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Tuesday, January 15, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre has extended the showing of the exhibit, Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada. Also, starting Jan. 22 and continuing every Wednesday thereafter for the duration of the exhibit, the museum will be open until 8 p.m. to allow people more chances to see it.

Museum extending stay of Fox exhibit Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca Prince George and Terry Fox have run together since before the start of the Marathon of Hope and a few more strides were added Monday.

Fate played an historically important card when Fox first used Prince George’s fall marathon to test his abilities to run a significant distance on his prosthetic leg. It worked, and crossing the Prince George to Boston finish line in 1979 broke the final ribbon in

Fox’s mind that he could indeed attempt the famed run across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer causes. (As an added twist of kismet, a wheelchair athlete named Rick Hansen also used the 1979 marathon for the same reason.)

The special connection between Fox and Prince George is why a statue of the national hero stands at Community Foundation Park where that marathon had its starting line. It is also why The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre

was granted the chance to host the official Terry Fox legacy display that has been on display there throughout the autumn, and definitely why Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada has now been held over for two very fateful reasons. — see FOX’S BROTHER, page 3

RCMP to review arrests at pipeline blockade Laura KANE Citizen news service SURREY — The RCMP will review the actions of officers who arrested 14 people at an Indigenous pipeline blockade in northwestern British Columbia, and will also erect a temporary detachment to maintain safety in the area. The Mounties enforced a court injunction Jan. 7 allowing Coastal GasLink workers and contractors access to a work site where a natural gas pipeline is planned near Houston. Assistant commissioner Eric Stubbs held a news conference Monday to provide more details about the police operation, in the wake of criticism from Indigenous leaders that the use of force was excessive. “I appreciate that for those directly involved with the police at the barricade, it was an emotional situation,” he said. “I also understand that there are some concerns surrounding our actions on Jan. 7.” The RCMP will conduct a review of the incident that will produce recommendations to address any issues and identify the parts of the operation that went well, as it does with any major operation, he said. There is ample evidence available to assist with the review, including the use of bodyworn cameras, drone and helicopter video

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An RCMP member looks on as representatives from Coastal GasLink drive toward the Unist’ot’en camp, through the exclusion zone at the 27-kilometre marker, to remove barriers on a bridge over the Morice River on Friday. and publicly available video, he added. “To date, we have not yet identified any

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issues regarding police officer conduct. However, it is important that we engage

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See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts

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with the hereditary chiefs and any other involved persons,” Stubbs said. He said police have been engaging with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs since the approval of the pipeline, which would carry natural gas to an export terminal in Kitimat as part of a $40-billion LNG Canada project. “We had hoped... the terms of the injunction order would be met through dialogue and the need for enforcement would not be required,” he said. After the court order was issued, protesters erected a second blockade on a forestry road. Given the remoteness of the location and the unpredictable situation, Mounties developed an operational plan that included moving additional forces into the area, Stubbs said. Local Indigenous leaders gave officers cultural awareness training as a part of the plan, he added. RCMP made “every effort” to peacefully resolve the situation, but could not reach a deal and so enforcement actions commenced late in the day on Jan. 7, he said. Initially, the primary role of the officers who climbed over the barricade was to make the situation safe so they could remove a gate erected by the protesters, as directed by the court order, he said. — see TIMELINE, page 3

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