Industry & Trades

Industry And trades APRIL 2018

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Railing against transportation backlogs PAGE 9 Product of

Resource sector builds up youth

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Excess lumber is covered and stored at Canfor Intercontinental Pulp Mill.

Citizen Photo by James Doyle.

Railing against transportation backlogs...... pg 3 Hard lines drawn in steelhead waters................... pg 6 Flooding a dam site more concerning this spring......... pg 8 Resource sector builds up youth..................... pg 9 Tourism is taking hold....... pg 14 Mine workers payment delays.................. pg 17 The fate of glyphosate.......pg 18 Minister Garneau, Premier Horgan weigh in on fraught freight.....................pg 20 Firehall build takes next step................................pg 21 New fire hall a structural necessity.............pg 21 Pipeline company buys breakfast, goes to school............................... pg 22

Cover photo: Sean Finn, Executive Vice-President Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer CN in Prince George (See story, right).

Citizen Photo by Brent Braaten.

General Inquiries | 250-562-2441 Publisher | Colleen Sparrow Editor | Neil Godbout Stories | Frank Peebles Circulation | Colleen Sparrow

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Railing Against Transportation Backlogs CN takes firsthand look at stalled forestry products Written by Frank Peebles A critical backlog in CN Rail freight has caused problems for Central Interior forestry companies.

One of the train company’s most senior officials was in the area to tour sawmills, bioenergy manufacturing facilities and pulp plants where large-scale inventories of wood products are piling up.

He met with clients to offer apologies, discuss solutions and disclose a major capital investment in this area to help ensure it will never happen again.

According to CN Rail’s Vice-President of Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer Sean Finn, the groundwork is already underway

on the track lines between the coastal port of Prince Rupert and the inland port of Prince George, plus more all the way to Winnipeg.

Finn sat down with Citizen Industry & Trades to give an exclusive discussion about the situation. He described a domino effect of general upticks in freight traffic that triggered holdups in critical shipments of grain and that triggered holdups in forest products.

“Before we get to how we’re catching up, let’s talk about how we got here,” said Finn.

“Up until 2017 we’d gone through six quarters, so 18 consecutive months, of decreased volumes. For 2017 we were expecting a three per cent increase in our volumes, overall across all commodities. Our forecasts were

For 2017 we were expecting a three per cent increase in our volumes, overall across all commodities.

– Sean Finn

based on talking to our customers, looking at our demand. It was like a black box we always use but the black box broke this year, and I’m going to tell you why.

– story continued on page 4

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were pushed to the maximum by the surge in freight and the rush to compensate. Winter “Within four months we were seeing volume weather also played a role. increases of between 10 per cent and 20 per “During the 18 months of downturn, you cent, depending on the commodities. All of a right-size the business. You lay people off,” sudden, it was a bigger demand than we had Finn explained, going back to the pattern of forecasted. The business volumes were just lesser freight. When the unexpected growth there. Intermodal was up. Forest products occurred, the staff wasn’t the correct size to were up, and we all thought demand would handle it. go down because of NAFTA issues. It didn’t go “So all of a sudden it’s down. There was inSeptember and we are creased demand, year for crews. We Within four months we looking over year. But again, have to re-hire them. not single-digit but were seeing volume We’re looking for double-digit demand , We have so increased volume, increases of between locomotives. to build them. And across the board: coal, 10 per cent and 20 per thirdly, you’ve got to frac sand, not yet invest in the network. grain because that decent, depending on The existing employpends on the season, ees who had been laid the commodities. but all forest products, off were not returning potash, you name it.

– Sean Finn as fast as we thought.

Mostly in Western They got employment Canada. By sumelsewhere, the market was very good for jobs. mer, 2017 it kept on coming with increased We called on retirees, deferred vacation, devolumes. When we got to September we were ferred retirement, but we needed 1,000 new saying woah, this is serious, we are seeing susconductors.” tained volume increases, month over month, A new conductor needs about eight months of quarter over quarter, and to move this volume, training. A lot of that is on the job, but they the current capacity for the network is getting aren’t ready to be injected into the workforce close to full.” until they can be certified and deployed across Three things comprise that word capacity: the CN Rail network. staff, locomotives, and track lines. All three – story continued from page 3

