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Showing posts with the label Fort St. John

BC spent almost $100M on hospital, long-term care projects now on hold

Provincial records show the NDP government has spent nearly $100 million on the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital expansion and seven long-term care facilities — projects now all on indefinite hold. The province announced on April 30 that contracts had been cancelled for Phase 2 of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment and those related to the construction of long-term care homes in Kelowna, Fort St. John, Delta, Abbotsford and Mission. The fate of long-term care developments paused in Squamish and Campbell River remains unclear ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Province of BC and First Nations Justice Council open 6 more Indigenous justice centres; including Kamloops

The Province, in partnership with the BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC), is opening six Indigenous justice centres, fulfilling a commitment to establish 15 Indigenous justice centres (IJCs) throughout BC. Niki Sharma, Attorney General, was joined by the BCFNJC in Kamloops to celebrate opening the six new centres in Kamloops, Williams Lake, Cranbrook, Port Hardy, Fort St. John and a shared location serving the communities of Burns Lake and Hazelton. “ It is incredible to reflect on what First Nations, the BC First Nations Justice Council and the Province have collaboratively achieved – a network of 15 Indigenous justice centres across BC ,” said Kory Wilson, chair, BCFNJC. “ IJCs provide Indigenous clients with optimum legal representation and access to wraparound services that extend beyond their legal needs. As those accessing our services often feel overwhelmed and disconnected from community, IJCs embrace them with care, honour their cultural identity ...

DAN DAVIES – At the end of the day, equality also means that our rural voices deserve the same strength and representation as our urban ones

Earlier in the Legislative session in Victoria, the NDP government introduced a bill entitled the Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act, 2021. As harmless as this bill sounds, it has been one of the more contentious and hotly-debated bills of the spring session, and for good reason. This bill, which just passed (our whole caucus opposed it) has the potential to reduce rural representation and the rural voice in Victoria while increasing representation in more urban areas like Vancouver. While our Electoral Boundaries Commission reviews our riding boundaries once every two elections, the general goal is to provide equal representation for all British Columbians. But in recognition of the vast area and many geographic challenges of our province, the Commission itself has said that effective representation is not simply anchored to equality of population. A 2015 report stated that, “factors like geography, community history, community interests and minority representation” shoul...

Forestry job placement co-ordination offices open, however forestry critic John Rustad says governments done nothing to address the core problem of bringing down costs and helping get the industry back on its feet

The forest industry was in crisis throughout most of 2019 and will continue to get worse ~~ John Rustad According to a BC government media release yesterday, displaced (doesn’t that sound so clinical?) forestry workers are now able to access direct, hands-on supports at job placement co-ordination offices five forestry reliant communities in interior and northern BC. These dedicated offices are in 100 Mile House, Fort St. James, Fort St. John, Mackenzie and Clearwater, and each of the offices is staffed with a co-ordination officer who is a displaced forestry worker. According to the Labour Ministry, these co-ordinators will be able to understand what individuals, who are seeking assistance in finding new jobs or training opportunities, are experiencing. I asked BC Liberal Forestry critic John Rustad about his thoughts on this, and he was quick in stating that while he was happy to see this type of help, for struggling forestry workers, he wondered w...

BC NDP Forestry Parliamentary Secretary Ravi Kahlon bristled at the suggestion saying, ‘It doesn’t matter how you define it…call it whatever you want’

Parliamentary Secretary for the forest ministry, Ravi Kahlon Canfor’s latest announcement that it will be cutting back an additional 75 million board feet of production falls in the wake of comments by the newly appointed parliamentary secretary for the forest ministry, Ravi Kahlon, that there are “ too many mills ” operating in the province. Kahlon made the comments during a radio interview with CHNL on Monday. “ The actual forests minister, Doug Donaldson, has been virtually absent during the crisis and for communities like Vanderhoof, Houston, Prince George, Fort St. John or Bear Lake to be abruptly written-off by the minister’s underling is frankly unacceptable ,” says BC Liberal forestry critic and Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad. “ Premier Horgan hand-picked his partisan hack Mr. Kahlon to launch a public relations campaign on behalf of an incompetent minister who is literally missing-in-action .” Canfor announced on Tuesday that its Pr...