Violent protests trap Canadians in Haiti
Wheelchair dancers to perform at Para Nordic opening ceremony
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
The 2019 World Para Nordic Ski Championships get rolling tonight, and the opening ceremony promises to have a wheely unique dance. When human bodies operate with alternative ambulation, they can be as artistic and expressive and athletic as bodies that use mainstream movement.
It’s true of athletics, which is the foundation of the para-nordic ski spectacle about to happen in Prince George.
It is also the foundation of the creative choreography on stage at the opening ceremony tonight.
Judy Russell is the director of the dance
that will launch the sports extravaganza.
The veteran teacher and producer worked with a pair of Prince George wheelchair users who joined her cadre of performers from Enchainement Dance Centre to create an all-original number especially for this international sporting event.
“I have never worked with wheelchairs in choreography, no, and it has been a really emotional experience,” Russell told The Citizen.
“Parents of young people in a wheelchair may often think they will never see their children on stage in a musical dance performance, so for me, more than anything, it was an emotional roller coaster watching these parents who were watching these youngsters participate in something so new
to them, and I was not prepared for that.”
The two rookie performers are Brett and Chloe, both of them with lifelong wheelchair experience.
Russell found them by reaching out to the city’s Therapeutic Riding Association and also the family of one of her most successful protégés, national acting/dancing star Izaak Smith, whom she knew had someone in their lives with wheelchair experience.
Those inquiries led Russell to Chloe and Brett.
“It has been a fine line between helping them participate at their highest levels within the choreography, and not lose them in all the action,” said Russell. “It is fastpaced music, plus they are performing with 23 other dancers.
But that’s what choreography is. It is the movement of people in a balance of artistry, physical challenge, and practical movement so everyone flows from one moment to the next.”
Chloe and Brett have two experienced Enchainement helpers, Anna Russell and Heather McGowan, as personal guides through the turns and dips of the number.
“We are very lucky to have Chloe and Brett working with us. We were presented with two very enthusiastic participants,” Russell said.
“It has been wonderful, and I would jump at another opportunity like this one.”
The opening ceremony happens at the Prince George Convention and Civic and Centre starting at 7 p.m. tonight.
City’s police budget rises to $26.9 million
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
The Prince George RCMP will cost the city $26.9 million this year, according to a budget approved by city council this week, an $820,607 increase as policing continues to be the most expensive of the city’s services.
Nearly $600,000 of the hike is related to the city’s contract with the RCMP.
“All municipalities that use the RCMP in British Columbia would be impacted by those same increases to the police contracts and that’s driven by what members are paid and benefits associated with the members,” community services general manager Rob Whitwham told council on Monday.
On the bright side, it was noted that the detachment is at a full complement and the detachment is not asking for more officers. Police operations, which pays for municipal employees who provide
support services to RCMP, will rise nearly $146,000, while the cost of keeping an eye on prisoners in the detachment cellblock will go up nearly $66,000. Whitwham said much of the increase in the cost of guarding prisoners is in answer to recommendations made by a jury in September at the coroner’s inquest into an in-custody death.
Jamie Wilford Shanoss, 51, died as a result of acute alcohol poisoning during the early morning of Nov. 21, 2016 while in cells at the detachment.
The jury recommended a review of training and procedures for guards.
“At that time administration took the opportunity to look at how that cellblock is being managed by city staff and we thought that some reorganization and some additional resources there would help to alleviate that situation and reduce some of the risks,” Whitwham said.
The jury also recommended Northern Health establish a sobering centre, where people who are intoxicated but have not committed a crime can be dropped off to sober up under medical supervision.
Northern Health public health officer Andrew Gray has said the authority is looking at the possibility.
Mayor Lyn Hall called the $820,607 increase “significant” but noted the detachment did not seek any “asks” from the city this year. He also said a more visible presence downtown will continue to be a theme whenever he talks about how RCMP resources should be used.
Council also discussed how to deal with the opioid crisis and how to treat those who have committed crimes in other communities but choose to stay in the city after being released from Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.
RCMP Supt. Warren Brown has
said they have been a major source of crime in Prince George.
Councillors generally agreed that such issues come with being a regional centre.
“Where we are located geographically means we receive a tremendous amount of folks that require care,” Hall said. “I want to see the federal government and province recognize Prince George as a central hub and we provide those central hub services.”
• The city’s second-priciest service, fire protection, will cost $17.8 million, a $700,767 increase, also due to rising wages, salaries and benefits.
All told, the increases to police protection and fire protection add up to about $1.5 million which accounts for about 1.5 per cent of the property tax levy, Coun. Garth Frizzell noted, but added he has no trouble with that.
“I don’t have trouble increasing the protection for the people... we want it, we called for it, we’re pay-
ing for it,” he said.
• The emergency services budget has been set at $216,805 – a $70,311 increase with the hiring of a new emergency services coordinator to handle such incidents as the influx of wildfire evacuees into the city during the last two summers.
Coun. Frank Everitt said it will be money well spent.
“We have certainly seen the benefits of somebody in that position,” he said. “As the province struggled with what they were going to do, we were fortunate enough to have someone we could contact to get the resources to look after the people who came in here.”
Final figures from the 2018 influx are still to come but, according to figures provided to council, the emergency fire response in 2017 cost the city a net total of $334,173, with the city receiving $4.4 million in support from senior levels and other sources while spending $4.8 million on the item.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Rehearsals for the opening ceremony of the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships took place at Judy Russell’s Enchainement Dance Centre on Monday.
Health
authorities
Glen KORSTROM Citizen news service
A lobby group has gained what it thinks is popular support for its cause to have free parking for visitors and patients at all hospitals in the province. Perhaps unsurprisingly, unlimited free parking was the most popular response in an online poll the group conducted of what parking system hospitals should provide.
Enacting free parking at hospitals, however, has a number of logistical challenges. The province’s health authorities also raised about $34.3 million from parking in 2018, and that money would have to come from other sources or health-care funding in the province would take a hit.
To Jon Buss, who founded and heads HospitalPayParking.ca, those challenges can all be overcome. And the money raised, he said, is a drop in the bucket, considering the province’s approximately $12.8 billion budget.
“People really react to this issue because they know, in the heart of the matter, it’s wrong and immoral,” he said.
“People’s state is weakened” when they need parking near a hospital, he continued. “They are not well.”
Buss added that pay parking at hospitals restricts access to health care.
The flash point that instigated Buss’ recent activism was the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) signing a new contract with Impark, agreeing to pay the parking management company $14.5 million over five years to maintain and manage parking lots at hospitals run by Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care.
raised $34.3M from parking last year
Impark also gets to collect revenue from all violation tickets issued to drivers in the lots. In exchange, the health authorities get all revenue from parking fees.
Buss believes the PHSA can cancel that contract unilaterally without any penalty.
Vancouver Coastal Health board chair Kip Woodward wrote in an October 2018 letter that “approximately one-third of monies collected” from the authorities’ parking lots go to provide parking management, including maintenance.
Buss questions whether that is an efficient way for health authorities to raise revenue, as well as whether it is a fair one.
“I’ve spoken with a few anti-car people,” he said. “They say, ‘Take the bus. Get on a bike. Walk.’ That’s nonsense. People need to get to the hospital in an expedited manner. They’re going to use a car if it’s good for the environment or not. That’s reality.”
He also objected to the argument that this form of user-pay system is justified, given that other aspects of user-pay are already in place at hospitals. People who break their arms and go to emergency, for example, are charged for slings.
One major challenge to implementing free parking at hospitals could also be that the lots will attract people who want to park and shop at nearby businesses.
Buss responded that kiosks could be placed at the entrances to hospitals where visitors would input their licence plate numbers and the first initials and last names of the people they were going to visit – or their own names if they were going to emergency.
The problem with this system, he accepts, is
that the kiosk technology would not be able to confirm that any specific person is in the hospital, for privacy reasons. The visitors, therefore, could not be assured that their cars were safe from being ticketed as a result of them inputting the wrong names, or misspelled names.
That system would also require the hospital to verify each attempt at free parking and alert municipal enforcement staff of invalid attempts to get free parking. That would increase parking-monitoring costs for municipalities.
“These are just ideas to get the juices flowing,” he said. “We’ll have the accountant guys figure the dollars out.”
BC Liberal health critic Norm Letnick said he would like to meet with Buss to hear his ideas.
“This is a conversation that we have to undertake, and I am happy to sit down with them,” he said.
In contrast, Buss said he has been trying for many weeks to speak with Health Minister Adrian Dix, to no avail.
Dix sent a statement saying that the amount of money British Columbians have spent on hospital parking “has increased dramatically over the past 15 years under the previous government.”
He said he hears concerns about parking wherever he goes across the province and that he is looking into the issue.
“One action that we have taken is that pay parking is not being expanded to new sites,” Dix said. “We are systematically reviewing issues around parking across the system.”
When asked if Dix is considering other potential ways to raise the $34.3 million annually, his ministry sent back a response saying,
“When we have more to share, we will.”
Tech-Up Showcase coming Family Day
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Technology is the word kids and families get to play with on Monday at The Exploration Place.
The city’s museum and science centre is partnering with Science World BC to provide the Tech-Up Showcase on the statutory holiday, when admission is free to the facility.
“Visit our galleries and join us in a celebration of Tech-Up, The Exploration Place and Science World’s initiative to support local teachers and students to develop coding and computational thinking skills,” said Amanda Smedley, manager of community engagement at The Exploration Place. The focus on tech happens between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. with the special guests from computer and elecro-data world.