That was not the only shortfall of time. is to be eased, and if the uptick in commodity “We ordered 200 new high-horsepower locoshipments carries on at these higher levels, the motives. It takes a year to get 60. We didn’t CN Rail network needs more tracks. wait; we went out and leased 130 short-term They are coming, said Finn. locomotives last fall. They started showing up “In my career at CN we always had extra in December. So between the (lag in acquircapacity on the network itself,” said Finn, ing) the crews and the (lag in acquiring) locoillustrating the significance in this changed motives, we entered the winter unprepared. condition. “CN’s capital budget in 2017 - this Not enough resiliency. Not enough capacity.” is important - was $2.7 billion. This year, in Winter is not just another season. Cold 2018, we bumped it up to $3.4 billion. That’s weather has a physical and financial effect on $700,000 million more. So for every dollar of transportation equipment. gross revenue we earn, we’re taking 25 cents “Winter is not an excuse for us,” said Finn. and putting it back into the business, either on “Winter happens in Canada every year, last equipment, new personnel, or infrastructure. time I checked. When winter comes, one of The average (railway company’s reinvestment) the impacts is, you have to pump air all the is 16-17 per cent. So we’re high, but we have way to the back of the train through rubber to do it.” hoses to apply brakes. It’s harder to pump air A substantial amount of that money was set at minus-25, so what happens is, the trains get for this region. Finn said that $100 million shorter in the winter, which means you need would be invested between Prince George and more trains, more locomotives, more crews to Prince Rupert this year. move the same amount of freight. So winter “We’re going to be making longer sidings - so is not an excuse, it is just a reality that we double-tracking, between Prince Rupert and have to enter the winter with more resiliency - Prince George,” he said. “We are digging as we more locomotives and more crews - because of speak now. We’re clearing bush, we’re surveythe shorter trains.” ing the property. We won’t double the track Too few crews were working on too few trains, the whole way, but we will add sidings and if and when some of that started to catch up we have two sidings close by we will connect there was too little space on the tracks to ease them and make a passing track.” the bubble. Grain became the pivotal example CN Rail was not putting undue emphasis on because it is perishable, it comes in enormous any one product caught in the backlog, he volumes, and so many farmers are depending said, but the importance of moving the current on its movement in order to get paid in order glut of forest products was understood at the to get started on next year’s crop - a crop that highest levels of the train company. feeds people all around Wood products, like the world. are also perishHundreds of new train grain, “We were behind the able. If wood chips, 8-ball,” said Finn. “And personnel needed to bioenergy fibre or it got worse in January lumber sit too long in be hired, and about and it got worse in their piles, especially February. In February in a spring freshet, 60 new conductors we did not serve our they can suffer damwould be stationed in age. grain customers, our lumber customers, our “We’ve got lumber on Prince George. intermodal customers. the ground with our We let ourselves down, customers. We’ve got we let our customers down, but more imporpulp on the ground. These plants and mills tantly we let Canada down.” keep on producing,” Finn said. “At Sinclar (the CN Rail took a number of actions over and ownership company of wood manufacturing above the hiring rush and ordering the new facilities like Lakeland Mills) I could see firstlocomotives. hand the issues they are having, not having One was admitting the cascading errors to cars getting to their mill. We are very focused their clients, giving freight customers informa- on it.” tion on which future plans could be built. CN There was a fourth topic Finn was in Prince even referred some freight to other rail comGeorge to personally oversee. A job fair was panies to at least give those clients the benefit held at Kopar Administration, and CN Rail of moving the goods. was one of the featured companies acceptTwo was replacing their CEO. Luc Jobin was ing resumes. Finn said hundreds of new train fired, and the interim replacement was Jeanpersonnel needed to be hired, and about 60 Jacques Ruest who was already their head of new conductors would be stationed in Prince sales - in other words, the person in the orgaGeorge. If anyone was interested in a career nization in closest touch with the customers. that required no university degree, paid a A third leg in rebuilding the stool is investing strong wage, and provided in-house training, in the rails themselves. If this bulge in freight apply on the CN Rail website.

For more on this issue turn to page 20

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UNBC’s Rob Bryce holds a steelhead as part of ongoing fisheries education activities at the university.

Photo courtesy of University of Northern British Columbia.

Hard Lines Drawn In

SteelHead

WATERS Regional First Nation calls for fishery closure

Written by Frank Peebles Governments have their channels, and so do trout.

While the federal government has jurisdiction over fish and their waterways in the colonial governance context, Aboriginal governments also have a definitive say in what happens in their respective traditional territories.

As such, the collective First Nations south of Prince George and west of the Cariboo have issued a statement telling fishers of all kinds to reel in their hooks in their waters if the target fish is steelhead.

“Due to immediate threat, the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG) has closed all fishing of the endangered Chilcotin River steelhead trout,” said a statement issued by the TNG. “Given the 81 per cent population decline, the Tsilhqot’in Nation is forgoing their collective Aboriginal right to fish steelhead for food, social and ceremonial purposes.”

This, said Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chairman for the TNG, is a drastic step for the Tsilhqot’in people.

“Our Steelhead Trout are facing a serious crisis right now that cannot be ignored,” Alphonse

said. “We are imposing an immediate closure What is never controversial is their popularity on the fisheries for our people. All sectors in the fishing industry. Their populations were within government and business need to take once large enough to sustain a commercial this decline in population numbers very seriharvest, but since the late 19th century those ously. The Tsilhqot’in territory is at the end of populations have been decimated. the line for the Steelhead migration, meaning “At present, most wild populations are hoverthat we have to make the most sacrifices in ing somewhere between 1 and 10 per cent of protecting this populatheir historic abuntion. We call on all dance, prompting At present, most levels of government major concern about to improve the health problems of wild populations are ongoing of our Steelhead.” overharvest,” said a Oncorhynchus mykiss, hovering somewhere statement by the Wild commonly known as Steelhead Coalition. between 1 and 10 per It is still an angler’s steelhead, is a fish with controversial catch, said the cent of their historic dream traits. There has coalition, calling it abundance. been debate among “one of the Top 5 sport scientists as to if it is a fish in North America.”

– Wild Steelhead Coalition salmon or a trout. In The blame for the most ways it is closest precipitous drop in in species structure to a rainbow trout, only it steelhead numbers can be centred on one is a seafaring fish and the rainbows are excluthing, said the coalition: over-harvesting. It sively freshwater. They spawn like salmon, but was plain, old fashioned fishing greed that has unlike salmon they do so up to three times in endangered this variety of fish, and it contintheir life span. ues to be a recurring theme even though some

regulatory steps have been taken to protect the steelhead.

“The incidental catch of steelhead in fisheries targeting salmon is also a major problem throughout their range,” the coalition explained. “Sockeye fisheries on the Skeena River take a heavy toll on returning summer steelhead and the world famous Dean River loses hundreds if not thousands of returning adults to chum fisheries in the Dean Channel in many years. These problems are not unique to British Columbia.”

Alphonse agreed, pinning his territory’s plummeting steelhead numbers on the federal government for not taking more aggressive recovery action. He called the Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO) actions an infringement on Indigenous rights, because ceremony and sustainance is not possible now for the Tsilhqot’in peoples.

“DFO’s continued mismanagement of the Chilcotin River steelhead trout must stop for the survival of this stock,” said Alphonse.

“TNG also expects that both the federal and provincial governments, including the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Strategy, will engage in a nation-to-nation conversation with the Tsilhqot’in about the future of the Chilcotin River steelhead along with the impact that decisions may have on Tsilhqot’in Aboriginal rights.”

According to Jeff Grout, a regional resource manager with DFO, there have been concerted efforts to save the steelhead and more is pending.

“While the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development is responsible for overall steelhead management in British Columbia, DFO has implemented measures for many years to greatly reduce impacts from commercial fisheries (usually targeting chum salmon), which may result in incidental impacts on steelhead,” Grout told Citizen Industry & Trades.

