Prince George Citizen Thursday March 12, 2026

SATURDAY, MARCH 28 • 6:00PM

THURSDAY, March 12, 2026

AWAC asks council for communicaton, collaboraton

More city help is needed to deal with downtown issues, councillors told

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

A local non-profit asked Prince George city council for more communication and collaboration on downtown issues at a Monday, March 9 meeting.

First on the agenda was a presentation from executive director Connie Abe and president Lorna Waghorn-Kidd of the Association Advocating for Women and Community.

Waghorn-Kidd outlined their programming, which includes sober living facilities, an emergency shelter, supportive housing and other programming for local women and girls.

She said that they were having a communication problem, having sent a letter to city council last October and again around the beginning of the year without having received a response to either.

During their presentation, the pair said that downtown Prince George is facing several visible issues like public substance use, property damage and other disorder incidents that stem from deeper systemic issues like homelessness, addiction, trauma and other health needs that aren’t currently being met.

They said that their philosophy isn’t just to contain these issues long-term, but to move forward on improving them.

Abe said that housing leads to stability that helps in turn address other issues being seen in downtown Prince George.

While stabilizing people’s immediate situation by providing immediate support, Abe said that long-term work is needed to transform a person’s life. Promoting recovery from the underlying issues can lead to reduced strain on public safety, increased employment and training opportunities, increased engagement with the community and

A person takes shelter against a downtown storefront in this photo from the summer of 2024. AWAC is calling on city council to step up when it comes to addressing issues like homelessness and crime.

long-term urban revitalization.

The forced displacement of encampments, like with the disbanding of Moccasin Flats last year, “disrupts connections between service providers and individuals, hindering trust and recovery processes.”

Moving people from one place and another, Abe said, does nothing to solve underlying issues.

She said the city’s current recovery system has gaps that make it difficult for people to transition from stabilization to long-term transformation of their circumstances.

Abe said if the city wants to see fewer calls to emergency services and fewer people on the streets, three things are needed: incorporate recovery into public safety strategies, support for enhanced recovery programming and involving frontline agencies in municipal planning to address the root causes of issues facing the community.

After the presentation, Mayor Simon Yu thanked AWAC for the work it has

here in Prince George because they don’t want to go back to the source of their problems, but they help those who want to return home and stay in contact during that transition.

Coun. Trudy Klassen asked for more information on why some clients don’t want to go back to their home communities. Abe said sometimes clients going back to their family wouldn’t be in a healthy environment while others have trouble finding work.

One of their clients, Abe said, is from Alberta. She added that many clients who have gone through AWAC’s Olive’s Branch program are still sober and still keep in contact with the organization about their success.

Coun. Garth Frizzell apologized for the lack of response to their letters and asked the presenters to reiterate their key requests so that he can bring them up with the intergovernmental committee.

done since it was incorporated in 1994 and suggested that their concerns be forwarded to the city’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs for further discussion.

Waghorn-Kidd said their letter from last October asked to be able to work with committees and they requested to address council since they never heard back.

She handed a copy of the October letter to city manager Walter Babicz, who said he would get city staff to respond to it.

“I want to thank you for the work you do downtown, but let’s include all the partners,” Waghorn-Kidd said.

Coun. Brian Skakun said someone close to him used AWAC’s services a couple of years ago and thanked the presenters for what they do for the community.

He asked them what happens to people who are brought in from out of town for AWAC services and then discharged. Abe said most of those people stay

Coun. Susan Scott praised AWAC’s work, including events like Coldest Night of the Year, and said partnering with the organization is a chance to spotlight the issues they help deal with not just locally but nationally.

Coun. Tim Bennett said that no matter how hard levels of government try, he doubted that they would be able to match the impact created by the number of shelter stays provided by AWAC. He asked what advocacy is needed from the intergovernmental committee on funding for groups like theirs.

While funding has been stable, Abe said, a chance to see how union contracts are allocated will have an impact on partnerships with the federal government.

She added that while sobering services are funded, their funding doesn’t extend to counselling and mental health services that their clients need.

Many of the proceeds from their fundraisers go towards funding mental health services.

The mayor said the city meets regularly with Northern Health and he would help make sure that lines of communication are maintained between the health authority and AWAC.

Councillors support efort to close property tax loophole

Closure allowances reduce assessment on shuttered industrial sites, cutting tax base

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council voted to endorse a call to end the closure allowance for shuttered major industrial and electrical generating facilities at its Monday, March 9 meeting.

The item from the Prince George and Houston chambers of commerce was forwarded to council from the March 3 meeting of the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Relations.

Legislation passed in 2016 allows the owners of major industrial and electrical generating properties to ask BC Assessment for a closure allowance that reduces their assessed value to onetenth of the value they had when they were active.

When those exemptions are granted,

it shifts the tax burden for those property classes onto other property owners to make up the loss.

Committee chair Coun. Garth Frizzell brought forward a report from the Prince George Chamber of Commerce which had in turn received a report from the Houston Chamber of Commerce calling for this allowance to be ended because the reduction in municipal tax revenues is piled onto other taxpayers.

In Prince George, the city was hit by this when Canfor applied for a closure allowance for one of its pulp mills in recent years. The District of Mackenzie has seen its tax revenues drop quite a bit due to the closure of multiple facilities.

Both chambers asked for the city to endorse a resolution calling for the end

The closure of one of Canfor’s pulp mills in 2023 had an effect on the City of Prince George’s tax base, council heard Monday night.

of the allowance to be considered by the North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) at its upcoming annual general meeting being held in Prince George from May 20 to 22.

Frizzell apologized for the short notice, saying the deadline for submissions is Friday, March 13.

As he said during the last meeting

of the intergovernmental committee, Frizzell said he felt comfortable with the resolution as it was being suggested by groups that represent business interests in their communities.

Coun. Cori Ramsay amended the motion to include a submission to the Union of BC Municipalities as well. Ramsay is the UBCM’s current president.

She noted that a lot of closed industrial properties are sitting vacant and unused because large companies can receive a major tax break to keep them closed. It also can have a major impact on municipal tax revenues.

Vote summary

Motion: Council approves the submission of a resolution calling for the end of the closure allowance for shuttered major industrial and electrical generating facilities to the North Central Local Government Association and the Union of BC Municipalities.

City moves to change camp boundaries at Moccasin Flats

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The boundaries of the City of Prince George’s overnight camping site at the former location of the Lower Patricia Boulevard encampment were shrunk and moved at the Monday, March 9 city council meeting.

Last August, the city won its court case to close the encampment once certain court-protected residents of the site were offered new accommodations by BC Housing.

Then, in October, all structures were demolished and cleared out except for one camping trailer that still remains on site.

After the BC Supreme Court ruling came down, the city’s director of administrative services Eric Depenau said that part of the former encampment site would be remediated into a temporary overnight camping site where people could stay overnight from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Currently, that camping site is a 7,449-square-metre section on the eastern edge of Lower Patricia Boulevard. A report written by Depenau for the meeting states that this area, which is bordered by the Millar Addition residential area, has a significant component that is not suitable for people to shelter at due to an emergency access roadway installed in 2023 as well as a steep slope.

“The present TOS site receives significant drainage runoff from the adjacent steep slope,” Depenau wrote. “Unsurprisingly, drainage is a problem during heavy rain and seasonal melts. Consistent habitation and regular fire events over the course of several years is believed to have resulted in significant soil compaction and contamination across the site.”

The way the site is currently shaped, Depenau said, has lead to sprawl along both sides of the roadway. That sprawl along with the general shape has made remediation of the area as well as maintaining firebreaks difficult.

Maintaining the fences around the site has been determined by the city to be cost-prohibitive due to frequent and

severe vandalism.

The new overnight camping area being proposed is a smaller 2,699-square-metre at the eastern edge of the current site.

To prepare for the new borders, Depenau said that city staff have installed signs with relevant portions of the city’s Parks and Open Spaces bylaw in plain language, levelled the site, remediated the soil, improve drainage, carried out wildfire fuel mitigation, installed new fencing and gates.

He argued in the report that the smaller site would lower maintenance costs, make it easier to enforce overnight sheltering costs, prevent the site from expanding out into firebreak areas and improve both drainage and snow removal access.

While Prince George has not set a maximum size for temporary overnight sheltering sites, Depenau said Vancouver and Victoria have set three square metre limits for each individual’s camp site and Prince George Fire Rescue recommends a buffer of three metres or more between tents.

This would mean that the new proposed site could accommodate 20 shelter sites.

The report also discusses the current use of the site. Depenau said in the report that since last September, very few people have been seen camping at the overnight site with no one having been seen camping there at all since November.

However, he noted during the

meeting that the site has seen more use in recent weeks as the temperature has warmed up.

Based on information from third-party providers, Depenau said Prince George has 151 active low-barrier emergency shelter beds.

The last point-in-time homelessness count conducted in November 2024 indicated that there were 204 people in Prince George experiencing absolute homelessness — meaning that they either slept outdoors or in emergency shelters.

Should more than 20 campsites be required at the new overnight site, Depenau is proposing that an area to the west be designated as overflow only in cases when capacity is reached. That would allow for more than 60 additional temporary overnight campsites.

During the meeting, Depenau said the main goal was the separation and change to the borders of the shelter site and the addition of the overflow designation. He said administration wasn’t looking to change any other aspects of the site.

Coun. Tim Bennett asked why the proposed overflow area was so large. He said the plan is to partition the main site from the overflow site with an internal gate. If city staff see a lot of need around 7 to 8 p.m. at night, staff can open the gate to allow access to the overflow site.

The western extent of the overflow area is already blocked off by a locked gate.

The particular size of the overflow area isn’t likely to have much of an impact on operations, he said.

Coun. Brian Skakun asked if residents of the Miller Addition had provided feedback on the proposed changes. Depenau said there hadn’t been any consultation to this point, but the changes to the bylaw would essentially codify a change to how the area has been managed since.

In response, Skakun asked how the changes would prevent the site from returning to its former status as a more permanent encampment. If 15 to 20 people show up and don’t leave, he said it likely wouldn’t be easy to remove them.

“We can’t put our entire bylaw services resources … on this one area, in my opinion,” Skakun said.

Depenau said that since the legal decision allowing the city to clear out the encampment last year, the city actually has the ability to enforce its bylaws at the site where it couldn’t before.

He said people camping at the site are not allowed to bring vehicles or large objects.

If people refuse to leave at the 9 a.m. checkout time, the city can ask for law enforcement to step in though Depenau said the city doesn’t want it to escalate to that point and would start with outreach before escalating.

Coun. Cori Ramsay said it’s frustrating that the city still has to have a temporary overnight sheltering site so that it can be allowed to enforce its bylaws despite all the work that has been done to help secure housing.

She said area residents are probably frustrated to have the site nearby as well and said she would only support the change reluctantly.

Coun. Ron Polillo agreed it was frustrating, but the reality is that the city has to have the site in order to enforce its bylaws. He said a new supportive housing site will open in the coming months with 50 beds and the former North Star Inn is having 30 new beds coming online, which would hopefully help the situation.

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Overfow prevents another encampment taking shape

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Coun. Kyle Sampson said the city and its staff had gone through a tremendous amount of work to tackle one of the most entrenched encampments in the province and that should be recognized.

He said the province is putting municipalities in a difficult position by making them provide campsites to enforce their own bylaws, when the issue should be handled as a provincial responsibility.

Sampson asked whether the city could amend the bylaw to get rid of the overflow section entirely to prevent the number of users to balloon.

Depenau said the amendment presented was created with the help of legal advice, which includes consideration of the number of available spaces compared to the number of people in Prince George experiencing homelessness.

Having the overflow, he said, gives administration clarity on how to act

when the regular shelter site is full.

City manager Walter Babicz said that having the overflow provides the city with protection against the establishment of another entrenched encampment because it prevents the argument that Prince George isn’t providing enough temporary camping spaces.

Responding, Sampson said the city needs to take a harder line and move people along to a shelter or somewhere outside of the city if the main site is full.

If the temporary shelter site is at occupancy and the city didn’t have an overflow, Depenau said it’s his understanding that people would be able to exercise a Charter right to set up an encampment anywhere in the city.

This situation leads to the city having to provide an ever-increasing amount of space, Sampson said, which he felt was unacceptable.

He moved for the matter to be referred to the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs and asked for

monthly updates from administration on the situation and how much it’s costing Prince George.

Coun. Susan Scott noted that residents had provided residents at the former permanent encampment with materials for building shelters that were both unsuitable and difficult for the city to eventually clean up. She asked whether there’s any sense that situation has improved in recent months.

That, Depenau said, was likely a result of the entrenched nature of the previous encampments.

These days, people must bring all their belongings with them as they leave the site and anything left behind is thrown out.

Coun. Trudy Klassen asked about how the Parks and Open Spaces Bylaw and the temporary overnight shelter site interact. Depenau said that if the city did not have a designated temporary shelter site, people would be able to camp wherever they want during the night.

Mayor Simon Yu said what was being proposed was a result of council’s hard work and the shrinking of the temporary campsite represented progress. He said that people in the area have suffered tremendously in recent years, but the situation has been improving.

Vote summary

Motion: Council approves first three readings of a bylaw amendment establishing new boundaries for the temporary overnight shelter site on Lower Patricia Boulevard.

Result: Approved 7 to 1, with Coun. Garth Frizzell absent.

• In favour: Ramsay, Polillo, Scott, Skakun, Yu, Klassen and Bennett

• Against: Sampson.

Motion: Council refers the issue of temporary overnight shelter sites to the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Result: Approved unanimously, with Coun. Garth Frizzell absent.

Conservatve leadership hopeful visits

BC Conservative leadership candidate Yuri Fulmer talks to interested constituents at the Twisted Cork Sunday, March 8. The Vancouver resident is the chair of Fulmer & Company, global chair of United Way Worldwide and chancellor of Capilano University. Fulmer toured the area and spoke to party members. There are nine people in the race to replace John Rustad as leader of the Official Opposition. Party members will make their choice on May 30.

New North Nechako neighbourhood taking shape

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The proposed second phase for a North Nechako Road residential development moved forward on Monday, March 9 as Prince George city council passed the first three readings of a rezoning bylaw.

“The Banks on the Nechako River” is a multi-phase development along North Nechako Road, just north of the Nechako River.

For Phase 2 of the project, documents attached to the March 9 meeting agenda state that T.R. Projects Ltd. is looking for 4.7 hectares of 4445 North Nechako Rd. to be rezoned from a combination of RS2: Single Residential and RT1: Two Unit Residential to RM3: Multiple Residential.

On top of that, 0.8 hectares is proposed to be rezoned from RT1: Two Unit Residential to RS2: Single Residential.

At the same time as these rezoning applications are under consideration, city staff note that the developer has applied for 5.3 hectares of land to be subdivided into 29 low-density residential lots and one multi-family lot.

Currently, there is a restrictive covenant on the property which prohibits the construction of apartment housing as a principal land use as well mirror image two-unit housing.

Staff’s report also notes that a public information session was held by L&M Engineering on behalf of the developer at Edgewood Elementary School on Oct. 7, 2025.

A summary of that session provided by L&M said that seven people attended the one-hour meeting, which said that attendees asked about the type of housing being proposed, future plans for the area, future plans for traffic access and more.

Other documents from L&M are also provided, including a supplemental servicing letter.

That letter notes that water modelling suggest that water pressures for the planned development should meet peak hour demands, but the recommended minimum fire flow for firefighting purposes won’t be met until the neighbourhood’s water main is looped through to North Nechako Road.

It also recommends upgrades to sanitary sewer mains in the area to meet increased use expected from the

proposed developments.

A separate supplemental traffic letter by L&M notes that needed traffic improvements identified while the North Nechako Neighbourhood Plan in 2019 should continue to be pursued except for the planned left turn from North Nechako Road onto Pebble Creek Boulevard, which should be lengthened by 15 metres.

L&M proposes that a restrictive covenant be placed on the property to note the water modelling results and the requirement to meet standards in accordance with the BC Building Code.

Two letters of support for the rezoning were received, both from people involved in the development of the project.

Sunny Kullar, who introduces himself “as an active builder and agent working extensively in The Banks subdivision,” said that the development would alleviate the limited availability of housing forms in the neighbourhood.

Darcy Porsnuk, “the realtor representing the developer and builder in the area,” said the housing permitted under RM3 zoning will attract people to the area, especially younger families and seniors looking for newer properties.

In a late addition to the agenda handed out in council chambers, a letter of opposition was received by Ray and Tina Wium of Edgewater Crescent. They argued that the proposed development goes against the established character of the neighbourhood, it would create traffic safety issues, that it goes against the master plan for the neighbourhood, that the new three to four storey buildings would overshadow other homes in the neighbourhood and that it would strain nearby water and sewer services.

