Haida Gwaii's wild weekend weather delays travel and cuts power

While the winds were gusty at times over the weekend in Prince Rupert, it was apparently a different story on Haida Gwaii, there reported gusts of up to  and at times over 100 km per hour brought trees down on power lines in a number of locations on the Islands, a situation that resulted in numerous power outages across the islands.

The nasty weather also served to keep transportation links to the Island off schedule, BC Ferries held the Northern Expedition in Prince Rupert for several hours, as the Ferry corporation waited for the weather to improve before attempting the crossing of Hecate Strait.

The fall out from the weekend's windstorm was felt on Monday as well as Port Clements elementary school was closed due to the power outage.

The Queen Charlotte Islands Observer had a full report on the weekend's weather related troubles.

Back-to-back storms disrupt power
Queen Charlotte Islands Observer
Monday, March 29, 2010

Back-to-back windstorms hit Haida Gwaii over the weekend, causing several lengthy power outages from one end of the islands to the other.

The blackouts started Saturday morning (March 27) with a brief, 11-minute power failure at 10:30 am affecting the entire south-end grid. BC Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer said the Queen Charlotte Power Corp. generating station stopped, but power was restored quickly because the Sandspit diesel generating station came on line.

The wind continued to pick up speed throughout the afternoon and evening, with gusts over 100 km/hour recorded in Sandspit. At 7:30 pm the power went out in Sandspit, affecting 124 homes. At 9:40 pm Massett and Port Clements were plunged into darkness, followed by Tlell at 10:20 pm. In all three cases, the outages were caused by trees contacting the power lines, Mr. Gammer said.

Crews worked throughout the night, restoring power in Masset and Port at 4 am Sunday (March 28), in Sandspit by 9 am, and in Tlell by 1:40 pm.

By Sunday evening the wind was roaring again, and a tree caused another power failure in Port Clements just before 9 pm. Because the crews had been working for 16 hours straight to fix the previous power failures, Mr. Gammer explained, they had to take a mandatory eight-hour break before they could tackle the Port outage. Power was restored to the 350 households there around 10 am Monday (March 29).

"It was a real challenge for our crews but I think they did a great job," Mr. Gammer said, adding that there are three trained linemen on the islands, assisted by the diesel station operators. "The line manager says we had two back-to-back windstorms where winds were gusting up to 120 km/hour."

The second storm delayed the Northern Expedition's departure from Prince Rupert for several hours, and Port Clements elementary school was closed Monday morning because of the power outage.

Mr. Gammer said although this winter has been stormier than usual, power failures haven't been as frequent as they could have been. That's because BC Hydro has been upgrading equipment and cutting down weak trees along the lines. "We feel the outage picture has been pretty good, all things considered," he said.

According to data from BC Hydro, the islands had 33 days with wind over 70 km/hour between October 2009 and February 2010, Mr. Gammer said. That's a 33 percent increase compared to the same period last year, which had 25 days with wind over 70 km/hour.

Podunk Below the Masthead (Monday, March 29, 2010)

The sheriff came for a year and stayed many more, a new brand for Tourism Prince Rupert and Burns Lake leads the way in energy conservation on Earth Day, some of the items of interest for Monday

Daily News, front page, headline story
LOCAL SHERRIFF RECEIVES RECOGNITION FOR HONOURABLE LONG-TIME SERVICE -- The Daily News reviews the career of local sherriff Jesse Gale, who recently was awarded the Peace Officer Exemplary award, in recognition of his 22 years of service to the province.

The old president has move on to other adventures and the Chamber of Commerce has named her replacement, as they feted Deb Stava for her years of work on behalf of the Chamber, the organization dedicated to helping business thrive in Prince Rupert welcomed Maynard Angus aboard as the new Chamber President.

A cougar sighting has been received by the RCMP for the east side of the city, as a resident on that side of town called in the report of a cougar in the Frederick Street in the wooded area near Hays Cove Avenue, RCMP have increased patrols in the area and the Terrace based conservation officer has been updated on the sighting.

We're inviting the world to come Discover our Nature, as Tourism Prince Rupert launches a new image campaign that features a new branding of the community. The process which took three years to complete provides the imagery of rain drops, and eagle and leaves as it sells the merits of our natural environment, the new brand will soon appear on all Tourism Prince Rupert offerings from tourist pamphlets and Visitor Guides to Tourism advertising.

Port Edward council is taking a breath of relief at the turn of events at last week's School District closure vote, which saw the Port Edward school decision put off by three to six months. That time is providing the District of Port Ed to put together a Community School model for the School District to consider in the hope that what they have to offer in that three to six months will result in schooling to continue in Port Edward.

The Sports page featured a review of the Prince Rupert Rampage wrap up banquet for the 2009-10 season.

(Daily News archive items for March 29, 2010 )

Local sherriff receives recognition for honourable long-time service
Chamber has a new president
Enbridge band wagon getting full as more pile aboard
Branding for Prince Rupert
Port Edward relieved by their temporary reprieve
Cougar sighting in Prince Rupert confirmed

The Northern View
MPs call for tanker ban -- Three NDP MP's including Skeena Bulkley Valley's Nathan Cullen have called for a tanker ban in the waters off the north coast (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
Burns Lake Leads The Province In Earth Hour Reductions-- Details of Burns Lake's success on Saturday night as they led the way for energy conservation across the province (see article here)

Queen Charlotte Islands Observer
Back to back storms disrupt power -- A weekend of wild weather on Haida Gwaii left more than afew Island residents in the dark (see article here)

CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North
No new items were posted to the CBC website for Monday

Daybreak North is only posting selected items on their website now. The most recently posted items for this week can be found on the weekly archive for Daybreak North click here

Daily News, front page, headline story
Local sherriff receives recognition for honourable long-time service
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Monday, March 29, 2010

In love with his city, challenged by his job and full of good humour, Jesse Gale was lacking only one crowning moment.