“As an example, the Area E chum gillnet fishery has been reduced to a maximum of 24 hours, and does not proceed until, based on average timing, 80 per cent of the steelhead is believed to have passed through the lower reaches of the river where the fishery takes place. For the 2018 season, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is currently working with First Nations, other fishing groups and stakeholders to develop fishing plans that will further protect the Interior Fraser River steelhead migration from incidental fisheries impacts from all fisheries as they migrate from the Pacific, through the Fraser River, and into their spawning tributaries. These discussions are part of

the salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plan consultation process.

“The BC Salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMP’s) are developed taking into consideration conservation issues, as well as the feedback from First Nations, commercial and recreational fishermen, and the Integrated Harvest Planning Committee. Fishing plans are also based on science advice from the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, departmental science advice and analysis and fishery information and forecast abundance.”

He said the next IFMP was being designed with First Nations dialogue was was loosely scheduled for release at the end of June.

The TNG noted that the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessed the Chilcotin River steelhead trout as “endangered” and recommended an Emergency Order under the Species At Risk Act. The local First Nation called on DFO “to eliminate all bycatch from the commercial Pacific salmon fisheries.”

According to the latest data used in the January assessment by the COSEWIC group, the Chilcotin River was home to only 58 steelhead - an 81 per cent drop in already weak numbers since 2000. The decline story was the same in other rivers as well.

Regardless of what the DFO suggested, said the TNG, they would be disallowing steelhead fishing in their territory for an indefinite period

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Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot’in National Government (right) shares the stage at the Nation2Nation business conference with Williams Lake First Nation councillor Willie Sellers who is also the author of the fisheries-themed children’s book Dipnetting With Dad. Photo courtesy of Nation2Nation

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Flooding A Dam Site More Concerning This Spring Written by Frank Peebles

Stuart Creek Dam, located west, a short distance off of Highway 16.

Citizen Photo by James Doyle.

When British Columbians discuss dams, what comes to mind are enormous water barriers that generate hydroelectricity or contain mine tailings. They are so epic in architectural scale that it is hard to imagine any spring freshet amounting to any concern.

The provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development knows differently. They issued a warning this week for owners of private dams that this year’s runoff does indeed pose a structural concern.

“In anticipation of the upcoming spring freshet, dam owners throughout the province are being urged to safeguard their water supplies and ensure that their dams operate safely during this period of high flows,” said a ministry spokesperson. “With very wet conditions in the Interior, and as a result, higher risks of dam failures, it is important for dam owners to take precautions.”

The warning had to be issued as a public statement because there are indeed so many private dam owners that direct communication was onerous. There are approximately 1,500 such water walls.

Between Prince George and Endako there are about 40 of them. There are 10 more from Prince George to Mount Robson.

There are 12 in and around the immediate vicinity of the City of Prince George. They are between three and six metres in height, and most are positioned across small creeks.

Not all such dams are governed by the main enabling legislation (the Dam Safety Regulation which came into effect in Feb. of 2016). The document does not apply to minor dams which are less than 7.5 metres in height and capable of impounding a volume of water of 10,000 cubic metres (equal to four Olympic-size swimming pools) or less, unless the Comptroller of Water Rights or a Water Manager deems them to be potentially hazardous.

Typically, these small-scale dams are owned by farmers holding water for the purpose of irrigation or to water livestock, landowners who need dry land access between two tracts of land, and/or to prevent lower level

land from being constantly soaked.

Some in this area are owned by Ducks Unlimited for the purpose of fostering the ecosystem. Some are operated by the provincial government itself.

Each one is itemized on a publicly accessible online map, and each has a dam safety officer assigned.

“It’s important to note that dam owners are responsible for the safe operation, and maintenance of their dams, and are liable for any damages that are caused by them,” the ministry statement cautioned.

Dam owners were urged to follow a basic checklist during the freshet. It included: - Conduct regular surveillance and monitoring.

- Clear the spillway of any blockages (including temporary flashboards).

- Ensure the low-level outlet is maintained and operational.

- Review and exercise your Dam Emergency Plan.

- Ensure any inflow diversion structures are maintained and operational.

- Ensure that the required signs for dams located on Crown land are in place and in good repair.

- Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to lower the reservoir to provide additional storage, to reduce downstream flooding.

According to hydrologist Jonathan Boyd of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, this area’s snowpack is consistent with the entire provincial snowload, that being somewhere between 125 to 145 per cent of normal. This is an amount similar to 2012 when significant flooding events occurred in the area.

While the general public usually focuses on neighbourhoods along rivers, when flood events occur, those responsible for dams need to focus on the structural integrity of their dykes and whether the walls are tall enough to handle the amount of incoming water. These dams are built with a plan for where excess water is to go, should it be too much for the water wall to contain.

Dam emergencies should be reported to Emergency Management BC at: 1-800-6633456.

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Resource Sector builds up

YOUTH Written by Frank Peebles

Chief Derek Orr is Business Development Manager for Carrier Lumber and is starting a youth mentorship program at the company. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Derek Orr has always used his position to uplift local Aboriginal youth.

That’s not going to change just because his job title did.

Orr became renowned across Canada for presiding as chief over the sustained economic strides taken by the McLeod Lake First Nation.

The band is based on traditional territory just north of Prince George at Summit Lake, extending up towards

Mackenzie and into Peace-country in a northerly direction, west towards Fort St. James and the Nation River, and to the Rocky Mountains in the east. They are related culturally to the Tse’khene peoples neighbouring them - the Kwadacha First Nation based now at Fort Ware and the Tseh Kay Dene First Nation based at Ingenika.

As of 2000, they are signatories to the Treaty 8 collection of Aboriginal nations.

– see story ‘ABORIGINAL TEENS’ page 10

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Aboriginal Teens, Local Industries Working Together Aboriginal youth.

True to his business foundation, he took a fisAlways an enterprising First Nation, the cal approach to an issue of humanity. He calMcLeod Lake people encountered Alexander culated that it costs about $600,000 each and Mackenzie on his 1797 journey to the Pacific every day to incarcerate the current number of Ocean. They also established the first fur tradAboriginal people in Canada. ing fort in B.C. history, allowing the North“If we can keep five youth out of that system west Company to set up a post in 1805 at the and in the school system, the program will pay mouth of the Pack River. for itself in one year,” Orr said. The investIn modern times, Orr and his fellow leaders ment is even more worthwhile when those set up logging and construction companies five youth go on to have positive lives on the that did booming business in natural resource productive side of the social ledger. projects large and small, while retaining a firm By the way, Orr envisions not five but 25 hand on environmental stewardship in relayouth, and he believes the program can begin tion to those projects. this summer.