The city’s director of planning and development, Deanna Wasnik, said that administration recommends approval of the rezoning, but that the final reading of the bylaw be withheld until the restrictive covenant is registered.

First three readings of the rezoning bylaw were approved unanimously.

Vote summary

Motion: Council votes to rezone 4.7 hectares of 4445 North Nechako Rd. to RM3: Multiple Residential and another 0.8 hectares to RS2: Single Residential. Result: Approved unanimously, with Coun. Garth Frizzell absent.

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OPINION

Shutdowns hit harder when closure allowance kicks in

KENNEDY GORDON Citizen Managing Editor

Northern BC communities know better than most how closely their fortunes are tied to major industry. Mills, mines and power generation facilities are more than workplaces — they’re economic anchors that support families, local businesses and the municipal tax base.

When an industrial business shuts down, it stops paying most of its share of property taxes. This means the people who used to work in those operations and the rest of their community must now share more of the tax burden.

That’s why a push to revise or eliminate the closure allowance in the BC Assessment Act deserves strong backing from municipalities across northern BC — and why Prince George is in the right place to help lead the charge.

The closure allowance, introduced in 2016, allows owners of major industrial and electrical generating properties to ask for their assessed value to be reduced to one-10th of its previous level once operations shut down.

The idea may have been to provide relief to companies during difficult transitions. In practice, however, it has often deepened the financial strain on communities already dealing with the loss of major employers.

When a facility closes, the impact is immediate. Jobs vanish, families move away and economic activity slows down.

Those are serious blows on their

ARRAYS DRONE SERVICE PHOTO

Fraser Lake Sawmill opened in 1977 of the shore of Fraser Lake, 158 km west of Prince George. Its closure in 2024 was one of many forestry shutdowns in the area in recent years.

own. But the closure allowance throws another punch by sharply reducing the municipal tax contribution from the shuttered property.

And that’s the issue.

Roads still need to be maintained. Water systems and public infrastructure still need to work. Fire crews must still be operational.

When the industrial tax base drops, the difference doesn’t vanish — it shifts onto homeowners and small businesses.

Rethinking the closure allowance would help stabilize municipal revenues during some of the toughest moments a community can face.

By staggering the reduction over a number of years or preventing industrial properties outright from dropping to a tiny fraction of their former assessed values, municipalities would

maintain a more predictable tax base to keep essential services running. That kind of stability matters.

Resource communities already deal with economic ups and downs driven by global markets, commodity prices and changing industrial demand. When a major facility shuts down, it often happens with little or no warning, leaving the community with no time to plan or adjust to the financial hit. By either eliminating or staggering the closure allowance, communities would have time to absorb the shock and focus on recovery and diversification.

Just as important, reform would help protect residents and local businesses from sudden tax increases.

Municipal stability plays a key role in long-term economic confidence. Communities that can maintain infrastructure, services and public amenities are far better positioned to attract new investment and keep residents from leaving, even during periods of industrial transition.

Prince George has seen the effects of the current system firsthand. When Canfor closed the pulp line at its Prince George pulp and paper mill, the resulting closure allowance reduced the city’s tax revenues by $1.2 million, and increased the rest of the property owners tax bill by one per cent to make up for it – as Citizen publisher Cameron Stolz pointed out in a column he wrote about a year before he bought the paper.

In Mackenzie, the industrial portion of

the tax base has dropped sharply over the past decade as multiple facilities received closure allowances.

Those examples highlight a broader challenge facing northern communities, one that requires the assistance of Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey and Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle.

The encouraging news is that momentum for change appears to be building. The idea now before Prince George council originated with the Houston Chamber of Commerce and was passed along through the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. Support from the business community underscores how widely the need for reform is being recognized.

With the North Central Local Government Association’s annual meeting set for Prince George this May, the city has a timely opportunity to take a leadership role in bringing other municipalities from across the region together behind a common message.

Northern BC communities have long powered the provincial economy through resource development and industrial production. They deserve a taxation framework that strengthens their resilience rather than magnifying their challenges, and if they speak with one voice, the province is far more likely to listen.

Revising the closure allowance would be a practical step in that direction — and one all northern municipalities should support.

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Enough discussion — tme for acton on mental health

DON ZUROWSKI Guest columnist

Communities across British Columbia, including my own in Prince George, are exhausted by endless discussion about visible disorder in our streets. If we are serious about improving public safety, public health and human dignity, we must move beyond describing the problem and commit to implementing solutions with urgency.

When people refer to “homelessness,” they often mean the visible presence of individuals living on the street. While housing instability is certainly part of the issue, it is not the whole story.

A significant proportion of those living outdoors are struggling with severe mental illness, addiction or concurrent disorders. Some individuals resist structured housing because it requires compliance with rules, sobriety standards or behavioural expectations. Any serious response must acknowledge this complexity.

Sometimes when seeking solutions, we must look back first, as often history and experience are wonderful teachers. Let’s look back:

The Province of BC first opened a mental illness institution in Victoria in the 1870s and later in New Westminster, acquiring or assigning a large parcel of land in Coquitlam, for the construction of a large mental institution later to be called Riverview, which was a men’sonly treatment facility. In the 1930s a women’s wing was added. Later, Essondale was added to the grounds, increasing capacity for treatment.

The treatment facility included operating Colony Farm, which was operated by residents of the treatment centres and became award-winning for its farming excellence.

As early as the 1960s, provincial keepers of health policy worked toward developing a service model that aspired to provide support for mental health patients, including Riverview resident patients, in their home communities

and resourced community hospitals with wards that could provide some services. Successive governments reduced funding and capacity at Riverview and finally closed it completely for inpatient care by 2012.

The closure resulted in overloading regional and local health-care service providers that, in most cases, did not have the scale and expertise to deal with the issues, including violence that commonly comes with mental illness.

The result is visible in many, if not most, communities in BC today. Overburdened emergency rooms, primary care beds and first responders are increasingly strained by crises that are fundamentally psychiatric and social in nature.

In Prince George, facilities such as the University Hospital of Northern BC, along with police, fire and ambulance services, operate under sustained pressure, responding to repeat crises with a relatively small but high-needs population (often referred to as “frequent flyers”).

Let’s resist the temptation to blame successive governments — there is enough to go around. Instead, be mindful that we can do nothing about yesterday, but tomorrow is a blank page and available for solutions.

I am not advocating for a repeat of Riverview, as many professionals in the mental health field would attest that it is a dated service and treatment model. However, I believe a mandatory in-house treatment centre — mandatory treatment of scale — is essential

to reclaiming our communities and humanity while serving the cognitively impaired.

At its peak in the 1950s, the Riverview treatment centre provided some level of care to nearly 5,000 residents. See the history of BC Riverview on YouTube, approximately 10 minutes.

I am not advocating that its treatment model was applicable today, as we should remember they were providing treatment before psychotic drugs were available. However, it did provide a safe, structured living environment that included work, recreation and treatment.

In my view, we must change the approach we have been taking over the last number of years and decades if we want major change. The solutions require that we have new tools.

Solutions require that people live by the rules of the land, and if they have cognitive limitations affecting capacity, they need to be institutionalized or incarcerated.

Either solution may take people out of primary care beds and emergency rooms at hospitals, freeing them up for traditional health-care services and their intended purposes.

Some of these people could live independently if housed. However, they must have the cognitive and personal discipline to live within a structured tenant environment.

If you have not got the cognitive capacity to live by the laws of the land, you need to be institutionalized or

incarcerated, which would take some pressure off our primary health-care system. We should not expect them to co-locate with people who should be institutionalized or incarcerated.

Currently our primary care services such as University Hospital of Northern BC (primary care beds, emergency rooms) and first responders (ambulances, fire services, police, etc.) are overburdened.

“In September 2025, Premier David Eby announced that Prince George will host one of two new provincial involuntary care facilities aimed at treating individuals with severe, concurrent mental health and addiction challenges.

The initiative will establish 100 new secure beds across the province, with existing buildings in Prince George and Surrey repurposed for rapid implementation.”

Delay is costly. The premier’s definition of rapid implementation is different from mine — slower does not necessarily mean better; most commonly it just means slower. The economic costs cited as cause for delay are flawed, as our current approach is causing a shortage of primary care beds and emergency rooms for their intended purpose.

It is best practice when looking at a current problem to first examine the root causes of the problem: (1) the increasing societal impact of illicit drugs on vulnerable people; (2) the province of BC had facilities similar to Riverview as early as 1876.

Successive governments in the last few decades, in their collective wisdom, decided to close them and send the problem back to home communities. Let’s correct an error of our past and better serve these vulnerable people while improving the livability of our communities.

Don Zurowski is a Prince George business leader with experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors. For three terms (1999-2008) he was a Prince George municipal councillor.

OPINION

Pay increase approved for Regional District of FraserFort George directors, chair

I understand we need better pay structures to get people into these seats. But I am only willing to do this if my costs don’t disproportionately target low-income property owners. Remember some of us got into this real estate market so we could have a quality life vs. a grind life. Every wage that increases without meaningful management is a cost increase we can’t afford.

Something I learned a long time ago in business is that the highest-paid workers need to be your earners, not your burners.

These levels of governance need to find alternative revenue options before pay increases happen.

Tammy

Lopes

Construction industry, organized labour at odds over Giddens’ new bill

Public Sector Construction Projects Procurement Act. Private member’s bill.

Kiel, I do agree with you in part. This bill would increase competition with the bidding process. In saying that, it must be emphasized our unionized employees are among the best craftsmen to be offered. If this bill is to succeed it must include all contractors and employees be from BC, or at the very least Canadian.

No foreign bids — tax dollars stay in BC.

Milton Mahoney

Editorial: Why a Prince George ‘staycation’ makes more sense than ever

What I find funny is many long-time residents of the city actually have very little clue as to what PG has to offer because these people are comfortable in their daily routine and visit the same places regularly, and stepping out of their comfort zone is tough for them to do.

There is no shortage of things to do for all age groups, from bowling, mini golf, arcades, escape rooms, VR, fine dining and coffee shops galore to niche shopping all over the city, walking trails, hiking within the city limits, biking, and the list goes on.

The only question is how far out of your comfort zone are you willing to go. Don’t view the city as dirty and worn out — view it with the idea that you’re a tourist in your own city. Explore, be amazed.

Dearth

Editorial: Why a Prince George ‘staycation’ makes more sense than ever

I appreciate your optimism, and you bring up some great points.

I often go bowling, or to comedy shows, drive-in movies, theatre and hockey games. Unfortunately, not many people seem to be attending local events and activities. Not sure if it’s a sign of the times, with people preferring to be hermits at home, or if people just can’t afford to get out. Zangief

Editorial: Sometimes borrowing just doesn’t make much sense for the city

What needs to happen is we need a good voter turnout, and we need to remove the administrative caucus we have in place right now.

A 6 to 3 vote does nothing for moving Prince George forward. The last administrative “ask” ($30 million) is proof that admin controls council, not the mayor. These asks were what the last budget deliberations were about — more money. Admin didn’t get it that way, so knowing they have a controlled council they went for the big ask and got it.

Admin knows it will be next to impossible to be defeated via the AAP. So they got what they were after without question, from our so-called elected representatives, except for one councillor (six out of nine). So tell me again how they (council) represent the will of the people of Prince George — more like the will of city admin. Till we clean up council they will spend with reckless abandon until Oct. 17, 2026.

John Zukowski

BC to adopt permanent daylight savings time

What a bad decision! The 2019 referendum offered only two options: stay with time changes for daylight saving time or permanent daylight saving time.

Those of us who understood that this second option was a very bad choice, particularly in the northern and central areas of BC, had no option to choose to stay with permanent standard time.

The referendum failed to be valid by leaving out a critical option. Now we are being forced to accept a bad design to our detriment.

Daylight is required to regulate peoples’ nervous systems, and a later sunrise in winter is going to cause stress, frustration and sleep deprivation for BC residents.

For example, sunrise in midDecember in Prince George will be at 9:30 a.m. and 10:02 a.m. in Prince Rupert.

Bad decisions lead to poor outcomes.

I have read that the three western states have changed to preferring permanent standard time once they are able to get their voters to pass the legislation.

I hate the semi-annual time change, but this will be much worse!

HJMSPG

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Fiddler cancels PG appearance over Thea Coburn fallout

Former symphony musician attended a white nationalist event in Vancouver

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Jarred Albright, a professional fiddler and banjo player based in Edmonton, has pulled out of the a concert organized by the PG Old Time Fiddlers’ Association.

Albright told The Citizen that his decision to cancel his appearance at the March 27-29 Fiddle Jamboree was due to the way the association’s board of directors handled the case of member Thea Coburn, who was photographed by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network while attending a white nationalist event called Exiles of the Golden Age in Vancouver.

Coburn was let go from her staff position at the Prince George Symphony Orchestra following an internal review, but at the time Albright cancelled his appearance she was still a member of the Old Time Fiddlers.

The association organizes regular performances featuring traditional fiddle music in the area.

Albright shared emails between himself and the Old Time Fiddlers board with The Citizen. In them, he raised concerns over Coburn’s involvement in the association and the attention her actions had brought to the organization.

“Due to the actions of the current Prince George Old Time Fiddlers’ board in handling a politically and ethically charged public situation within their membership, I do not feel comfortable aligning myself with the organization until proper reparations are made,” the email reads.

The president and board members of the PG Old Time Fiddlers’ Association branch, with additional advice from their provincial president, informed The Citizen that Coburn was removed from some of her roles at the organization following her attendance at Exiles of the Golden Age.

“After initiating a thorough investigation within our organization, we made the decision to remove her from all teaching and leadership positions, as well as from every active role within the organization,” the statement reads.

“This included playing in our dances, public events and involvement in the Jamboree. At present, she holds no position or responsibilities in the club.”

In the emails sent to Albright that he shared with The Citizen, the PG Fiddlers state the following about Coburn’s involvement in the event.

“Each of us spoke privately with Thea and invited her to one of our meetings to state her position,” the email reads.

“She said she had been drawn to the event because of an interest in European history, as it was advertised as an examination of pre-Christian European history. Tickets were available online.”

The Citizen attempted to contact Coburn about her involvement in the event through the board but has yet to receive a response.

Albright responded to the above statement in emails sent to the board.

“The host page advertising the event no longer exists, and the host group ‘Exiles of the Golden Age’ doesn’t even have a website, but even a cursory

involvement at Exiles of the Golden Age also caught them by surprise.

“This person was not representing the Old Time Fiddlers when she played her fiddle in Vancouver last July, but her attendance at the event surprised some of our membership, as she has always been cheerful and accepting of everyone in our diverse club,” the statement reads.

Another concern for Albright was that emails with his concerns about Coburn’s involvement were shared with Coburn by members of the board.

He told The Citizen that the emails being shared with Coburn complicated the situation for him.

amount of research leaves little doubt as to its origins, inspirations and motives,” Albright’s email reads. “Since her attendance was made public, neither the individual nor the organization has shared an official position explicitly denouncing nationalist or neo-Nazi views or offering apologies or reparations for the damage caused. That seems like the bare minimum response when a valued member of an organization is publicly affiliated with a hate group.”

The board and president of the PG Fiddlers, in the statement sent to The Citizen, addressed their stance on discrimination and diversity.

“The Prince George Fiddlers are steadfast in their commitment to fostering musical growth within the community — an environment where diversity, inclusion and mutual respect are valued,” the statement reads. “Our group stands firmly against any form of discrimination, bullying or intimidation, as these behaviours have no place in our organization. Our primary mandate is to encourage and celebrate the art of old-time fiddling, and we welcome people of all ages and musical abilities to ensure everyone feels at home in our association.”

They added that Coburn’s

“I had assumed that a matter of this level of delicacy would be kept confidential,” Albright said. “The fact that it was immediately shared with the person in question speaks to the closeness the board has with this person.”

The board and president, in their statement, responded to his concerns.

“When our jamboree headliner submitted questions by email to our club about the individual, we forwarded them to her so she would be aware of his concerns and could decide how to respond to questions that only she could answer,” the statement reads.

“We didn’t feel it was our business to speak on her behalf. Otherwise, this was considered an internal board issue and no other emails were shared.”

Albright has previously attended a jamboree in Prince George and had positive experiences performing there, adding that he may return at a later date.

He said he was originally contacted and made aware of Coburn’s involvement by a former board member who had resigned over the handling of the situation.

“It’s pretty cut and dry to me,” Albright said. “I can’t put my career on the line by aligning with a board that is broken. I’m not sure what the play is here, but it would be an extremely uncomfortable situation to be part of right now.”

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Three Old Time Fiddlers board members resign

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

In total, three members of the board have resigned following Coburn’s attendance at the event and the board’s handling of the situation.

A former board member who wished to remain anonymous over safety and privacy concerns told The Citizen they were disappointed in how the board handled Coburn’s involvement.

