North Pacific Fishing Village to benefit from 20,000 dollar cash injection

As part of the provinces BC150 Years pride in our communities program, the Port Edward heritage site and museum will be able to expand some of the exhibits to one of the main tourist attractions on the North Coast.

BC released details of the provincial program and Port Edward explained what the plan for the Cannery Museum is going to feature. Andrew Minnigan who is the new manager of the site, is set to expand the on site exhibits to show more of the cannery workers and those that lived in the village.

He explained his plans in an article in Tuesday’s Daily News.

Cannery wants to put face on past
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Pages one and three

Ever since Andrew Minnigan arrived at his new post as manager of the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward, he has been wanting to give the cannery a more personal feel.

Well now, as of Oct. 30, he will at least have $20,000 to work with to make that wish a reality, as the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts announced that 39 museums all over B.C. will receive funding through the BC150 Years Pride in Our Communities local museums program.

In the grant, Port Edward has been promised $10,000 while the district pays the other 50 per cent, also $10,000. The money will be put towards the "Life on the Line" evolutionary look at fishing in Port Edward through the decades.

"The story needs to be told and preserved," said Chief Administrative Officer Ron Bedard. "It's great that they gave us this ... it's awesome."

Since Minnigan took over as manager this past June, he has been wanting to expand the current displays.

“Right now, it’s just the mechanics of the fishing line,” he said. “But there’s nothing about the workers.”

We need to really upgrade out exhibit and add that human element,” said Minnigan.

Minnigan had initially thought of completely replacing the current exhibit, but said that endeavour would be rather difficult, and likely costly. Instead, he is simply adding to it and enhancing the overall experience for tourists.

“The space we were envisioning is already packed,” he said. “But with the funding, it’s more feasible to upgrade the existing exhibit at North Pacific.

“It’ll be an exhibit within an exhibit.”

Stan Hagen, minister for Tourism Sport and the Arts, said the funding available to the 39 museums across B. C. will help various local heritage organizations tell their respective community’s unique stories.

“The focus of BC150 Years is to celebrate, at the community level, the many people, places, events and achievements that have made British Columbia the great province it is today,” he said.

The BC150Years initiative is a celebration of the 150th anniversary of B. C.’s history when it was founded as a Crown Colony in 1858. In all, the funding allocated to the 39 museums to help communities tell their historic stories is worth more than 1.6 million, according to Hagen.
Other Northern B. C. communities that were awarded the grants include Prince George (the Railway and Forestry Museum and The Exploration Place) and Tumbler Ridge (The Tumbler Ridge Museum)

New Fishing Village Director has many plans

The New Director of the North Pacific Fishing Village has just begun to settle in to his new job, but already see some great potential at the Port Edward Historical Site.

Andrew Minigan relocated from Ontario to take on the job at the Fishing Village and the Daily News provided a profile of his experience and preview of his ideas in the Friday paper.

Looking to take lid off cannery past
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Friday, July 06, 2007

Andrew Minigan's first-ever trip west of Ontario has certainly been a memorable one.
Originally from Belleville, Ontario, Minigan had not set foot west of the Ontario border, even though he was building up his resume in museum management and curatorship.

Yet, the timing of his hiring at the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward seems to have come at an appropriate time. After all, the North Coast was alive with adventure racers from all over the world last week, uncovering various areas of the surrounding wilderness for the first time, and loving every minute of it.

Minigan himself was on hand at the wrap-up party Saturday night, and while he didn't participate in Raid the North Extreme himself, the same reason those athletes signed up for the race is why he decided to take the job on the North Coast.

"I had never been west of the Great Lakes," he said.

"It seemed like the ideal adventure in curating. I'm looking forward to putting in a few good years at the North Pacific."

But unlike some arrivals in Rupert in years past, Minigan doesn't seemed to be concerned about the moist North Coast weather.

"I was not looking forward to another hot Ontario summer," he said. "I don't mind (the rain) at all.

"I've never been one to let the rain keep me from doing stuff."

And the wilderness has always been something that has intrigued Minigan. Never mind the fact that he is an avid snowboarder, and is already drooling at the prospects of spending his first-ever winter in B.C., but he also likes to hike into the wilderness, and doesn't shy away from the odd bushwhack either.

"In Ontario, when you into the woods, you're the biggest and baddest thing in the woods," he said. "But not here."

Minigan has quickly fallen in love with the North Coast, including Prince Rupert.

"I like Prince Rupert," he said.

"It's a small town, but it still has the diversity of a big city. The cultural diversity ... I really like it."