It was a prosperous balance that continues to The model he’s using is from an Ontario this day. organization called Orr stepped away Outland Camps. They from the chief’s title The First Nations are already operating in June. He was hired summer leadership and Natural Resources immediately by Carriemployability courses er Lumber to be their for youth, especially Youth Employment business development targeting the natural manager. It was mutuProgram has been resources sectors. ally agreed upon that running in various forms The First Nations this would include Natural Resources the development and for almost 20 years in Youth Employment training of young Program has been runnorthern Ontario. people in the region ning in various forms with an emphasis on – story continued from page 9

for almost 20 years in experience like intronorthern Ontario, with ductions to tree plantcombined alumni from ing, geology, water They not only won’t 41 First Nations. The treatment, trail clearparticipants are known ing, workplace safety fall through those as Rangers and learn basics, etc. The menu really negative cracks, is also set to include a number of combination life/employment marketable and but they will become highly skills. socially practical skills Orr is setting the stage like drivers’ license leaders and peer to bring a version of introduction, forest mentors later on. this program to Prince fire fighting, bulldozer George and he has operation, and cook’s the backing of some training. It teaches powerful industrial interests to see it done. about how to learn, which is perhaps taken for One is his own company, Carrier Lumber, granted by families who grew up in a cycle of another is natural gas company LNG Canada education, but the approach itself to post-secthat pledged startup money, and others are in ondary training is not a familiar rhythm to all. talks.

Earning a wage is not a familiar rhythm. This The Continuing Studies department at UNBC program would instill those concepts. is also on board to help deliver the course According to Orr’s research, young adults of material. It would be for kids aged 16-18 at an non-Aboriginal heritage graduate at a nine as-yet undisclosed remote location where the out of 10 rate. Metis have a graduation rate cohort would live and learn as a group. of eight out of 10, and First Nations living off “It is designed to give them usable knowlreserve have a seven out of 10 rate. However, edge,” he said. Some course work would Indigenous people who live on their reserves include official certificates like first aid, chainstatistically have only a 40 per cent graduation saw operations, WHMIS hazardous materials rate. recognition, etc. Some would be practical Those who do go on to post-secondary educa-

tion, however, have the same employment rates as Metis or non-Aboriginals.

These facts simply insist on getting those onreserve students through to their high school completions. The outcomes promise to be too positive for those who get over that one hurdle.

Another stat driving Orr’s motives comes from Statistics Canada. While Aboriginal kids (14 and younger) represent seven percent of that overall age bracket, they account for 48 per cent of those in foster care.

So the program also has to take into account that the most at-risk youth are in need of both connection to education and connection to culture.

“It’s also designed to talk about their Aboriginal heritage, and to relate that to learning,” said Orr. “It’s vitally important to retain that age range in school. If we can rejuvenate the interest in school, for those at-risk kids, then we can look forward to having a whole lot more of them pursuing a healthy life and contributing to their communities - the Aboriginal community and the community at large. They not only won’t fall through those really negative cracks, but they will become leaders and peer mentors later on.”

The Ontario program has an 80 per cent completion rate for those who begin the Ranger training. Of those, 100 per cent of them have gone on to some kind of post-secondary learning and almost 90 per cent of them study some form of natural resources profession.

Bill Mauro, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, said the program was accomplishing what it hoped. “This program is incredibly powerful,” he said. “It has obviously left a mark on the people that have gone through it…It represents a great value for investment for so many players in the program.”

“What is the value of a healthy life?,” Orr said. “I was one of those kids who probably shouldn’t have got another opportunity, a second chance, or really a 100th chance. But because I finally ‘got it’ and I had a lot of help and I came to believe in it, believe in myself, I got to pull out of that dark place I was in and be able to say now that I’ve had a blessed life.

And I didn’t even get my turnaround until I was 27. We’re trying to intervene on kids 10 years earlier than that.”

Orr expects the program to cost about $400,000 each year but as his math revealed, that’s a bargain-basement price for future profits on an individual, family and society level.

“One thing we’re putting our minds to is scalability,” he said. “In Ontario they get 200 applications for 40 spots each summer. I think we can expect similar results, if not bigger, and we have to try to build in some ways to accommodate more of those interested youth.

We don’t want to limit the positive impacts if we can help it.”

Anyone who can help Orr finance and resource this new program is asked to contact him at dorr@carrierlumber.ca.

Participants in the Outland Camps location in Ontario, the program in which Derek Orr is modelling his own program after.

Photo courtesy of Outland Camps

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Tourism Is Taking Hold Northern B.C. poised to cash in on the world

Written by Frank Peebles Agriculture and forestry are touted for being sustainable industrial sectors, but they have some company these days. In fact, they are now the little siblings to the new giant on the economic block.

When Marsha Walden, the inaugural CEO of Destination BC, delivered a keynote speech for the True North Business Forum (a business development concentrated conference hosted by the P.G. and B.C. Chambers of Commerce), her

message was clear and definitive. Tourism now bats at the heart of the order in the provincial economy, and it does so without taking anything away from the other industrial sectors.

Miners still mine, loggers still log, farmers still farm, drillers still drill and truckers still truck.

Tourism happens apart from those sectors and in fact in support of those sectors, and even in northern B.C., relatively far away from the urban hubs of Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary, the fiscal future is as big as the landscape. – story continues on the next page

Huble Homestead Historic Site.

Citizen file photo.

– story continued from page 14 “In B.C., tourism is quite a powerhouse,” Walden said. “It generates over $16 billion in revenue, over $7 billion in GDP, and it provides jobs for 128,000 people and 18,000 businesses that are sprinkled all over the province. Of course here in the north we know the mix of industries is quite different than in other parts of the province, and today I’m talking about economic diversification.