“I resigned after two other directors stepped down,” they said. “I stayed on a bit longer to try to get movement on the issue, but after receiving a lot of feedback from club members and others in the music community, I felt I was in the minority on how it should be handled. At that point, it seemed best that the board and I go our separate ways.”

They added that they spoke with Coburn, but her answers did not satisfy them.

“As a board, we had never dealt with anything like this before,” they said. “Board members were given the option to reach out and speak with her, and I

did. She was very polite and there was nothing aggressive in our conversation, but her answers left me wondering where her beliefs and values stood. She did not feel comfortable commenting, which may have been because she was still dealing with issues at her job, but I didn’t feel the situation was handled in a way the board could support.”

They added that they conducted their own research into the Exiles of the Golden Age event, which left them with little doubt about its motives.

“Doing that research was eye-opening,” they said. “I realized this world exists in our country, even though it’s not something I was familiar with. I listened to some of the conference sessions on YouTube and there was very discriminatory content. One of the organizers said at the end that being there in person was ‘an act of loyalty to an ideal.’ Hearing that made it clear what the problem was.”

The former board member added that Coburn brought many benefits to the club during her time in leadership roles and that they were disheartened by her involvement in a white nationalist gathering.

“No one ever suspected anything like this of her,” they said. “She’s done great things for our club, including helping connect us with the symphony, and she has been a strong leader. It’s sad and disheartening that this situation has led to the club breaking apart and a schism forming after all the good she had done.”

Another former board member who also wished to remain anonymous said the lack of clear communication left a feeling of dissatisfaction and raised cnocerns about the club’s position.

“It’s all about communication,” the person said. “The measures the club has taken may be appropriate, but the issue was widely publicized and the club’s response hasn’t been clearly communicated. That leaves questions about the club’s position on discrimination.”

RCMP ordered to pay damages to abuse complainants

Indigenous people claimed they were abused at Catholic-run schools in PG and Burns Lake

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decided Monday, March 2 that the RCMP discriminated against Indigenous people who accused the Mounties of failing to properly investigate claims they were abused at Catholic-run Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake and Prince George College in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Accommodating the Indigenous crime complainants by ensuring they were told that they could report allegations of abuse, be given an update about the outcome of the investigation into their allegations of abuse, and not be repeatedly offered a polygraph would not have interfered with the RCMP’s duty to conduct its investigations in the public interest,” CHRT member Colleen Harrington wrote in the 145-page decision, which was originally expected in early 2025.

Harrington ruled, on a balance of probabilities, that race and national or ethnic origin were factors in “some of the adverse differential treatment or denial of service that was experienced by some of the complainants and their witnesses in relation to the RCMP’s investigations.”

Six Lake Babine Nation members took their complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2017: Cathy Woodgate, Richard Perry, Dorothy Williams, Ann Tom, Maurice Joseph and Emma Williams. Woodgate, Tom and Emma Williams died before the tribunal began hearing testimony in May 2023 in Burns Lake.

Hearings continued via videoconference throughout that year and into early 2024.

Harrington ordered the RCMP pay $7,500 damages, plus interest, within 90 days for pain and suffering and wilful and reckless discrimination to: Beverly Abraham (the first person to report to the RCMP in 2012), Ruby Adam, Ts’il Kaz Koh elder Pius Charlie, Joseph, Shuswap member Peter Mueller, Perry, and the estates of Emma Williams and Cathy Woodgate.

“Specifically, I find the following conduct to be discriminatory,” Harrington wrote.

“Not advising Peter Mueller that he could separately report his abuse at Prince George College; not providing Richard Perry, Maurice Joseph, Emma Williams, Cathy Woodgate, Ruby Adam and Pius Charlie with an update on

the outcome of the investigation into their allegations of abuse or, in the case of Ms. Woodgate, Ms. Adam and Mr. Charlie, not advising them that they could separately report their abuse at Immaculata to the RCMP; and, by asking Beverly Abraham repeatedly to take a polygraph after she disclosed being sexually assaulted as a child.”

The RCMP must review policies, procedures and training so that its investigations of historical abuse allegations are trauma-informed and culturally appropriate. It must report the outcome of the review to the commission within a year.

The compensation was less than the $20,000 sought for each Indigenous person who suffered abuse at the schools and was disbelieved or deprived of justice. Harrington rejected the demand for a new investigation led by an Indigenous organization.

“I have found that the investigations conducted by the RCMP were thorough and that they acted diligently in seeking out and interviewing many complainants and witnesses.

While I appreciate that the complainants and their witnesses are unhappy with the outcome of the investigations, the decision whether to recommend a charge is not before the Tribunal.”

The RCMP had argued the tribunal did not have jurisdiction because

criminal investigations are not services defined by the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The RCMP also maintained its investigation was not discriminatory because it conducted a thorough and professional investigation “in a respectful, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive manner.”

Harrington stated that the case was about the RCMP investigations. It was not about whether the alleged abuse occurred or the conduct of A.B., who worked as a gym teacher and coach at the schools.

Due to a publication ban, he was identified only by the initials A.B.

In her conclusion, Harrington accepted the complainants and their witnesses experienced abuse by teachers and nuns and priests and other adults at the schools and they distrust police for a variety of reasons. The inquiry made it clear that mistrust of police and lack of cultural safety remain barriers to Northern BC Indigenous people.

“I heard evidence that there is a desire and some movement to change the relationship between the RCMP and Indigenous people in this region and urge the RCMP to make continued efforts to shift the negative social memory Indigenous people in the region hold for the RCMP to a positive one,” Harrington wrote.

Two people charged afer extensive drug investgaton

CITIZEN STAFF

Police in Prince George say two people have been arrested and charged following a lengthy drug trafficking investigation that spanned nearly three years.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, officers with the Prince George RCMP Street Crew Unit, assisted by the North District Emergency Response Team, executed an arrest warrant at a residence on the 3700 block of Lansdowne Road on Feb. 27.

The arrests marked the culmination of

an investigation that began in December 2023, police stated in a press release.

The probe initially focused on two locations: a business in the 100 block of Quebec Street and a residence on Lansdowne Road. Both sites were searched in April 2024 under warrants issued under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

During those searches, officers seized illicit drugs, drug trafficking paraphernalia, contraband cigarettes, two firearms, and more than $100,000 in cash. Police say one of the suspects arrested during the operation had approximately 25

ounces of cocaine and 20 ounces of fentanyl on them at the time.

In January 2026, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada approved multiple charges against two individuals.

Kerridge Andrew Lowley faces four counts of trafficking in a scheduled substance, nine counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition.

Robyn Ann Bradley is charged with 13 counts of trafficking in a scheduled substance and four counts of possession

for the purpose of trafficking.

Both were arrested on outstanding warrants on Feb. 27.

While police did not name the business on Quebec Street, Bradley has been identified as a co-owner of The Coven House, which sells wiccan, witchcraft and pagan supplies.

Lowley was arrested and tried in connection with a machete attack at the Econo Lodge motel in August 2022. He was acquitted of aggravated assault and breaking and entering in March 2025.

Another two years, eight months in jail for manslaughter

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 32-year-old man convicted last summer of manslaughter after fatally shooting a man in a Prince George apartment building will spend another two years and eight months in jail.

On March 6, the day before the third anniversary of the crime, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ronald Tindale sentenced Dakota Rayn Keewatin to seven years in jail. Since Keewatin had spent 1,054 days in custody since his arrest, he was entitled to 1,581 days, or four years and four months, of credit under the timeand-a-half rule.

The minimum sentence for manslaughter with a gun is four years, but the maximum is life in prison.

Crown prosecutor Anna Novakovic asked for a 10-year jail sentence. Jason LeBlond, Keewatin’s defence lawyer, said his client should be jailed for a gross five years — 245 new days, after credit — and ordered to serve two years probation.

Tindale found Keewatin guilty of manslaughter last Aug. 19, rather than the second-degree charge, because there was no level of planning the March 7, 2023 crime.

Keewatin was at home in the Connaught Hill apartments when he was suddenly provoked.

The shooting took place in the context of a botched home invasion at gunpoint and lasted approximately seven seconds.

Tindale said he had a “certain amount of sympathy” for the situation that Keewatin found himself in, which moderately reduced his moral blameworthiness.

Tindale ruled that Keewatin, once he disarmed the victim, intended to kill or cause serious bodily harm.

“The nature of this offence was violent, reckless and brutal,” Tindale said. “The offender shot eight times at Mr. Smith, hitting him three times as he was running away. The offender shot down the hallway of an apartment building, putting other people’s lives at risk.”

At the time of the crime, Keewatin

was electronically monitored while on bail, under a firearms prohibition, and carrying a criminal record that includes convictions for assault and assault with a weapon.

Tindale acknowledged the victim impact statement from the sister of the 20-year-old victim, whose name was protected by a publication ban. She wrote that her family suffers “unbearable” emptiness and is filled with grief “that never fades.”

Pre-sentencing reports, including a Gladue report that considers an Indigenous offender’s background, said Keewatin was disconnected from his Indigenous family, culture and community and that he had experienced intergenerational trauma. He also suffered poverty, abuse, neglect, mental illness and addiction. Tindale accepted the remorseful comments that LeBlond conveyed on Keewatin’s behalf, in which he said Keewatin continues to “live with the burden of the life that he had taken on the date of this offence.”

The trial was Keewatin’s second in 2025 in which self-defence was a significant factor.

On March 3, 2025, Keewatin and another man, Kerridge Andrew Lowley, were acquitted for the Aug. 11, 2022 aggravated assault and break-and-enter at the Econo Lodge City Centre.

Keewatin disarmed a man wielding a

machete, then used the machete on the man. The victim required emergency surgery to repair a nearly severed right arm and gashes to the right hand and knee.

Justice John Gibb-Carsley said it was “not unreasonable for Keewatin to defend himself by going on the offensive and attempting to neutralize what was a hostile threat to him.”

Judge corrects record in favour of acquited hunter

Dawson Smith was cleared of violating a court order in 2025

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Justice Ronald Tindale agreed March 4 to correct the record for a hunter who was acquitted in early 2025 in Provincial Court of violating another judge’s order. “I will say it took me a couple of reads to understand the differences in the orders and the effect it made,” Tindale said. “So I can see how this occurred.”

Richard Dawson Smith pleaded guilty under the Wildlife Act on Dec. 13, 2022 to hunting on cultivated land without the owner’s permission and avoided trial. Under a plea bargain, Judge Oliver Fleck ordered Smith to retake the Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) safety and ethics course by March 31, 2023 before hunting or accompanying another hunter again after March 31, 2023.

A man who continued to hunt based on a signed judicial order was later charged by a conservation officer because of an error on the judge’s part.

Smith relied on Fleck’s signed order and continued to hunt. Smith retook CORE in April of that year, due to course availability.

But, when Fleck pronounced the sentence, he inadvertently altered the wording of the joint submission. A conservation officer, who believed Smith violated the order that Fleck delivered,

contacted Crown counsel, who sought to have the order ”corrected.”

Fleck signed the corrected/amended order, but nobody advised Smith and he was not provided a copy.

In May 2024, Smith was charged with

violating the court order by hunting and shooting a lynx on Dec. 28, 2022.

On Jan. 10 last year, Judge Cassandra Malfair acquitted Smith, because Fleck had misspoken during sentencing and did not intend to change the negotiated sentence.

“It’s really through inadvertence and a number of errors, I suppose, even by the parties not catching the exact words that were spoken by the judge,” Tindale said. “The sentencing judge was bound to accept the joint submission, barring any concerns that the proposed sentence was contrary to the public interest.”

Tindale agreed with both Crown prosecutor Lara Vizsolyi and self-represented Smith to grant the appeal and honour the original sentence, despite the fact the order is expired and moot.

“It’s clearly in the interest of justice and fairness to the appellant that the record accurately reflect the joint submission,” Tindale said.

Last December, Smith sued the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, the BC Conservation Officer Service and four officers for defamation.

No hides no horns for Wyoming hunter, BC judge rules

A hunter from Sheridan, Wyoming will not get the antlers and hide from a thinhorn ram mountain sheep that he killed during a 2023 expedition.

BC Supreme Court Justice Sandra Wilkinson granted the Crown’s appeal on Feb. 25 of a Provincial Court decision that said Zachary McDermott was entitled to their return.

McDermott, a non-resident hunter, was on a guided hunt for thinhorn sheep, also known as mountain sheep, on Aug. 21, 2023 in the West Toad River area.

McDermott paid US$70,000 in guiding fees, travel costs and a tip. During the trip, he shot and killed two rams. He

An American who spent US$70,000 on a guiding hunting trip in BC went over his limit by shooting two rams. The antlers and hides were confiscated and he was fined $450.

exceeded his bag limit, by killing more than one ram, and it was not open season for the specific ram.

The antlers and hide were confiscated and he was fined $450 by the Conservation Officer Service, which arranged for

the Wyoming Game Warden to serve the violation on Feb. 23, 2024. McDermott paid the fine five days later.

In Provincial Court on Feb. 5, 2025, Judge Brian Daley ruled that McDermott honoured his obligation by paying the fine, so he was “lawfully entitled to the hide and antlers of the eight-year-old ram.”

Wilkinson said that McDermott chose not to challenge the tickets, so the hearing judge erred by treating the application as an appeal.

“It was not open to the judge to engage in that analysis or effectively vacate the convictions,” Wilkinson ruled.

McDermott’s real estate business biography says he is the president of the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation.

Setlement reached in class-acton motel fre lawsuit

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A $5.25-million settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit over the 2020 Prince George motel fire that killed three people.

CFM Lawyers LLP and Dick Byl Law Corporation, firms representing anyone who was injured or lost property, said March 5 that the sum is the proposed settlement for the July 8, 2020 fire at the Prince George Econo Lodge Motel.

One of the occupants, Leonard Hay, is the representative plaintiff. In his August 2020-filed claim, he accused Mundi 910 Victoria Enterprises Ltd., Choice Hotels Canada Inc., the City of Prince George and All Points Fire Protection Ltd. of negligence.

In December 2022, Justice Marguerite Church deemed Hay a suitable representative plaintiff for the common cause and certified the lawsuit as a class action.

A statement from the law firm said that the proposed settlements do not involve findings or admissions of wrongdoing.

“This fire was a tragedy. Our legal system can never truly address the losses of the guests who were injured or the

Flood damage lawsuit against city transferred to Vancouver

A judge agreed with the lawyer for a commercial property owner and its tenant and moved their lawsuit against City of Prince George to B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

Justice Ronald Tindale approved the application by 684755 BC Ltd. and fabricator and manufacturer C.F.I. Steel Ltd. on Feb. 23.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for nuisance, trespass, negligence and gross negligence after floods on Oct. 23, 2024 and March 3, 2025. The lawsuit said the floods were caused by ruptures of a 3000-millimetre asbestos cement pipe near 401 First Ave., between Lower Patricia Boulevard and Kingston Street.

The plaintiffs were in the midst of investigating the first flood when the second one happened.

The lawsuit was filed April 22, 2025 in Prince George, the day before the statutory filing deadline, in order to preserve the claim.

“The litigation is still in its earliest step and no further substantive litigation steps have occurred since the filing of the notice of civil claim,” said the application by the plaintiffs’ lawyer James Stephen.

None of the allegations has been tested in court. The plaintiffs have yet to serve City of Prince George with the notice of civil claim. April 22 is the oneyear deadline to do so.

The plaintiffs argued for their right to control the course of litigation and intend to proceed in Vancouver where Stephen is located. The majority of evidence is managed and maintained in Vancouver and the plaintiffs expect to rely on the opinions of Vancouver-based experts.

George Courthouse to seek a judge’s approval of the settlement and protocol for distributing funds and fees.

If approved, the claims will be settled without a trial.

Deadline to contact the lawyers is June 3 for people who fall under the following categories: registered guests at the hotel on July 8, 2020; people present at the hotel on July 8, 2020 at the time of the fire; people present at Yolks All-Day Family Restaurant on July 8, 2020 at the time of the fire, and family members of the people who died in the fire.

families of the three who were killed,”

Jamie Thornback of CFM Lawyers said.

“We started this class action to get fair compensation for the people who were injured by this fire. These settlements achieve that goal.”

On July 30, lawyers will go to Prince

In May 2023, BC Supreme Court Justice Margot Fleming acquitted suspect Kyle Aster of arson and criminal negligence causing death.

The case relied on a video showing Aster in the area around the time the fire broke out. But the video evidence did not show anyone actually setting the fire. Investigators could not determine how the blaze was set.

BC Human Rights Tribunal rules in university’s favour

UNBC employee was red over concerns about his conduct

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Human Rights Tribunal member dismissed five complaints against the University of Northern BC by an employee who said he was the subject of discrimination and retaliation.

In a Feb. 10 decision, Edward Takayanagi said it was unlikely for Dr. Richard Pattinson to prove a connection between UNBC conduct and his complaints of retaliation.

