Inside
◆ Earth Hour P. 7 ◆ Smudge ceremony P. 5
PHONE: 996-8482 www.caledoniacourier.com
WEDNESDAY, March 28, 2012
NEWS BRIEFS Road work
◆ Slush Cup P.6 ◆ Proposed subdivision P. 8
VOL. 35 NO. 04 $1.34 inc. GST
Making a splash
The Transportation Committee was happy to announce some improvements which have been planned for this summer in the area. Highway 27 will be resurfaced between the Stuart River Bridge and Kwah Road, a three kilometre stretch with some significant holes. There will be pedestrian improvements and better lighting put in along Highway 27 through Nak’azdli Reserve and the community of Fort St. James. Germanson Landing Road will have the road base strengthened, improvement to the drainage, gravelling and the application of dust control on intermittent sections of the Germanson Landing
Dr. draw Northern Health has a recruiter specifically designated to trying to attract physicians to Fort St. James. Financial incentives and a new model of health care delivery are all part of the package being worked on to help attract up to five new doctors to the community. Funding is in place for five physicians, however, initial recruitment is difficult. Once a community has a couple of physicians, it becomes significantly more attractive to other physicians. The hard part is obtaining the first one or two, according to Councillor Joan Burdeniuk, who has been participating in meetings on the problem.
Slush Cup makes a splash, quite literally for spectators watching from the sidelines on Sunday, March 18. For more photos and story page 6. Ruth Lloyd Photo
Bjornson body still missing Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier Another grieving family is asking people to come forward. RCMP and the family of Fribjon Bjornson are requesting the public’s help in locating the body of their missing loved one. After he was reported missing on January 21, 2012, remains found on the Lower Road on the Nak’azdli Reserve were confirmed to be Bjornson’s on February 3, 2012. RCMP have since disclosed the remains identified as Bjornson did not include his body, but they do believe he is deceased. “The nightmare for this family is not over and we hope someone can leave an anonymous tip as to where we can find Fribjon Bjornson.” Stated Cst. Lesley Smith North District Media Relations Officer in her release. “We are asking for a location or to be directed to a certain area where we can recover a much loved son so he can be properly laid to rest.” The RCMP acknowledges Bjornson had struggled with drug use throughout his life and he therefore associated with people known to “live a high risk lifestyle and were also caught in a world of addiction.” “It’s to those witnesses, who we believe are too scared to come forward, that we have other ways for them to contact us and that’s through Crime Stoppers,” said Smith in an interview. “They can remain anonymous and leave us the information we need to bring closure to this family.”
Remains from Fribjon Bjornson were found on Lower Road earlier this year, but his body has not yet been located. RCMP photo
If information does lead to the recovery of Bjornson’s body, the person or persons with information could be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward. Smith reassures people who may have information the investigators are not there to judge and people’s anonymity can be protected. “We don’t want their names, just their information,” she said. If you have any information that could bring closure to the Bjornson Family or could assist police
in furthering their investigation please contact Sgt. Randy Bosch of the North District Major Crime Unit at 250-649-3903. If you do not want to give your name and would like to remain anonymous please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Statement from Eileen Bjornson, Fribjon’s mother: Fribjon was our son. He was a father to two beautiful children and best friend to his sister, Amanda. He was kind, helpful and generous. Our family is stunned and devastated by his death. How could somebody do something so horrible to him, or anyone? Every time we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it has. What are we going to tell his children? How will we explain to them what happened to their daddy, when we don’t understand it ourselves. We need to be able to put our son to rest and give him a proper burial. Our family needs some closure and finding Fribjon’s body is the first step. We are pleading to anyone who knows anything to come forward and tell us what they know, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We have had a memorial service for him and have smudged the house where we found evidence of his death but we are still missing Fribjon. We would like to be able to spread his ashes and have a closed family service but we can’t do this until we recover his body. We will always be looking for him, until he comes home to us. Please help us look. We are asking people to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious: birds, clothing, something in the lake, etc. Fribjon was a good person, he did not deserve this. Please help us.