Minigan's arrival in town three weeks ago can be seen as nothing but good news for Port Edward, which has been hard at work during the past few years, trying to get the cannery museum on everyone's tourism radar. Minigan himself has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Waterloo, with specialization in culture, and he has worked museum summer jobs since 2000.

He also took the intense museum management and curatorship program at Fleming College in Petersborough, Ontario.

"It's very hard, but it gives you an idea of what you're going to face," said Minigan.

It was a career he decided to pursue back in high school, where he realized that he greatly enjoyed working with history.

"The big transition period was in my teens years," he said. "I was digging for dinosaur bones when I was four years old ... I sort of fell into museums, and it felt like a good fit."

Minigan has several plans that he would like to implement for the cannery, but he is well aware it won't be easy, because finding funds for museum projects continues to be very difficult.
"Finding grants ... that's high on the list," he said. "This summer, it's finding what's required for restoration, and a plan for (the next) five years.

"I want to eventually expand the scope of what we do here."

For example, Minigan points to the Japanese area of the boardwalk, which during the 1800s, actually had a bathhouse. He would like to try to recapture that.

"It would be really cool, and historically accurate," he said.

Minigan is also trying to form relationships with various people on the North Coast, who in one way or another, feel tied to the North Pacific Fishing Village.

"I want to take advantage of the local knowledge of working history at the site and mobilize the community," he said. "Everyone in the community is really supportive of the cannery, so I want to make our bond with the community stronger."

Minigan knows managing the cannery museum won't be easy, but he is eager to build the momentum of tourism as more and more people learn about the North Coast.

"I've got a ton of ideas," he said. "I have high hopes for this place."

The North Pacific Fishing Village is now open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Feds restore funding to historical sites but reduce amount promised

The North Pacific Fishing Village out in Port Edward received a bit of good news this week, there has been a change of heart with the federal government and HRDC funding will be made available to the Cannery museum for staffing purposes.

The only drawback for the local attraction is that they will have to work with less money from the feds and find new ways to provide for funding locally in order to make the season as successful as possible.

HRDC has provided North Pacific with $12,246 for the season, significantly less than what they were expecting, but enough to help take some of the pressure off and give the Fishing Village some time to work out other funding plans. Which they are already busy working on, mostly in a musical vein making the tourist attraction along the old cannery road a summer school of rock of sorts.

The Daily news examined the funding issue and what is planned for the summer of 2007 at North Pacific as well as providing details on this weekends Rollin’ on the River music festival at North Pacific.

CANNERY MUSEUM THRILLED WITH FEDS’ FUNDING RE-THINK
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Tuesday, May 31, 2007
Page three

The government changed its mind. Sort of.

After museums and national historic sites all over Canada were turned down for HRDC funding a matter of days ago, the outcry that followed quickly caused the federal government to reverse its decision, and go back to offering grants to the organizations as it had done in the past.

That meant locations like the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward, which had originally been turned down for funding and which was concerned it would lose approximately $15,000, will be getting funding to help pay for summer students after all.

“I was excited,” said Karin Ljungh, manager for the North Pacific. “I think a lot of people called in. That’s why we ended up with what we got.

“It was very surprising.”

The only problem is that instead of the $24,000 the HRDC has issued in the past, it is only forwarding a grant total of $12,246, based on summer students getting paid a minimum wage amount at 30 hour work weeks, as opposed to full-time hours and higher wages.

Still, it’s a much more upbeat situation than a week ago when the cannery believed it was not going to get a dime.

“Something is better than nothing,” said Ljungh.

The summer period weeks were also cut from 16 to 13 and in some cases, nine, which is also why the amount is less.

But the North Pacific has already hired its four summer positions, and so the cannery is looking at other alternatives to raise extra funds to ensure it doesn’t run a deficit.

With that in mind, the cannery will be hosting a North Pacific Summer School of the Arts, using summer camps hosted by talented North Coast musical staff.

These camps will include a “Theatre Boot Camp”, which is described as “having fun learning the basics of acting, and staging a play that will be performed by your group at the end of the second week.”

Elizabeth Thomsen and Anne McNish will host this camp.

There will also be a “Kids Wanna Rock” camp featuring Ljungh and Mark Ciccone. This will be a ‘basic’ and also ‘intermediate’ rock n’ roll camp for kids who are interested in singing or playing in a band.

Finally, the cannery will also host a jazz guitar camp, painting and art classes, clayworks with Jean Gardiner, and kids camps.

The camps will run around the city bus schedule and take place during the summer months (July and August).

The North Pacific is also currently seeking separate funding to help offset the potential budget shortfall, said Ljungh.

Rollin’ on the River is set for this Sunday at the North Pacific. Watch for a full preview in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily News.