“Explore fun coding and computational thinking activities, and learn from the teachers and students who have been participating in the Tech-Up Program this year,” Smedley said. Thanks to funding support from Science World BC, the Government of Canada’s CanCode program, and the Regional District of FraserFort George, the doors of The Exploration Place can be open to all, free of charge, all day Monday.
CP PHOTO
Jon Buss, who founded and heads HospitalPayParking.ca, is advocating for free parking at hospitals throughout B.C.
Green burial options coming to cemetery
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Environmentally-friendly burials are on the way to the city’s cemetery.
Surveying will begin this spring for establishment of a “green burial” area in the south end of the Memorial Park Cemetery, according to a staff report to city council.
“Green burial is an environmentally-sensitive practice where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally,” staff says. “The body is prepared for burial without embalming and is buried in a biodegradable container or shroud.
“A communal memorial built from stone will be placed within the green burial section with room for a simple inscription to record the names of the persons buried in this area.”
Benefits listed include eliminating the contaminants typically released into the soil with conventional burial and cremation and eliminating the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional landscaping.
The plan calls for development of 25 plots in the section plus a scattering garden. Access will be through the existing forested walkway.
It won’t be the only work scheduled for the cemetery this year. On Monday, council
approved a capital plan that includes adding 1,030 glass-front niches to the mausoleum. The project has a budget of $1.4 million.
According to staff, the mausoleum is over 93 per cent full and nearing capacity.
As of mid-September, all of glass-front niches have been sold as have 94 per cent of the marble-front niches while 40 families have signed a wait list for new niches.
The move follows on a report included in the Feb. 4 council agenda package that provided an annual update of the state of the facility.
Over the course of 2018, there were 242 interments at the cemetery, comprised of 129 cremated interments, 70 full interments, 41 niche inurments and two crypt inurments.
Based on the current ratio of cremations to full burials, more than 50 years of land remains at the cemetery and it’s expected to rise as cremations grow in popularity.
Also this spring, staff will complete a review of the fees and charges for the facility and bring proposed changes to council in the fall.
In 2016, council approved a yearly threeper-cent increase to all fees and charges over the ensuing four years, including those for the cemetery.
Local man reported missing
Citizen staff
The Prince George RCMP is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing man.
Yadwinder Singh, 32, is described as South Asian, five-foot-seven, 201 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a full beard.
He was wearing a black turban, grey sweatpants, white runners and a black winter jacket when he was last seen at the Guru Nank Darbar Sikh Temple on Davis Road on Sat., Feb. 9 at about 2 a.m.
“This is unusual behavior for Singh,” RCMP said.
“He speaks very little English, has no access to vehicles, no wallet and no other clothes.”
Anyone with information about Singh or where he may be is asked to contact the detachment at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-
Truck crash
Firefighters deal with one of two trucks involved in a crash in the eastbound lanes of Highway 16 west on Thursday just before 2 p.m. The eastbound lanes were completely shut down while emergency crews cleared up the crash.
Winter not cold enough to kill pine beetles
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
The cold winter weather of the past while will potentially slow down northern B.C.’s tree beetle epidemics, but no death blow was dealt.
“Most bark beetles, including the mountain pine and fir beetles, will freeze to death between minus-33 and minus-35 degrees Celsius,” said Dawn Makarowski on behalf of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development.
“If the ambient temperature drops below minus-33 for a few days, widespread mortality will begin. Wind chill does not affect the beetles. The longer the cold period, the higher the mortality rate. Generally a mortality rate greater than 90 per cent is required to stop population growth. There is zero survival for beetles exposed to temperatures of minus-40 or lower.”
The temperatures dipped to lows rarely seen in local February history, the past two weeks, but they still were inadequate to cause mass killing of the pests. According to Accuweather data, at no time did the mercury reach as low as minus-40, but Feb. 5 came close at minus-39. The dates of Feb. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 registered temperatures of minus-29 to minus-34.
This will likely result in some mortality of the pine and fir beetles, but not a decisive eradication.
None of the cold snap is expected to affect the other killer bug afflicting local forests. The spruce beetle was not affected by the chill, said Makarowski, “because they tend to hibernate under the snow, preventing them from being exposed to
extreme cold temperatures that would normally result in their death.”
The pine and fir beetle, on the other hand, are sequestered above ground in the trees themselves.
However there is other good news on the spruce beetle front. Since 2015 this region has seen the largest outbreak of these pests it has ever experienced, but, said Makarowski, “monitoring data from the fall 2018 Aerial Overview Survey suggests there is reason for cautious optimism. The 2018 survey indicated that the severity of spruce beetle attacks in the Omineca has decreased and the number of impacted hectares has dropped from about 370,000 in 2017 to about 240,000 hectares in 2018.”
Provincewide, said the survey, the number of affected hectares has dropped from about 500,000 to about 340,000.
“Due to the impacts of climate change (warmer and drier conditions) and the number of spruce trees in affected areas, the spruce beetle outbreak is still a significant concern for the forest industry in the Omineca and elsewhere in B.C.,” Marakowski said. “Ministry staff have been working closely with First Nations, licensees and communities regarding: mitigation of the outbreak’s impacts; effects on the mid-term timber supply; continued suppression of beetle populations; hauling and milling guidelines for salvaged timber; and the conservation of non-timber values.”
More than $1.4-million was allocated in the ministry’s 2017-18 Land Base Investment Strategy budget for spruce beetle detection and research. Another $1.4 million was allocated in 2018-19.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Unemployment rate six per cent in January
The city’s unemployment rate stood at six per cent in January, according to Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers. That’s down from seven per cent for the same month last year. However, 49,300 more people were holding down jobs at that time, compared to 45,800 for this past January.
As well, a year ago 3,700 people were looking for jobs while 19,400 were not participating, for an employment rate of 68 per cent, compared to 2,900 seeking work and 24,100 not participating for a 62.9-per-cent employment rate last month. The unemployment rate for last month is accurate to within plus or minus one percentage point, 68 per cent of the time. The rate for last year was accurate to within plus or minus 1.1 points. As well, the figures do not separate part-time from fulltime employment.
— Citizen staff
B.C. conflict commissioner called in taxi case
VICTORIA (CP) — B.C.’s Opposition Liberals and the New Democrat member of the legislature who is accused of a conflict of interest have both asked the province’s conflict commissioner to intervene in a complaint.
The Liberals say NDP Delta North member of the legislature Ravi Kahlon should not be part of a committee that influences recommendations on ride-hailing services when his father holds a taxi licence.
The Liberals sent a letter to Conflict of Interest Commissioner Paul Fraser asking him to rule on the perceived conflict.
Traffic study for Exhibition Park to be mulled
Citizen staff
A review of parking and traffic flow at Exhibition Park may be in the cards.
During city council’s budget meeting on Monday night, community services general manager Rob Whitwham suggested a “proper study of the entire property and how traffic gets in and out of that facility” would be worth looking at.
Other than to say a study would be something staff will tackle sometime over the long term, Whitwham did not give a timeline.
His comments were in response to concerns raised by Coun. Garth Frizzell, including the distance users need to pack their gear to the
adjacent rinks whenever nearby parking is taken up by patrons going to major events at CN Centre.
Coun. Frank Everitt spoke in favour of taking the step while also acknowledging a comment from Whitwham that making changes will likely leave some upset.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Everitt said. “It’s not that long ago that we moved the handicapped parking around a little bit and there was a great uproar over that.”
• On parking downtown, Coun. Brian Skakun asked about the possibility of removing the bulb outs, which he said could add 30 to 40 stalls that could be rented out on a daily basis in addition to the off-street parking available in
the area.
Planning and development services general manager Ian Wells said the bulb-outs are there in the name of safety and added the city currently doesn’t have the ability to provide pay parking on street.
“But moving forward and as our downtown grows and gets more vibrant, we see the opportunity for looking at paid parking,” Wells added.
“We wouldn’t drive that process but the DBIA (Downtown Business Improvement Association) has mentioned over time there may be an interest to move people through the downtown quicker by having paid parking.”
According to a 2007 study, the bulb-outs act as both traffic calm-
ing devices and an area of refuge for pedestrians while also decreasing crossing distance and reducing exposure to traffic. On Fifth Avenue, bollards are used to mark out the zones.
On-street parking is limited to three hours per day.
After that, you must park in an off-street parking lot, which charges one dollar per hour, or risk a $50 fine. The time limit is enforced with the help of a bylaw enforcement car equipped with licence plate recognition software.
Wells also said numbers showing how well the system has worked should be available to present to council sometime in the summer.
Outland Youth Employment Program to offer youth skills training
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
A fledgling youth development program will fly again this summer.
The Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP) ran its first summer of skills training and personal growth initiatives in 2018.
The program called together more than 20 Indigenous youth from more than 16 First Nations from around the region. They received six weeks of training in the natural resource professions. It was the western launch of a parent program already well underway in Ontario.
On Thursday, LNG Canada announced that it was signing on to be a major sponsor ensuring three more years of OYEP West, after being one of the happy inaugural partners this past summer.
“OYEP has outstanding programming and provides significant opportunities to Indigenous youth,” said Susannah Pierce, director of external relations for LNG Canada.
Aboriginal youth were in need of outreach to draw them into the many professions offered in the industrial sector.
He found OYEP and inquired about replicating it here in northern B.C.