That moment came on March 17 when Gale, a sheriff at the Prince Rupert courthouse, was awarded a prestigious medal for his long service in the provincial correctional services.

Gale became the first sheriff in Prince Rupert – only the third in the North – to receive the Peace Officer Exemplary Medal in recognition of his 22 years serving to the province as a sheriff. It seemed a little odd that it took so long, but Gale said he never expected it.

 “You don’t expect to get anything for doing your job,” said an understated Gale on Monday. “All I expected was to get a paycheck. But for an employer to recognize someone in a higher-risk profession it feels good – overwhelming to a point.”

 Jesse Gale, husband and father of one, moved to Prince Rupert 18 years ago. He’s been caught in a Prince Rupert cliché ever since.

“I came here for one year,” Gale told the Daily News. “I don’t know if there is something magnetic about this town – perhaps we are closer to the moon, I don’t know, but we never left.”

In fact, Gale can pinpoint one of the reasons he decided to stick around. It had everything to do with the way locals are treated and treat visitors.

Having just moved to Prince Rupert with his wife, the newbies were looking for a bite to eat. They decided to give the Fairview Restaurant a try. After finishing a delightful meal, Fairview owner Amy Wong asked how they liked the meal and what they were doing during their stay in Prince Rupert.

 “I told her that I was the new sheriff in town,” recounted Gale.

 Wong took the comment to heart and offered the Gales a dinner on the house. It was that type of generosity that typified Gale’s experience in town and symbolized the generosity he’s found here. “We really have the best of all worlds here.”

It also speaks to the balance Gale has to find in his life. Normally, his days are filled with fairly dark matters involving crime and criminals. As one of the men in charge of securing those charged with crimes, Gale has seen his share of troubling events. But he was well prepared for the work.

Before he moved to Prince Rupert, Gale spent time as a worker with mentally challenged teenagers in Ontario. That work laid the groundwork for his eventual career as a correctional officer. It taught him to be more understanding, but to also be firm with prisoners.

 “[Here] I am dealing with a lot of mentally challenged people who are also criminals,” explained Gale on Monday. 

“But I love the challenge – I love the challenge to try to relate to people who are out of control. And every job I have held has made me a better person along the way.”

 When Gale spoke to the Daily News, it was a manic Monday. It is always a manic Monday in the Prince Rupert courthouse, where first appearance for those charged with serious offences is the order of the day.

Gale’s job is to manage the situation whether it is the quiet surroundings of the Prince Rupert courthouse, the tough surroundings of the Okalla prison in Burnaby or the logistically difficult transportation of criminals.

Gale had been part of a correctional services team that moved prisoners through the inter-provincial escort air service – ‘Air Criminal’. He had also been involved in moving prisoners to and from work sites.

 So, he began to learn the tricky ways in which criminals look to deceive their keepers and enable their escape plans.

“You had to remain vigilant. It was always the ones you thought would not try who were usually the one who did,” said Gale,

At a work site, Gale had struck up a conversation with a prisoner who had noticed there was a gaping hole in the wall that kept the prisoners inside and the public safely on the outside.

 “He said to me ‘hey boss, do you think that hole is kind of big?’ I told him that I thought it was. He asked me ‘don’t you think one of us could escape through the hole?’ I said sure. He then asked me what if he ran through the hole, ‘would you chase me?’ I said probably not. He asked, “aren’t you afraid that I might run away?’ I told him that my .38 caliber gun could go a lot faster than I could.”

 Of course it was a joke, but guarding prisoners is serious business. There is little time to fraternize with prisoners and you don’t get many thank-yous from the prisoners for doing a good job. Which is why Gale was extremely pleased his employers recognized him for his service.

The medal was introduced in 2004 and is awarded to recipients who have completed 20 years of exemplary service, including at least 10 years that involve risk.

The honour recognizes people who work in high-risk jobs and dedicate themselves to public safety. Up until recently, it had been awarded to Police officers and firefighters, but sheriffs were not eligible, even though it was obvious to Gale that their work was just as risky as any other protective service.

That changed this year when Governor General Michaelle Jean announced that B.C. Sheriffs would now be included in the Peace Officer Exemplary Service Medal program.

Not that it changed anything for Gale. He is just as happy today to do his job as he was before. He’s just a little more honoured to do it.

The one name that seemingly brings out the worst in coaches!

The Sports channels have featured the clip over and over, the news channels making much of it as well and even Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's countdown found room amongst all the events of the day to feature it, Monday brought wall to wall coverage of Jim Playfair's recent meltdown on the bench of the Abbotsford Heat.