Tourism’s GDP numbers have consistently grown through thick and thin in the overall economy. I realize I’m in the lion’s den when I make the next statement but among all the natural resource industries in the province it may surprise you to learn that tourism is No. 1 or No. 2 every year. We’re bigger than agriculture, we’re bigger than forestry, bigger than mining, and depending on the year, tourism and oil-and-gas go back and forth for the No. 1 position. So it’s a big industry. And looking locally, here in northern B.C., it has a big footprint with 1,180 businesses. That’s six per cent of the total in the province. It employs about 6,500 people, and there are more tourismrelated jobs in the north than in the KootenayRockies and the Cariboo-Chilcotin. All that is providing experiences in the north for close to a million visitors, and generates about $400 million in tourism revenue.”

That’s not all, in the economic benefits file.

Walden said that the spinoff effects of tourism

are an important consideration all of their own. If a little cafe serves food, that food had to come from somewhere first. If a museum sells T-shirts with their logo printed on them, those T-shirts had to come from somewhere first and someone had to do the printing.

“Statistics Canada tells us that for every $100 million that gets spent in tourism, about $69 million is generated in economic spinoffs and that produces about 1,400 new jobs,” she said.

“Again, that’s more than mining and more than oil and gas. And the reason is, tourism is comprised of – by far – small businesses. Local small businesses. And so when they are buying supplies, and they are reinvesting their profits, that is done on a very local basis. They are not ordering supplies from overseas. That is where the spinoff effect comes from.”

It’s also important to note, she said, that you may have a favourite restaurant in your town.

Tourists very well might be the difference between that restaurant surviving or closing, so your own community amenities are potentially there for your year-round use because of the visitors who come in from the outside and don’t stay long.

Walden gave northern B.C. a call to action.

She noted that North America’s tourist numbers were going up at a rate of about two per cent per year, but in B.C. the numbers were exceeding five per cent per year.

– story continues on page 16

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The Ancient Forest, located approximately 100km east of Prince George.

Citizen photo by James Doyle.

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– story continued from page 15

She also noted that there were 25 million world travellers in the 1950s, but the numbers shot up to 1 billion world travellers by 2010 and the projections were for the numbers to hit 2 billion by 2030.

It’s a mega-industry, the whole world is competing for the attention and money of those travellers, and B.C. is punching above its weight in that fight. What, she said, is northern B.C. doing to get in on that action?

In the same way that government does not hide the metals and minerals in the ground for miners to find, in the same way that government doesn’t plant grain or raise cattle on the farms of the region, it is not government that runs tourism. What are you doing to serve the tourist market, or to help those who are?

“We have to ask ourselves: are we strategically investing and developing our region as a tourism destination, or is it happening by happenstance? Do we actually have a plan as communities and tourism businesses for how to go forward?,” Walden posed. ““What are the Instagram-worthy visuals available in your community? What do you want to be famous for? I think we all realize that tourism in northern B.C. is not as developed as in other areas of the province, which to my mind only highlights the opportunities.”

Organizations like Destination BC, Tourism Prince George and Northern BC Tourism can

all help with big-picture marketing and lobby within a few immediate hours of the northern government for smarter policy frameworks capital? and sectoral strategies, but it really was up to That Ancient Forest option stands out. individuals and communities on their own to Barkerville and Fort St. James national historic take the initiative. sites are nearby, as is the Xat’sull Heritage In a recent consultation period in northeastern Village.

B.C., grassroots voices picked the top tourist Add in the all-local attractions like Huble points they thought would win the world’s Homestead, Goodsir Nature Park, Exploration attention for their part of the province. Their Place, the Railway & Forestry Museum, and choices were the the trail systems.

Alaska Highway, Liard Add in the skiing, hikPrince George, Hotsprings, the Tuming and snowmobiling bler Ridge Geopark (it situated in the middle options of the area. had 2,200 visitors in What else? How of the province, is 2013 but up to 15,000 can attractions like last year), the Robson Lights Estate uniquely positioned to Northern Valley’s Ancient Forest Winery and UNBC “and I think this is cash in on many of the be maximized? What one of B.C.’s best kept could be added to regional assets across make the rivers and secrets, the world’s only inland temperate the forests that much the whole north. rainforest,” Walden more accessible?

Highly importantly, said, and the fifth said Walden, is how are you including Aborigiselection was the Muskwa-Kachika wilderness nal culture in the tourist presentation to the area which Walden knew was nicknamed “the world’s visitors?

Serengeti of the north, a marvelous example of how people can experience true raw wilder- “You are really lucky in northern B.C. because you have the greatest diversity of First Nations ness and leave a minimal footprint.” people in the province,” she said. “There are so Prince George, situated in the middle of the many living stories and rich cultures to share province, is uniquely positioned to cash in on with the world…It’s becoming more and more many of the regional assets across the whole precious to the global traveller. For those Indignorth. What are some of the winner wonders enous cultures who choose to share their culture with the world, there is huge opportunity.”

Just because there isn’t a tropical beach or a Disneyland in the area shouldn’t dissuade

anyone in northern B.C. with tourism on the mind. Walden said the audiences within those billions of world travellers had plenty of hearts that ached for what this region has to offer. It is just a matter of being ready to receive them. They want to go RVing, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, mountain biking, and get away from it all.

“The list of assets you have to share with the world is incredible, and the world has told us that these are the experiences they are looking for, and it is more and more difficult to get authentic, natural, wild landscapes that northern B.C. has in spades,” she said.

So put yourself in the shoes of someone from the other side of Canada or another country of the world. What would they see if they stepped off a plane in Prince George? If their RV rolled into town, and they got out to stretch their legs, what kind of impressions would they have? And most importantly of all, if someone across borders was surfing the internet looking for wilderness experiences from the easy to the hardcore, how would they find themselves staring into the online face of northern B.C.?

“It has become a digital battlefield that we’re competing on,” she explained.

From tourism comes trade relationships, international students, summer employment candidates, a bolstered economy, a statement to the world about this place, and a permanent sense of self for a community. What might that look like in Prince George, and how might you get involved?

The Hodul’eh-a Gallery – meaning Place of Learning in Lheidli T’enneh language inside The Exploration Place Museum. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten.

Machinery at the Wolverine coal mine near Tumbler Ridge. Photo submitted.

Mine workers payment delays

By Mark Nielsen The timeline remains in limbo for issuing a $13-million payout to workers who lost their jobs when a Tumbler Ridge coal mine was shut down.

