Saturday, September 29, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916
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Red carpet treatment Prince George Cougars defenceman Joel Lakusta high-fives fans who have lined up for the Cougars red carpet arrival prior to Friday’s home opener. See page 9 for full coverage.
Orange Shirt Day raises awareness Cannabis bylaws set for public hearing of residential school legacy Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca The tidal wave of abuse and pain suffered at the hands of those in charge at residential schools will stop with her generation, Stephanie Jack said during an Orange Shirt Day event held at CNC’s Prince George campus Friday. CNC held similar events at all its campuses to acknowledge the need for Canadians to get informed about the history of residential schools and the intergenerational trauma which has impacted Aboriginal people. “This is a very emotional event,” Jack said after she offered a few words to those gathered at the event. “I believe the trauma crossed over the generations. My great grandparents suffered through it, my grandparents suffered through it and my parents suffered because their parents became alcoholics to cope and they beat them. In turn, my parents became alcoholics and drug abusers, which definitely impacted me and my life. But I’m definitely taking a stand now. I don’t want this kind of thing to continue on.” Jack told the story of how Orange Shirt Day got started. Phyllis Webstad was one of the thousands of children who were sent to residential school. Webstad was excited to begin her education, and to mark her first day of mission school when she was six years old her grandmother bought her a
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CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHRISTINE HINZMANN
Stephanie Jack speaks about how she has been affected by residential schools during Orange Shirt Day at the Prince George campus of the College of New Caledonia on Friday. bright orange lace shirt. Much to her dismay, Phyllis was stripped of all her clothing, including her beloved orange shirt, and it was never returned to her, Jack recounted. “She didn’t understand why they didn’t give it back to her,” Jack said. “It was hers, after all. Since the colour orange always reminded Webstad of that she says her feelings didn’t matter because no one cared about how she felt – like
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she was worth nothing.’” Jack explained that because that’s how Webstad felt at the time and continued to feel that way for years to come, she now tells this story so people can learn about residential schools and hopefully it will bring some understanding. Jack said Webstad shared her story to perhaps encourage survivors of residential school to share their stories. — see ‘IT’S A SYMBOL, page 3
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A public hearing will be held Monday for a series of amended bylaws and a revised policy setting out how the city will treat cannabis sellers and growers. Pending council approval, cannabis retailers will be able to set up shop within select commercial zones but must apply for rezoning on a case-by-case basis which means each and every proposal will have to go through a public hearing. Also, no store will be any closer than 1.6 kilometres from another – similar to the policy in place for liquor stores – and their hours will be set at 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., with council reserving the power to increase or decrease them also on a case-bycase basis. In passing the related bylaws and policy through the first two readings on Sept. 17, council voted 6-3 to lower the fee for a business licence to $1,000 from $5,000 for both retailers and growers. As for growers, the provisos remain the same as for those currently in place for producing medical marijuana and the term “cannabis” will replace “marijuana” in the existing bylaws. Part of a regular meeting, the public hearing will start at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall.
Also on the agenda: • A report on the effectiveness of a graffiti removal service will be presented to council. From May 1 to Aug. 31, the B.C. New Hope Society, which operates Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community and Farm, provided the service to private property under an agreement with the city. Over that time, 34 graffiti removal efforts were completed while five remain incomplete due to ongoing interaction with bylaw services or delay in receiving the owner’s consent to remove the graffiti. • Council will consider granting a one-year temporary use permit to Solutions Staffing Inc., which offers support services for recruitment and training of health care professionals, for 1224 Houston Lane. An informal public hearing is scheduled for the matter at 7 p.m., prior to the formal hearing on the cannabis bylaws. The full agenda is posted on the city website at www.princegeorge.ca.
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Pending council approval, cannabis retailers will be able to set up shop within select commercial zones...
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