It was one of the more memorable displays of a coaching flame out, that included numerous broken sticks and  what appeared to be the early stages of a strip tease...reminiscent of the days of Slapshot.
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While watching the video of coach Playfair's viral moment, we couldn't help but latch onto the name of the referee for the night, a familiar surname that brought back memories of a previous coaching implosion when then New Jersey Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld offered to make a donut run (Timmies we hope) for the man in stripes of his angst... 


What is this name that has had the Keyser Söze effect on professional hockey coaches?
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 Two men, one name. One father and one son and an apparent ability to trip the wire that releases the inner Inglewood Jack of coaches everywhere!
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 The above item first appeared on the HockeyNation blog

It's the economy (Monday, March 29, 2010)

Well you can't fire yourself, can you, Big Business isn't happy with Iggy's plans and a highly creative, highly illegal money making scheme, some of the items of interest for Monday.

Globe and Mail-- Britain once again 'sick man of Europe'
Globe and Mail-- Opportunity lies in emerging markets, Jenkins says
Globe and Mail-- Self-employment makes major upswing
National Post-- Canadian banking giants start to raise rates
National Post-- PetroChina plans US$60-billion expansion overseas
National Post-- Liberals' corporate tax freeze panned
New York Times-- Rothschilds Bring In an Outsider to Run the Show
New York Times-- Stiff Sentences Given in Rio Tinto Case
New York Times-- Greece Raises $6.7 Billion in Bond Sale
USA Today-- Consumer spending rises modestly; incomes flat
USA Today-- Airline passengers, revenue slid sharply in 2009
Guardian UK online-- UK's AAA credit rating in danger – S& P
Guardian UK online-- Falkland Islands drilling disappoints for Desire
Guardian UK online-- George Osborne's national insurance plans put recovery at risk, say experts
Times on line UK-- Civil servants and axed IT to pay for Tory tax cut
Times on line UK-- Analysis: Osborne hides surprise in figures
Telegraph UK online-- Ask the Chancellors verdict: Darling comes out ahead on points
Telegraph UK online-- Banks asked to fund rival from Post Office
Telegraph UK online-- Rio Tinto may face SFO inquiry on China bribes
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Moody's confident if disasters planned for
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Stevens warns against property craze
Sydney Daily Telegraph-- Rachel Maree Cowen found guilty of $15m shares theft
People's Daily-- Spring exodus of employees, new survey shows 
People's Daily-- China's economy estimated to grow 12% in Q1 
China Daily-- Sichuan-Shanghai pipeline starts pumping gas 
China Daily-- Verdict for Rio trial handed down in Shanghai 
Times of India-- 'Tougher RBI policy will affect growth' 
Times of India-- Companies target young Indians to boost growth

Mayor Mussallem shares his message on BC ferries with Northwest Mayors in Terrace

BC Ferries plans for the reconfiguration of its North - South sailings was the topic of discussion on Friday at a gathering of Northwest Mayors it Terrace.

The Mayor and his fellow political leaders of the Northwest met with a representative of BC Ferries as part of a Special Committee of the Whole of Terrace City Council. The purpose of the meeting was to examine and discuss the proposed bi-weekly ferry changes put forward by BC Ferries, which could see reductions in port calls in Rupert of up to twenty sailings.

It's that change in nature and reduction in service, that has set off the alarm bells with Mayor Mussallem and other Mayors along the Yellowhead highway corridor, who fear that such a drastic change to the sailing schedule could have dire effects on the hospitality industry and economies in general of the cities and towns along the route.

BC Ferries as part of their presentation put forward the concept of better utilising their new Ferry on the route by making Rupert and the Northwest more of a destination stop rather we imagine, than as the efforts of the past as a transportation conduit.

Be re-routing the southernd terminus of the run to Vancouver, BC Ferries is offering up the prospect of more tourism to the area from the larger centres of the Lower Mainland. A suggestion that Mayor says isn't universally shared by the Vancouver Tourism Association.

Mayor Mussallem also suggested that the Ferry Corporation develop better links with Via Rail and offer a circle route of tourism for the province, he also pointed out during the discussion that as far as he was aware, Via Rail had not been consulted by the Ferry corporation regarding their plans for the north coast service.

The topic of route re-configuration has been a controversial one in Prince Rupert as some of our past postings on the topic have indicated:

February 2010-- More consultation required before BC Ferry route implementation
February 2010-- Requesting a course change from Chairman Hahn
December 2009-- BC Ferries faces a Northwest mutiny over transportation plan

The website Terrace Daily online has  a full review of the events of last Friday in Terrace council chambers.

Local supply store closes it's doors

Alas, another name to add to the departed side of our Podunkian Business Tracker, as a long time retail fixture on the north coast has closed it's doors.

Northern Industrial Sales, which for years was the location of choice for many home improvement participants as well as Prince Rupert's industrial base has ended it's retail store front operations in the city, the Closed sign posted in the front window of the store for the start of business today.

NIS was sold to NorTerra Investments in 2007 which has operated a string of similar supply stores across Northern and Western Canada after making a number of recent purchases of Independent supply stores across the west. The NorTerra website offers up a snapshot of the vast holdings under the corporate umbrella, of which the local retail operation of NIS was a part of.

The majority of the Prince Rupert stock is reportedly bound for the Terrace location which will remain open for business on a retail basis. Orders through that location will apparently be available for delivery to Prince Rupert.

