Issuu

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Getting in the game Ana Karanovic with B.C. Wheelchair Sports gives Brooke Perepeluk, 17, some tips on how to throw a javelin while sitting in an adapted chair on Saturday at Masich Place Stadium during Spinal Cord Injury BC’s Multi Sport Day. The adapted chair allows athletes with a disability to participate in throwing events such as shotput, discus and javelin.

Gold mine gets go-ahead

Man gets jail time for drug house shootout Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca A 22-year-old man was sentenced Monday to a further three years in prison for his role in an exchange of gunfire outside a Prince George drug house. Michael Campbell-Alexander was issued the term in provincial court for the Oct. 22, 2017, incident in the driveway of a 2000-block Tamarack Street home. Crown prosecution had been seeking a further 7 1/2 years in jail less credit of 2 1/2 years for time served prior to sentencing while defence counsel argued five years less time served. During the sentencing hearing, video from security cameras posted around the home’s perimeter was presented. They showed Cody Aubrey Lorntsen with his dog on a leash and three other people entering the home via a side entrance. About two minutes later, Lorntsen is seen leaving the same way with his dog but no one else while Campbell-Alexander stationed himself at one end of the driveway and opened fire with what was later determined to be a .22-calibre pistol. A handful of flashes from muzzles are visible on the footage as Lorntsen returned the volleys with blasts from a sawed-off shotgun as he retreated from the scene while Campbell-Alexander used a car as cover. Lorntsen, who needed a cane to make his way around the courtroom when sentenced in November 2018, was hit in the leg while his dog was shot and killed. CampbellAlexander, meanwhile, was hit in the ankle with bird shot. Exactly what sparked the confrontation remains a mystery. Campbell-Alexander was on a cocktail of drugs at the time and has said he remembers little of what happened. Lorntsen, meanwhile, has denied bringing a shotgun into the home and

Today’s Weather Hi +14° Low +8° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts

LOCAL HOROSCOPE OPINION NEWS SPORTS

Citizen staff

claimed he happened to find one as he retreated, fearing for his life after a man he knew but did not name, called him a “rat goof.” Lorntsen was charged with five offences including discharge of a firearm with intent to wound but was sentenced for possessing a loaded restricted firearm. Campbell-Alexander, meanwhile, had faced seven counts, including attempted murder, but in December 2018 pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to wound, killing an animal, aggravated assault and possessing a firearm contrary to an order. During submissions, defence lawyer Jason LeBlond argued for five years less time served and made note of the sentence of four years less time served issued to Lorntsen, effectively arguing his client deserved an extra year because he fired first but no more. In reaching her decision, judge Susan Mengering made note of the outcome for Lorntsen as well as a six-year term for a man of about the same age for a similar offence committed in Victoria. She also made note of “significant Gladue factors,” or factors related to the person’s Indigenous background that must be taken into account. Mengering outlined a “disjointed and chaotic childhood” surrounded by violence, suicide and abuse. By age 17, he was out on the street and had been living in drug houses since then. Mengering also noted Campbell-Alexander’s relative youth and expression of remorse as well as efforts to complete his schooling and learn a trade while in custody. In the end, Mengering settled on 5 1/2 years less time served prior to sentencing. Campbell-Alexander was also issued a lifetime firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample.

1-3,5 2 4 6 7-9

A&E COMICS CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS MONEY

10-12 11-12 11-12 13-16 17

The light keeps getting greener for this region’s proposed gold mine. The Blackwater Gold Project was granted an environmental assessment certificate by the provincial government, said the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) on Monday. The combination of B.C.’s Ministry of Mining and Ministry of Environment made the announcement. The plan to operate the mine was given the go-ahead based on 43 conditions that must be met. “The conditions were developed in consideration of the issues raised by communities, the public, Indigenous groups and government agencies, and were collaboratively developed with Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation (LDN), Ulkatcho First Nation (UFN), and the Carrier Sekani First Nations (Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, Saik’uz First Nation and Stellat’en First Nation),” said the two ministries in a joint statement. The Nazko First Nation was also part of the consultation process. “Having considered the Environmental Assessment Office’s (EAO) assessment report, submissions from Indigenous Nations and the recommendation of the EAO’s executive director to issue a certificate, the ministers are confident that Blackwater will be built, operated and closed in a way that ensures that no significant adverse effects are likely to occur.”

The mine’s area of interest is located about 110 km southwest of Vanderhoof. It has a designed footprint of about 4,400 hectares. Once it is operational, the claim is expected to yield about 60,000 tonnes of ore per day with a net annual production of 22 million tonnes per year during the 17 years the mine is expected to last. New Gold estimates construction of the new mine would create 2,436 person years of direct employment in B.C. during the two-year construction period, with $1.29 billion in project expenditures in B.C., contributing $312 million to B.C.’s gross domestic product. During operations, New Gold predicts that Blackwater would directly support 396 full-time equivalent jobs per year, with annual expenditures (excluding labour) of $161 million per year in B.C., directly contributing $258 million to B.C.’s GDP annually. The 43 conditions that must be met include criteria like dust control, caribou monitoring, tailings dam safety transparency, noise mitigation, and much more. They are itemized on the EAO’s website under the Projects heading. New Gold must still obtain a number of permits from the federal and provincial government in order to move the Blackwater Gold Project ahead, but the environmental assessment certificate was considered the last remaining critical hurdle for the company.

Feds promise $13M to honour missing women David REEVELY The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The federal government will fund more than 100 projects to “honour the lives and legacies” of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef announced Monday. Funding for the commemorations will

Sleeping passenger left on plane MONEY 17

www.pgcitizen.ca

come from a $13-million fund Monsef unveiled in Winnipeg. “Our government is listening to survivors and families who have told us that in order to move forward meaningfully, we must also pause to remember and honour those who are missing and whose lives have been lost,” Monsef said. — see ‘WE WILL NEVER, page 3

Newsstand $2.00 incl. tax Home Delivered 95¢/day

58307

00200