In a decision issued last week, a judge extended the deadline New Walter Canada Group must meet to file a plan of compromise and arrangement to creditors to June 1.

In April 2014, some 280 workers at the Wolverine Mine were put on layoff without receiving 60 days notice. The United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 subsequently took the mine’s owner, then known as Walter Energy Canada, to the Labour Relations Board and in October 2017 said it secured adjustment pay adding up to $13 million for improper closure.

Workers had expected to get their cheques by the end of 2017 or early January. But the deadline for filing a plan was then extended February 28, then April 16 and now June 1.

Plan structuring issues, related to tax matters in particular, was the source of the latest delay, according to an affidavit from chief restructuring officer William Aziz.

“Accordingly, the New Walter Canada Group is seeking a brief 45-day extension of the stay period to fully document the agreed-upon solution to the plan structuring issues and to consult with relevant stakeholders,” Aziz said.

In a submission arguing against a previous extension, USW Local 1-2017 business agent Dan Will said the delays have caused hardship for the workers.

The USW took the issue to B.C. Supreme Court and in May 2017 won a decision that protected the claims of its members.

But the process has since become bogged down with the company asking for more time, in part to prepare a “plan of compromise and arrangement that can be put to creditors.” A sale of the company’s United Kingdom assets

and litigation of a claim from a creditor are also playing roles.

According to an affidavit, USW Local 1-2017 business agent Dan Will only reluctantly agreed to the most-recent extension and only with the provisos that Walter Energy give a date by which it must file the plan and provide a written explanation in “plain and accessible English” for the delay.

“The Steelworkers are not a party to the current issues causing delay and for that reason I do not have sufficient knowledge to explain to the former employees why their distributions cannot be made at this time,” Will said.

Will said his office regularly receives 20 calls per week from frustrated and disappointed workers.

“Many of the former employees have expressed to me that they are in difficult circumstances with respect to employment, housing, health and family issues and that they require their distributions to deal with impending and significant matters,” Will said.

Examples include a worker who is on disability with no income and needs the distribution to supplement his payments. Another has had to hold off on buying a house because of the delay, according to Will.

Also of concern, according to a posting Facebook page set up to keep workers up to date on the matter, is how much in Employment Insurance overpayments they will have to return once they get their distributions.

Walter Energy Canada had bought the Wolverine, Brule and Willow Creek mines in northeast B.C. for $3.3 billion in 2010 but closed them in 2014 and 2015 when coal prices collapsed. Conuma Coal bought them in 2016 and Wolverine and Brule have since been put back in operation.

- with files from Business In Vancouver, Vancouver Sun

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The Fate Of Glyphosate Questions growing about silviculture chemical Written by Frank Peebles The northern B.C. forest is a spectacular natural landscape, a magnificent stronghold of flora and fauna, and one of the world’s largest workshops. It is a coexistence of natural values and human values. The trees provide a plethora of products for society, from energy pellets to paper, from high-tech biochemical innovations of the future to the age-old wood to build houses.

When trees are harvested in this area, the lawful practice is to replant what was taken. Forest companies have a silviculture mandate to go along with their logging privileges. One of the

ways new trees are encouraged to grow is to temporarily rid the replanted area of competing vegetation until the seedlings get high enough to gather sun on their own.

One of the ways to stifle the competitive plant life is a chemical called glyphosate. It’s a common, water soluble herbicide ingredient used all over the world, and popular in reforestation efforts.

Since 2013, Registered Professional Forester Lisa Wood (MSc in Forestry from the University of Northern British Columbia, and a PhD in Geography from the University of Victoria) has been studying the use of glyphosate in

the region around her home base. She is a researcher based at the University of Northern British Columbia and one of her recent articles on the subject was published in the bimonthly periodical of her professional association, BC Forest Professional Magazine.

In her article she talked about how glyphosate was calculated to have a half-life of somewhere between 40-151 days, but those estimates were modelled on experiments conducted in warm climates compared to northern Canada. The data she obtained from the provincial government indicated herbicide spraying was being conducted on about 17,000 hectares per year (an average amount since 2000) inside the B.C. forest. When considering our colder climate, what, then, was becoming of this ingredient in our specifically local forest?

“Essentially we’re finding that there is some glyphosate in very low levels in plants in years post-application, based on a lot of preliminary data,” Wood told Citizen-Industry & Trades. “I would like to be able to go over a larger region and collect more samples to verify a lot of this. We are finding traces of glyphosate where we initially thought there wouldn’t be. In the northern environment, glyphosate doesn’t break down as quickly because the primary mechanism for breakdown is through metabolism of decomposers. Decomposers basically eat up the molecules, but we are too cold.

Our growing season is shorter, and there are fewer and less diverse microorganisms than in warmer locations.”

The initial research led by Wood has verified that locally applied glyphosate lingers in plants longer than anticipated and in places not anticipated. The chief question that follows is: so what?

Is it causing a domino effect of environmental problems?

Is it doing an even better job than expected?

Wood stressed that her research does not reveal any answers to these questions, but it does ignite an opportunity and perhaps even an imperative to do more study.

“There are a few topics that bear further inves-

UNBC’s Dr. Lisa Wood tigation because they pose a potential risk,” she said. “Those include where the chemicals are persisting in the plant tissue. And if it does persist in tissue, does that mean that people or animals are consuming very low levels of glyphosate? And if they are eating it over time, is there risk in that? It’s not an issue of if glyphosate is going to kill anybody, it’s definitely not going to kill anybody, but it might be disrupting things we don’t know about.”

She is not an animal scientist, so she is suggesting other researchers take up that question.

There is scientific evidence, she explained, that glyphosate does not bio-accumulate and in fact simply gets urinated out of the bodies it enters. What is not known is what interactions – secondary or indirect effects – the presence of glyphosate may have on animals.

She sees plenty of research necessity on the flora side of the forest equation, as well.

Since glyphosate is indeed present in local plants long after the herbicide was applied, it would be helpful for further application of the chemical to know why and what the retention properties are.

Wood felt there was little chance of plants developing a resistance to glyphosate, since they were only getting dosed once or twice in the 80-100 years of forestry management in any given corner of the B.C. bush, and the chemical would be long gone by the next time it might get used again. But the only way to be sure was to put the host plants under the microscope.