Something went bump in the night on Haida Gwaii

Those that aren't sound sleepers may have noticed yet another shifting of the earth's plates overnight under Haida Gwaii, the USGS website is listing a 4.2 magnitude earthquake as having rumbled under the islands at 4:38 in the overnight period.

The epicentre of the latest temblor to roll through the region was to the southern tip of Haida Gwaii, some 291 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

An earthquake listed at 4.2 is considered significant, but not likely to cause much in the way of damage. There have been few reports of any incidents of concern stemming from the overnight shifting.

The last significant quake to rumble under Haida Gwaii was on November 17, 2009 when Islanders felt the rolling from a 6.6 magnitude quake.

This most recent event has not been listed or reviewed on the Earthquake Canada website yet.

USGS Information site
Earthquakes Canada

A few of us forgot to turn out the lights!

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"You know, we're trying to build a conservation culture in B.C. where conservation comes naturally and events like Earth Hour help educate people of the simple things they can do on a daily basis."-- BC Hydro spokesperson Simi Heer, hoping to put the best image forward of British Columbians efforts on Saturday night's Earth Hour. British Columbia's contribution to Earth Hour 2010, probably wasn't exactly what organizers had  been hoping for.

As the world turned off it's lights for an hour from 8:30-9:30 on Saturday evening, the totals in BC were slightly less than last years efforts, with the provinces electricty load dropping by only 1.04 per cent, the equivalent of about 1.4 million lights getting clicked off.

While the world switched off the power to many of it's high profile landmarks, the grass roots it seems at least in BC were a little less inclined to do with the DVD's, X-boxes, wii's and such for the hour.

The CBC recognized Burns Lake as leading the province in reduction of energy consumption for the hour, a 7 percent reduction on their normal usage, though their efforts have yet to be recognized on the BC Hydro website which tracked some of the 84 officially registered participants in Saturday night's electrical turn off.

No figures for Prince Rupert's participation have been posted to the BC Hydro site yet, so we're not sure how Rupert fared compared to the rest of the province, but if the trend here was such as it was across BC, then we suspect that our figures will be much of the same.

WWF Website-- Earth Hour Canada 2010
WWF Website-- Earth Hour worldwide 2010
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Vancouver Province-- Earth Hour in B.C. sees 1.04% drop in power use
Vancouver Sun-- B.C. reduces consumption of electricity by 1.04 per cent during Earth Hour
CTV News British Columbia-- B.C. reduces power for Earth Hour, but less than past years

The Marketing of a Hollywood Bomb... Breaking a Box Office record in the wrong direction

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"This is not some small, independent movie. It's astonishing that only about 11 people could be bothered to go and see Uma Thurman."-- An astonished British film critic tries, unsuccessfully to understand the weekend viewing totals for Thurman's Motherhood.
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Is this the way to treat anyone's Mother?

It could very well be the greatest opening week box office flop in movie history for a feature film highlighting some major talent!

Motherhood a picture featuring the story of a stressed-out New York mother, played by Uma Thurman has managed to take in but 131 dollars on its opening weekend in England.

The tidings got even worse for the picture, its third day of release, Sunday saw only 11 dollars in ticket sales processed at the box office, apparently the cost of a single ticket into the theatre, and no doubt making for lots of room to find a good seat.

When the film was released in the United States back in October, the take for the opening weekend was a dismal $50,000, though considering the events of the weekend in England those were the golden days for this film's bank balance.

The weekend's sad receipts from England have the movies producers and boosters pointing the finger at the marketing people in the UK who apparently used a low profile, one theatre opening approach to building buzz.

The buzz is there we guess, but for all the wrong reasons.

The surprisingly low totals come for a movie that in addition to Thurman, featured appearances from Jodie Foster and Minnie Driver and cost 8 million dollars to produce.

And while producers and marketing minds (such as they are) try to work out some kind of strategy to increase the box office take (and recover some of these immense losses) in the weeks to come (or rush that direct to DVD contract into effect), they can still claim that their production is not the worst movie ever to arrive at a box office.

Cinema observers scoured the record books to see which film holds the record for the dubious distinction, and as they say at the Oscars, the winner is.... "My Nikifor," a film about a Polish artist,  which took in about $10 its debut weekend back in 2007.

The Reviews:

Internet Movie Database-- Motherhood
Rotten Tomatoes-- Motherhood
Cinemablend-- Motherhood
Film Arcade-- Motherhood
Huffington Post-- Motherhood

It's the economy (Weekend Edition, March 27 and 28, 2010)

Looking for gold in all that ink, rumbles of a trade war and Greek problems, what Greek problems, some of the items of note for the weekend.