Takayanagi also ruled that UNBC had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons to fire him.

“I find there is no reasonable prospect Dr. Pattinson would be able to establish that there is a connection between his mental disability and the termination,” Takayanagi decided.

Pattinson complained in 2018 and 2019, alleging discrimination in employment.

Both matters were resolved by settlement offers.

In March 2020, Pattinson began work as a facilities membership assistant at the Northern Sports Centre.

Four underage female guests complained about his conduct in February 2021.

The university hired an investigator who learned of more complaints.

Meanwhile, in May 2021, Pattinson provided a doctor’s note seeking accommodation for mental disability and required his supervisor to communicate with him only in writing.

The university declined to accommodate the restrictions and placed Pattinson on leave of absence while seeking alternate positions for him. In September 2021, he provided a medical note that said he was unable to work for medical reasons.

A facilities membership assistant at the University of Northern BC’s Northern Sport Centre was fired in 2022 after it was determined that he had committed bullying and harassment.

That was also the month in which the investigator found that Pattinson had committed bullying and harassment contrary to UNBC policy, which led to his firing in November 2022.

“The university sought information on whether Dr. Pattinson’s misconduct was related to his disability,” Takayanagi wrote.

“The university was unable to determine, on the medical information it received, that Dr. Pattinson’s disability had a connection with his behaviour.”

Former UNBC stafer loses discriminaton complaint

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed discrimination complaints by a former executive director of the Northern BC Graduate Students’ Society (NBCGSS).

Alden Chow held the position at University of Northern BC (UNBC) from November 2018 until his Oct. 31, 2023 resignation.

In an Oct. 29, 2021 complaint, he accused the society of discrimination on racial, colour, ancestry, place of origin and mental disability grounds. He is of Chinese descent and has anxiety and depression.

“Mr. Chow says the society was a toxic workplace and he was forced to resign because of the discrimination he experienced and the board’s failure to respond reasonably,” said the Feb. 11 decision by tribunal member Ijeamaka Anika.

The former executive director of the Northern BC Graduate Students’ Society filed a complaint against the University of Northern BC, alleging discrimination.

Chow complained about three November 2020 incidents involving a person who Anika decided to call “Ms. M.”

Chow alleged that Ms. M. posted a video that spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic in a group chat that included Chow and the NBCGSS board.

“Mr. Chow says the video is clearly stating that Chinese people are attempting to impose a technocracy and totalitarian model to commit genocide.’ Second, that Ms. M told other members of the board that a student had complained that someone at the society had been ‘curt’ and based on the student’s physical description of

the person, Ms. M told the student it sounded like she was talking about Mr. Chow.”

Also, at a board meeting, Chow said Ms. M. expressed skepticism about the official pandemic death toll and the efficacy of vaccines, and said public health orders were civil liberties issues.

NBCGSS successfully applied to dismiss Chow’s complaints without a hearing.

Anika agreed that there is no reasonable prospect that Chow could prove the discrimination or that the sharing of the video violated the Human Rights Code.

“On the evidence before me, there is no reasonable prospect that at a hearing, the tribunal could find that Mr. Chow was constructively dismissed,” Anika decided.

NBCGSS is run by a board of directors elected by members and represents all master’s and doctorate students at UNBC.

Constructon industry, unions at odds over new bill

MLA Kiel Giddens says his proposed bill isn’t anti-labour

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

A Prince George MLA’s new private member’s bill that would eliminate the requirement for publicly funded projects to be worked on by union members is drawing praise from construction industry groups and criticism from organized labour.

In a Thursday, March 5 media release, Prince George-Mackenzie Conservative MLA Kiel Giddens announced he was putting forward the Public Sector Construction Projects Procurement Act.

Giddens is also the Opposition’s labour critic.

While the text of the bill has yet to be publicly released, Giddens told The Citizen in a Friday, March 6 interview that 2018 procurement rules implemented by the NDP require public sector projects to only be worked on by union members.

His bill, he said, would make those projects labour-neutral and introduce fair and open tendering.

“When you limit the labour pool and when you limit the number of bidders on a public project, costs are going to rise,” Giddens said.

“The bids will not be reflective of open competition and that’s why we’re seeing very large capital cost overruns. Cumulatively, since 2017 when the NDP came into government, they are $17 billion over their overrun on their capital plan and they’re 158 years combined behind schedule.”

Projects that have been significantly over budget under this policy, Giddens said, include upgrades to the Trans-Canada Highway, the new Cowichan Hospital, the replacement for the Pattullo

Bridge between Surrey and New Westminster and the Broadway Tunnel in Vancouver.

He also said cost overruns required the government to remove the four-lane upgrade to Highway 97 from Cache Creek to Prince George from its capital plan.

Asked if he was concerned that the policy could lead to overruns on the $1.6 billion acute care tower project at the University Hospital of Northern BC, Giddens said it is still in the procurement process and it is unclear whether it has the same restrictions in place as the others he listed.

After Giddens’ press release went out, some construction groups signalled their approval for the bill.

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association said it was “strongly endorsing” the bill, which it said would “save taxpayers billions of dollars over the next year.”

ICBA president Chris Gardiner said that given BC’s fiscal situation, the last thing it should do is drive up the price of government projects by limiting who can bid on them.

“By freezing out workers who are not unionized, or are members of progressive unions or employee associations, the NDP government is denying workers and contractors fair opportunities to bid and win work, wasting taxpayer dollars, and delaying the delivery of new infrastructure for the public when people need it,” Gardiner said.

The Progressive Contractors Association of Canada and its president, Paul de Jong, said it also “strongly supports” Giddens’ bill.

“The Public Sector Construction

Projects Procurement Act is a smart, forward-looking reform that puts fairness and value for taxpayers first,” de Jong said.

“By opening up public projects to all qualified builders, British Columbia would benefit from more competition, resulting in better outcomes and a more innovative construction sector. Our contractor members have shown across Canada, including right here in BC, that collaborative, modern labour models deliver projects efficiently and to the highest standards. This legislation helps ensure that all builders and their workers get the opportunity to contribute to the province’s infrastructure needs.”

However, criticism also came in from labour groups like BC Building Trades, which said it strongly opposes the bill.

“This proposal is a direct attack on provisions that prioritize local labour, ensuring British Columbians are first in line for jobs on BC projects,” the organization’s release said. “It is an attack on fair wages, safe working conditions and the skilled union workforce that builds and maintains the province’s public infrastructure.”

The group said it was also disappointed that the bill was introduced just a couple of days after several BC Conservative members, including Giddens, met with them and didn’t bring up that this bill was in the works.

Teamsters Local Union 213, whose website said it has offices in several communities including Prince George, said in a release that it “condemns the BC Conservatives in their latest attack on the working people of British Columbia.”

Local 213 principal officer Tony Santavenere accused the party of misunderstanding the current rules.

“The only requirement of a worker to participate in a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) or Project Labour Agreement (PLA) project is that they sign a union card,” the release said.

“The process takes less than a minute. In signing that card, workers receive excellent wages, benefits and safety protections all guaranteed by union-negotiated collective agreements.”

Giddens denied that his bill is an attack on labour.

“There’s so much opportunity within the capital plan for building trades workers to contribute to building the public infrastructure we want,” Giddens said.

“I value the contributions that working people have made, the labour movement moving forward on workplace safety and workers’ rights … my bill even states explicitly that no government now or in the future could require non-union labour on public projects.”

In a statement sent via email, Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside slammed Giddens’ bill.

“On worksites across BC, public infrastructure projects have created good-paying jobs and provided muchneeded opportunities for apprentices to learn their trades close to home,” Whiteside said.

“Workers are building as part of a growing skilled workforce, ensuring that vital projects — the schools, hospitals, and highways that communities rely on — are built to a high standard of quality and safety.

“At a time when we need to be training more people to join our skilled labour force, public projects have provided these very opportunities, and encouraged more people to enter the trades, including women and Indigenous people.

“This bill puts all of this progress at risk. It’s an attack on the belief that British Columbians should reap the benefits from public projects and not be forced into a race to the bottom on wages and working conditions. We’re proud of our work to put BC workers first.”

PG joins push to save Squamish-100 Mile House rail line

A consultant is looking at ways to keep trains running

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The 100 Mile House-to-Squamish rail corridor of the larger Prince George-to-Vancouver line could soon be a thing of the past, but a representative for the Northern Development Initiative Trust told city council on Monday, March 9 that there is an effort to save it.

A report from the NDIT attached to the March 9 meeting agenda states that CN Rail announced its plans to relinquish its lease of the Squamish-100 Mile House rail corridor back to BC Rail in July 2026.

Starting this July, proponents will be allowed to submit offers to operate existing or new train services across the corridor.

“Should no party come forward, the corridor could be sold for net salvage value,” the report said.

The NDIT has heard from multiple communities that this railway is essential for the region it serves and it has been asked to lead a consulting project to figure out a way to save it.

Peter Scholz from Cairnstone Planning, a consulting firm hired by the NDIT, will be on hand at the council meeting to discuss those efforts.

The report said that the NDIT is working from January through May to figure out a new governance and ownership model in conjunction with First Nations, municipal and industry partners.

He said that there’s a potential for tracks along the corridor to be removed permanently starting this July.

The initiative, he said, was started by many of the mayors of communities along the rail line because they felt that the provincial government was not moving quickly enough.

The contract is being led by both Scholz, who has training in municipal and regional planning, and Dean Dokkie, a councillor with West Moberly First Nation.

Showing a map of rail lines in BC, Alberta and Canada, Scholz gave a brief history of railways in Western Canada. He said many rail lines were connected to complex supply chains and manufacturing between different cities, regions and provinces.

Over time, much of that manufacturing collapsed and the former rail customers changed to transporting goods from ports to major centres on large trains on class one railways rather than the smaller trunk lines.

This, he said, left a lot of small and medium enterprises in the lurch — especially in the Prairies.

In the Prairies, there have been short-line point-to-point railways with a single line that have emerged after this. Because of BC’s topography, there are fewer lines.

But, Scholz said that there could still be traffic carrying minerals, logs and other natural resources in this province.

The goal is to establish what has been done in places like Saskatchewan, but in a shorter period of time.

The other factor in the Prince George and south rail lines is that the rail lines in the Fraser Canyon are vulnerable. The CPKC and CN Rail lines intersect and are near the Trans-Canada Highway.

If a natural disaster occurs, it could cut off both rail lines and the highway. That could leave access from Prince George and Washington State as the

sole routes of transporting goods through parts of BC.

To succeed in this initiative, Scholz said they’re looking for a credible railway company, involvement from First Nations and a common understanding among communities the line could serve.

So far, three First Nations have expressed interest, he said. He thanked Mayor Simon Yu and Coun. Trudy Klassen for their assistance and interest so far.

He asked council to endorse a resolution to be forwarded to the upcoming May AGM for the North Central Local Government Association for consideration by members. The District of Squamish is also promoting a similar motion from a more southerly perspective.

Coun. Garth Frizzell said that with the deadline for NCLGA resolution approaching, he would like to see council endorse the item as it could be a key economic project and a lifeline in case of natural disaster.

Coun. Cori Ramsay said council should officially appoint Klassen to advocate for the city on this file.

Council approved both the resolution and Klassen’s appointment.

Scholz noted that the rebuilding of previously demolished rail lines has yet to happen in Canada, emphasizing the importance of preserving the existing line.

Coun. Ron Polillo asked who will make

the final decision. It’s unclear, Scholz said. CN Rail has the option to negotiate a sublease or remove itself entirely from the lease, which would lead to BC Rail making the final decision. CN could still decide not to extinguish its lease.

The day after the council meeting, Scholz said, he is scheduled to meet with the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Transit. He said he hoped to potentially find a solution by April or May.

Klassen noted that the NDIT has asked for letters of support from interested municipalities and letter of interest from potential First Nations partners. She asked for council’s support for having the mayor send a letter of support to the NDIT.

Vote summary

Motion: Council endorses a resolution regarding the preservation of the Squamish to 100 Mile House rail corridor to the NCLGA’s AGM for discussion.

Result: Approved unanimously

Motion: Council appoints Coun. Trudy Klassen to officially continue advocacy work on the file for the City of Prince George.

Result: Approved unanimously.

Motion: Council requests that Mayor Simon Yu send a letter of support to the NDIT regarding the preservation of the North Vancouver to Prince George rail line.

Result: Approved unanimously.

Upper Fraser East sees highest snowpack in four years

ABIGAIL POPPLE Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Upper Fraser East region, which spans roughly from Valemount to Prince George, saw normal snowpack levels this January, according to the latest snow survey and water supply bulletin from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

The bulletin is the second of the year, based on data from Jan. 1 through Feb. 1. New numbers are due mid-march.

According to the bulletin, the Upper Fraser East region is sitting at 104 per cent of normal — above the provincial average of 96 per cent of normal.

This is the first time the region has seen normal snowpack levels since 2022.

Last year, the bulletin based on Feb. 1 data recorded snowpack at 81 per cent of normal, while February 2024 saw 61 per cent of normal and February 2023 saw 73 per cent of normal.

The ministry attributes the snowpack to storms during the first half of January, which it says supported generally above-normal mountain snowpack throughout the province.

Tumbler Ridge inquest ordered

communities, public safety systems and matters relating to gender diversity.

However, the region’s snowpack decreased over the course of January,

Last month’s bulletin recorded

per cent higher than the February 1st snowpack.

An atmospheric river event brought warm and dry conditions to BC, the February bulletin says.

Still, the snowpack levels mean that the North Thompson River and Upper Fraser will likely see near normal volumes of runoff this spring.

“Based on current snow conditions, there is an increase in spring snowmelt (freshet) flood hazard for areas in the province currently at normal to above normal snowpack for Feb. 1,” including the Upper Fraser East region, the bulletin says.

“This outlook could change as snowpack levels progress over the coming two to three months, with the April 1 snow survey period being the benchmark survey for understanding upcoming seasonal flood hazards with increased certainty.”

This story originally appeared in

BC’s Chief Coroner has ordered an inquest into the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge.

On March 3, Dr. Jatinder Baidwan said timing of the inquest is pending the conclusion of the B.C. Coroners Service investigation. It will review the circumstances that led to the deaths of six children, two adults and the 18-year-old shooter on Feb. 10, and assess systemic and procedural issues.

Between five and seven jurors will be chosen to hear evidence and make recommendations. A coroner’s inquest is a fact-finding, not fault-finding, exercise. Baidwan said the venue has not been decided, but he is consulting with the Mayor of Tumbler Ridge, Darryl Krakowka.

He said that the inquest will examine circumstances around the deaths, including mental health services in rural

Shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar was born male, but identified as female.

“It’s a very broad spectrum of stuff that we can look at, the terms of refer ence are really as wide as you would want them to be,” Baidwan told report ers in Victoria.

Baidwan said the coroner’s investiga tion will “take as long as it takes,” but the inquest will not go into the backlog queue. It will be held as soon as infor mation is available.

The announcement came six days after Tumbler Ridge’s Conservative MLA Larry Neufeld (Peace River South) called on Premier David Eby to commit to a public inquiry or Coroner’s inquest about what led to the murder spree.

“The timeline of when we’ll be able to do this is defined by the police inves tigation and any associated criminal prosecutions that may come,” Eby said in Question Period.

What’s happening in PG

Prince George Safe Streets Bylaw Enforcement Report Launch goes Thursday, March 12 at 9:30 a.m. at Uda Dune Baiyoh, House of Ancestors Conference Centre, 355 Vancouver St. Dr. Joseph Hermer, chair of the sociology department at the University of Toronto Scarborough, will launch the Prince George Safe Streets Bylaw Enforcement Report. This is one of the largest Canadian studies on bylaw policing and is critical to Prince George’s ongoing discussions about public safety and human rights. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Bannock and coffee provided. Everyone is welcome to attend.

The Arrogant Worms return to Prince George on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Artspace, above Books & Co., 1685 Third Avenue. This is an evening of music, laughs and good ol’ Canadian Canadian-ness. The Arrogant Worms began in 1991 as a comedy troupe performing songs and sketches. The early feedback on the live shows was clear: lose the sketches. So the songs endured and they all remain because the band hates to throw anything out. Tickets are $40+GST at Books & Co. Call 250-5636637 or visit.