There were other reasons to examine those holder plants as well. There may be changes in the dosed plants that a scientist could detect.

“What are the interactions with (plant body) hormones? With the production of scents – the chemical release from plants that might signal something to another plant or to an insect or bird? Would the introduction of an unnaturally occurring chemical interrupt those? There are just so many avenues of research available.

I think what we need to do is properly assess what the risks are, so that as forest managers we can make good decisions about the use of glyphosate. Because obviously, whenever you’re using a tool you weigh the risks and the benefits of the tool. If you don’t fully understand the risks, then how can you make that assessment properly? I think glyphosate is a very beneficial tool to be used in certain circumstances, especially in dealing with a very invasive plant that can take over a once biodiverse ecosystem, or something like that. But I feel if we don’t understand the full risks, then we can’t make a good management decision.”

If a blank cheque could be magically written to a glyphosate research team, she could instantly pinpoint a place to begin that science.

“I would like to look at the complexities of how it interacts with a bunch of different environmental components,” she said. “That’s really what good ecological research is about, is those interactions. They are so difficult to research, because you have to research multiple species and multiple ways that those species are interactive with each other, with the environmental abiotic components, so I think I’d want to be able to develop a big research program where I could look at each one of those factors. I would want to sample more plants, find out where in the plant the glyphosate is found, how long is it there after application?, I would want to test different timelines, can it pass from one plant generation to the next plant generation?, are

there any genes in the plant that would allow for it to medically break down?”

What she does not want is for particular interest groups to put words in her mouth just because she has done preliminary research into a chemical being used in the forest. She is a staunch supporter of the forest products family of industries, and she is a staunch supporter of ecological protectionists. Her research makes no either-or propositions.

Even as a child developing an affinity for plants that would eventually lead to her doctorallevel career, she was always conscious of human economies and natural ecologies being collaborative factors.

“I’m always interested in how those two variables play together,” she said. “When forest management is done properly, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s very sustainable and we can grow great trees here. It just comes back to risks and benefits, when a tool should be used, and how to use every tool properly. Every tool has its risks, it’s just a matter of knowing what they are and if the benefits outweigh the risks. And if we take something away, we put something back.”

The article she authored for BC Forest Professional Magazine was just a glimpse at the report she is still building from her preliminary research. A more thorough explanation of her data is underway and expected to be released soon.

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Minister Garneau, Premier Horgan weigh in on

Fraught Freight

Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Transport and Chair of the Cabinet Committee on CanadaUnited States Relationsspeaks speaks to media at the COFI convention.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten.

Written by Frank Peebles Wood products are getting railroaded by a sputtering train system.

The federal Minister of Transportation, Marc Garneau, was in Prince George to tell the Council of Forest Industries (COFI) convention about measures underway to help the backlog.

By the company’s own admission (see Front Page), the fault for a crisis-level freight glut was due to CN Rail’s lack of preparation for a sudden, sustained, and unforeseen surge in commodity transportation of all kinds.

But there are things government can do to help. CN Rail is governed primarily by federal acts, and another one is close to coming into law. Bill C-49 was first proposed by Garneau last June and has wended through Parliament before sitting at the Senate level since December.

It was recently released back to Parliament but with suggested amendments.

CN Rail’s Vice-President of Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer Sean Finn called the original legislation “balanced” and was looking forward to Bill C-49 becoming train law. When he saw the Senate’s amendments, that turned to worry about how it might hurt business.

What the new law set out to do in its original form was to impose penalties on late deliveries and insist of some forms of transparency in the rail transportation network.

The commodity that has been most famously affected by the backlog is wheat and other agriculture products. One national newspaper headline proclaimed it The Great Canadian Grain Disaster.

One report this past week estimated the stalled mountains of grain to be blocking half a billion dollars from Canadian farmers’ pockets.

But it has also hit northern B.C. wood. Lumber and other forest products are just as stalled, waiting for trains that can’t come due to a lack of locomotives and crews.

“Yeah, it’s a real thing, it’s a massive problem,” one forest company official verified for The Citizen. This senior manager with a northern B.C. milling operation hosted a visit from Finn this past week and also met with Garneau.

“It has become a logistical mess,” said the official. One of the main worries is spoilage.

Wood, like grain, is organic. Leaving lumber or bio-pellets to sit outside at mill sites in spring freeze-thaw conditions was not good for the well-being of a perishable item.

“If you think about pulp chips, you see the

big piles and you think it’s ok if the piles just get higher, but a pulp operation has to keep moving the chips into the production system because if they sit out there too long, they do start to rot.”

According to Statistics Canada, the nation suffered a trade deficit of about $2.7 billion in February, compared to $1.9 billion in January.

Most of this was associated to the products sitting at the source and not getting to their intended markets.

In addition to forest products, this area also plays a part in oil and gas shipments by rail, coal and other mining commodities, plus other forms of freight.

Garneau said, “We fully acknowledge that railways play a crucial role in this country in terms of moving goods from where they are mined or extracted or, in the case of forestry, logged, to ports so that they can go to foreign destinations or into the United States. It’s important for us to have an efficient, well-functioning railway system. In recent weeks, largely as a result of the backlog of grain in Western Canada, I’ve spoken to both CN and CP (Canadian Pacific Rail), told them that they have to do better, they’ve both acknowledged that, and they are putting more resources into play.”

Garneau added that Parliament was “almost finished with Bill C-49” without getting into what, if any, changes might be coming to the proposed Senate amendments. “We are confident (the new bill) will modernize freight rail legislation and will also be helpful in future years in terms of ensuring a greater efficiency in the movement of goods.”

Premier Mike Horgan, also speaking on this issue at the COFI convention, said that responsibility for the backlog was a private sector matter.

“We can’t dictate what the private train company puts on the tracks. We can do our level best to make it advantageous to move forest products, and we will do that, but I can’t predict what and why CN does what it does. That is their business.”

There’s no question in CN’s corporate mind that their business has been hurt by the stressed system this spring. They also believe their overall rail operation will be stronger for it in the long run and their clients, including the overall economy of Canada, will benefit from the measures they are taking to be better at shipping the goods of the nation over this vast landscape.

firehall BUILD takes next step

By Arthur Williams A very specialized construction project has gotten closer to breaking ground.