Globe and Mail-- LinkedIn set to open shop in Canada
Globe and Mail-- David Black, a true believer amid cries of doom
Globe and Mail-- Apple pushes back shipping of new iPad pre-orders
National Post-- Geely to buy Ford's Volvo unit for $1.8-billion
National Post-- Shale gas the new green issue
National Post-- Hello, sweetheart. Get me productivity
Vancouver Sun-- Vancouver home-based firm finds a niche in small-scale globalization
New York Times-- Golf Course Designed by Tiger Woods Runs Into Problems of Its Own
New York Times-- Sony Pursues a Bold Success to Match Its Scale
New York Times-- Analysts Ask if the iPad Can Live Up to Its Hype
New York Times-- Punks and Plutocrats
USA Today-- Regulators close 2 Georgia banks, 1 in Florida
USA Today-- Top 10 S&P 500 stocks change from 2007 peak
Guardian UK online-- If the US declares economic war on China, we should all tremble
Guardian UK online-- Spell out the pain
Guardian UK online-- The chancellors debate: Pay voters the respect of an honest discussion
Telegraph UK online-- Europe has left Greece hanging in the wind
Telegraph UK online-- Germany and China's national economic policies have become a source of global concern
Telegraph UK online-- Darling's box of tricks could have been worse, but we're still in trouble
Melbourne News Herald-- Uma Thurman's box office record - $150 opening weekend
Melbourne News Herald-- Watch out, sharks about
Syndey Daily Telegraph-- Pokie giant ALH accused of 'club' rip-off 
People's Daily-- More state financial support for homegrown jumbo jet called for
People's Daily-- Russian supports China's exchange rate policy: senior banking official
China Daily-- Chinese official says China-US trade is win-win game
China Daily-- Chinese seafood traders fish for business at Boston show
Times of India-- Economy to expand by 7.4% in current fiscal: Assocham
Times of India-- Inflation to drop in 2-3 months: Montek

CBC's Four hour Grapes-a-thon set to make its debut Sunday night

Sunday night will be Don Cherry night on the CBC and for good measure Monday night too, as the people's broadcaster airs its much anticipated two part mini series on the life and times of one Donald S. Cherry.

The iconic Canadian personality is given the full review in CBC's presentation of Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story. A four hour examination of all things Cherry, split over two nights.

A television program that is full of the bombast, colour and history of the game that has made Cherry perhaps one of the most identifiable figures in Canadian hockey. With a script provided by son Tim who doubles as executive producer of the series, the trail in life that Cherry has followed is outlined with apparent careful consideration to his much discussed image.

It follows Cherry's life from its early beginnings, the successful moments and the occasional stumbles, most of it played out on the buses and in the rustic arenas of the hard hitting American Hockey League. The movie travels through the period of despair and exile from the game and then on to his triumphant return as an NHL coach, a turn of events that elevated him to near cult status in Canada, based on short stints in Boston and Colorado, defined of course by his days in Boston as the coach of Bobby Orr.

The television biography takes us to his most recent career shift and for what he's now best known as, that being the High Cardinal of Canadian hockey with sermons delivered every Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada.

By show-time of 8 pm on a Sunday night, much of the day's sporting activity will have faded from view, leaving the spotlight to Kingston Ontario's most famous son, in a nation that devours all things hockey, one imagines that the CBC is hopeful that it will be finding that Keep you head up kid, is going to contribute to the helpful cause of keeping the ratings up as well!

Cherry himself has been busy making the promotional tours for his story, bringing some clips of the show along for the presentation, featured below on the CBC's, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos.


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The CBC's website for the two night presentation.

Some of the pre-broadcast findings on the CBC's offering from the nation's media observers:

CBC-- Film chronicles Don Cherry's life
Globe and Mail-- The soft side of Grapes
Globe and Mail-- Biopic should give Cherry nothing to worry about
Toronto Sun-- Cherry biopic not a tell-all
Toronto Star-- Cherry picking his life story
Toronto Life-- Q & A: Don Cherry on the CBC biopic Keep Your Head Up Kid
Kingston Whig-Standard-- Opening Night Jitters
Montreal Gazette-- Don Cherry bio-pic is fun for Habs fans
Winnipeg Free Press-- CBC shoots...
Winnipeg Free Press-- Cherry's jubilee
Vancouver Sun-- A story about a great Canadian kid
Canada.com-- CBC gives four hours of the best of Don Cherry


This item first appeared on the HockeyNation blog

Podunk Below the Masthead (Friday, March 26, 2010)

Shared celebrations bring a gift, the Daily News outlines its findings on the Roosevelt Condo story and some YouTube viewing for those wanting to learn more about the Northwest Transmission project, some of the items of note for the news cycle of Friday.

Daily News, front page, headline story
ANOTHER 100 YEAR CELEBRATION - THE NAVY'S AS OLD AS PRINCE RUPERT -- Avast mateys, the Navy has pulled into town to provide salutations to the population on their centennial celebration. The Canadian Navy has joined in on the celebration of Prince Rupert's 100th anniversary, presenting council with a loan of a symbol of some maritime history. The Canadian Navy, which is celebrating it's 100th anniversary as well, provided the city with a bell off of the namesake ship of the city, HMCS Prince Rupert which served in the Atlantic theatre during World War Two, primarily on convoy escort duties, the vessel was sold off out of the navy in 1947. Council will be displaying the bell in council chambers until the end of June.

Some more background on the court proceedings underway between local owners of condo units in the Roosevelt Heights apartments and the Vancouver based developers of the project, which include a high profile real estate specialist, Ozzie Jurock, known for his radio and television appearances in the Greater Vancouver area. As we reviewed on the blog back on March 19 , the local owners have taken the condo developers to court over concerns that there were misrepresentations on the condition of the buildings provided to would be buyers at the time of the sale. Lawyers for the property developers have vowed that their clients take the charges very seriously and will spare no expense in defending their reputations in court. As we examined in our blog piece of the 19th, the transition to condo development at the  Roosevelt Heights complexes at the time made for a controversial debate at City council.