Sci-Fi Horror Film Hypnonaut Premiere goes Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at the Prince George Playhouse, 2626 Rec Place. This is a film created by Picaroon Pictures using a TELUS STORYHIVE grant and was filmed entirely in Prince George. For tickets and details visit https://studio-2880.tickit.ca/ events/33673

Live Pro Wrestling goes Friday, March 13 at 5:45 p.m. at the Prince George Civic Centre. This event is a fundraiser for the PGSS Dry Grad. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Scrapbook zone on 18th Ave, 3 Goblins Games, or online. General tickets are $20 advanced and $25 at the door. VIP Tickets are $25 advanced and $30 at the door. VIP limited to 100 tickets. This is night one, of two great shows. For tickets visit www.ticketseller.ca/tickets/ event/live-pro-wrestling

Tarantula Hawk & Spier goes

Saturday, March 14 at 9 p.m. at Omineca Arts Cente, 369 Victoria St. Doomy stoner rock band Tarantula Hawk teams up with two-piece roots punk thrash band Spier. All ages show for the people. Take in music from the fringes, where the good stuff lives. Swim in distortion, communal headbangs, slow riffs, fast riffs, dissidence, dissonance and pure joy. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 at www.madloon.ca/ tickets/p/tarantulaspier

Yarn Geek Grand Opening Party goes Saturday, March 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 6565 Hart Highway. Whether

you’re a knitter, crocheter, fibre fanatic or just yarn-curious, come join the fun and kick things off in true Yarn Geek style. There are giveaways, goodie bags for the first 20 customers with a minimum $25 purchase. Balloons for the kids and sweet treats for everyone. Expect colourful yarn, cozy vibes, and a whole lot of fibre love. This is a family-friendly event, so bring your friends, bring your kids, and bring your project bag.

Tracy Morin teaches Ribbon Skirt Making goes Sunday, March 15 at 10 a.m. at PG Sewing Centre, 1210 Fifth Ave.

This meaningful workshop is a beautiful chance to learn, create, and connect through the art and tradition of ribbon skirt making. Fee is $120 and includes a skirt kit to be chosen from a gorgeous selection at time of payment. Use of a class machine is included. There’s only five spots available. Call 250-563-1533 to save your seat.

Death Harvest Tour 2026 goes Wednesday, March 18 at 8 p.m. at the Legion, 1116 Sixth Ave. Death Machine and PHARM are coming to annihilate on stage with Plagued by Fire and Anomalist supporting. Tickets are $20 at the door or in advance at www.madloon.ca/ tickets/deathharvesttour

Coldsnap Presents Moneka Arabic Jazz that goes Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Led by Iraqi-born artist Moneka, presents a unique and captivating fusion of melodies from Iraq with African grooves and rhythms, blended with the diverse musical influences of Toronto. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/29597-coldsnap-presents-moneka-arabic-jazz

Make a Leather Billfold goes Saturday, March 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Topaz Bead Gallery, 1666 Ogilvie St. Three different styles to choose from. Learn to cut your pattern and sew the seams. Personalize with stamps. Cost is $55. To register visit www.topazbeadsandstudio.shopsettings.com/ billfoldclass

The Narcans present 28 Days Later that goes Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Celebrate March with The Narcans as this will be the last show until May 2026 as April is all about writing new material and getting ready to record. Special guests are 28 Days Later, @Anomalist, a heavy metal band that rocks the stage, and closing will be gritty punk band straight from Quesnel @Outright Lies. Tickets are on sale at Blacksheep Gifts at Pine Centre Mall for $20.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Movie Night featuring Best Little Whorehouse in Texas goes Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at Deadfall Brewing, 1733 Nicholson St. South. Come for the Dolly and Burt classic musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas! WPopcorn is free with a pint. Madbomb, Hot Boii Summer and Space Race goes Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m. doors open at 7 at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Madbomb, Hot Boii Summer, and debut of Space Race. Madbomb offers a powerful revival of emo and post-hardcore reminiscent of the mid-2000s. Hot Boii Summer bring pop-punk hooks seeing guests two-stepping and singing along. Space Race is the metal space opera featuring all original, thematic, heavy metal journey across the stars, telling a tale of adventuring against the odds. $20 at the door. The Diva Show 2 – Even More Divas! goes Saturday, March 28 at 6 p.m. at the Prince George Golf & Curling Club, 2601 Recplace Dr. Marilyn, Britney and Gaga are back with new friends, Madonna, Sabrina and Tina, all legendary divas. Incredible impersonators, fabulous costumes and amazing live vocals are what the Legends, Live! tribute show is all about. Seating starts at 6pm show starts at 7pm. Tickets are $30 at www. eventbrite.ca/thedivashow2

Spring into Easter goes Friday, April 3 to Sunday April 5 at the Northern Lights Winery, 745 Pulpmill Road. Each ticketed guest gets a Passport to Fun with riddles, games, a hidden egg-treasure hunt and more on the to-do list. Complete your passport to get an Easter treat from the Wine Shop and enter your name for a chance to win some Egg-cellent prizes. Activities include paper mache Easter egg crafting station and an Easter themed selfie booth. This is a fully outdoor event rain or shine. For all the details and tickets visit www.northernlightswinery.ca/ spring-into-easter-tickets

Headbangers Ball goes Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre,

COMMUNITY

369 Victoria St. This is an all-ages event showcasing local talent including new band Blood to Ash and Lowr-Lich of Willow River. Headliner is from McBride, Overspray. $20 at the door.

Cruising PG goes every Wednesday and is presented by the Carefree Society, providing accessible and inclusive transportation services in Prince George and area. Cruising PG is a great way to get out of the house, enjoy the city and socialize without a long commitment. Pick up typically begins at 1 p.m. Recommended rate is $20. Fridays in March sees visits to the PG Astronomical Observatory for their open house event at 7:30 p.m. This outing is a unique opportunity to explore, learn and enjoy a structured community experience. Recommended rate is $30. Book early as space is limited. To reserve a seat call 250-562-1397 or email book@carefreesociety.org

Canadian Cancer Society is looking for Wheels of Hope drivers who make a significant impact on the lives of those battling cancer. By providing crucial transportation to treatment appointments volunteers offer not only a ride but also a supportive presence. This role involves flexible scheduling, confirming travel arrangements, ensuring client safety while adhering to CCS policies. CCS will provide training as volunteers join a dedicated team of more than 1600 drivers. Commit to a minimum of half a day to one day per week and be part of a mission to support and uplift those in need. For more information contact Wheels of Hope at 1-800-939-3333 or email volunteer@cancer.ca or visit www.cancer. ca//living-with-cancer/how-we-can-help/ cancer-travel-and-accommodation-services-bc

Craft & Chat at the main branch of the Prince George Public Library goes every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the magazine corner, second floor, where fibre artists are invited to bring their latest projects to share, vent frustrations, brag about successes, get and give help and join in lively discussions. Snacks

provided. This event is in partnership with Great Northwest Fibre Fest.

Myeloma Support Group goes every third Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Commonwealth Financial, 575 Victoria St. Everyone is welcome who has been diagnosed, those who are caregivers, family members and friends. Wheelchair accessible parking at the back of the building. For more information call Viv Lougheed at 250-981-2618.

Parkinson Support Group meetings are the first Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Spruce Capital Seniors Centre, 3701 Rainbow Drive. Meetings are informal and are for sharing information about slowing down the progression of PD. There are guest speakers, special events and biweekly exercise sessions and positive social interaction. Use lower parking lot beside ball diamond to access the seniors centre.

Chronic Condition Support Group

takes place the first Tuesday of every month from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Nechako Branch of the Prince George Public Library, 6547 John Hart Hwy. This is a community social group where people with any chronic condition can come together to socialize, connect and learn from each other. This is a free drop-in event.

Trivia Night at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday at 8 p.m., 1261 Third Ave. Book a spot by calling ahead at 250562-8066. Open Mic at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday from 8 to 11 p.m. Open mic is hosted by Danny Bell and friends.

If you’ve got an event coming up email us at news@pgcitizen.ca to offer details including name of the event, the date, time and location, ticket price and where to get them and a little bit about what’s happening, too. LOCF

CRIB TOURNAMENT

Friday March 13, 2026 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Registration starts at 5:30

Van Bien Elem. School - Training Centre 311 Wilson Cr.

Entry Fee: $25 – Includes free Co ee, Bottled Water, Soft Drinks & Snacks

PRIZES* awarded for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd

*Total prize money based on number of entries (i.e. 50% of net proceeds) Net proceeds to Rotary Club of Prince George Yellowhead to support a variety of community projects Scan

New store for kniters now open in the Hart Mall

Teri Conroy took her business mobile for a few years after COVID

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Teri Conroy is a fibre artist looking to rebuild community around the growing trend that sees people coming back to knitting, crocheting, macrame and any other yarn-related art as their creative outlet with a practical spin — making wearable art.

Pre-pandemic, Conroy had her store, Darling Deviants, in the Northwood Plaza.

“It worked really well for a while as I could have my young son with me and set my own hours,” Conroy said.

“Amazingly enough the city and particularly this whole Hart area has many yarn fanatics so it was very well received and I supplemented that by selling sweaters on Etsy and they went all over the world.”

The sweaters Conroy specialized in creating were the old-style buffalo sweaters that screamed vintage Canadiana, she added.

“People just loved them,” Conroy said.

“I kept that going and then started up knitting classes, crochet classes to a huge response and grew out of the Northwood Plaza space pretty quickly. Then I moved up to the Hart Mall and I was there for quite a while and then COVID hit. I pivoted and tried all sorts of things for a couple of years but at the end of the day, like so many small businesses, there was just no financial recovery from that so I shut ’er down.”

Conroy said making the decision to close the business was a very sad one.

“It was actually traumatic in a way because that was my dream,” Conroy said.

“I built this thing, I built this community around me and then it was gone.”

That lasted a couple of years and then Conroy thought it was time to try again.

Realizing people still seemed reluctant

to gather in small spaces even post-pandemic, she thought she would take an alternate route and hit the road.

“That’s when I bought a cargo trailer, which I converted into a rolling yarn shop called The Yarn Geek,” Conroy said with a smile.

“So I went around town with my Jeep and I was going to all sorts of fairs and events and people were like ‘What?!?

This is crazy! There’s a little store in there!’ So it did really well and then it started getting busier and busier and busier and I couldn’t be everywhere with my trailer all the time.”

She realized the need and want for yarn and that sense of community was still there, she added.

“It was time to reopen the brick and mortar,” Conroy said.

The Yarn Geek grand opening at 6565 John Hart Highway takes place on Saturday, March 14 starting at 10 a.m.

Within the store there is a seating area that Conroy calls the Stitch Lounge.

“If you have a girlfriend and you wanna hang out for the day when the kids are at school, bring a cup of coffee or tea and stitch away,” Conroy said by way of invitation.

There are group stitching times on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. and on

“I am already on the lookout for some great patterns for lessons,” Conroy said.

The other way The Yarn Geek gives Conroy a creative outlet is through her hand-dyeing.

“So I’ve been able to source Merino yarn from Australia and New Zealand and I started dabbling in dyes about six years ago,” Conroy said.

“I really love it. It’s a great way to express yourself. I cannot draw. I cannot paint but I can play with colour.”

Conroy said it was the passing of time that gave her the knowledge on how to combine the colours.

“And sometimes it just depends on how the dye strikes the fibre, temperature, pH level, that all come into play when achieving the colour,” Conroy said. “There is science involved and a basic understanding of colour theory is important.”

Saturday afternoons from 1 to 3 p.m.

Conroy talked about the stock in store, saying the priority is always to first look at what is closest to Prince George and then seek alternatives from all over the world that had to be sourced creatively because of all the barriers that have come from our neighbours to the south.

Conroy said there’s yarn from BC, Alberta and the rest of Canada, and then there’s stock from the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, India and many more.

Conroy has knitwear she has created that’s for sale at the store but her stock has been reduced by the last round of craft fairs so there are some luxuriously soft hats and a couple of pairs of gloves, a kiddo’s sweater, a shawl you have to look twice at because within its pattern are tiny skulls — and the best part? It’s called the Lost Souls pattern. There are a couple of Twisted Witch hats that make you look twice and there’s even a multi-coloured poncho best suited for a dearly flamboyant wee one.

In the past fibre arts had fallen out of favour but since about 2018 there has been a resurgence, Conroy noted.

Conroy will also be hosting lessons once things have settled down after her grand opening.

There are a variety of yarns suitable for any item a fibre artist wishes to create.

Wearable art is cool again, Conroy said. But it wasn’t always like that.

“I’ve played with yarn since I was eight years old,” Conroy said.

“As I grew into my teen years sometimes my friends would make fun of me, calling me a grannie, but I found that being able to do any of this you can make whatever you want for yourself so I first made myself super-cool green and black and silver striped socks and my friends were really jealous. ‘Where did you get those? I knit them!’”

It was nice to have her peers see the value in what she was doing as a teen, she added.

Conroy welcomes everyone to attend The Yarn Geek’s grand opening on Saturday, March 14 at 10 a.m. The first 20 customers will get a goodie bag with their purchase.

“There will be all kinds of surprise awesomeness in there,” Conroy said with a smile.

“There will be balloons for the kids and goodies galore and there will be draws for some really cool stuff.”

For all the details visit www.thegreatyarngeek.ca or on Facebook at www. facebook.com/thegreatyarngeek.

COMMUNITY

BC makes permanent switch to daylight savings tme

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Prince George, along with the rest of BC, sprang forward permanently on Sunday, March 8.

The unexpected announcement that the province will stay on daylight savings time year-round was made on Monday, March 2 by Premier David Eby. It will mean later winter sunrises and an extra hour of daylight in the afternoons. The effect will be felt more in the northern part of the province, including Prince George, where the sun won’t rise until after 10 a.m. in mid-winter.

Erica Kilius, an assistant anthropology professor at UNBC, has been studying sleep and its effects on humans and their culture for years.

“We’ve known for a very long time that it is the constant adjustment period of switching off DST (daylight savings time) in the summer and then taking it off again in the winter that puts people at high risk of accidents,” said Kilius. “People are tired. It’s an hour-long change, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it can greatly affect sleep and fatigue. There’s an increased risk of strokes. There’s an increased risk of heart attacks. People miss their medical appointments. People are more likely to have accidents like deer collisions. We’ve known all these stats for a very, very long time. Particularly in the spring, which is coming up, when we lose that hour of sleep, it has much more of an impact. Having a permanent schedule of sleep without changing it or shifting an hour either way is good and it really helps our sleep and circadian rhythms.”

Kilius said that while the change could be a positive one, there are definite drawbacks due to the decision to stick with daylight savings time, rather than standard time.

“Permanent DST can put people at odds with their circadian clock,” said Kilius. “Particularly in winter. It increases the social jet lag, as we call it. It’s the difference between the biological clock and the social clock, the time that we wake up. It gets more and more

exacerbated in the winter, which can cause more fatigue and a high risk of mood disorders. That’s going to be exacerbated if we keep permanent daylight saving time throughout the winter because it’s going to shift our sunrise an hour later.”

She told The Citizen that other countries that have undergone permanent DST changes have been the focus of research into its effects.

“I know there have been two major studies done, one in Russia and one in the U.K.,” said Kilius. “Russia implemented permanent daylight saving time in 2011, I believe. What happened was there was actually a really interesting study done that studied schoolchildren before the change, during the change, and then they took away permanent daylight saving time and changed to standard time.

“The reason for this was — and it has a kind of interest for Prince George in particular — is that the northern latitudes of Russia have a really hard time with daylight saving time, particularly schoolchildren who are going to school in total darkness. They were getting an hour of daylight later in the evening, right? So instead of a 3 p.m. sunset, it was a 4 p.m. sunset in the winter, which is great. But it had a severe increase in social jet lag. They had more disturbances and it was more associated with appetite disorders, like being overweight, particularly in young girls. They actually did away with daylight saving time and brought back standard time, so not shifting between the two, but just keeping standard time rather than daylight saving time.

“The same thing happened in the U.K., I believe, in the early ’70s. They also tried permanent daylight saving time. It did reduce traffic accidents, it did increase evening light in the winter, but again, in Scotland — so in the north — they had the most severe effects of permanent daylight saving time. Their sleep quality was worse and the lack of morning light had potentially severe consequences for circadian misalignment.”

She believes the decision is a good

one, albeit with a slight adjustment period.

“I think it’s good that we’ve gotten rid of this constant switching,” said Kilius. “This twice-yearly switch on, switch off has really — we’ve known for a very long time — it’s a very difficult adjustment period, even one hour. And I’m sure a lot of people have felt this too, that one-hour time loss or time gain either way can affect you. And so I think it’s really important that we’ve done away with that switching. “

Kilius added that there will be two particular groups of people that will likely be most impacted by this shift.

“There are two groups of people. One is adolescents,” said Kilius. “They tend to be the most impacted by these shifts, and again, it’s everything that I mentioned — it’s the fatigue, it’s being tired, it’s struggling to pay attention in school.

“The other group that’s more broad that’s going to be more affected are what we call the late chronotypes. So

these are the people who prefer evenings. If you’re an evening person, you feel your best in the evening, you tend to work a little bit later. It’s a genetic trait. It’s a behavioural manifestation of your circadian rhythm. It’s also influenced by environment. And so generally the farther north you go, the more late chronotypes there are, and these are the individuals who will be more impacted by permanent daylight saving time.”