Music fans ready to roll out to cannery for festival
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The early bird gets the worm.
Or, in the case of the North Pacific Fishing Village, organizers are hoping the earlier date for Rollin' on the River means favourable weather, and of course, bigger crowds.

After all, the weekend before Seafest traditionally is sunny, although that trend has somewhat been tainted by two consecutive sunny Seafests in 2005 and 06. But North Pacific manager and organizer for the event, Karin Ljungh, is also confident that the earlier date catches the local crowd before people start heading out of town for their summer holidays, which is why she chose Sun., June 3, as the date for this year's event.

"There's going to be a variety of music, lots of food vendors, and a lot of fun," she said.
The musical entertainment will consist mostly of bands with a local flavour, including two of Ljungh's acts: Hotflash as well as Lil' Kiki, Peter and the Wolf.

The two main headliners will be the Grifters (inside the North Pacific Event Room) and Kory Botz, with both shows starting at 7 p.m. sharp. Mermaid Cafe will play a teaser set just prior to that starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Blyth Theatre.

Other well-known local acts include Freedom 35, Mudcat Joe, and the Ditto Sisters.
That said, there will also be three out-of-town musical acts taking to the stage this Sunday, headlined by Radix Bloom, an original percussive acoustic-electric band from Terrace, that includes the twin brother guitar tandem of Aaron and Adam Alander.
James Powell, from Dr. Fishy, will also play a set at the show, without the rest of the band, however.

CFNR's Steve Little will also make an appearance, while Terrace's Tree Bomb AC also will dazzle the stage.

And it's the new stage at the cannery that has Ljungh excited.

"We have a brand new stage, and it's got great acoustics," she said. "It sounds fantastic."
Three stages will be used throughout the event. Other acts include Lachlan Clement, the Skeena Jazz Express, and Celtic Raindrop.

There will be the usual Music Works for kids as well early on in the event.

A beer garden will also be available on-site from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Due to the lack of parking available out at the cannery and for safety reasons, shuttle buses will be running all day to and from the Aero Trading parking lot. Only those with proper North Pacific passes will be allowed to drive directly to the cannery.

Tickets are available at Teddy's, and will also be sold at the gate on the day of the event, which gets underway at noon and runs until the final bands are done at around 7:45 p.m.

Looking to get their funding back

Port Edward council is not impressed with the developments at the North Pacific Cannery Village, where the Human Resources Development Canada office has decided not to issue summer student grants to a number of northern sites including the Cannery Village.

Port Ed has added their name to the growing list of communities and organizations that plan on writing to the federal Minister responsible for HRSDC.

Any day now Monte Solberg can expect greetings from sunny Port Edward, though he may find that the questions they ask of him won’t be particularly tidings of gladness and joy.

Perhaps issuing an invitation to the Minister to come on out and make the drive to the Fishing village might help. Nothing works better and clears the mind more than to drag a politician out into the real world once and a while, that way they can actually see where his or her department’s decisions are falling down and causing much more in the way of trouble than the taxpayers (and voters) might like.

If nothing else the timing of HRDC’s decision is poor, even worse seems to be the lack of information provided by the government explaining the reasoning behind the decision and why it has been applied in this manner.

The full story from Port Edward was recounted in Thursday’s Daily News.

CANNERY FUNDING CUT TO PROMPT LOBBYING
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Page one

Port Edward council is not happy about what has happened to the HRDC grants at the North Pacific Fishing Village.

As reported in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily News, the federal government has decided not to issue HRDC summer student grants to northern B. C. museums and historic sites, including the North Pacific cannery.

This has put manager Karin Ljungh in a difficult position. She has already hired the three summer students needed to run the non-profit facility and isn’t sure where she is going to get the money to pay them.

“It’s obviously going to put a print on our bottom line,” said Chief Executive Officer Ron Bedard.

“I heard it could be $15,000.” “I know that $15,000 may sound like peanuts nowadays, but to the cannery that could make a difference whether it’s in the red of the black.”

In the past, the cannery has applied for four HRDC summer student grants, and has usually received funding for three. But this time, every single grant was rejected, leaving the district scrambling for ideas on how to come up with that cash.

“We need to get our funding back,” said Coun. James Brown. “We get a raw deal.”

The problem started when changes were made to the Canada Summer Jobs program, a new initiative under the HRDC label, which according to http://www.museums.ca/ is designed to help Canadian non-profits, public sector employers, and smaller private sector organizations offer summer jobs to students who face social barriers.

But apparently, under this new definition, museums and heritage sites all across Canada no longer qualify, and have all been turned down.
“Despite the need for long-term solutions, there is still an urgent need to voice, loudly, the case for museums,” said Jim Harding, executive director for the B. C. Museums Association.