“OYEP has a structured environment that provides Indigenous youth a chance to interact with fellow peers, gain skills and develop their self-confidence,” said Orr.
“LNG Canada’s decision to fund OYEP for the next three years goes to show, once again, how resource development in B.C. can provide meaningful opportunities for communities. We are very appreciative of LNG Canada’s commitment to our youth.”
OYEP has outstanding programming and provides significant opportunities to Indigenous youth.
— Susannah Pierce
“We saw the benefits OYEP West provided to the 2018 participants, and it was an easy decision to continue our support.”
Prince George became home base to the OYEP camp due to the vision of Derek Orr, business development manager at Carrier Lumber and a former elected chief of the McLeod Lake First Nation. He knew firsthand that local companies were in need of skilled and motivated employees, and that
Youth in the program are immersed in a resource-based work culture, including safety training, time management, remote and rotational work schedules, and work-life balance.
OYEP includes a combination of core in-camp training, personal development planning, natural resource-based curriculum, job-shadow experiences and employer-employee connections. Participants build confidence, establish networks, learn how to work independently and as a group, and develop a keen understanding of workplace expectations. The program prepares youth for a successful transition to employment and post secondary education.
“It was an amazing experience for us and we learned a lot of valuable skills and lessons through the program. I think that everyone should have a chance at experiencing something like the OYEP camp,” said Karrissa Brown of the Ts’il Kaz Koh First Nation in Burns Lake.
Sarah Dixon of the Esk’etemc First Nation said “OYEP 2018 was such an amazing six weeks and I learned so many new skills and made lifelong friendships and great memories that will last a lifetime.”
Tyson Beaulieu of the West Moberly Lake First Nation also took part in the first camp. He said “OYEP was a positive experience.
“I got to know a lot of new people and everything we did was so fun.
“Getting to drum and sing made me feel really good about myself as well. All of the training – fire fighting, first-aid, lake water level 1, chainsaw safety – will help me in my future career because I now have these tickets and will be able to use these skills.”
The three-year commitment made by LNG Canada is not the only sponsorship required to operate the camp, but it provides the needed foundation for organizers to venture into those additional years of operation.
They have been doing so in Ontario for the past 20 years. Orr will be continuing to source new partnerships to ensure OYEP prepares young Aboriginal lives and creates inroads for natural resource companies far into the future right here in their own region.
Cars fill the Exhibition Grounds parking lot during the Mega Sale.
Violent protests in Haiti trap more than 100 Canadians
Giuseppe VALIANTE Citizen news service
MONTREAL — Ottawa-based physician
Emilio Bazile says food is running low for him and his 10-member medical team who have been trapped in southwest Haiti after protesters blocked major highways across the Caribbean country in an effort to pressure Haitian President Jovenel Moise to resign.
Bazile and three members of his group from the Maritimes are among more than 100 Canadians stuck in Haiti following violent protests that have claimed several lives over the past week.
Bazile’s team arrived in southern Haiti on Jan. 30 to provide medical care to locals. They planned to stay for 14 days, but by Feb. 7, he said, protesters had blocked major roads around the country.
“The whole country is paralyzed,” he said Thursday in an interview from SaintLouis-du-Sud, about a six-hour drive from the capital, Port-au-Prince. “You cannot go through because there are barricades throughout the national roads. We have been lacking in food. Because nothing is coming from Port-au-Prince. Nothing.”
The Canadian embassy in Haiti has been closed since Wednesday. But Bazile said he found out Thursday that the barricade on a route to the capital had been removed. He and his team hope they will be able to make it to the capital.
“It’s very risky, but it looks like Port-auPrince is slowing down in terms of problems,” he said. “We want to go to the airport and stay there and sleep there.”
Protesters are angry about skyrocketing inflation and the government’s failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multibillion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti.
A team of 26 aid workers with a missionary group from Quebec are also among the scores of trapped Canadians.
Michel Bougie, vice-president of an evangelical Christian foundation that has been present in Haiti for 20 years, said his team had been scheduled to return home on Wednesday but “they can’t move.” His foundation’s medical clinic is located in a walled compound in the village of Tiverny, about 200 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince.
“All the roads in the country are blocked,” Bougie said in an interview from Montreal.
“It’s really a well-concerted effort to literally paralyze the country with the goal of destabilizing the government.”
Bougie said his team of doctors, nurses and other personnel are safe despite the violence.
“The village itself isn’t in danger,” he said.
He added that his group has experienced a coup d’etat, an earthquake and a hurricane in the past.
“Things can happen in this country,” Bougie said. “But they are people we love enormously.”
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said Thursday that the city is recalling two employees who had been working on projects in Haiti.
“It’s not an easy decision to make because obviously we want to be able to support the Haitian people, but at the same time we have a duty to protect our employees,” she said.
The mayor said Montreal police officers who are in the country will remain there.
More than 100 other Quebecers are stuck in a hotel, unable to make it to the Portau-Prince airport because of the protests.
Unneeded power deals to cost BC Hydro billions, minister says
Citizen news service
VICTORIA — A newly released report by the British Columbia government says BC Hydro customers will pay $16 billion over the next two decades because the Crown utility was pressured to sign long-term contracts with independent power producers.
Minister of Energy Michelle Mungall commissioned the report, which blames the previous B.C. Liberal government for creating the problem.
The report says the Liberals manufactured an urgent need for electricity but restricted BC Hydro from producing it, forcing the utility to turn to private producers and sign lengthy contracts at inflated prices.
Former B.C. Treasury Board director Ken Davidson authored the study, which estimates the cost to the average residential BC Hydro customer will amount to about $4,000 over the next 20 years, or about $200 per year. Davidson recommends all future energy purchases be made at market rates and finds BC Hydro must be allowed to meet supply obligations through a reasonable level of trading, rather than by generating all electricity within the province.
The NDP government launched a two-phase review of BC Hydro last June, in an effort to identify cost savings at the utility and a
(The study) estimates the cost to the average residential BC Hydro customer will amount to about $4,000 over the next 20 years, or about $200 per year.
government news release says results of the first phase will be announced Thursday.
Davidson’s recommendations informed the BC Hydro review.
Mungall says he concluded the long-term deals forced on BC Hydro were mainly with run-ofriver producers, whose power is primarily available during spring, when B.C. doesn’t require it.
“B.C. didn’t benefit. BC Hydro customers didn’t benefit. A small number of well-placed independent power producers benefited, and customers were stuck with a 40-year payment plan,” Mungall says in the news release.
Government and BC Hydro staff warned the former Liberal administration against requiring lengthy contracts with independent producers, but the advice was rejected, the minister says.
The only highway linking the all-inclusive Royal Decameron Indigo Beach resort to the airport is considered extremely dangerous, and people are staying off it. The hotel on the country’s Cote des Arcadins is about 75 km north of the capital.
Air Transat, which sold package tours to the resort, says its flights between Montreal and Haiti are continuing, but it has been unable to provide safe ground transport from the resort to the airport. Christophe Hennebelle, vice-president corporate affairs for the airline, said he is hopeful it will be possible to get the stranded tourists to the airport “in the coming days.”
Marie-Christine Remy, said her mother, Terry Watson, and her mother’s partner, Sylvain Limoges, were supposed to fly home with Air Transat last Sunday but could not make it to the airport. They were switched to a flight Wednesday but again could not get out.
“It’s really troubling,” Remy said from Sherbrooke, Que. “I called the Canadian government and they told me that it was best to stay at the hotel, which is safer. It is the highways that are particularly dangerous.”
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Thursday it is providing consular advice to tour operators “as they work to ensure that their clients are able to leave Haiti safely. We encourage Canadians who are in Haiti as part of a package vacation to stay in touch with their tour operators as the situation develops.”
The department said it has people on the ground in Haiti to provide assistance to Canadian citizens despite the embassy closure.
“We will continue to evaluate the security situation over the coming days to determine what steps are necessary to ensure that our diplomats and their families are safe,” it said.
Province proposes stronger security for witnesses
Citizen news service
VICTORIA — British Columbia is proposing changes to its witness protection program in order to strengthen security for people who could provide police with information on serious crimes.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says people with intimate details about organized crime, for example, should not feel their life will be in danger if they co-operate with police.
He says in a release that proposed measures are expected to build on the federal witness protection program in cases that hinge on testimony from informants or an accused person’s former accomplices.
Farnworth says stringent requirements for the federal program can lead to delays and low witness retention that compromises prosecutions and frustrates police agencies that have worked for months to secure someone’s testimony.
A protester throws a rock at police during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise near the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Wednesday.
Public supportive of gov’t handling of Huawei dispute
For the past two months, the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver has captured headlines across Canada and the world.
We have witnessed several statements from governments that cannot genuinely be described as “diplomatic,” as well as an (now former) ambassador appearing to issue legal advice on the fly – not just once, but twice.
Meng is facing serious charges in the United States, including obstruction of justice and bank fraud, related to her company’s business dealings in Iran. The U.S. has formally requested Meng’s extradition. Documents unsealed last month allege that Huawei vowed to reward personnel for gathering confidential material from rivals and attempted to steal trade secrets from U.S.-based wireless network operator T-Mobile.
When the controversy over the arrest began last December, it became apparent that Canada’s justice minister would ultimately make a final decision on Meng’s future. Since then, the occupant of this key federal cabinet position
has shifted, from British Columbia’s Jody Wilson-Raybould to Quebec’s David Lametti.