The discussion over suitable building materials for Prince Rupert's rather damp climate at times continued on in City Council chambers this week as a local contractor explained some of the challenges he believes the current city regulations on the use of Hardie Board provide. The Daily surveyed a number of local contractors for their opinions on the nature of building material options for the North coast.

The Sports section featured an indepth look at Aboriginal Sport in British Columbia, with a new society that is hoping to pick up the torch from the exciting days of the Cowichan games in 2008 and build upon it for the next Aboriginal Games of  2011 scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(Daily News Archive items for March 26,2010)

Another 100 year celebration - the Navy’s as old as Prince Rupert 
Class-action suit against previous condo owners 
The ‘Hardie Board’ debate 
Sign up for Block Stock 2010 
Call for excellence in initiative nominees

The Northern View 
No new items were posted to the Northern View website for Friday

CFTK TV 7 News 
Online Video Released on Northwest Transmission Line Project -- An online Video outlining the impact of the Northwest Transmission Line has been released, designed to provide an overview of the project and the importance to the region that it could provide (see article here)

Video presentation is below:



CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North 
No new items were posted to the Daybreak North website for Friday.

Daybreak North is only posting selected items on their website now. The most recently posted items for this week can be found on the weekly archive for Daybreak North click here

Daily News, front page, headline story 
Another 100 year celebration - the Navy’s as old as Prince Rupert 
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Friday, March 26, 2010

 A link to Prince Rupert’s history and involvement in the Canadian military will be on display in the City’s Council Chambers until the end of June.

A bell that once belonged to the HMCS Prince Rupert has been loaned to the city by the Canadian Navy as part of an effort to reacquaint Canadian communities with their namesake warship during the Navy’s centennial year.

Capt. Alex Rueben, Chief of Staff Maritime Forces Pacific, presented the bell to Mayor Jack Mussallem at Monday’s city council meeting.

 “I would like to congratulate Prince Rupert on your centennial just as the Navy is celebrating its centennial, which is equally important,” said Rueben.

Appropriately, the ceremony included participation by members of Prince Rupert’s Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps., Captain Cook, who marched in with the bell hanging from a paddle.

The bell was hung on a custom-made display stand on the north side of the room, after which the cadets rang the historic icon. A commemorative plaque of the HMCS Prince Rupert was subsequently presented to the mayor.

The HMCS Prince Rupert, commissioned on August 30, 1943, had an illustrious career on the wartime seas, helping win the Battle of the Atlantic against Nazi Germany by being employed on Convoy duties.

She paused only for refit and maintenance throughout the war, until victory came to Europe.

The ship was sold by the Canadian government in 1947.

 “I am sure that the City of Prince Rupert, which played an important role during the Second World War, would be proud of her namesake ship,” said Rueben.

 Councillor Sheila Gordon-Payne asked Rueben about increasing the presence of the Navy in Prince Rupert. Naval ships have visited less frequently in recent years, which Rueben explained was due to budget constraints.

 “We would like to do more visits to Prince Rupert. I see a cutback, however, in the number of deployments to Prince Rupert in the next year, but I cannot give an accurate count,” explained Rueben.

Rueben did confirm that a naval ship would not be able to visit Prince Rupert during Seafest this year, because it coincides with the Navy’s International Naval Review.

 “But the Navy would like to remain involved in the future,” commented Rueben.

Nisga'a nation selects Mitchell Stevens as new President

The results have been released from Thursday's balloting for the Presidency of the Nisga Lisims government and with 299 of the votes Mitchell Stevens, was declared the winner, defeating eight other challengers for the position.

Mitchell's victory was by the narrowest of margins, as he received but eight votes more than the second place finisher Kevin McKay who tallied 291 votes, Mckay had served as interim president since the passing of former leader Nelson Leeson, Herbert Morven rounded out the top three finishers with a vote total of 235.

The remainder of the vote count went as follows: Eric Nyce 125 votes, Harry Nyce 124 votes, Frances Stanley 119 votes, Joseph Gosnell Jr. 108 votes, Paul Mercer 105 votes, and Arthur Azak 53 votes.

 Mr. Stevens will finish out the remaining two years of the former president's term, which will come to an end in the fall of 2012. He will move on to the Presidency after having served as a village councillor at Laxgalts'ap (Greenville) in the Nass.

Terrace Standard-- Mitchell Stevens elected to head Nisga'a Nation

Cmon' down to John Furlong's Discount Emporium

Going, going, going til it's gone.

The Vancouver Organizing committee of the Olympic games is having a giant garage sale of sorts, unloading all of the material goods they've accumulated during the run up to and the operation of the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic games.

Lines started to form early this morning for a crack at 42 inch plasma TV's at 499 a pop, 26 inch ones for 199 and Acer Travelmate laptops for 260.

The sale taking place in a giant Delta warehouse will continue on until all of the material not scooped up already by now former Vanoc employees and volunteers, who were given first crack at any "early bird" sales.

All told there are some 1400 different product categories up for the browsing, over 200,000 individual items ready for some cash and carry.

For these items in the warehouse there are no phone orders, no online buying, just good old fashioned Canadian line ups, and the need to bring money, credit or debit cards with you at the time of purchase and the requirement to take your goods as you buy them, there will be no warehousing of your purchases in the warehouse!

If you're down Delta way sometime in the near future, John Furlong's Discount Emporium is open from 9 am every day at Vanoc Main Distribution Centre at 7530 Hopcott Rd., in Delta.

