality researchers from UNBC.

Air quality improving, UNBC researchers find Citizen Staff Prince George’s air quality is getting better because of the work by the city’s heavy industry, according to UNBC researchers.

Environmental science professor Dr. Peter Jackson and a group of undergraduate and graduate students analyzed 12 years of air quality data in Prince George and found that the largest improvement in air quality is when the wind pushes the air from the heavy industrial zone into the city centre.

“When winds come from the east, which is carrying the air from the heavy industrial zone, the trend over the past 12 years is a pronounced decrease in the fine particulate matter in the air,” Jackson explains.

The students worked closely with the Prince George Air Improvement Roundtable (PGAIR) and presented their findings to the

organization’s board of directors.

Among the findings are that fine particulate matter decreased overall by 29 per cent in the last 12 years, but that was primarily driven by decreases of 35 per cent when the wind came from the east. Industrial plants in Prince George have been investing in technology to reduce the amount of particulate matter released into the air for the past decade but measuring the effectiveness of their investments has been a challenge, according to Jackson.

“We know that industry, especially the pulp mills, have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on upgrades that reduce the amount of particulate matter they release into the air,” Jackson says. “It has been frustrating not being able to detect that in the actual monitoring data, but this study suggests that what they are doing is working.”

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GATEWAYnews

Relay for Life moving to Exhibition Park Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca The 24-hour relay is on the move.

The Relay For Life event, held annually each spring, is moving from Masich Stadium

to Exhibition Park for 2018.

“A couple of years of big growth put us in the position of no longer being a fit at Masich Stadium,” said Relay For Life coordinator Aimee Cassie. “We’ve been having this conversation for a few years, and for the past

few months it has gone from something we were thinking about to something we were working with the City on. We put the planning into action.”

The fact they could no longer squeeze all the relay’s elements into the track facilities was a point all involved could agree on.

The hurdle was pinpointing an alternative location. City of Prince George senior official Sean LeBrun was the one who came up with the idea that clicked: the site where the BCNE and various other annual events take place.

They give up the rubbery track material but they gain a lot of space, room to grow, and flexibility for the future as they maximize the region’s contribution to cancer research, medical needs of cancer sufferers, and help for families undergoing treatments.

“This is huge,” said master of ceremonies Doug Jones at the announcement of the big

changes. He is also the honorary co-chair of this year’s Relay For Life. “This is saving lives.That’s what it’s all about. It’s not about, ‘Hey we don’t have a rubber track, we’re going to be walking on asphalt.’ If anyone complains about that, they can kiss my asphalt,” he added with a chuckle.

“Our challenge now, and it’s a wonderful one, is people,” said Helen Owen, manager of annual giving for the Canadian Cancer Society in Prince George. “As long as we have the right people involved in organizing, there is really nothing we can’t do at this new location.”

Safety and public participation gets a big boost with this change of venue. Parking was problematic for the thousands of people at a time coming and going from the track, at all hours of the day and night. Now that is ample and right on the edge of the action.

— see ORGANIZERS, page 20

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GATEWAYnews Organizers hopeful change of date, venue to boost numbers — from page 18 Also getting a big bump up is the camping option. Tents and RVs can set up and uplift the team atmosphere like never before.

There is room to establish strong bases of operations for participating teams and individuals, volunteers, and service providers, plus those can be set up on a friendlier schedule.

There is also nearly unlimited space for vendors, booths, food trucks, entertainment, and all manner of services to the event. And the track is not a nondescript oval anymore, but a shapely route that adds more visual stimulation for the walkers as they make their way around CN Centre, the Kin Centres and the exhibition grounds.

It turns the event into a full 24-hour community festival. They can even do fireworks, if they so choose.

The date is also changing from early May. Next year, the 24-hour Relay For Life will be held June 9-10.

With a major change in venue, and all that will mean for future fundraising and fun-

raising opportunities, organizers felt now was the time to also adjust the date.

“A lot of teams and participants have been asking us for a change of date,” said Cassie.

“Mother’s Day is not helpful for a lot of people, they have family plans going on, and the weather is also a consideration that early in the spring. They communicated to us that fundraising would be helped by moving a bit later into the year, and participation would be helped by the warmer weather. The change in location allowed us to do that.”

“We get a lot of participation from people out of town, and we got indications that this would go up if the weather was more hospitable for RVing and tenting,” said Owen. “It gives everyone a degree of added comfort.

Being at Exhibition Park gives us that option, so we’re excited about that development, too.”

Last year’s relay brought in more than $570,000 and for the fourth consecutive year, Prince George’s relay fundraiser was tops in Canada.

GATEWAYnews

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Aimee Cassie, Relay For Life coordinator, speaks about the move of the relay to Exhibition Park and the date change to June 9 and 10.

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GATEWAYnews

Beer, bacon and bands coming to CN Centre Citizen Staff It’s an all-Canadian party in three simple words. The only thing missing is hockey when a Beer Bacon Bands event comes to town.

Prince George gets its first taste of the 3B festival of music and refreshment. It is a fete that’s already grilled Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary to perfection over the last couple of years, and now the heat is stoked for CN Centre this February.

“Beer, bacon and music aficionados unite to sample cold brews, taste unique bacon creations and listen to awesome live music, while having fun with a couple thousand of their closest friends,” said a statement

issued by the Bs three organization.

The food and drink will be available in trade show style, with booths to choose from plus refreshment activity out on the floor. The music comes from DJs and live musicians cranking it out concert-style as attendees mingle, sip, guzzle, nibble and nom-nom-nom as they wish.

The Beer Bacon Bands event happens at CN Centre on Feb. 24 starting at 7 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at the venue’s box office or onlive via the TicketsNorth.ca website. Admission (aged 19-plus only) is about $40 depending on local service charges, but if you purchase a fourpack of tickets on or before Nov. 6 they are $25 each (plus s/c).

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