Earlier this month, Research Co. found that more than two in five Canadians (43 per cent) say they have followed media stories related to Meng’s arrest “very closely” or “moderately closely” –a proportion that jumps to 49 per cent in British Columbia. There are three layers of analysis that are paramount to understanding how Canadians relate to this
case: the responsibility of Canada in following through with Meng’s arrest, the prospect of a company that is facing immense scrutiny becoming involved in the future of Canada’s telecommunications industry, and what to do about bilateral ties with the People’s Republic of China.
For starters, more than three in five Canadians (63 per cent) agree with the way Canadian authorities have acted in this case, while one in five (25 per cent) disagrees and
12 per cent are not sure. Endorsement for the course of action that the federal government has chosen is highest among those aged 55 and over (73 per cent), British Columbians (70 per cent) and voters who supported the Liberal party in the 2015 federal election (76 per cent).
At this stage, Canadians are decidedly suspicious of Huawei.
A majority of Canadians (57 per cent) believe Ottawa should not allow Huawei to participate in Canada’s 5G mobile network. The current level of antipathy towards this particular company reaches 61 per cent among women and 63 per cent among Canadians aged 55 and over.
Still, the biggest misgivings about Huawei are observed in B.C., where 73 per cent of residents believe the company should play no role in Canada’s forthcoming 5G mobile network. No other region of the country comes close.
British Columbians, who are adamant about closing the door on Huawei, are not as negative about the People’s Republic of China as their counterparts in other provinces. While 50 per cent of B.C. residents believe this is not the time for Canada to forge a
YOUR LETTERS
Wilson-Raybould a credit to B.C.
The real issue for me in the current federal political turmoil dates back several weeks to when the prime minister (astonishingly) dropped British Columbia MP Jody Wilson-Raybould from the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada portfolio in his recent cabinet shuffle.
I heard Jody Wilson-Raybould deliver an enlightening keynote speech at the Natural Resources Forum in Prince George a few years ago when she was Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, and I had a chance to chat briefly with her afterwards.
Having worked with First Nations people in several public land use processes over the past 25 years, I thought I knew something about First Nations history in B.C., but Wilson-Raybould gave
closer relationship with China, the proportion of doubters is higher in Alberta and Atlantic Canada (54 per cent each), Ontario and Quebec (55 per cent each), and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (62 per cent).
There are still a few weeks left before the justice minister makes a final call on whether to extradite Meng to the United States. As we await his verdict, the message Canadians are sending in this survey is clear. There is a strong expression of support for the way Canadian authorities have behaved since this case began to unfold, even from Conservative party voters who usually stand against any action taken by the Liberals. While some regional nuances persist in the way residents feel about China as a possible ally or trading partner, there are grave countrywide concerns about the idea of a company suspected of espionage and intellectual property theft having access to Canada’s 5G network. Regardless of which decision is taken on the fate of its chief financial officer, Canadians are now looking at Huawei in a distinctly negative light.
Mario Canseco is president of Research Co.
I heard Jody WilsonRaybould deliver an enlightening keynote speech at the Natural Resource Forum...
us an entirely new and refreshing perspective in her speech. I was delighted when Trudeau appointed her to his cabinet, and I was shocked and disbelieving when she was shunted aside. All Canadians (especially British Columbians) should be, and I believe this will prove to have been a colossal political blunder by the PM. I sincerely hope and believe that we have not heard the last of this highly-qualified and principled individual in federal politics. Mike Nash, Prince George
How to avoid a common hiring mistake
Bob was frustrated, stressed and upset. One of his key employees, Keith, had just left to start his own business and had taken another of his staff members along with him. I wasn’t surprised. I had been working with Bob for several months, and had met Keith several times.
My impression wasn’t favorable and I had discussed this with Bob. However, Bob thought he needed Keith because he had lots of work and felt he would be short staffed without him.
So did Bob make a mistake somewhere along the line in hiring Keith? What went wrong?
When we are starting out our business and we hire our first staff member, we often hire a friend or family member to “help us keep up.” As we grow, we put ads in the newspaper, online or through a job agency. When there is a shortage of labour, we put “warm bodies” into positions to fill vacancies. When there is high unemployment, we go back and hire friends and family who desperately need jobs. In both these situations we rarely end up with our ideal staff member.
It’s true that sometimes in our
businesses we slow down the process and hire someone with the skill set we need. This doesn’t always work out.
These people who have the ideal skill sets often struggle in our companies and then leave or get fired.
Like Bob, we end up frustrated, stressed and upset with our employees and our businesses.
The root of the problem was not Bob or Keith.
The root of the problem and the biggest mistake that most business owners make is that we don’t have a reliable system for hiring or evaluating our employees. This is a universal challenge of business owners. When we fail to hire the right people in our companies it costs us customers, and ultimately tens of thousands of dollars in lost business.
So what do we need to do?
Fortune 500 companies use psychometric testing to help them pick their employees. Psychometric testing might be Myers-Briggs, DISC behavioral analysis, job
aptitude testing, or some other test that measures whatever they deem to be important.
The cost of this testing usually runs $100-750 per job candidate. These large organizations also have a documented system for hiring that includes multiple interviews, checking of references, and possibly a trial for a day or so.
Small businesses with less than 50 employees rarely do any of this.
I know many a small company that doesn’t even check references.
In order to avoid challenges like Bob faced with his employees, we need to develop systems of hiring and monitoring our employees to ensure that we have the right people in the company.
This starts long before the interview by working on the following four areas:
• Core values: Identify the core values of your company. What is it that you stand for and what are the types of people you want as company representatives, customers and suppliers? When you have clarity on this you are well on your way to hiring the right type of people.
• Roles and responsibilities: Many small businesses don’t have clarity on who does what in the business. Without clear responsi-
bilities, it is difficult to train new employees to fit into the business, especially if they don’t understand their role and the roles of others in ensuring the company is successful. Once you have a clear understanding of the type of person you want based on your values, you need to have clarity on the skill set required to fulfill that role.
• Hiring: We need to follow a process to hire people in our companies.
We need a system that we follow every time to ensure we advertise and interview properly, check references as well as using our core vales as criteria in making our decision. Without a system, we make decisions randomly and end up with the same mediocre results we had in the past.
• Onboarding process: I have talked to many employees who thought they were hired for their dream job but instead became frustrated and leave. This is often the result of poor planning by the leaders in the business.
When we fail to have a system to properly bring people into our company, orientate them and give them feedback on their performance, we set them up for failure.
We think that our employees will learn by osmosis but the truth
is that it takes a long time to bring new employees up to speed and when we fail to invest time in this matter, we create barriers to our success as a company.
Bob doesn’t plan on making the same hiring mistakes he made in the past. He has recently hired three more employees based on his core values. He is extremely happy with the results.
More importantly, Bob is excited going to work again, because his employees are enthusiastic about their employment. They are not looking to start their own businesses or to go to another company.
Bob has created clarity around his employees’ roles and responsibilities. He is working on developing an onboarding system that engages his new hires and enables him to evaluate them on a regular basis.
Bob’s business might not be perfect yet, but he is well on his way to reducing his stress and having a business that works for him.
Dave Fuller, MBA, is an awardwinning, certified professional business coach in Prince George. He is also the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Email comments to dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.
LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.
SHAWN CORNELL DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING BUSINESS COACH DAVE FULLER
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CP FILE PHOTO
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court appearance regarding her bail conditions,in Vancouver on Jan. 29.
Oscars facing full-on revolt
Jake COYLE, Lindsey BAHR Citizen news service
Would anyone – anyone at all – like to thank the academy?
This is normally the time of year when Oscar hopefuls are readying acceptance speeches that almost always begin with a few words of gratitude for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. But that sentiment has been hard to come by in the torturous and troubled lead-up to the 91st Academy Awards.
After a litany of public-relations disasters, backtracks and missteps, the latest dust-up surrounds the film academy’s plans to remove four categories from the live portion of the Feb. 24 broadcast, including cinematography and editing, arguably the two most foundational components of moviemaking. The academy, desperate to reverse sliding ratings, says a shortened show must go on.
On Wednesday evening, dozens of Hollywood heavyweights – including Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Brad Pitt, cinematographer Roger Deakins and director Damien Chazelle – issued an open-letter to the academy’s leadership blasting the decision to not air the four awards, which also include live-action short and hairstyling and makeup, live on the ABC telecast.
“Relegating these essential cinematic crafts to lesser status in this 91st Academy Awards ceremony is nothing less than an insult to those of us who have devoted our lives and passions to our chosen profession,” the group wrote.
“When the recognition of those responsible for the creation of outstanding cinema is being diminished by the very institution whose purpose it is to protect it, then we are no longer upholding the spirit of the Academy’s promise to celebrate film as a collaborative art form.”
The academy responded with a letter of its own, blaming “inaccurate reporting and social media posts” for “a chain of misinformation.”
Signed by academy president John Bailey, a cinematographer, and other officers from the academy’s board of governors, the letter sought to assure members that the four winning speeches will be included in the broadcast (just not live, or with a walk to the stage) and that in future years, four to six different categories will be similarly truncated.
After years of #OscarSoWhite backlash, one infamous envelope mix-up and the reckoning that followed the expulsion of Harvey Weinstein from the academy, this year’s Academy Awards drama has been self-inflicted. In response to last year’s all-time low of 26.5 million viewers, the Oscars – the grandest and most glamorous award show ever created – are shrinking. And nobody likes it.