School District 57 Superintendent Jameel Aziz, who has experience working in Yellowknife, said he doesn’t foresee any issues.

“I came here from further north, where the sun doesn’t even rise until after 10 a.m,” said “Aziz. “We never had students or parents or school buses having any challenge with that. I think the one thing we do know is that, especially at high school age, students function better and are engaged later in the day.”

Senior fnds housing and hope afer years on the streets

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

After more than 40 years of hard work, Bernard Greene recently found himself unhoused in Prince George.

Life hasn’t been easy for Greene, who grew up in foster care.

Born in 1955, Greene started life in Vanderhoof. Back then there were only about 3,500 people there.

He was the oldest of six children.

“My parents flew away,” Greene said, who chose not to have his photograph accompany the story.

“And when I was six they put us all in foster homes. In different foster homes. So we went through that. I went through that for nine years until I was 15. I was getting too big to be beaten up at that point.”

At the foster home, he was put to work.

“We dug graves, we unloaded grain cars, we cleared land, we Mickey-moused hay bailing, we threw hay bales and put up fence line and turned bush into pasture and we had cows,” Greene recalled.

Greene said his foster dad was a proud man who worked hard and expected everyone else to do the same.

“Work was beat into me, so I worked,” Greene said.

“So you can understand what kind of upbringing I had.”

He got kicked out at 15.

“Got dropped off at a reserve with a box of clothes,” Greene said.

That was when Greene’s friend asked him to join him to put his name in at a local sawmill to go to work and they both got a job.

“I put myself through high school,” Greene said. “I worked straight nights and went to school during the day until I graduated.”

Greene said it was important for him to finish high school.

“We all had to shoot for something,” Greene said.

“Back in 1974 when I graduated I was in a car accident. I was in the backseat, coming back from a dance. The doctor said I wasn’t going to make it but the human body can go through a lot.”

Greene spent his whole life working, never taking holidays.

“I worked all year but then being a workaholic turned me into an alcoholic,” Greene admitted.

“So it was a mad cycle, especially in my 40s. As long as I got money I could be boisterous and have fun. I could buy fast cars and drive in the mountains with a fancy car.”

Greene admits he got in trouble with the law a few times, but he eventually learned from his mistakes.

Greene went to the library and put it out to the universe that he wanted to be at peace.

“What is this life all about? Why are we here? What is our purpose?” Greene questioned.

“And then I was drawn to that section of the library and I discovered Buddhism.”

Greene soon realized that everything that had happened to him was meant to happen because in adversity you grow as a human, he said.

Over time Greene realized that he is a spiritual being and it doesn’t matter

“I moved into the highrise in January and moved out in April and I moved in with my son,” Greene said.

He lived in the basement suite but that didn’t work out for long because the family dynamic was complicated.

For help, Greene reached out to the Prince George Senior Resource Centre’s housing navigator, Jenine Bortolon.

From April to November 2025, Bortolon saw 207 seniors accessing her services at the Seniors Resource Centre, including 27 unhoused seniors, including Greene.

There were 99 seniors at risk of losing their homes for reasons such as increasing rent, not getting along with family members they were residing with or forgetting to pay their rent, while others were under threat of eviction.

Bortolon was able to preserve housing for 13 of those at risk, and 23 of the 27 homeless seniors found housing with her assistance — so far, because she is not giving up on the other four.

Greene presented a challenge for Bortolon to find secure housing.

what’s on the outside.

“I want to be very personable, honest, up front,” Greene explained.

“And I try to stay in the present moment and now I am having a blast with my life. I try to help people come out of the drudgery. Life is what you make it. How you feel in your heart about people is important. You grow to learn to not judge people.”

Greene lived at AWAC for four years in a recovery house and worked the front lines doing outreach.

“I would go out and give out sandwiches and coffee and help the people on the street, giving people rides to their appointments during COVID-19,” Greene said, who is now 70 years old.

“So I’ve been in Prince George for nine years and in recovery for four years. When I was 67 it was like ‘wow, I didn’t know life was this good.’”

When he left the recovery house, he was given the opportunity to access low-income housing through BC Housing but Greene found the restrictions were limiting, especially when it came to having a partner to share his life.

For a time he even considered moving to a smaller town where more housing options were available, but he said he enjoys what Prince George has to offer.

“Here you have diversity, you have people, there’s a good energy here,” Greene said.

“So we did an Aboriginal Housing application for Bernard,” Bortolon said, who was sitting in on the interview.

Greene is now in a bachelor suite and with that comes two meals a day and most importantly, it’s affordable, making it a sustainable solution to his housing issue.

“I was ready to get my own little nest and now I’m feeling spoiled,” Greene said.

“I’m very grateful.”

Greene said he’s learned a lot in this life and continues to give back by volunteering throughout the community, focusing on the most vulnerable people on the streets of Prince George.

“You have to keep moving forward, being optimistic,” Greene said.

“Think positive and have love and forgiveness in your heart.”

Celebratng Ghana’s independence

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Members of the Prince George Ghanian community celebrate after Mayor Simon Yu read the declaration of Ghanian Independence Day prior to raising the flag Friday, March 6 outside city hall. Members of the Prince George Ghana Association say the first flag raising in 2025 helped strengthen connections among Ghanaians in the city. The group is fundraising for a future community centre for Ghanaians and other people from Africa currently living in Prince George.

Art gallery to close for 11 weeks

The Two Rivers Gallery is set to close from April 6 to June 23 so the facility can undergo major renovations.

During that time, the gallery is looking to open in another temporary location which as yet to be determined. That would allow the gallery to continue its programming.

Effects on events like Community Art Days due to the closure are still being figured out.

The repairs are required for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

“Our HVAC system and the stable environment that it controls is required to help us keep our growing permanent collection of nearly five hundred artworks safe, and is also a key factor when borrowing artwork from other museums,” a news release stated.

“Like Two Rivers Gallery, many museums keep collections and exhibition spaces at a relative humidity of 45 to 50 per cent and a temperature of around 21 C. These conditions help deter biological processes, like insect activity and mould and guard against warping or cracking of wood and other natural materials which can cause harm to sculptures, stretched canvases and other forms of artwork.”

Executive director George Harris told the Regional District of Fraser Fort George board on Feb. 12 that the 26-year-old building’s HVAC system had been failing for “well over a decade” and said the repairs are estimated to cost around $2.74 million.

Harris also said that the gallery was going to try to keep its collection in the building during the repairs, as the City of Prince George informed the gallery that it would have to cover about $40,000 in costs to transport them elsewhere.

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Throwback Thursday: Week of March 12

March 12, 1986: A confused yearling moose wandered in the city and ended up lying down for a rest on a patio at Centaur Villa. Conservation of cers arrived at the apartment complex at Ospika Boulevard and Ferry Avenue to tranquilize the animal and safely return it to the wild. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY BROCK GABLE

March 12, 1970: Logging driver Vic Antypovich hauled this 4.5-foot-diameter log from the Fly Creek area to Prince George. The tree came from a stand that survived a major forest re in 1961. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY RICK HULL

March 12, 2012: Zest, Joy Miller’s border collie, was photographed leaping through an obstacle during the Prince George Top Dog Agility Trial at the Agriplex. More than 40 dogs from Northern BC took part in the two-day event. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVID MAH

March 9, 1959: Exterior nishing was being applied to Prince George’s new $2-million 125-bed hospital, due to open in the fall. The hospital’s building committee had already proposed a 40-bed addition. Meanwhile, the new nurses’ residence next door was set to open in April. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY HAL VANDERVOORT

PharmaCare for diabetes, menopause drugs expanded

CITIZEN STAFF

Hundreds of thousands of people in BC now have access to diabetes medications and menopausal hormone therapy at no cost under the new BC PharmaCare National Pharmacare Plan (Plan NP).

The plan, launched Sunday, March 1, will cover the full cost of many diabetes medications and menopausal hormone therapy.

Nearly 570,000 British Columbians living with diabetes will be supported, as well as approximately 160,000 people with menopausal symptoms.

“This is a game changer for people who will now be able to access vital medications without worrying about how much they cost,” Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a press release. “Coverage for menopausal therapy and diabetes medication will increase the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of British Columbians, and this builds on our government’s expansion of PharmaCare, including becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to provide free prescription birth control.”

On March 6, 2025, the provincial government and the federal government signed an agreement for the implementation of national pharmacare in BC, with the federal government providing up to $670 million in funding over three years.

“Many Canadians are feeling the pressure of daily expenses, including the high cost of their medications,” federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel said in a statement.

“Pharmacare programs like this mean that residents of British Columbia will no longer have to worry about the cost of many medications.”

Under the agreement, funding will provide 100 per cent coverage of eligible medications for diabetes, including Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, as well as contraceptives and menopausal hormone therapy, as of March 1.

Coverage will be processed at the pharmacy counter like all BC

PharmaCare plans. Residents enrolled in the Medical Services Plan need to present their prescription and BC Services Card. They do not need to register for coverage.

“Diabetes is an expensive condition to manage, and individuals with diabetes and families often have to pay high out-of-pocket costs to acquire the medication, devices and supplies needed to help reduce the risk of developing serious complications,” said Perry Balascak, a Burnaby resident who lives with Type 1 diabetes, in a press release issued by the Ministry of Health.

“I have lived with this disease for 58 years of my life and I know the importance of managing and navigating this disease. I welcome the federally funded PharmaCare coverage so some of the financial burden can be lifted for British Columbians living with diabetes.”

Covered medications include insulin, metformin and sulfonylureas, such as glyburide and gliclazide, as well as dapagliflozin, empagliflozin, saxagliptin, linagliptin and pioglitazone.

“The launch of the BC PharmaCare National Pharmacare plan on March 1, with first-dollar coverage of all commonly used diabetes tablets and biosimilar insulins, is tremendously welcome news for British Columbians living with diabetes, their families and their doctors,” said Tom Elliott, medical director of BC Diabetes.

“No longer will people living with diabetes have to decide between putting food on the table and filling a prescription for basic life-saving diabetes medication.”

Oral, topical and vaginal menopausal hormone therapies are also covered.

“Menopausal hormone therapy is an effective treatment to reduce menopausal symptoms and improve quality of life for people experiencing menopause,” said Cheryl Davies, chief operating officer of BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, in a press release. “We recently marked one year since opening the Complex Menopause Clinic at BC Women’s and hear first-hand how

this treatment can be transformative. This announcement, which has been informed by significant research and advocacy for women’s health, paves the way for policy decisions to improve health care at both provincial and national levels.”

The province already provides free contraceptives, and the same contraceptives will continue to be free under national pharmacare.

BC PharmaCare has long covered diabetes medications and menopausal hormone therapies, but patients often had to meet income-based deductibles before receiving full coverage.

Expanded coverage for certain diabetes-related devices and supplies will begin April 1.

In 2022, Diabetes Canada estimated costs of up to $18,300 per year for Type 1 diabetes and up to $10,000 per year for Type 2 diabetes. Costs varied throughout BC.

Common menopause hormone

therapies (for example, estrogen pills, patches and gels) cost from $240 up to $1,800 per year without insurance.

Information is available at: https://gov. bc.ca/nationalpharmacare

What’s now covered for diabetes:

• Insulins

• Metformin

• Glyburide

• Gliclazide

• Dapagliflozin

• Empagliflozin and empagliflozin with metformin

• Saxagliptin

• Linagliptin

• Pioglitazone

What’s now covered for menopausal hormone therapies:

• Oral micronized progesterone

• Vaginal estrogen

• Topical estrogen and estrogen/

• progesterone (gels and patches)

• Oral estradiol

• Oral conjugated estrogen

• Oral medroxyprogesterone

Local Sports Three schools competng for Jumpstart Hockey Cup

It’s Harwin vs. Ron Brent vs. Nusdeh Yoh at Kin 1 on Friday

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

A replica of the Stanley Cup is up for grabs as SD57 hosts the 2026 Jumpstart Hockey Cup tournament for elementary school-aged children on Friday, March 13 at Kin 1.

The tournament sees three community elementary schools — Harwin, Ron Brent and Nusdeh Yoh — come together for a day-long test of their hockey skills but the program does more than produce results on the ice.

“The demographic of students who are in this tournament need things like this because for them it’s a positive outlet,” Nav Parmar, SD57 youth care worker, said.

“For some of these students they lack that positive reinforcement at home so they rely on school quite heavily for that safety piece, that place to get that positive connection. It’s important for us to provide these opportunities for them because a lot of these kids aren’t able to play organized sports due to circumstances beyond their control, like financial constraints or a lack of support at home so that’s where we come in. We provide these opportunities that they probably never get otherwise. So we want to make it as special as possible for them because they deserve it.”

Parmar said it’s so much work but in the end it’s so worth it to see the children having fun on the ice while taking in all the support from their schoolmates and community in the stands cheering them on.

“At the end of the day when we see those smiles on their faces, it makes it all worthwhile,” Parmar said. “That eight months of planning was worth

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Jumpstart Hockey Cup tournament will feature the Nusdeh Yoh Sturgeons as one of three school teams that head out on the ice on Friday, March 13 at Kin 1 at 9 a.m.

that one smile in that moment at the end of the day.”

The children start their hockey season in October with twice-a-week practices at Kin 2 and 3. Some ice time is shared between schools so that there are exhibition games to give the children a chance to experience a competitive environment.

The team count ranges from 20 to 50 children per school and is mostly split evenly between boys and girls, with Harwin seeing more girls on the ice this year and the two students with the strongest skill set are girls who will lead a first-of-its-kind, all-girl team of players on the ice during the tournament.

Parmar said this tournament started partnering with Jumpstart in 2018, specifically with Selen Alpay, owner of the local Canadian Tire, and Sunny Brar from Hub City VW.

“Selen is an amazing human being

— honestly any time we need anything Selen’s always the first one on board so he’s paying for everything including ice time and lunches for everyone at the tournament,” Parmar said.

“Sunny, who was one of my best friends growing up, when he heard about this program he said he wants in so he’s sponsoring all the tournament T-shirts for the coaches, volunteers and students.”

In 2019 the program grew so much Parmar said they were inspired to order up the Stanley Cup replica and Nusdeh Yoh won it that year and there’s a banner in the school gym to honour that victory.

This is the first year they have brought back the program since then that will culminate in the day-long tournament, Parmar added.

Ron Brent, Harwin and Nusdeh Yoh will be bussing students to the

tournament at Kin 1, an environment that is more comfortable for a crowd to enjoy the event, Parmar added.

“It’s going to be such a great day, the kids are looking forward to it so much,” Parmar said.

“I’ve been to each school over the last couple of weeks checking in with the kids and again, I have to say this isn’t something the kids get to do all the time and we put it on the last day before Spring Break because for these students any time there is an extended break from school is very difficult. These children rely heavily on school so being away for so long is very difficult for them. So I wanted them to have a special day before Spring Break hits. I wanted the day to be so special that it will carry them through those next two weeks — and hopefully it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”

Parmar said the work he does within the walls of the community schools, the inner-city schools, where many students are considered living in at-risk environments, is very important to him.

“It puts life into perspective,” Parmar said, who’s been working at SD57 since 2013.

“It makes you understand just how privileged you were growing up because you had a roof over your head and a meal on the table every day and you had a lot of family around and those were things we would take for granted. Then you go into these schools and you see not everybody has that and that’s what makes us work extremely hard to make school as special as we possibly can for these students and give them these platforms and opportunities that they probably would never get otherwise. And for these kids, it means the absolute world and that’s what makes it so special and that’s what makes it so worthwhile to be able to organize things like this for them.”

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Program brings hockey to kids who’ve never played

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Parmar said he’s very grateful to everyone involved in the program, including D’Arcy Davis, land-based learning teacher at Nusdeh Yoh (House of the Future) Elementary, Jenna Hansen, community school coordinator at Ron Brent Elementary, Marnie Blakely, community school coordinator at Harwin Elementary and all the volunteers who helped make it happen including those members of the district student advisory committee.

“It makes it that much more special for students to volunteer at the tournament because you see how the whole community gets on board and they want to help out with this to make it as special a day as possible for the kids, as well,” Parmar said.

“We are so grateful that Prince George is such a communal place where everybody gets on board and everybody has one common goal.”

In 2011 Nusdeh Yoh Elementary started a hockey program for children who had never been involved in minor sports, Davis said.

“It’s completely free to the kids and we supply everything,” he added.

“It was instantly so successful that we had to keep it up. For our school we have a lot of kids who are considered at risk and our kids aren’t minor athletes, they don’t have that experience. It’s just become a great self-regulation tool, a confidence booster, it creates community and teaches teamwork within the school like nothing else we’ve done. It’s been amazingly successful.”

There have been more than 50 students involved in the program.

