THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 4
SERVING FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
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City budget approved in principle MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca
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Fort St. John Huskies forward Brandon Howard fires a puck toward Fairview Flyers netminder Kenton White during game action on Jan. 20. The Huskies lost 2-1 to the Flyers in overtime, but bounced back with a 3-2 win over the Sexsmith Vipers the following night.
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Livecare looks to wind down its operations at Taylor clinic District looking at options to keep its medical services MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca
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The company providing medical services in Taylor plans to wind down its operations in the community, but district councillors say they’re committed to keeping the local clinic open. Livecare, a Vancouverbased telemedicine company, helped reopen the Taylor Medical Clinic to much fanfare in the summer of 2014, but says the costs of running the clinic are too high to remain open. “The clinic is closing. There’s no way we can sustain it. We can’t fund the clinic any longer,� Livecare CEO Mark Godley told the Alaska Highway News. Since reopening, Livecare has been providing medical services at the district-owned clinic through a hybrid model of telemedicine—using technology to allow doctors to examine patients from afar—as well as face-to-face visits by a visiting doctor to the community once a month. The District of Taylor has injected $130,000 in public subsidies over the last two years to help fund the clinic, while the company has billed the province for the services provided. But the clinic has had difficulty covering its operating costs, and attempts to bring Northern Health and the provincial health ministry
See BUDGET on A3Â
Dam opponents handed sixth legal defeat in federal court JONNY WAKEFIELD reporter@dcdn.ca
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Taylor Mayor Rob Fraser speaks with residents about the Taylor Medical Clinic at a council committee meeting on Monday. Fraser says the district is committed to keeping the clinic as Livecare looks to wind up its physical operations in the community.
on board to fund the operations have been unsuccessful, Godley said. “Somebody has to be subsidizing (the clinic) and I don’t think a private company and the District of Taylor can continue covering the cost when this is a service to the community that should be covered through the ministry of health,� Godley said. “It’s an amazing model. We have been able to get physicians interested in the town of Taylor that would never consider Fort St. John or Taylor as a location (to work),� he
added. “It’s allowed us to attract doctors. It’s sad to think the ministry couldn’t see what a fantastic opportunity this would be, not just for Taylor, but other communities.� News of the company’s departure prompted a public meeting on the matter in Taylor council chambers on Monday, drawing a full house of residents who said the clinic is a vital link in the region’s healthcare system.
PAVING 100 Canadian
City managers will be looking for roughly $100,000 in savings in their departmental budgets as councillors look to hold the line on taxes and pass a balanced budget for 2017. Council got its second look at the draft operating budget for the year on Monday, approving it in principle and sending it out the public for comment. Under the budget, the average home and business owner will pay less property taxes this year due to a drop in property assessments. The budget does project a $1.17-million shortfall due to rising costs and slumping property values, while holding tax rates the same as last year. To find savings, City Manager Dianne Hunter recommended councillors postpone transferring $1 million into capital reserves this year, as the city already plans to tuck away $2.3 million in Peace River Agreement funds from the province for that purpose.
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See CLINIC on A3
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a First Nations’ legal challenge against the Site C dam. In a decision released Jan. 23, the court dismissed an appeal of Site C’s environmental assessment, brought by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations. The case was heard in Montreal in September. The nations say the $8.8-billion project and its 83-kilometre reservoir will infringe on their Treaty 8 rights on the land. The appeal focused on whether the federal government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper was justified in approving Site C in a closed cabinet meeting, a procedure known as Governor in Council (GIC). “Specifically, the Court must determine whether the GIC, in circumstances where the designated project has significant adverse environmental effects and adverse effect on lands covered by a treaty, is required to determine if such effects constitute an infringement to the treaty rights,� Justice Richard Boivin wrote in the decision.
See DEFEAT on A4Â
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