“People in general have a hard time with change. Change is sometimes hard to swallow. And I think the way that the news came out, it came out in the wrong way,” said Mary Zophres, one of the 54 members of the board of governors
and a costume designer nominated this year for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. “But there is a need to make sure the ratings are competitive.”
The academy’s headaches began after it last summer trotted out the induction of a “popular film Oscar.” The plan sparked such outrage (Rob Lowe pronounced the film industry dead, “survived by sequels, tent-poles and vertical integration”) that the new award was scuttled within a month.
Then Kevin Hart announced, himself, that he was hosting this year’s awards. When many took issue with his old homophobic tweets, the comedian initially “chose to pass on the apology,” inflaming the backlash. Within hours, he withdrew as host and, finally supplied an apology to the LGBTQ community. The Oscars are now host-less for only the fifth time in their 91-year history. The most recent, in 1989, resulted in an infamous duet between Snow White and Rob Lowe.
Other plans to tweak tradition also backfired. After first planning to limit the best song nominee performances, the academy confirmed that all songs will indeed be performed.
“They made the right decision to include all the songs,” said Diane Warren, a nominee for the RBG song I’ll Fight. “It wouldn’t be fair to just have two songs. That’s basically saying those other songs don’t matter.”
Some have blamed ABC, which owns the Oscar broadcast rights for the next decade, for pressuring the academy into some of these measures. ABC declined to comment.
Still, the negative response from prominent academy members was more than the academy’s leadership was expecting. Alfonso Cuaron, who’s nominated for four Oscars including best cinematography, has been among the most vocal critics, declaring: “No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and editing.” Guillermo del Toro, whose
Peters helps nab alleged thief
Victoria AHEARN Citizen news service
TORONTO — The Indian Detective star
Russell Peters became a real-life crime fighter this week when he helped take down a man allegedly attempting to steal from a jewelry shop in New York City.
Security footage posted on the tabloid news website TMZ shows the Canadian comedian helping apprehend a man who was allegedly attempting to flee the NYC Diamond District store with an item.
TMZ cites law enforcement sources as saying a 27-year-old was trying to steal a ring valued at US$150,000 on Tuesday. A man has been charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property, according to the report.
Peters’ brother and manager confirmed the report to The Canadian Press, noting the Brampton, Ont.-raised funnyman is in New York for a series of sold-out shows on Long Island and in New Jersey.
Clayton Peters said the jewelry store is owned by a friend of the stand-up star, who played a Toronto police officer in the TV series The Indian Detective, which aired on CTV and Netflix.
He said Peters was there visiting his friend and ended up using his blue-belt skills in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to help subdue the potential thief.
He added that the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comic also gave a statement to police.
Peters is known for skewering racial stereotypes in his stand-up act, which has sold out stadiums around the world and been shot for various TV specials.
His current tour will take him through several cities in the U.S. until early May. Last year he co-hosted the Netflix series A Little Help With Carol Burnett. The Indian Detective recently got a Canadian Screen Award nomination for best limited drama series.
Peters’ other acting credits include the films Source Code, Breakaway, Chef and Supercon. He and Jennifer Andrade, a former Miss Universe Honduras, are expecting a child together.
The Shape of Water won best picture and best director at last year’s ceremony, said cinematography and editing “are cinema itself.”
“I don’t like it. I don’t think that’s a cool deal. I’m an artist so I believe we’ve all worked really hard, we’ve nurtured our gifts and we should all be able to celebrate them with the world,” says Regina King, a nominee for best supporting actress. “It just doesn’t seem like 15 minutes is gonna make that big of a difference.”
But the academy is insistent on getting the normally four hour-plus telecast down to three hours. Ratings for all award shows have declined in recent years, but it remains to be seen whether a shorter show will have any effect on larger viewing habit transformations.
What is clear is that the challenges of producing a big-tent, for-everybody broadcast are growing as mass audiences continue to fracture. For an institution like the academy, which has year-round involvement in things like film preservation and a much-delayed $400 million Los Angeles museum, the Oscar broadcast is the primary revenue generator.
“They make about six or seven million dollars a year off of the Academy Awards on television which pays for the academy,” said Michael Douglas, a two-time Oscar winner. “How do you put together an entertaining show versus (honour the winners)? So, I understand as far as a television viewing audience show, they don’t do a very good job.”
“I just saw the Grammys – best opening I’ve seen in a long time,” Douglas added. “Theirs is a three-and-a-half hour show that only has nine awards, you know?” According to Zophres, “People need to calm down about it before the Oscars and we only have like 10 days. What worries me more is actual unrest in the building before, during or after. So they need to make sure that everybody is under control.”
Jackson musical to open on Broadway
CHICAGO (AP) — A stage musical about Michael Jackson will skip making its debut in Chicago and instead open on Broadway in summer 2020. Producers said Thursday that Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough will no longer have pre-Broadway performances this fall in Chicago, blaming a recent Actors’ Equity Association strike over compensation for developmental labs. The association, which represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers nationwide in the U.S., countered in a statement that said it was “incredibly disappointing” that the show’s actors and managers learned of the change only after the producers’ announcement and questioned how the strike, which delayed the show’s development for a “modest” 12 working days, could so impact the run. The musical is inspired by Jackson’s life and music. Twotime Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage is writing the book, using Jackson’s vast catalogue of songs. Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon will direct and choreograph. Jackson sold millions of records and was a 13-time Grammy winner. In 1983 he became an international icon with the release of Thriller, the bestselling album of all time with such hits as Beat It and Billie Jean. He died in 2009.
New evidence against R. Kelly
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorney Michael Avenatti said Thursday he has given Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of R&B star R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl. Avenatti said the video isn’t the same evidence used in Kelly’s 2008 trial, when he was acquitted on child pornography charges. CNN reported the nearly 45-minute VHS tape shows a man appearing to be Kelly performing sex acts with a girl who refers to herself as 14 years old.
PETERS
North Korea exploring sanctions-proof energy tech
Eric TALMADGE Citizen news service
NAMPO, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Of — Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources – tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels – that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions. Finding a lasting energy source that isn’t vulnerable to sanctions has long been a top priority for North Korean officials. Leader Kim Jong Un used his New Year’s address last month to call on the country to “radically increase the production of electricity” and singled out the coal-mining industry as a “primary front in developing the self-supporting economy.” For the longer-term, he stressed the importance of atomic, wind and tidal power. Since further development of atomic energy is unlikely anytime soon, the power-scarce country is developing technology to “gasify” coal into substitute motor fuels. It also is looking into using huge sea barriers with electricity-generating turbines to harness the power of the ocean’s tides.
Coal and hydropower are North Korea’s main energy resources. The North imports nearly all of its oil and petroleum products from China. Solar panels are visible just about everywhere, from urban balconies to rural farm buildings and military installations. Wind remains a very minor energy source.
The North’s renewed focus on oil alternatives underscores what some foreign observers believe are two of its long-term best bets. Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, tried to get international support for developing nuclear power in the 1990s before the North ultimately opted instead for nuclear weapons. That brought some of the most intense sanctions ever applied by the United Nations against the country, making its energy situation even more precarious.
But coal is something North Korea has in abundance.
The North’s renewed focus on oil alternatives underscores what some foreign observers believe are two of its long-term best bets.
It’s used to supply thermal power plants and factories, to heat homes and to make fertilizer and even a kind of cloth, called Vinylon. Slow-running, smoke-belching trucks that use a gasification process with firewood are common in the North Korean countryside.
Coal isn’t generally seen as a good oil-product substitute because converting it to a liquid form is inefficient and expensive – coal gasification was last used on a large scale in Nazi Germany to keep its cars and trucks moving.
Given North Korea’s limited options, it’s a technology that appears to be paying off.
The output from just one gasifier unit reportedly destined for the North Sunchon Chemical Plant, north of Pyongyang, could yield synthetic fuel amounting to about 10 per cent of the North’s recent petroleum supply, according to a recent study for the Nautilus Institute by David von Hippel and Peter Hayes, two of the foremost experts on the issue. The study cited as one of its sources a Wall Street Journal report from December that tracked the unit to a Chinese exporter.
The facility is believed to be a centre of “C-1” technology, which uses coal to make a kind of gas used to produce synthetic fuels, industrial chemicals and fertilizers.
Now that China has reduced its coal imports from the North in line with the sanctions, there’s more available for gasification.
“The project appears to provide a significant benefit to the DPRK, in terms of supplying fuels to compensate for petroleum product imports that run afoul of United Nations
Security Council sanctions passed in the last two years, although the project will not completely replace all lost imports on its own,” they wrote in the report.
DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The North’s interest in tidal energy also reflects a practical desire to exploit existing resources.
Glyn Ford, a former member of the European Parliament with extensive experience with the North, said he has had several discussions with North Korean officials regarding tidal power and even helped arrange a study tour to a facility in the U.K. a decade ago. He said they have tried to invite experts to the North.
The country is perfectly situated for tidal power.
“The bulk of the Korean Peninsula’s west coast is a rich tidal power resource,” Ford said in a telephone interview with The AP. “There are some detailed studies of the potential in South Korea and the same resources are there to be exploited north of the Demilitarized Zone.”
The world’s largest functioning tidal power plant is located near the South Korean city of Ansan. It opened in 2011 and produces about enough power to support a city of 500,000.
