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Volume 57 No. 25
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Sentinel
Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
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First Canada ends airport bus service
Thunk! A cowboy loses his helmet after impact against a raging bull. The cowboy managed to walk away from his encounter, one of the many rides from the June 9 Bull-O-Rama at Tamitik Arena. More photos on page 7. Dwight Magee photo
Cameron Orr As of June 16, First Canada no longer offers a bus service to the Kitimat-Terrace Airport. The company had to permanently park the operation after a trend of low ridership and increasing costs. Cheryl Ward, division assistant for First Canada in Vernon, said that a number of costs made the operation too challenging to run. That includes wages and fuel costs. “We just couldn’t make it work for us.” she said. The company also received no additional financial support for the service, despite beliefs. “We weren’t subsidized in any way. I know a lot of people thought that we were but we had the full brunt of this.” The company had tried using a smaller, 18 passenger vehicle compared to their usual 48 person bus, but even that didn’t prove to improve the economics of the trip. “We averaged two riders per turnaround trip,” said Ward. Ridership had never been high for the service, she said. The bus ran three times a day during the week and twice on Saturday to match with Air Canada Jazz’s flight schedule. Ward also said that their bus service had to undergo heavier security in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks which affected their wage costs. Continued on page 3
Conservation office response to bear attack Cameron Orr The Conservation Officer Service is suggesting that the June 6th bear attack on a dog in Cablecar could have been avoided. The COS issued a statement following reports last week that a dog was killed by a black bear in the Cablecar area (Sentinel, June 13, 2012). “The interview with the complainant revealed that their reaction might have triggered a predator-prey response by the bear. The bear pursued the horses and dog when they started to run away,” the statement, released by conservation officer Dale Kluivers, said. “Had the women taken the necessary precautions ... the bear might have simply
turned and disappeared,” the release continued. COS did three searches for the dog
“Had the women taken the necessary precautions ... the bear might have simply turned and disappeared.” and bear but officers could find neither. They did identify that there were several bears in the area, but that meant the chance of catching an innocent bear was high so they decided to remove their trap
last Friday (June 8). The COS advised the public that when encountering a bear to remain calm, make yourself seem as big as possible, stay together in a group, and face the bear while walking away slowly. “Never look a bear straight in the eyes as the bear can interpret this as a sign of aggression,” the COS said. “Of course in this incident the individuals involved were on horseback and could not have backed away easily,” the COS said. When travelling with a dog, it is advised to keep your pet on a leash, as incidents in the past have involved offleash pets being chased by bears straight back to their owners.
Bear cheat sheet Here are the tips the Conservation Officer Service recommends for encountering a bear: 1) NOBODY PANIC! Remaining calm is the first thing the COS said about encountering a bear. 2) BULK UP. Look as big as possible, and stay in a group. 3) BACK IT UP. Face the bear while slowly walking away, and don’t look it in the eyes.
MP hosts telephone town hall ... page 3