The bargains however don't end in Delta, there is also the opportunity to bid on a large variety of items on line during the Vancouver Games auction, An on-line extravaganza where you could pick yourself some fascinating memorabilia (at occasionally pricey costs)!

Among some of the items you can check out; a Hailey Wickenheiser game worn jersey, replicas of Olympic hockey game tickets including one signed by Alexander Ovechkin (are those tear drops we see Alex?) or for those family events this summer  your very own ceremony medal tray and who knows maybe even a bronze, silver and gold medal podium.

The list of items up for auction is being handled by eBay, which has an entire website dedicated to all the memories you could think of from the 2010 Games.

 Vancouver Sun-- Olympic stuff sold cheap — but you'll have to line up to get it
CTV News -- VANOC selling 2010 Games leftovers
North Shore Outlook-- Long lines for giant Olympic flea market

it's the economy (Friday, March 26, 2010)

China tops Germany as an export leader, It's that 70's show for England and Canadian Teachers buy into a British Lottery,  some of the items of interest for Friday.

Globe and Mail-- AT&T takes $1-billion health care hit
Globe and Mail-- GM to recall, hire new workers
Globe and Mail-- Nickelled and damned
National Post-- Anti-competitive complaint 'simply false', realtors say
National Post-- IMF in the dark on role in Greece
National Post-- Saskatchewan eyes harmonized sales tax
Vancouver Sun-- $450-million casino and hotel project to be built beside BC Place
New York Times-- Under Pressure on Foreclosures, White House Pledges Aid
New York Times-- Europeans Vow Effort to Bring Economies Closer
New York Times-- Going to Extreme
USA Today-- AT&T will take $1B non-cash charge due to health care
USA Today-- State jobless rates stabilize as layoffs slow
Guardian UK online-- Alistair Darling: we will cut deeper than Margaret Thatcher
Guardian UK online-- Amazon's move into Canada sparks cultural war with booksellers
Guardian UK online-- British Airways chief: I was not trying to break Unite union
Times online UK-- China overtakes Germany as world's top exporter
Times online UK-- Euro bounces back on Greece bailout plan
Telegraph UK online-- Politically, socially and economically, we are heading back to the 1970s
Telegraph UK online-- Why G20 talk of global reform doesn't cut it with legislators
Telegraph UK online-- National Lottery operator Camelot sold to Canadian teachers' pension fund
Irish Independent-- Economy shrinks to same levels as 2003 after record slump
Irish Times-- External trade surplus rises 34%
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Irish economy shrinks by dismal 7.1 per cent
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Beware bubble trouble: RBA
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Watchdog lays out issues for BHP-Rio on controversial iron ore tie-up
Sydney Daily Telegraph-- Short work-week 'creating working poor'
People's Daily-- Governor: Stimulus to continue until recovery realized
People's Daily-- Chinese, U.S. officials vow to promote healthy bilateral economic, trade ties
China Daily-- Drought causes severe forest losses in China
China Daily-- PetroChina spends $1.4b in parent finance unit
Times of India-- Zain is largest Indian acquisition in Africa
Times of India-- Rupee ends at more than 18-month high at 45.23/24 vs dlr

Seeking the title in Thunder Bay

Canada's University hockey season will come to an end this weekend, as six teams take to the ice in Thunder Bay, Ontario to compete for the Cavendish Farms University Cup.

The tournament got underway on Thursday evening with the University of Alberta Golden Bears topping the University of Quebec Trois Rivieres Patriotes by a score of 4-2, earlier in the day the University of Manitoba Bisons required overtime to knock off the McGill Redmen by a score of 5-4.

University hockey in Canada at times seems to fly under the radar, but has grown in stature over the last few years leading to more coverage of this weeks wrap up tournament.

Much like last weeks University Basketball championships, the early rounds are available via a webcast hosted on the CIS site, Thursday's games were provide for viewing as will the two games scheduled for Friday.

Saturday's semi finals and Sunday's Championship game will be broadcast across Canada on Rogers Sportsnet.

The full broadcast schedule can be found here.

Some background on the participating teams can be found from the links below:

University of Alberta Golden Bears

McGill Redmen

Saint Mary's Huskies

Lakehead Thunderwolves

University of Manitoba Bisons

Universite de Quebec a Trois Rivieres Patriotes

Further information, results and statistics from the University Cup can be found on the CIS website.

News items on the tournament:

March 26-- Montreal Gazette-- Redmen let game slip away

March 26-- Winnipeg Free Press-- Big comeback gives Bisons momentum

March 26-- Winnipeg Sun-- Bisons in driver’s seat

March 26-- Globe and Mail-- Alberta beats UQTR in CIS hockey

March 25-- Cape Breton Post-- Huskies, Redmen to open CIS hockey finals

March 24-- CBC Sports-- Cavendish University Cup preview: Take 5

The above first appeared on the HockeyNation blog 

Podunk Below the Masthead (Thursday, March 25, 2010)

Opposition grows towards the Enbridge project, Bait vehicles arrive in Terrace and exploring the issues behind forestry sales to China, some of the items of interest from the Thursday news cycle.