“Because it is clear that a major educational effort on the federal level is needed.”

The Canadian Musueum Association (CMA) has notified all of its members to send as many letters as possible to the federal minister responsible, who is Monte Solberg, Minister of HRSDC.

Port Edward was quick to add their name to that list.

“I say we do write to the feds and find somebody we can talk to,” said Mayor Dave MacDonald.

Bedard added: “The more letters of support we can send, the better.”

In the March 2007 federal budget, the government committed an additional $5 million per year to support student jobs in museums. The CMA and its members are now scrambling to learn how they can get that funding before it is too late, said John McAvity, CMA executive director.

Cannery museum cash shortfall causes concern for tourist season

One of the region’s main tourist attractions is looking at a rather lean summer season, as the federal government cuts back on funding for the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward.

Human Resources Development Canada which regularly has approved grant applications for staffing requirements at the Village has reportedly turned down applications from heritage sites across the northern BC, that according to Karin Ljungh, who is the manager of the Port Edward historical site, which is currently run on a non profit basis.

The Daily News examined the situation from the Fishing Museum point of view in Tuesday’s paper, providing details of the process that the operation at North Pacific goes about applying for grants and what they use that money for. During the course of the article however, there were no details on why Human Resources Development Canada has taken the stand that it seems to have embarked on. An answer to that question might be something that could help shed some light onto what seems to be a rather confusing situation. Perhaps it's a cause that the local MP, Nathan Cullen could examine and report back on for his constituents.

What all of this may mean for the Fishing Village remains to be seen, but with the high profile that the Mayor and others locally have given to tourism in the Northwest of late, it would seem that decisions like these are working at cross purposes as far as developing the tourism potential for the Northwest.

CANNERY STRUGGLES TO COPE AS FUNDING IS PULLED
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Pages one and two

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

After all, an increase in cruise ship visits, a return to full summer B. C. ferry service, and the grant approved to repair the existing dock, and one would think that 2007 had the potential to be a banner year for the North Pacific Fishing Village in Port Edward.

But then the federal government stepped in and ruined the party, and the cannery’s manager, Karin Ljungh, is worried about how the season may turn out.

“This year got us right out of nowhere,” she said. “I can’t do anything that costs money,”

In the past, the cannery has used HRDC grants to basically pay for the extra staff required for the summer season.

“I have three (employees) that come in over the summer,” said Ljungh. “I apply for four, and usually get three.
“This year we didn’t get anything.”

But this time, HRDC turned down applications from not only the cannery, but from the museums and heritage sites from all over Northern B. C.

“Not one museum got approved,” she said.

“We got hit really hard.”

Unfortunately, the cannery had already gone ahead and hired three summer workers for the tourism season, said Ljungh, now the cannery is not sure exactly how they will be paid.

“We need to do something for the summer,” she said. “We’re in a tough place.”

“We are operating as a tourism site but also as a national historic site, and we’re non-profit, so I don’t understand why (HRDC turned the cannery down for a grant.)”

Generating a profit, then, maybe the only way the cannery can manage to get through the summer, and the increase in cruise ship traffic- which in essence saved the North Pacific last summer in light of the sinking of the Queen of the North – should help with tourism numbers.

“We were in much better shape at the end of last year than expected,” said Ljungh.

“So that’s what we’re focusing all of our energy on.”

The North Pacific cannery has set up short tours specifically aimed at the cruise ship passengers, while the more extensive tours will continue to be reserved for the walk-up traffic, like those travelers coming in via Highway 16, or journeying up the Inside Passage on B. C. Ferries.

The best of those tours, said Ljungh, is a dinner package that includes a salmon dinner that tourists are already raving about.

“The (longer) tour is focused more so on what the cannery life was really like,” she said.

Due to money constraints, the main event of the summer will be the annual music festival, Rollin’ on the river, scheduled for noon until 7 p. m. on Sun. June 3 (watch for a full preview on the festival later this week in the Daily News).

After that show, the cannery will host music cafes, throughout the summer every Saturday.

In addition, Ljungh is hoping to get two main projects underway at the cannery, including getting new flowers in the 34 flower boxes.
She is also hoping to paint the building, but both of these projects will depend on how the local businesses respond with a call for offers to help.

“We faxed our letters to everybody,” she said.

The cannery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a. m. until 5 p. m. Then as of July 1, it will be open seven days a week.

Pictures of Podunk: North Pacific Fishing Village

Tourist season is almost here! One of the more popular of attractions on the North Coast is the North Pacific Cannery Museum out in Port Edward. The site features many buildings and exhibits of the early days of the fishing industry along the Skeena and the North Coast.