“We will have over 35 kids on the ice at one time, which is lots actually,” Davis laughed. “It’s kind of crazy!”

At Nusdeh Yoh students as little as first graders are invited into the program.

“We’ve got one guy right now and he’s a beast,” Davis laughed.

“He’s a big kid and he needs to get out there and move so he’s back this year and he’s in Grade 2 and we’ve got a girl who’s in Grade 2 and she’s just a bundle

of energy and she’s just developed into a natural. She’s a fantastic hockey player.”

Davis is quick to say he’s not a player who grew up in minor hockey but came to the sport later in life — for his 30th birthday he took skating lessons and plays in a rec league now.

“So I don’t have a lot of the preconceptions of what hockey players are supposed to be and do and I think that has really been helpful for our kids,” Davis said.

There are two teams of 10 from the Nusdeh Yoh Sturgeons going to the tournament on Friday the 13th and there are 10 girls and 10 boys participating.

“We made sure that all of the Grade 7s who wanted to go could because they won’t be back next year,” Davis said.

“And then for the rest of the teams we had a lottery. We know some kids will be disappointed but we’ll make sure they get there next year.”

The Ron Brent Ravens have been on the ice since before 2017 but that’s when Jenna Hansen became the community school coordinator, a position that’s best suited more for a social worker than a teacher. Hansen said

said. “I am always in awe of her continuing to show up.”

The hockey program is about more than just the sport, Hansen said. She sees the older children taking responsibility as they check in with the younger ones, encouraging and guiding them as they learn all the new skills.

“This is something that’s theirs,” Hansen said. “In the past years and this year I’ve had kids where this is the only reason they show up for school.”

Hansen said so often that one day of attendance turns to two, turns to three as the students engage with the teachers and their peers, participating in more and more, soon feeling confident enough to try harder and do better as they see the benefits of being part of something bigger than themselves, Hansen explained.

she came into the hockey program not knowing a thing about the game but rather as a former roller derby competitor, so the skating part was where she knew she could share knowledge confidently and luckily she was able to call upon the PE prep teacher for the rules of hockey.

“I knew I could coach teamwork, sportsmanship and I could coach how to get better on our skates and how to be more athletic,” Hansen said. “So I would bring people in — a coach from the Cariboo Cougars and other guest coaches — and in the last two years I feel like I have a handle on it now and with the support of volunteers I am now the main coach. And that’s kind of fun — my growth went from tying skate laces to ‘hey, we’re gonna run this play.’”

Students are mostly from Grades 4 to 7 with two Grade 3s as the exception and there are 23 boys and only one girl in the program at Ron Brent. Four other girls were in it but when one bestie moved away the other dropped out, another girl broke her wrist and one just didn’t like it anymore.

“So I have just one tough little chick just hanging in there by herself so I give her lots of special treatment,” Hansen

“Instead of giving up and saying I can’t, our mantra is ‘this is hard and I’m trying’ and that builds a lot of self-esteem and confidence and friendship with everyone and the kids understand they get to work hard and they have a lot of fun,” Hansen said.

“The biggest benefit is that it just spreads, whether it’s attendance or confidence, it just spreads throughout their lives. It’s the ownership piece of feeling like a part of a team that spreads into the school because at least half my hockey students volunteer for the meals program, they help with deliveries, they’ll clean up, they’ll help with recycling, going around from classroom to classroom and any time there is a call out for help they step up because they feel confident, they feel reliable and they know they have something to offer.”

That’s a really important piece for the community the students have grown up in, she added.

“Their success might not be what someone in College Heights’ success looks like. If you graduate high school and maybe you join a rec hockey league and you have a job that is being successful. That is wonderful.”

Blakely said at Harwin Elementary this program is something special.

Hockey helps build teamwork and respect, say organizers

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“We’re really grateful to be part of it,” Blakely said, who has been the community school coordinator at Harwin for the last 18 years.

“I think it’s been about 15 or 16 years since we started the hockey program at Harwin as a way to connect with kids,” Blakely said.

“It gets them out of the building, establishes those teamwork practices, respectful behaviour and field trip safe behaviour with goal-setting resiliency. Trying a new sport that makes you uncomfortable, learning to take care of your gear — there are so many elements to getting out that don’t even necessarily connect to hockey. We found this such a great fit for us.”

Blakely said she and Larissa Montgomery have run the program for the last eight years, so it was a female-led program.

TOYS • COMICS • GAMES

“Which is unique and over half of the students are female and over 80 per cent are Indigenous students,” Blakely said.

“We have a really lovely turnout and the kids work so incredibly hard. They have to do well in school and have good attendance in order to go to hockey practice.”

Two girls will lead the Harwin Howlers during the tournament, Blakely said.

“These two Indigenous girls should be going into minor hockey, they are so incredible, they are so strong and they are such strong leaders,” Blakely said.

“We don’t gender things very often but when the girls wanted an all-girls team we decided as a group that that’s what we were going to do.”

Harwin has some participants in the school program transitioning to minor hockey.

“Our big worry is that we’re not hockey players,” Blakely said.

“Can we make this happen? Does this give them enough exposure to the sport? Can they successfully transition and one of my kiddos was just telling me last week that he’s one of the best players in the house league. He is from

We have a really lovely turnout and the kids work so incredibly hard.”

South Africa, he had never been on the ice before and he transitioned seamlessly. So we were like ‘oh my gosh!’”

The students are learning the skills they need to be successful hockey players and can make hockey part of their sporting lifestyle for as long as they like, she added.

“I am not a hockey person, my son played but I’m not a fan, I don’t watch it on TV but I watch these guys — and I always tell them — ‘you’re the only hockey players I wanna watch’ because this hockey program is one of the greatest things that has ever happened in this building by way of inspiring kids and having them feel connected especially when it comes to the tournament where we will have parents and classes coming with signs and pompoms to cheer them on,” Blakely said.

“And for the kids it’s like they’re coming out to an NHL game — people are screaming as the kids step out onto the ice and it’s really something to see.”

There are 45 students in Grades 4 to 7 participating in the Harwin hockey program this year with guest coaches coming in from the high schools to help out whenever they can and there are even graduated students who return to the community school to help, she added.

“We want them to continue their story here,” Blakely said.

The Jumpstart Hockey Cup goes Friday, March 13 at Kin 1 with opening ceremonies starting at 9 a.m. with a welcome by Elder Darlene McIntosh. The tournament starts at 9:15 a.m. and continues until 1:30 p.m.

Canadian Tire and Hub City Volkswagen are the major sponsors and the Prince George Cougars, Rowdy Cat and Cariboo Cougars partnered to present player-of-the-game awards.

Condors make history as BC Sports Team of the Year

The Duchess Park senior boys are the rst high school team to win the honour

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Duchess Park Condors senior boys volleyball team was named Team of the Year at the BC Sport Awards in Vancouver on Thursday, March 5.

The BC Sport Awards are given to BC’s best teams, athletes and coaches in amateur sport across the province.

The Condors also made history, being the first team north of Kelowna to win this award and the first public high school team to win in the 58 years since the awards were founded.

The team beat out both the Powell River 15A hockey team and the University of Victoria women’s cross-country team.

Coach Griffin Olexyn was overjoyed to see his team and his hard work in coaching them for the past several years be recognized in such a meaningful way.

“It was amazing,” said Olexyn. “It was an awesome event and to see some of the athletes and teams and other people nominated that we got to share the room with was insane. To hear our name called when they were saying Team of the Year was an unreal feeling. Words can’t describe how it felt to be in

that moment with the team.”

He added that the recognition will bring attention to the hard work and dedication of northern sports teams.

“It’s amazing knowing that there’s two other high schools that have ever done it and we’re the only public school to ever do it. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Olexyn.

“I think it goes to show how much sport is growing in the north and hopefully this brings some attention to the talent that we have up here.”

He said the group’s close connection is what helped them perform so well this year.

“I started coaching these guys back in junior when these Grade 12s were in Grade 10,” said Olexyn. “I’ve coached them for the last three years, so it’s been a tight group of guys.”

Jude Poulin, an outside hitter for the Condors, also spoke to The Citizen about the award.

“Honestly, having that recognition, I wasn’t expecting it,” said Poulin. “I feel blessed even though I grew up playing volleyball with these guys, but ending this year with being the team of the year is like the cherry on top. It’s just, wow, I guess it couldn’t get any better. We won provincials and now you’re the team of the year. I really appreciate it and it’s something I’ll hold on to and tell the story to my kids.”

He added that he hopes this win inspires Condors volleyball players in the future as the rest of the team moves

on to bigger and better things.

“I think the Grade 10s and the Grade 11s that are going to play next year for Duchess, I think that the team chemistry that these guys are going to have is going to be wicked,” he said.

“They’re going to know each other a lot more, have that experience, and

they’re going to talk about it in their huddles and their timeouts. It’s like if they’re struggling in the game, just remind themselves, ‘Guys, we were the best team of the year last year. Let’s prove it, let’s show them.’ So I find that someone will look back on this and use it as motivation for them.”

Right on target

TOP: Biathlon athletes in the development 1 boys and girls classes take part in a mass start during the Odlum and Brown BC and Western Canadian Championships.

CENTRE: Caledonia Nordic Ski Club racer Oscar Nelson leaves the first prone firing line during the U17 standing boys class.

RIGHT: Racers lie exhausted after crossing the finish line of the U17 standing boys class.

Prince George hosted the IBU Regional Event and Biathlon Canada Western Canadian Championships, along with the Odlum Brown BC Provincial Championships, from March 5-8, at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club.

The event, organized by the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club in partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia and presented by Canadian Tire Prince George, brought together about 150 biathletes from across Canada and the United States, ranging from youth competitors to national team athletes.

UNBC offered a $2,000 tuition credit to eligible athletes as part of its ongoing effort to support student-athletes and strengthen its partnership with the local Nordic skiing community. CITIZEN PHOTOS BY CHUCK NISBETT

Spruce Kings force overtme against Chilliwack

The team is on the road again against Powell River, Alberni Valley this weekend

SPRUCE KINGS STAFF

The Prince George Spruce Kings battled back from being down 5-1 and 6-3 to tie the game with 2:11 remaining, but a fluke bounce for Edvin Nilsson gave the Chilliwack Chiefs a 7-6 overtime victory Saturday, March 7 in Chilliwack.

The Chiefs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 43 seconds into the first period as A.J. Schaaf stripped Trent LeDrew of the puck and beat Ryder Green to open the scoring.

Prince George responded on the power play at 9:25 as Marcus Lougheed’s one-timer beat David DiGirolamo to tie the game.

Chilliwack responded with a

power-play goal of its own at 15:03 when Boris Borin scored his 12th of the season after the Spruce Kings were called for too many men.

The Spruce Kings applied some early pressure in the second but couldn’t solve DiGirolamo before Reese Shaw beat Green up high to make it 3-1 at 6:14.

Markuss Sieradzkis scored his 15th of the season at 11:48 before Kevin Perrault got his fourth of the year to make it 5-1 at 16:40.

The man advantage struck for the Spruce Kings once again with 3.5 seconds remaining as Carter Hesselgrave picked up his 21st of the year from Ben Vreugdenhil and Lougheed.

Early in the third period, Green was bumped by Drew DellaSalla and a scrum ensued, with Green involved with Arjun Bawa before Evan Bellamy and Bawa dropped the gloves. Green tried to engage DiGirolamo at centre ice but ended up putting the Spruce Kings shorthanded.

While down a man, Ben Vreugdenhil put in a big effort to get the puck out and chase it down, diving to play it across to Ryan Wachtel, who buried it to make it 5-3 Chiefs.

Chilliwack jumped back up by three at 3:18 when Jack Plandowski found the back of the net.

The Spruce Kings got a full two-minute five-on-three halfway through the frame after a number of cross-checks on the same play, and Wachtel scored his

second of the night on the power play to make it 6-4.

Just over two minutes later, Mason Loewen deflected a LeDrew point shot to make it 6-5.

Prince George got a major power play at 15:11 as Sieradzkis was given a major for cross-checking Hesselgrave in the face, and at 17:49 Tai Ushio put a rebound home from the left circle to tie the game.

In the opening minute of overtime after the penalty expired, Nilsson drove the net but put it high. The puck bounced up in the air and back over the goal, right off the back of Green and in. The Spruce Kings felt it might have hit the netting, but there wouldn’t be a review conducted, so the goal stood and the comeback fell short.

The Spruce Kings are back on the road Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13 in Powell River before facing the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday, March 14 to complete the road trip.

Cougars clinch playof berth with pair of weekend wins

Next up for the team is Retro Weekend against Wenatchee

COLE WALDIE

Prince George Cougars

The Prince George Cougars completed a weekend sweep of the Spokane Chiefs with a 4-3 victory Saturday, March 7 at the CN Centre.

The Cats beat the Chiefs 5-1 the night before, clinching a playoff spot in the process.

Brock Souch scored twice to lead the Cougars Saturday night, while Terik Parascak and Carson Carels also found the back of the net. Josh Ravensbergen earned the win in goal, stopping 25 of 28 shots.

Prince George opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period during four-onfour play. Carels set up Brock Souch with a perfect pass to the left circle, where Souch buried his 25th goal of the season to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Spokane responded on the power play at 11:32, when Rhett Sather blasted a one-timer from the point to tie the game 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

The Cougars took control in the second period. Terik Parascak restored the lead at 8:38 on the power play, redirecting a Carels pass past Carter Esler to make it 2-1. Just minutes later, Carels extended the lead to 3-1 with a sharp shot from the high slot during four-onfour play. Parascak recorded the assist on the goal, moving into second all-time in Cougars franchise history with 261 career points.

Prince George continued the pressure late in the period. Brock Souch forced a turnover in the offensive zone before slipping the puck five-hole on Esler for his second of the night, making it 4-1 at 16:01.

Spokane pushed back in the third period. Ossie McIntyre scored at 9:26 to cut the deficit, and Tyus Sparks added another with the net empty at 18:54, but the Cougars held on to secure the 4-3 victory.

Cougars clinch playoff berth

The Cougars clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Spokane Chiefs Friday night at the CN Centre. Aiden Foster, Dawson Seitz, Kooper Gizowski, Souch and Parascak all scored for Prince George, while Ravensbergen was outstanding, making 28 saves on 29 shots. Thirteen of those saves came during a busy second period.

“Rav was excellent for us, especially in the second, but also in the third with how many breakaways they had,” said head coach Mark Lamb following the win. “Those are game-changers and he kept us in it until we got our power-play going in the third, and that was the game.”

The Cougars opened the scoring early after Spokane goaltender Esler misplayed the puck behind his net. The line of Souch, Parascak and Foster

capitalized, with Foster burying a shot from the slot for his 13th goal of the season.

Prince George doubled their lead late in the period. At 18:53, Riley Ashe delivered a terrific no-look pass from below the goal line to Seitz, who hammered home a one-timer to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Spokane pushed back in the second period, outshooting the Cougars 14-2. The Chiefs cut the lead to one on the power play when Owen Martin jammed home a loose puck at 3:01 to make it 2-1.

Despite the heavy pressure, Ravensbergen was sensational in the Cougars crease, turning aside several quality chances to preserve the lead heading into the third period.

Prince George regained momentum early in the final frame. Just two minutes in, Gizowski tipped home a shot to

restore the Cougars’ two-goal lead. Next up for the Cougars, in partnership with Indigenous Police Services, is the annual Retro Weekend at the CN Centre on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14, as the Cats take on the Wenatchee Wild in the final home weekend of the 2025-26 WHL regular season.

Fans will see specialty jerseys inspired by the Cougars’ inaugural 1994-95 season, updated with a modern reverse-retro twist that incorporates the team’s current trim. The weekend will also feature a Mega 50/50 raffle with a guaranteed jackpot of $50,000, courtesy of Mason Lift and benefitting the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation. Tickets for Retro Weekend are available at ticketsnorth.evenue.net/events/ CSG, and Mega 50/50 tickets can be purchased at pgcougars5050.com.

Life Events

The family of Anne e Hamilton wish to invite you to a Celebraton of her life on Saturday April th at am at the lder Cit ens Recreaton Associaton ( th Avenue Prince eorge) Refreshments to follow at . Please join us in celebratng herbeautful life.

Wendell Elliot November , arch ,

On March 2, 2026, with his son Dean at his side, Wendell le this earth to join his heavenly wife Sophie’s waitng arms.

Predeceased by Sophie in July and his parents, lmer and lida and brothers Jim, Henry and Laurence, Wendell is also survived by daughter in law im, granddaughter Amanda, grandson randon and great granddaughter Rowen, along with daughter Shannon and son in law erald irard.

Living in Prince eorge for over years, Wendell retred in from Wolseley and lled his life with huntng, shing, camping, kayaking and road trips in his li le black Su uki. Sophie was known to drag him on holidays to Cuba, Florida, Hawaii, and exico with Wendell convincing her to hike the West Coast Trail as payback. Wendell enjoyed walking the Pidherny trails near his home.