Kim Jong Un has shown a strong penchant for mobilizing his million-man military on big projects. And the North has shown it can build something like a tidal power plant.
One of North Korea’s proudest accomplishments is the gigantic West Sea Barrage, which was completed in 1986 at a cost of $4 billion.
The huge seawall near the city of Nampo, a port about an hour’s drive from the capital, crosses the mouth of the Taedong River and helps control flooding and reduce the amount of salt that seeps in from the ocean, increasing the amount and quality of arable land.
“The attraction is that, apart from the turbines, it is all a gigantic earth-moving project,” Ford said. “That’s ideal for the Korean People’s Army skill set.”
Huawei equipment ban could set back 5G network plan, Telus says
(CP) — Telus Corp. acknowledged Thursday that the deployment of its fifth-generation wireless network could be delayed and more expensive if Ottawa chooses to ban equipment from Huawei Technologies Inc. The Vancouver-based company – which has used Huawei radio equipment in non-core portions of its 3G and 4G wireless networks –continues to believe the China-based company doesn’t pose a big risk to national security. However, Telus said in documents accom-
panying its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results that it can’t predict the outcome of a review of 5G cyber security being conducted by the federal government. A ban on Huawei equipment “could have a material, non-recurring, incremental increase in the cost of Telus’ 5G network deployment and, potentially, the timing of such deployment,” the company said in the filing. However, Telus chief executive Darren Entwistle took a more reassuring tone in a
conference call with analysts.
“We are well prepared for a number of scenarios and developments with respect to the eventual rollout of 5G infrastructure and the acquisition of spectrum that will be critical to deliver 5G,” he said.
Telus said it doesn’t expect fifth-generation wireless networks – which will provide significantly more data capacity than previous generations – to be deployed commercially in Canada before the second half of 2020.
Potential customers are reading this ad right now.
back of further gains in oil prices. However, the nearly 10 per cent rally so far in 2019 signals that investors haven’t learned from the past over-exuberance, says Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc. He said the resilience of equity markets is overpowering geopolitical and global growth slowdown concerns that were also evident in December.
“So the market has decided to again do a lot of what it has been doing the last few years, which is shrugging off uncertainties and variables that will challenge corporate earnings, global growth and equity returns,” Pashootan said.
“We feel that the rally that we’ve seen in equity markets is not justified... We did expect to bounce back but we feel that the market has bounced back too much and pricing in too much optimism in the short-term.”
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 69.25 points to 15,695.98, after hitting an intraday peak of 15,733.13.
Despite the increases, the market is still about five per cent below last year’s high of 16,567.42 set in July.
The TSX rallied as the key energy sector rose 0.7 per cent after crude oil prices hit an eight-day high.
The March crude contract was up 51 cents at US$54.41 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was down 0.2 of a cent at US$2.57 per mmBTU. Technology led the Toronto market, gaining more than four per cent on stock performances by Tucows Inc. and Shopify Inc. Industrials rose as Bombardier Inc. shares surged 23 per cent after the plane and train maker said it turned a profit in 2018 for the first time in five years. The loser on the day was the consumer discretionary sector fell as Canada Goose Holdings Inc. and Canadian Tire Corp. were down. The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 75.20 cents US compared with an average of 75.53 cents US on Wednesday. The April gold contract was down US$1.20 at US$1,313.90 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 0.1 of a cent at US$2.77 a pound.
In New York, markets
AP PHOTO
North Korean men walk near the site of the West Sea Barrage in Nampo, North Korea. North Korea is exploring two alternative energy sources – tidal power and the production of coal-based synthetic fuels.
Biathletes tune up at the Otway Nordic Centre rifle range on Thursday, in preparation for the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships. The event, which has brought 120 competitors from 19 countries to Prince George, begins with the opening ceremony tonight at the Civic Centre. Competition starts on Saturday. Spectators can watch free of charge.
World will be tuned in to Otway
2019 Para Nordic Championships start Saturday
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
When racing starts Saturday at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships at Otway Nordic Centre, the eyes of the world will be watching.
An audience that could number in the millions will be tuning in to the livestream webcasts on their screens, watching 120 athletes compete in crosscountry skiing and biathlon at the International Paralympic Committee-sanctioned event.
Kevin Pettersen, chair of the local organizing committee, attended the 2017 world para nordic championships in Finsterau, Germany, and the level of interest was huge.
“In Finsterau they had two million viewers, and that’s the exciting thing – we’ve never had a live broadcast here,” said Pettersen. “Having cameras on cross-country ski courses is not very common.”
Prince George has never hosted a world championship and the local organizing committee is working with the technical delegates and broadcaster (Playo TV) to ensure it will be all systems go for Saturday.
Seventeen camera locations have been set up on the ski courses and those cameras will be connected by 30,000 feet of cable that’s been laid along the trails. Scaffolding will give internet viewers unobstructed views of the course, especially the biathlon range where much of the action is concentrated. Pettersen said drone cameras are forbidden due to the potential risk of one crashing onto the course.
“They’ll set it up so we get the same kind of shots as IBU (International Biathlon Union) races with shots right down the fir-
ing line and shots on the targets, so that will be pretty cool to see,” said Pettersen.
A 16-foot-by-nine-foot screen in the stadium area will display the adjusted times of each athlete during the race so spectators will know where each racer stacks up.
The Canadian Paralympic Committee has the livestreaming rights which will be fed through the website, paralympic. org/canada. Webcasts will also be carried on the CBC Gem app, Canadian Paralympic Committee Facebook page, Radio-Canada Sports app and radiocanada.ca/sports Viewers can either catch the events live or watch the replays. Commentary for the webcasts will be in English but the video also will be available raw, without commentary, for translation into the native language of whichever country picks up the feed.
Pettersen spoke with Sascha Beck, the IPC’s broadcast manager, and was told the international body wants to raise its webcasts to an unprecedented level of professionalism to help raise public awareness for the para nordic sports.
“CBC will be getting the commentated version and the non-commentated version and they will add commentary in French,” said Pettersen. “They’ll do the interviews in English, the official language of IPC, and then they’ll re-do the interview and ask the same questions and get the athlete to respond in their native language. Then they’ll package those up for the different countries.”
About 60 journalists have applied for press credentials to cover the 10-day event. Close to 120 athletes representing 19 countries will compete.
“They want this one to hit the next level because that’s how they keep broadcasters engaged in continually improving so I think we’ll see some good results in terms of what it looks like on live stream,” said Pettersen.
The WPNSC combine cross-country skiing and biathlon and in both disciplines there are three race categories – sitting, standing and visuallyimpaired.
All athletes in each of the three categories compete together, despite their different levels of impairment. The International Paralympic Committee uses a classification system based on range-of-motion limitations and which muscles each athlete can use and assigns a percentage used as a multiplier to determine their final race times. In sprints, which use a hunter start format, the more motion-impaired racers start ahead of the less impaired. The start delays are determined by each individual’s assigned classification.
The cold snap the past month has made it chilly for athletes and crews on the course but there is a warming trend on the way. While snow is in the forecast for today with
T-wolves set to begin their Dino hunt
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
As far as the UNBC Timberwolves are concerned, 15 is more than enough.
It’s time for them to end it.
The heavily-favoured Calgary Dinos will take a 15-game winning streak onto the court with them tonight in Calgary, where they begin a U Sports Canada West women’s basketball best-ofthree quarterfinal series against the T-wolves.
The Dinos finished the season with a 17-3 record and are the second-ranked team among the final-eight teams left in contention for the Canada West crown. Because of the league’s unbalanced schedule, the T-wolves (11-9) did not play the Dinos this season, but they’ve seen enough game film to know they’re in tough to pull off an upset.
“At this point we’ve got nothing to lose – it’s amazing that we’ve gone this far and we’ve achieved our goals to this point and now we’re just going to go for it and do our best,” said UNBC fourthyear point guard Emily Holmes.
“Whether the outcome goes our way or not, we’re going to try to give Calgary a run for their money.
“I think that first game is going to be really crucial and if we can sneak a win out, and we definitely can, sometimes we’re pretty unnstoppable. We’re a great team and if we just stick to our strengths we’ll be fine.”
The T-wolves advanced to the quarterfinals after their first-ever playoff win – an 80-78 triumph over the Trinity Western Spartans in a single-game elimination playoff last week in Langley.
Maria Mongomo played a huge role in the playoff victory with 29
points and two steals, earning her the Canada West third-star-of-theweek award. Mongomo led the T-wolves in scoring this season, averaging 19.9 points per game, and she will have to excel again in
wind chills tonight dipping close to -30 C, the wind is expected to drop for Saturday under sunny skies with a forecast high of -13 C and a low of -22 C. Highs for Sunday and Monday are expected to reach -12 C with lows in the -18 C range and more snow for Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday the forecast high is -6 C.
After virtually no snow until a couple days before Christmas the white stuff is waistdeep now at Otway. The cold and abundant snow has allowed course groomers to prepare deep and hard and stable classic ski tracks, which the athletes like.
“I’m so happy about the snow and to have that cold temperature we had was actually perfect because it really set up the snow nicely,” said Pettersen. “You can walk on it and hardly make a dent in it. It’s nice dry crisp snow. We’re not going to get rain.” John Huybers, president of the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, says people should come out and watch, free of charge, the best athletes on the planet race on what rates as a world-class facility at Otway.
“If this competition was held in Germany, there’d be half a million people watching live and we’re going to have a thousand people come out,” said Huybers.
