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Friday, May 3, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

HANDOUT PHOTO BY CHRISTOS SAGIORGIS

Hulk-sized donation Actor Lou Ferrigno, left, stopped by the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation’s third annual Spirit Day fundraiser on Thursday ahead of his appearance at Northern FanCon this weekend. Local business owner Cam Thun, second from right, made a significant donation to support the fundraiser – presenting a cheque to Spirit of the North CEO Judy Neiser, second from left, and Spirit of the North past president and Citizen publisher Colleen Sparrow.

Animal rescue society P.G. living wage falls benefits from 100 Heroes Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca The Prince George Animal Rescue Society is $14,000 taller in the saddle. The society was lifted to that new financial height in less than an hour, when 100 local heroes pooled their money and rode this local charity to victory. The society took home the whole purse collected by the 100 Heroes organization. It was the first cheque presentation event ever held by the new philanthropy campaign, and the tears shed by founder and operator Nicola Redpath illustrated the power of this initiative. She called the big financial windfall a transformative turn for her ability to protect the most vulnerable animals of the region. For those who don’t know of the local animal rescue society, it is a farm in the Pineview neighbourhood of Prince George that takes in all manner of livestock in need of rescuing. These animals are often in medical distress, often suffering from malnutrition, and they eat. A lot. “We have lots of skinnies, lots of SPCA horses, those are always the worst ones,” said Redpath, describing the menagerie right now. “And a tonne of dogs, just an influx, lately. We have 12 dogs right now, and four rescue horses. Plus, there’s a meat auc-

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tion coming up so we’ll be going to that and maybe save a few more horses from there. That’s the last stop, for those guys.” The money comes at almost the same time John Brink and his group of companies made their annual donation, so the farm is about to undergo a transformation. Brink, a local wood products and real estate entrepreneur, is in year three of a five-year pledge to the animal rescue society for cash and lumber. That, and the new, unexpected windfall of $14,000, means a rush of construction can take place. Redpath identified some of the society’s priorities. They will install automatic waterers with winter warming abilities, so hours per day are not devoted by the organization’s volunteers just to make rounds of water delivery to the troughs of the farm. New fencing can be built, to streamline the penning facilities for the large livestock. The dog section can receive an upgrade to kennels and storage. The cat section will be upgraded to allow the distressed felines access to a safe outdoor enclosure as well as their indoor recovery room. And perhaps most importantly, the farm’s fields needed a major facelift so they can grow more of their own hay supply. The wildfires this past summer cause

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the price of hay to skyrocket, and the supply of hay to be depleted all across the region. It put a huge personal burden onto Redpath’s family as well as the society they run. Redpath feels incredibly lucky to be the recipient of this big pool of money. It was rare enough that someone joined the 100 Heroes club and used one of their three nomination tickets to name the Prince George Animal Rescue Society as a worthy local cause. It was rare enough that the society ticket was drawn as one of the three finalists. But it was especially rare that Redpath was able to prevail at the finals. Each of the three finalists – the other two were School District 57’s Community Schools Program and the AiMHi organization – gets to tell a short story about themselves at a meeting of the 100 Heroes. The heroes then vote on which of the three they reacted to best. “I thought I was going to throw up,” said Redpath. “My stomach was in knots right as soon as I arrived. It came in waves of nausea. That was the longest five minutes of my entire life. It wasn’t even the public speaking, I’ve done that before, but it was just the thought of what was on the line. The stakes were just enormous for us – the thought of what we could do with all that money.” — see ‘WE GOT, page 3

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The provincial government’s childcare policies are being credited for a significant decrease in how much a family needs to earn to meet basic needs. According to a report released this week by the Living Wage for Families Campaign, the so-called living wage for the North Central region – Prince George, Quesnel, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James – stands at $14.03 per hour, down from $16.51 in 2018. The living wage is the hourly amount that each of two working parents with two young children must earn to meet their basic expenses – including rent, child care, food and transportation – once government taxes, credits, deductions and subsidies have been taken into account. The group pointed to two programs the provincial government has introduced for the difference: the income-tested Affordable Child Care Benefit and the universal Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative. Combined, they add up to a $8,994.75 savings on childcare expenses, a 40-per-cent reduction compared to 2018. If not for those initiatives, the living wage amounts would have increased to $16.67. “The B.C. government’s child care investments are a major win for families with children, and we are also pleased to see the government’s new employment standards legislation which will provide workers and their families

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However, without sustained public investment in key family expense areas... the living wage decline we see this year will be short-lived...

— Halena Seiferling with greater economic security,” said campaign organizer Halena Seiferling in a media release. “However, without sustained public investment in key family expense areas – especially housing – the living wage decline we see this year will be short-lived and families will continue to struggle.” The median monthly rent for a three-bedroom unit in Prince George rose by $52 in 2019 to $988, a 5.6 per cent increase. “We call on the provincial government to take similar bold measures in other policy areas, especially on the high and rapidly growing cost of rent,” Seiferling said. “Maximum rent increases should be tied to the unit rather than to the tenant to protect housing affordability, and existing affordable housing stock must be protected.” In other parts of the province, the living wage in Metro Vancouver was measured at $19.50, in Kamloops at $14.38 and in the Fraser Valley, $15.54.

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