Wendell was loved by his ladies at Comfort eepers and the kind HN C PC staf who cared for him since August . He enjoyed the trouble he and bonus daughter Heather would nd during their visits.

Wendell was everyone’s favorite uncle. His shenanigans and smiling face will be missed. He can now complete that heavenly Canada road trip in a truck and camper he and Sophie always planned to take (but with a ushing toilet )

This spring, Wendell will be taken to his favorite site along the Crooked River where he will join Sophie and oat down the river once again.

Colin James Dix

October 9, 1939 - February 21, 2026

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Colin James Dix on February 21, 2026, with his cherished wife Judy by his side. Colin is survived by Judy and Children Stephanie, Simon and Lesley (Brian). He was the proud and muchloved Grandfather to Rebecca (Nicolas), Amber, Owen, Layne, and Paxton, and a wonderful Great Grandfather to Azaleah and Aria. In the UK, Colin’s Brother Malcolm (Fiona), and Judy’s Sister, Angi (Nick), with Brother Paxton (Pat), will also miss him dearly.

Colin was born and raised in London, England where he studied at now The London South Bank University. Once graduated, he met the love of his life, Judy, at G.N. Haden and Sons Engineering, and they were married in Durham, England on August 8th, 1964.

Colin and Judy immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1965 and began their great adventure in Prince George in 1966.

Colin had a very successful career in Mechanical Engineering (HVAC), working with E.P. Church and Associates for 12 years then establishing Dix and Associates, Mechanical Engineers, for a further 27 years. It was during this tme that Colin and Judy discovered their love of travel through Cruising!

Colin dedicated his life to three profound passions: Prince George Theatre Workshop, Choral Singing with the Cantata Singers and the Art of Cooking! His legacy will live on through the stories shared,

the music sung and the meals enjoyed with his many fortunate friends.

Colin’s love for the Stage was infectous. Through Prince George Theatre Workshop and the building of the Prince George Playhouse, he would follow his passion, captvatng audiences and inspiring fellow actors alike. He enjoyed directng and mentoring actors, sharing his knowledge.

The Dix family would like to extend their heartelt thanks for the amazing care and support they have received from the Raven Clinic (partcularly Drs. Grose and Closson) founded by the legendary Dr. Barry Hagen.

We are also appreciatve of the dedicated staf and nursing team at Jubilee Lodge who cared for Colin during the last 2 years of his stay. Their compassion, steady support and the respect with which they treated Colin and our Family, brought us strength during an incredibly difcult journey.

A Celebraton of Life will be held at a future date.

No Flowers please. Any donatons would be gratefully accepted by the Prince George Community Foundaton towards The Dix Family Endowment Fund (used to support Arts and Cultural purposes, partcularly the Performing Arts) or a Charity of your Choice.

Kelsey Alexander Allard

January 16, 1983 - February 25, 2026

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Kelsey. Kelsey was a son, brother, uncle and friend but most especially a father. Kelsey will be deeply missed by his children Matayah Valin, Odin Deschene, Hazel Allard and Hunter Allard. Kelsey is also survived by his parents Leigh and Shelley Allard, his grandmother Bety Shipley, his brothers Chris (Hanna), Graham (Magan), Jordan and Kelseys dear friend Kate Gallagher. Kelsey also leaves behind many aunts, uncles’ and cousins. Give those close to you a hug and tell them you love them as you never know when it will be the last.

Christne Marie Buemann

ne , e r ary ,

It is with broken hearts that we share the passing of our elo ed hristne B emann, ho died pea ef lly on e r ary , , in rin e George, B , a er a long and o rageo s atle ith reast an er.

hristne as orn on ne , , in i toria, B , to n an and enny a o , and gre p mostly in rin e George alongside her parents and older sister, odie Stearns. She lea es ehind t o ery spe ial sons a o and e ho ere the enter of her ni erse. er strength, o rage, and relentless ght ere f eled y her lo e for them.

oin s for a ele raton of ife at the i i enter on ar h , , at . n the spirit of ele ratng hristne s light and lo e, g ests are el ome to ear lighter or so er olo rs, if they ish. he ser i e ill e li e streamed ith refreshments to follo .

n lie of o ers, the family el omes donatons to the anadian an er So iety. A f ndraiser has een set p at htps f ndraisemy ay. an er. a ampaigns hristne B emanns inal gi nding Breast an er esear h

In Loving Memory

Angie Kruger

November 22, 1945 to March 11, 2021

hile it has een e years sin e yo r passing le an emptness in o r hearts and li es, e thin of yo e eryday and remem er the life and lo e e shared.

Al ays in o r hearts, the Kr ger and er e y families.

Honouring those who have touched our lives

Jennie Nelson

March 26, 1936 - February 24, 2026

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Jennie Nelson.

She passed away with her children, Denise and Michael, by her side, sustained by the thoughts and prayers of her many friends, the Nelson, Hrycay, and Skoretz families, and the memories of her beloved husband, Roy.

Born in Buchanan, Saskatchewan, Jennie made her home in rin e George efore setling in orth an o er, here she formed lastng friendships and touched many lives.

The family extends sincere thanks to her caregivers and medical teams at Living Well Home Services, Lions Gate Hospital, and the Evergreen Care Home for their compassionate care.

William “English” Theessen

A g st , e r ary ,

With profound sadness we share the sudden passing of our son, brother and uncle, Bill “English” Theessen.

Born and raised in Prince George, he moved to an o er a er high s hool here he ontn ed to brighten the lives of family, friends and colleagues. English loved to laugh, loved his pets, and loved to do you a favour.

e to mo rn are his parents Bill and Syl ia heessen, sisters Angela Ken and Sherrie, nie es adison (Connor), Tenley (Jade) and Hannah, and nephew Colburn (Amanda) plus many aunts, uncles and cousins. nglish as prede eased y his nie e Shel y, rother in la at, and his elo ed re les and Sammy.

A ele raton of life ill e held April th in an o er. n lie of o ers please donate to the an o er mane So iety or the og ood onar hist So iety.

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•

“This tip is good for an inexpensive watch or piece of jewelry that tends to rust or discolor on the skin-facing side. Clean it well and “paint” the side facing your skin with clear nail polish.” -- M.T. in Alabama

• “During

-- T.B. in Florida

* If you want to make a message station for dry-erase notes, try this cheap and fun DIY trick: Grab a picture frame with a glass insert. Use a photo, pretty piece of patterned paper or a piece of your child’s artwork covered by a sheet of tracing paper in the frame. Hang on the wall. You can write on the glass with a dry-erase marker and erase as needed.

•

* “Here is a fun idea for a baby shower, especially if you have a small group: Have a supply of baby onesies, fabric paint and fabric markers, and have guests personalize a onesie for the baby. They are so easy to create and so necessary for Mom and Dad.”

* Shower caps are an outstanding substitute for plastic wrap when covering a large plate or bowl. They are easily cleaned, super easy to use and can be found cheap at your local dollar store!

• On Nov. 11, 1831, Nat Turner, an American slave and educated minister who believed that he’d been chosen by God to lead his people into freedom, was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, for leading a revolt with 75 followers through Southampton County, killing about 60 white people.

*On March 23, 1983, Barney Clark died of varied complications 112 days after becoming the world’s first person to receive a permanent artificial heart. The last four months of his life had been spent in a hospital bed at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where he was attached to a 350-pound console that pumped air in and out of the implant through a

• On Nov. 12, 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the extent of the U.S. Army’s charges against 1st Lt. William L. Calley at My Lai, Vietnam, in a cable picked up by more than 30 newspapers, saying that “The Army says he [Calley] deliberately murdered at least 109 Vietnamese civilians during a searchand-destroy mission in March 1968, in a Viet Cong stronghold known as ‘Pinkville.’”

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Change is stll dominant for Rams and Ewes, both in the workplace and in their private lives. This is also a good tme to look at a possible relocaton if this has been one of your goals.

system of hoses.

* On March 24, 1943, G.I. Joe, one of military history’s most decorated homing pigeons, was hatched. During World War II, he flew 20 miles in 20 minutes, just in time to save a battalion from being bombed, and was credited with saving some 1,000 British troops.

* On March 25, 1957, the U.S. Customs Department confiscated 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s book “Howl.” Poet and bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti had published it the previous fall, leading to his arrest on obscenity charges. But he was

found not guilty after nine literary experts testified at his trial that the poem was not in fact obscene.

* On March 26, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to convene a nine-man panel of retired presidential advisors after Defense Secretary Clark Clifford told him that the Vietnam War was “a real loser.”

The group became known as the Wise Men and included generals, members of the State Department and McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor to both John F. Kennedy’s and Johnson’s administrations.

* On March 27, 1998, the Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the drug Viagra, an oral medication to treat male impotence, which was originally studied for its effects on hypertension and angina pectoris.

* On March 28, 2006, Duke University officials suspended its men’s lacrosse team for two games following allegations that team members had sexually assaulted a stripper hired to perform at a party. The following spring all charges were dropped for lack of evidence, and nearly two decades later the accuser admitted her story was false.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22)

• On Nov. 13, 1979, Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins leaped over Kansas City Kings forward Bill Robinzine for a memorable slam dunk that shattered the fiberglass backboard. His equally memorable comment on the move, which was not his last and the sound of which spectators likened to a bomb going off: “It wasn’t really a safe thing to do, but it was a Darryl Dawkins thing to do.”

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your sensitve nature helps you deal with a difcult emotonal situaton. Be patent and contnue to show your sincere support wherever (and for whomever) it is needed.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Doing things for others is what you do well. But don’t forget that Bovines thrive on the arts, so make some tme for yourself to indulge in your passion for music and artstc expressions.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) While the Romantc Twin considers where to go for an upcoming vacaton, the Practcal Twin will start making travel plans now to take advantage of some great bargains.

• On Nov. 14, 1882, outlaw Frank “Buckskin” Leslie shot and killed Billy “The Kid” Claiborne, who had publicly challenged him, in Tombstone, Arizona.

• On Nov. 15, 1984, Baby Fae, a month old infant who received the world’s first baboon heart transplant, died at California’s Loma Linda University 20 days after the operation. Three other people had received animal heart transplants, but none survived longer than a few days.

• On Nov. 16, 2001, British author J.K. Rowling’s most famous and beloved creation, the bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role), made his silver-screen debut in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which went on to become one of the highestgrossing movies in history.

• On Nov. 17, 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party split into two factions: the majority Bolsheviks and minority Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks went on to become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) You’re making progress as you move through some unfamiliar territory. And while there might be a misstep or two along the way, you’re overall heading in the right directon. Good luck!

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22)

Some good news arrives -- and just in tme to remind you that you’re making progress. Perhaps things aren’t moving as quickly as you’d prefer, but they’re moving nevertheless.

This is a good week to step back and assess the facts that have recently emerged to see where they can be used to your advantage. Also, don’t hesitate to make changes where necessary.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21)

You should begin to experience some support from those who now agree with your point of view. This should help counter the remaining objectons from die-hard skeptcs.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Don’t let your aim be defected by trivial maters as you try to resolve a confusing situaton. Take tme to fnd and thoroughly assess the facts before making any decision.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The possibility of moving to another locaton has come up. But before you dismiss it as unworkable, you should check it out just in case it does have some merit afer all.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) New relatonships, personal or work-related, show mixed signals. It’s best to assume nothing. Let things play themselves out untl you have something substantve to work with.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your ability to make needed changes without causing too much, if any, negatve ripple efect comes in handy when dealing with a sensitve mater either on the job or within your family.

Homes & Living

This Fraud Preventon Month, protect yourself from unsolicited messages

[NC] In the age of buzzing phones and overflowing inboxes, staying digitally safe has become part of modern living. But as our devices get smarter, so do scammers.

March is Fraud Prevention Month, which is an opportunity to build simple habits that can help you stay one step ahead of the scammers. Here are a few ways to stay safer:

Spot the red flags

If your bank, the government, or a well-known company suddenly reaches out with urgent language, like “act now,” or “your account will be suspended,” pause before you panic. Scammers thrive on pressure and fear. Requests for highly sensitive information, like PINs, passwords or card numbers, are big red flags. No

legitimate institution will reach out and ask for these details from you.

What to do in the moment

If a message or call feels wrong, trust your gut. Hang up immediately or simply ignore it. There is no need to engage. Whatever you do, don’t click suspicious links or respond with personal details.

When in doubt, go straight to the source, because scammers can make a phone call appear legitimate, even the caller ID.

You can keep yourself safe by only calling the official number printed on your bank card or listed on the organization’s website, not the one you received a call from. A quick verification can save you from a world of hassle. If you do spot something suspicious,

report it to your bank.

Know what you are liable for Federally regulated financial institutions can’t hold you liable for unauthorized debit card transactions, while credit card issuers can hold you liable for a maximum of $50.

However, if you provide your banking information to anyone—including a spouse, a family member or someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer or bank employee—you lose that protection.

Scams involving other modes of payment, such as electronic transfers, are not protected through any federal legislation. It’s important to be vigilant and keep your PINs and passwords to yourself.

Protecting yourself from fraud and scams can be empowering. By

recognizing the signs and knowing how to respond, you can navigate today’s complex digital landscape with more confidence.

Learn more about your rights, how to protect yourself and what steps to take if you suspect a scammer is trying to target you at canada.ca/money.

www.newscanada.com

A quick guide to spring cleaning your fnances

[NC] With the weather finally starting to warm up, it’s time for sunshine, new blooms and spring cleaning. We bring a fresh start to the season each year by taking the time to tidy our homes, so why not include finances too?

Planning can bring a sense of comfort and peace of mind. Here are four quick tips to get you started:

Out with the old, in with the new Just like when you tidy your closet, start your financial cleaning by taking stock. Ask yourself whether your current financial products are meeting your needs or if there are better options available.

As just one example, if you’d prefer a low-risk investment that you know will provide a return, a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) may be a good choice. It guarantees a specific interest rate while you own it, and the repayment of your initial investment once the GIC’s term has ended.

Find storage solutions

Consider what you want your future to look like to help determine how best to store your assets, then organize them into different accounts for specific purposes. For example, one way to prepare for life after your career is with a tax-deferred Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).

Or, if you want to open an account to save for post-secondary education, then a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) may work best for your family. The key is to organize your assets in a way that suits your needs.

Brush up on how your money is protected

Once everything’s set up the way you like it, you’ll want to make sure your money is safe. You can find out how your deposits are protected through online tools like the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (CDIC) online calculator.

This organization protects eligible deposits, like GICs and other term deposits, money in savings or chequing accounts and foreign currency, in the unlikely event of a bank failure. There are several categories of protection covering a variety of savings options, including RRSPs and RESPs, and each is protected up to $100,000.

Stay organized

To make organizing and tracking your finances easier, consider setting your accounts to automatically transfer specific amounts of money from one account to another, which can help make saving money and paying bills simpler and worry-free. Spreadsheets and other online financial programs, like the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s financial goal calculator and budget planner, can also be useful in tracking your spending habits and your progress toward your savings goals.

Find more information on deposit protection or calculate your coverage at CDIC.ca.

www.newscanada.com

This is a 1 acre parcel at the end of Barnes Drive with an amazing eastern view. If you’re looking for the perfect lot for an executive home, this is it! 3777 BARNES DRIVE MLS# R3097044

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Unit 101 Unit 201

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1344 Aleza Cres Unit A

$1900.00 per month

BED- 3 BATH- 1, Fridge, Stove YARD- LAUNDRY Shared UTILITIES- Not included (70% utlites) PETS- Yes, one small pet may be considered with pet deposit EXTRA- Garage NO SMOKING Tenant insurance is required.

302 - 751 Harper St.

Price $1195 per month 1 Bedroom

$2,150.00/Month

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386 Paterson St. Unit B

Price $1,200 per month

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Utlites included, Close to Quinson Elementary, Spruceland Shopping Centre and Bus Stops. No smoking Tenant insurance is required.

Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher LAUNDRY ROOM, Shared, UTILITIES- Included. BC Hydro required for garage. PET FRIENDLY-Yes small pets considered with deposit. NO SMOKING Tenant insurance is required.

2680 Parent Rd

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BED- 4 BATH- 3, Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher LAUNDRY, UTILITIESNot Included, NO PETS- Garage, Carport and Driveway **SHED IN BACK YARD IF FOR LANDLORD USE ONLY** NO SMOKING Tenant insurance is required.

1740 Tamarack Unit A

Price-$1,900 per month

1005 Jarvis St

$2,500.00 per month Available Now, (photo atached)

BED- 4 BATH- 2.5, Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher large rec room in basement YARD, LAUNDRY- Yes UTILITIES- Not Included NO PETS ,Driveway, NO SMOKING Tenant insurance is required.