The City of Prince George took the next necessary step to building the replacement for Fire Hall No. 1.

On April. 15, city council approved the rezoning of lots 2202 and 2204 Massey Drive from P1: Parks and Recreation to P3: Major Institutional following a public hearing that night at their open meeting.

The rezoning only applies to a 1.8-hectare section of the 30.17 ha park area, which is home to the YMCA of Northern B.C., baseball diamonds, a BMX track and other recreation facilities.

The rezoned area is along Massey Drive, in the undeveloped area northeast of the YCMA. No members of the public spoke at the public hearing and city council approved the rezoning

unanimously.

A single letter was received by council regarding the issue, which raised some questions about the proposed development.

City general manager of engineering and public works Dave Dyer said the city hopes to begin construction of the new fire hall in 2019.

“We are in the process right now of selecting an architect and engineer,” Dyer said.

City manager Kathleen Soltis said there are several working groups looking at what the final design of the firehall should look like, including groups with members of the Prince George Fire Rescue Service.

In October, voters approved the city borrowing $15 million to replace the downtown fire hall in a referendum. A total of 6,520 voters (82.79 per cent of the vote) were in favour, while 1,355 (17.21 per cent) voted against the proposal.

New fire hall a structural necessity

By Barbara Geernaert For the last 60 years, with boots pulled on, firefighters have grabbed their helmets as they flew down a 20-foot pole in a surge of flurry at Fire Hall No. 1 in Prince George.

The fire hall continues to house the only fire pole left of its kind in the city but this will soon come to an end (following referendum approval of the replacement project in October).

“We are definitely in need of modern municipal fire department,” said Fire Chief John Iverson.

“All modern fire halls must meet standards and fire poles are no longer a requirement. This one will be the last in Prince George.”

But according to Iverson, there are many pieces involved in determining the need for a new fire hall in the city, age being one of them.

Located next to city hall at Seventh Avenue and Dominion Street, the city’s main fire hall is more than 60-years-old.

City council reacted after receiving a Fire Underwriters Survey Report which indicated that Fire Hall No. 1 is no longer able to meet current standards as a fire and rescue facility, emergency operations centre and fire operations communications centre.

Dispatchers are stuffed in a single room as they handle calls from 79 rescue agencies from Valemount to Kitimat.

The storage shop and repair shop are on top of one another with boxes and equipment packed on already full shelves.

And the largest fire truck in the city, since 1998, cannot fit into the crowded building.

“There is a lack of space. We need a change,” Iverson said. “We have maximized the use of this building. And with current fire protection rules, trucks are getting taller.

“Fire hall designs have changed so much and this building is cinder block. You just don’t see this anymore,” Iverson said.

A new fire hall is estimated to cost $15 million.

According to Iverson, being more central at the Massey Drive location will expand the eightminute response zone by 50 per cent.

The new location also has accessible driveways and disaster standards could finally be met.

“These things weren’t considered when this was built,” Iverson said.

City spokesperson Mike Kellett says that during the Cariboo wildfires evacuation, the city’s operation centre at the fire hall was cramped during meetings and the lack of space only worsened as time went on.

About 10,676 evacuees were registered making Prince George their temporary home for more than a month.

Iverson says that operations such as this must be planned in the hall and must be operated at the location.

“We really felt it when handling the evacuation. It was so crowded and not practical at all,” Iverson said.

“I will not miss this building. It is the end of its useful life.”

The old fire hall will remain as city-owned property and will be reserved for future development, according to Kellett.

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Pipeline company buys breakfast, goes to school

Ron Brent Elementary students enjoy a nutritious morning meal before class, served by TransCanada and Breakfast Club of Canada staff. Photo submitted.

Written by Frank Peebles to reach almost 700 Canadian children every school morning,” said Josee Desjardins, Vice Students from Ron Brent Elementary School President of Breakfast Club of Canada’ Ontario (RBES) were served a nutritious breakfast by & Western Canada region. “We look forward local TransCanada employees in celebration to celebrating this continued partnership in of their continued partnership with Breakfast the future, promoting sustainability in these Club of Canada. communities.”

The non-profit organization and energy For 23 years, The Breakfast Club has been infrastructure leader joined forces in 2014 to committed to nurturing the potential of provide funding for four breakfast programs children by ensuring that as many as possible across the province, and have since expanded have access to a nutritious breakfast served the partnership to include six school programs in an environment that promotes their selfin British Columbia. One of those is RBES. esteem before classes begin. Much more than “We are proud of the a breakfast program, work we have accomthe Club’s approach plished with Breakfast Since 2014, is based on commitClub of Canada,” said Kiel Giddens, Regional TransCanada’s support ment, self-esteem and capacity develManager of Public Afof school breakfast opment. It partners fairs for TransCanada. with communities and “Our organization programs has regional organizations believes in the imporcontinued to expand to establish an optimal tance of programs that adapted to losupport early childacross the province, formula cal needs.

Now active hood nutrition and across Canada, the and the country. education because we Breakfast Club helps understand that sucfeed some 203,000 cess begins early. We Canadian children in 1,600 schools across the look forward to continuing this partnership country. with Breakfast Club of Canada.”

With more than 65 years’ experience, “The Breakfast Club Program feeds approxiTransCanada develops and operates energy mately 35-50 children at Ron Brent Elemeninfrastructure across North America includtary School on a daily basis. We sometimes ing natural gas and liquids pipelines, power utilise food from the program in classrooms, generation and gas storage facilities. Transfor those students who are late to school. It is Canada operates one of the largest natural gas an invaluable program that helps our students transmission networks that extends more than be equipped for learning every day,” said Dan 91,900 kilometres, tapping into virtually all Watt, Principal at RBES. major gas supply basins in North America. The “Since 2014, TransCanada’s support of school company is also involved in gas storage, power breakfast programs has continued to expand production, and other interests. It has offices across the province, and the country, ensurin Prince George pertaining to its interests in ing that through this partnership we are able the northern B.C. region.

Kiel Giddens, Regional Manager, Public Affairs, TransCanada chats with Ron Brent Elementary student over breakfast before class. Photo submitted.

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