“I encourage people to come out and see it, because the biathlon viewing area is second to none in the world. You get to see them shoot and climb a hill and you get to see them on a downhill. If you were trying to do that in Europe you’d have to put your lawn chair in place two days before.”
A park-and-ride shuttle service will leave twice a day in the morning from the Aquatic Centre on 18th Avenue and two buses will return from Otway twice daily in the afternoon.
— see OPENING CEREMONY, page 11
Calgary for the T-wolves to have a chance.
They’ll also lean heavily on Vasiliki Louka, the leading rebounder in the conference (12.7 per game) and second all-time in Canada West. She was right on her mark in the win over TWU, with 13 rebounds. Madison Landry, Alina Shakirova and Abby Gibb also came up big at crucial moments in the playoff win and more heroics will be expected of them this weekend.
“We just want to try our best and show the same discipline as we showed last game,” said T-wolves head coach Sergey Shchepotkin.
“We will try our best to win, that’s why we are there. It’s a big challenge for us but also we are so excited.”
The Dinos, with their secondpace finish, drew a first-round playoff bye.
Erin McIntosh has been the
most deadly shooter for Calgary in 2018-19, averaging 15.4 points in 20 regular-season games. She also leads the team in rebounds with a 6.8 average. She averaged two steals per game.
“They’re an aggressive team, they’re strong, but we’re just going to have to do what we can,” said the five-foot-four Holmes, probably the shortest point guard in the league. “They’re all about six feet – everyone’s taller than me – and they’re all skilled and can shoot the ball, so they’ll be good.”
The Dinos won Canada West bronze last year and went on to win the consolation final in the U Sports championship in Regina. The T-wolves are healthy going into tonight’s game (5 p.m. start PT, Canada West TV). Game 2 will be played Saturday (5 p.m. PT) and Game 3, if necessary, would be played Sunday (noon PT).
Sports
Brar leads Kings past Warriors
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
The B.C. Hockey League playoffs are only three weekends away and the Prince George Spruce Kings are heating up the postseason irons. They cranked up the heat Thursday with a 5-2 win over the visiting West Kelowna Warriors, spoiling the homecoming party of Warriors’ head coach Brandon West.
Ben Brar’s first career hat trick led the Kings to their season-high ninth-straight victory and moved the Kings (36-12-15) to within five points of the league-leading Chilliwack Chiefs in the overall standings.
Ben Poisson and Jay Keranen also scored for the Spruce Kings. Lucas Cullen and former Cariboo Cougar Chase Dubois responded for the Warriors (27-26-0-1).
“It definitely felt pretty good out there, (Dustin) Manz and (Patrick) Cozzi played a big part setting me up for those,” said Brar. “We wanted to come out and play strong and good things happened.
“We kind of got embarrassed the last time we played these guys (a 6-1 loss in West Kelowna Jan. 20) and we took it to them. They came up the day of the game and we knew that and just tried to jump on them early.”
The Warriors spent five days on Vancouver Island after getting caught in the big snowstorm down there and were late arriving in Prince George.
“I thought (the Kings) played an outstanding game and they pushed us on our heels right off the start,” said West, who was born and raised in Prince George.
Trocheck douses Flames in shootout
“We played well in spurts but obviously not well enough to generate some offence. They are obviously on a roll right now and we weren’t able to get anything in the second period and that was difference in the game.”
The Kings took an early lead and Brar did the damage, scoring his 30th of the season at the 5:40 mark of the first period with a nice individual move out of the corner before lifting a high shot in behind goalie Connor Hopkins.
The Warriors tied it with a bit of a strange one, 6:09 into the second period. Logan Neaton took a hard shot from Garrett Ewert off his shoulder and the puck bounced high into the air and came down in a crowd of bodies gathered around the crease. Lucas Cullen took a whack at the
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Vincent Trocheck scored in the third round of the shootout to lift the Florida Panthers over the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Thursday night.
Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary late in the third period to extend
fluttering puck that bounced off the ice and connected for his 24th goal of the season.
The Kings responded shortly after. Brar, a Merrimack College recruit for next season, scored his second of the night, finishing off a perfect cross-ice feed from linemate Manz with a wicked high shot from the left circle.
Poisson, the Kings’ captain, made it a 3-1 game late in the period, firing off a quick wrist shot from the high slot.
Keranen, a stay-at-home defenceman, scored his first goal in 90 games, firing off a shot that hit the knee of Warriors forward Mike Hardman and skipped off the ice before it found the back of the net.
The Warriors cut the gap to 4-2 when they scored eight seconds
the game, but Matthew Tkachuk missed in the third round of the shootout with a chance to do the same. Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist, and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Florida. Mark Jankowski also had
WK (hooking) 15:59. Third Period 5. Prince George, Keranen 1 (Anhorn, N.Poisson) 10:07 6. West Kelowna, Dubois 10 (Hardman, Cullen) 10:52 (pp) 7. Prince George, Brar 32 (Cozzi, Coyle) 18:21 (en)
into the second power play of the game. Neaton had no chance of stopping Dubois’ shot from the side of the net.
Brar’s hat-trick goal into an empty net was a result of Cozzi’s generosity. He took a pass from Max Coyle and had a crack at the empty net but elected to pass to Brar, who finished it off for his team-leading 32nd goal. He’s the first Spruce King in two seasons to hit the 30-goal plateau, after a 25-goal season last year.
Neaton made 26 saves to become the first Spruce Kings goalie to ever hit the 30-win mark. The Kings outshot the Warriors 45-28.
The Kings hit the road Saturday for a Sunday afternoon date with the Chiefs, then it’s on to Surrey to play the Eagles in a rare Monday matinee on Family Day.
a goal for the Flames, who lost their fourth straight. Florida goalie James Reimer, pulled to start the third period in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay, stopped 41 shots. Mike Smith had 30 saves and lost his third straight.
Cats, Royals clash tonight
Citizen staff
Is this the night the Prince George Cougars put a stop to their losing ways?
Not if the Victoria Royals have it their way. The Royals would love nothing better than to extend the Cats losing streak, now at 13 games, when they face the Cougars tonight and Saturday at CN Centre.
The Royals (27-23-1-2) are coming off a 6-1 loss Wednesday in Kamloops and have a 4-4-0-2 record in their past 10 games. They remain six points ahead of the third-place Kamloops Blazers.
The Cougars (16-32-4-2) lost their last two games on the road last weekend, falling 4-3 to the Kelowna Rockets, then dropping a 4-1 decision to the Vancouver Giants.
The Cougars haven’t won a game in more than a month. They last found the win column Jan. 12 at home when they blanked the Kelowna Rockets 4-0 to complete a two-game weekend sweep.
Since then, the Cats have gained just three points in the standings, all a result of overtime losses to Kamloops, Moose Jaw and Vancouver.
They’re still looking for their first win under head coach/general manager Mark Lamb, who took over behind the bench a week ago from Richard Matvichuk, who was fired last Tuesday after nearly three seasons at the helm.
The Cougars have dropped into last place in the WHL’s Western Conference. But with 14 games left they’re still only 10 points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds (21-27-5-1) in the chase for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
Tonight’s Alumni Night promotion will give fans a chance to bid on a Brett Connolly-signed Washington Capitals jersey to help raise funds to pay for minor sports registrations.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Prince George Spruce Kings forward Dustin Manz fires a one-timer on net against the West Kelowna Warriors on Thursday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
Lyons ferocious in City League final
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Caleb Lyons couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate his 16th birthday.
Not only did he get his hands on the City League senior boys basketball championship trophy after his Duchess Park Condors defeated the D.P. Todd Trojans 64-55 in the final Wednesday night at the Northern Sport Centre but Lyons played a starring role.
The Grade 10 guard had his radar well-honed and scored a team-high 19 points, continuing on the success that helped stake the Condors to their status as the No. 4-ranked triple-A team in the province.
“I was just feeling it – it was just a big game and I really wanted to play well,” said Lyons. “We knew it was going to be a close game and we talked about not getting overconfident and just play our game.
“I’m getting way more confident on the court, I think confidence is the big thing. It was a good win but provincials is what we’re looking for.”
I’m
ond quarter. At halftime, the whole thing was come out and play some defence and get the ball rolling but and in the third we kind of turned it around and started getting on the runs and the whole mindset in the fourth was to hold them with that 10-point lead and stop their runs.”
In the senior girls City League final, played earlier Wednesday, the Duchess Park Condors won their sixth-straight title, beating the College Heights Cougars 72-25. Erricson will have his name engraved on the trophy for the fourth straight year (he was still in Grade 8 when the Condors started their five-year run as City League champs). He and Isaac Northrop, Graydon Wolitski, Dan Zimmerman and Sam Istok are all in their senior years.
getting way more confident on the court, I think confidence is the big thing.
— Caleb Lyons
Lyons came up big for the Condors last weekend in Edmonton at a Harry Ainley tournament. He had one 28-point game and scored 16 in the final, a loss to the host team.
The six-foot-three senior team rookie has Duchess Park pedigree running through his veins. His mother Reena is part of the Yu clan that struck basketball gold on numerous occasions playing for the Condors and in university basketball. His uncles, Jordan and LeeWei Yu, now coach the Condors and his other uncle, Nathan, is playing professional hoops in Hong Kong.
“He’s had an up-and-down kind of season but the last three weeks he’s been skyrocketing, exponentially getting better,” said head coach Jordan Yu. “He was our star player in Edmonton and we’re trying to keep it going.