Daily News, front page, headline story
FIRST NATIONS HAVE DECLARED THEIR OPPOSITION TO ENBRIDGE PROJECT-- A review of the latest efforts of the growing coalition against the proposed Enbridge pipeline project. As we outlined on the blog on Tuesday, First Nations in Northern BC and Coastal BC have joined with a number of different groups to express their opposition to the massive pipeline project that would run from Alberta to Kitimat.

A clarification on the Daily's recent article regarding the proposed plans of the coalition of resource groups that wish to become involved in the operation of Ridley Terminals. As we examined on the blog yesterday, the Vancouver Sun provided an in depth look at the latest developments from RTI, which could see a private consortium take on an operational and managerial role of the Terminal, as opposed to an outright purchase of the north coast shipping terminal.  

Participants in British Columbia's legals system may soon need to be aware of their better angles for the camera as the province contemplates the introduction of cameras to the province's court rooms. George T. Baker outlined some of the background on the plan as well as the thoughts of some who are against the idea.

The Sports section features a look at preparations for this years High School track and field season.

(Daily News archive items for March 25, 2010 )

First Nations have declared their opposition to Enbridge project
RTUG clarifies its position on RTI 
Oncology nurse adds prevention role to her day 
Cameras in the courtroom 
Masquerade ball - fundraiser for local SPCA

The Northern View
No new items were posted to the Northern View website for Thursday.

CFTK TV 7 News
Review participants get funding-- While the opposition towards the Enbridge pipeline continues to work out its plans, funding has been freed up for those groups wishing to review and comment on that company's application (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
"Bait" Vehicles in Terrace--  Would be thieves are on notice that the RCMP has introduced bait vehicles to their regular efforts in a bid to cut down on crime in the community (see article here)

CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North 
Pulling back the branches on timber exports -- The CBC examines the recent increase of forestry exports to China and the issues that it raises (listen to interview here)

Daybreak North is only posting selected items on their website now. The most recently posted items for this week can be found on the weekly archive for Daybreak North click here

Daily News, front page, headline story
First Nations have declared their opposition to Enbridge project
By George T. Baker 
The Daily News 
Thursday, March 25, 2010

 Enbridge’s Northern Gateway will not be receiving any support from First Nations communities on the B.C. coast. At a press conference Tuesday, in Vancouver, leaders of a collation of more than 150 First Nations, businesses, environmental organizations and prominent Canadians have signed onto the campaign to stop the pipeline proposed by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.

 “What’s different today is a level of unity on this issue illustrated - not just by the people who were in attendance at the news conference - but also the groups and First Nations, the environmental organizations, people like David Suzuki and others who have signed onto the advertisement which is substantially different than it was yesterday,” said Coastal First Nations director Gerald Amos.

 Up until now, it hasn’t been clear how the cross-section of First Nations on the B.C. coast feel about the proposed oilsands project, most taking time to assess the project before determining where they stood.

 However, the concerns caused by potential oil spills on the coast made the project hard to accept for the communities that rely heavily on seafood for their diets. Coastal First Nations executive director, Art Sterritt, told the Canadian Press that the decision by those involved is final.

 “We all believe the Enbridge Gateway pipeline project is a threat to the very existence of our culture and our way of life,’’ Sterritt told reporters Tuesday. Enbridge has not yet returned calls from the Daily News seeking comment. The Northern Gateway Project would see two 1,170-kilometre pipelines stretching from the tar sands near Edmonton to the northern B.C. coast town of Kitimat.

Crude would flow, crossing more than 1,000 streams and rivers, mountain ranges, avalanche-prone terrain and rainforest ecosystems before being loaded onto upwards of 150 tankers annually for export.

The company has touted the benefits of the project, saying more than 4,000 construction jobs and thousands more indirect jobs would be created, while generating hundreds of millions in tax revenue for both provinces.

Opposition does not mean a drop in profits. Last month the company reported a 14-per-cent increase in fourth-quarter earnings and an 18-per-cent increase in full-year profits.

That would be the company’s best in their history. Sterritt told the Canadian Press that after five years of scientific research and community consultations, the groups that have signed onto the campaign believe “no good’’ can come from the project. It could jeopardize the land, water, people and wildlife for generations to come, say those opposed. An environmental law organization says that the declaration on Tuesday went further than expressing their viewpoints.

First Nations were proclaiming their legal guardianship of their territory. “The signatories to the Declaration exercised their ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities to protect the lands and waters of their territories by banning Tar Sands crude oil tankers,” said Jessica Clogg, Executive Director & Senior Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law.

 “These nations can now take steps to enforce the Declaration under their own laws, through the Canadian courts, or through legal action at the international level. The result is highly volatile legal situation and a high probability of litigation by one or more First Nations that could delay or potentially derail the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project.”

 Amos told the Canadian Press that a blockade on the water is possible if the project goes ahead. When asked to corroborate that promise, Amos would only say, “we’ll have to see.” Along with 28 B.C. First Nations, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, some aboriginal groups from Alberta, environmental groups - including the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute - also signed on to support the campaign.

Author Margaret Atwood, Vancouver Canuck Willie Mitchell and 10 Canadian Olympians, including Kristina Groves, are also on board. Amos said having names like these associated with the opposition of the project gave their movement an added cache.

 “I think so. You mention Willie Mitchell; I think he comes from North Vancouver Island. He absolutely understands what we are talking about. I have no doubt about it,” commented Amos. Mitchell is currently out of the Canucks line-up, suffering from a severe concussion.

 With files from Canadian Press