“He has some really good genes, his dad is six-footfive, and Caleb’s getting up there. He didn’t get that height from me.”
In a closely-contested game that went back-andforth with four lead changes in the third quarter, the Condors built a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but the Trojans came armed with some deadly shooters – Saager Shergill, Randy Sandhu, Cameron Sale and Shane Sandhu – and kept finding ways to get within a couple shots of tying it. Key strikes from Soren Erricson and Lyons finally sealed it.
“We came out and we knew it was going to be a bit of a grinder game,” said Erricson, a Grade 12 guard. “We’ve been playing some good basketball lately and came out a bit slow and had some lapses in the sec-
“It’s definitely nice having the win as a Grade 12, it’s a tribute to my last year and all the other Grade 12s on the team,” Erricson said. “It definitely feels pretty nice.”
Trojans coach Greg Sale thought the Condors showed more energy over longer stretches than his team, enough to make a difference. With just nine players to work with, fatigue had to be setting in for D.P. Todd late in the game.
“They executed down the stretch and we didn’t do the little things right, we didn’t box out, we didn’t rebound particularly well the whole game and they outworked us,” said Sale. “I told my guys that if we make provincials, hopefully they’ll learn from these types of games. We can’t let that happen, we have to be the team that works harder and executes down the stretch.”
Trojans post Chris Matthews rolled his ankle 86 seconds into Wednesday’s game when he jumped up for a shot and came down on Jackson Kuc’s foot. Matthews sat out a few plays but came back right away and his six-foot-seven height under the boards was a huge factor in keeping D.P. Todd in the game. He agreed with his coach that his team did not come up with its best effort and Condors took advantage.
“This was the most important game of the year for most of us and we just wanted to go out there and battle our hardest and I think we did, it’s just that we didn’t finish as well as we should have,” said Matthews. “They finished and made their shots better than we did. They were the better team tonight. They were coming for those rebounds a lot harder than we were a lot of the time and it does come into factor that we are playing with a seven-guy bench.”
The Trojans are ranked fifth in B.C. among doubleA teams and will be hosting the zone tournament at D.P. Todd next week. The Condors will play in the North Central triple-A zone tournament which starts next week at PGSS.
Pelicans win game, lose Davis to injury
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Julius Randle capped a 33-point, 11-rebound performance with three clutch baskets in the final minutes, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 131-122 on Thursday night despite losing All-Star Anthony Davis to a shoulder injury after the first half. Davis was in the game when the first half ended, but kept his left arm still as he walked to the locker room shortly after fouling Nerlens Noel on an attempted shot block with his left hand in the final
second of the second quarter. When the second half began, the Pelicans announced that Davis was out of the remainder of the game with a left shoulder injury, putting his availability for this weekend’s All-Star Game in doubt. Russell Westbrook increased his record triple-double streak to 11 games with 44 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Jrue Holiday had 32 points and seven assists, none more timely than his driving feed to Randle in the paint with 1:30 to go.
Opening ceremony tonight at Civic Centre
— from page 9
The opening ceremony will start tonight at 7 at the Civic Centre. Biathletes will be on the course Saturday for the first races of the WPNSC, the mid-distances events. The women’s sitting 10-kilometre race starts at 10 a.m., with the men beginning at 10:55 a.m. The women’s standing 10 km race starts at 12:30 p.m., followed by the men’s 12.5 km race at 12:50 p.m. The wom-
en’s 10 km visually-impaired race starts at 2:20 p.m. and the men’s 12.5 km race begins at 2:40 p.m. On Sunday, cross-country starts with the women’s five km and men’s 7.5 km events. Cross-country continues on Family Day Monday with the cross-country sprints. Biathlon is on the schedule for Wednesday and Thursday, with cross-country events wrapping up the competition next Saturday and Sunday.
Hot start for Spieth at chilly Riviera
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the worst lies Jordan Spieth ever had didn’t even come into play in the rain-shortened first round of the Genesis Open. Fifty minutes into the start of the event, with only 30 players having teed off, the opening round was scrapped because of increasing rain that soaked Riviera and poor visibility that made it unusually tough on the earliest of starters.
Everyone started over after what amounted to a seven-hour delay, and Spieth made the most of his second chance.
He chipped in twice for birdie, made birdie on all three par 5s and was at five-under par through 12 holes. “Certainly got some good breaks,” Spieth said. None was bigger than the decision to restart the round. Spieth hit his tee shot on the short par-4 10th to the left, normally a good place to be except that his ball hit the cart path, hit it again, bounded across the forward tee at No. 11 and disappeared into shin-high grass so deep he could barely see his ball. If he could have played from there, par would have been a challenge. And then the horn blew to suspend play because of wet conditions, and a few hours later, the PGA Tour thought it was best to scrap the round.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Connor Lewis of the Duchess Park Condors drives to the basket while being checked by D.P. Todd Trojans players Holden Black, left, and Chris Magrath on Wednesday night at the Northern Sport Centre during the senior boys basketball city championship game.
MCLAREN,RodgerM. April5,1953-February8,2019
Itiswithaveryheavyheartthatweannouncethe passingofourbelovedfather,grandfather,brother, uncle,andfriend.Rodgerpassedawaypeacefully withhisfamilybyhisside. RodgerwasborninPortPerry,Ontario,toRoland andLauraineMcLaren.Inadditiontohisparents, Rodgerwasalsotheeldestbrothertofoursiblings: threebrothers(Craig,Michael,Shawn)andonesister (Brenda).Rodgerwillforeverbemissedbyhistwo daughters,MelanieandLaura;son-in-law,Mike;and hispreciousgrandchildren,JacksonandJordynn. Rodgeralsohasmanynieces,nephews,cousins,and friends. AsperRodgerswishes,therewillbenofuneral service.Inlieuofflowers,pleaseconsideradonation tothePrinceGeorgeHospiceHouseortothe Parkinson’sSociety.
Evelyn Muriel Capp (Reid) nee Spence August 11, 1931January 21, 2019
Our much beloved mother, Evelyn Capp, passed away peacefully at Prince George Rotary Hospice House on Jan. 21, 2019. Born and raised in Chauvin, Alberta, she married George Reid, a railway engineer, and raised a family of 4 children in Prince George. She worked at the Prince George Experimental Farm, then later as Administrator for the Prince George Senior Citizen’s Society. Evelyn and George could be found almost every weekend at Purden Mountain during the ski season. After George’s sudden passing in 1985, she eventually married another railroader, John Capp. John and Evelyn moved to Penticton and lived there happily for 22 years until John’s passing in October, 2018. While in Penticton, she was very involved in the Concordia Lutheran Church and its school. In April, 2018, Evelyn moved back to Prince George to be near her many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Nine months later, she unexpectedly passed away after a two week illness with family and her pastor by her side. Evelyn was also predeceased by her parents, Alfred and Ethel Spence, sister Mildred (brother-in-law Bob Pickrell), mother and father-in-law, Clayton and Victoria Reid. She is survived by brother Stan (Kay) Spence, and four children Patricia (Amos) Culham, Barry (Carla) Reid, Brenda (Mike) Morton, and Robert (Christine) Reid. Surviving grandchildren are: Samantha Parent, Melanie Culham, Robyn Culham, Dayna Culham, Courtney (Kris) Carr, Amy (Jess) Morton, Benjamin Reid, and Emily Reid. Great grandchildren: Kyla, Kelly, Jamie, & Morgan Culham, Kalen & Jasper Jamison, Matthew Parent and Corbin Carr. Great Great grandson: Joel VanKonett. Sister-in-law, Marg Ziglin. We greatly appreciate the excellent and very empathetic care from the many doctors, nurses, and care aids working in the Emergency and Surgical South wards of UHNBC, as well as those at Prince George Rotary Hospice House.
A celebration of Evelyn’s life will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church and Christian School on Saturday Feb. 16, 2019 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Zion Lutheran Church and Christian School or Prince George Hospice House.
Charlie Archer Rogers Mar 3, 1931 - Feb 12, 2019
Passed away peacefully on Tuesday Feb 12, 2019, at the age of 87. Survived by his loving wife Jeannette, 5 children Bruce (Ieva), Brenda (Tim), John (Anne), Greg (Pat), Carolyn (Gary). Memorial Service will be held on Sat Feb 16, 2019 from 1:00 to 4:00pm at Elder Citizens Recreation Centre 1692 10th Ave. in Lieu of flowers please make donations to the Prince George Hospice Society.
Yvonne Mary Delima Gagnon
Yvonne Mary Delima Gagnon, 62, of Prince George, passed away peacefully with her loved ones close by on February 12, 2019. Born January 21, 1957 in Prince George. She is predeceased by her mother Ellen Gagnon, and her brothers James and Robert. She is survived by her dad Alphonse Gagnon, her sisters; Brenda, Bernadette, Merlyn, and Rose and her brothers; Darwin and Leslie, her children; Crystal, Alphonse, Mandy, Shanda, and Jordan, her grandchildren Lane, Ashley, Zaidin, and Brielle, and her great-grandson Liam, and many nieces and nephews. There will be a wake from Thursday February 14 at 1pm to Saturday February 16 at 10am at the family home. There will be a service at Assman’s funeral home on Saturday February 16th at 1pm with a luncheon to follow at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre. Please join us in remembering our mom, grandma, great grandma, daughter, sister, auntie, niece, and friend.
