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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 58 No. 09
Homeless trend may be emerging Cameron Orr People are stepping off the bus in Kitimat filled with a hope that they’ve found a golden land of opportunity which isn’t quite there. That’s at least what some service providers are seeing emerging as a trend in the community. With many not finding the promised work, all they get is a bus ride back to Terrace or beyond, and no place to stay. It’s a hard situation to figure out though. There are no firm statistics about homelessness in Kitimat, and most cases are anecdotal. Kitimat Council will be looking at the community’s housing situation soon (page 3) but it’s not clear yet what solutions there will be. But the front line people who would notice an emerging trend are saying some solution is warranted. “It’s actually a growing need and it’s almost a hidden need,” said Don Read of the Kitimat Ministerial Association. Churches all over are feeling a crunch to their benevolent funds, he said. Those funds are earmarked to support people without a home. “We ran out because we’re helping people,” he said of the Mountain View Alliance Church. “Normally we have a surplus.” He said recently they came to the aid of a married couple who arrived in town late one evening and had nowhere to go after a friend of theirs couldn’t follow through on a promise of a place to stay. They came to Kitimat because they believed they could find work. “We ended up paying for a hotel room for the night, bought them a meal and got them on the bus back to Terrace,” he said. “Kitimat is the last place you want to be homeless because there are no support systems.” It’s true Kitimat has no dedicated homeless shelters. The closest thing to one locally is the Tamitik Status of Women’s transition house, which is not primarily a homeless shelter but does take in women and children with no other place to go. “When we have room we take in what we call interim. That is basically homeless,” said Tamitik executive director Linda Slanina, who also sits on Kitimat’s Housing Committee. Of course women and children fleeing abusive homes get first priority as that’s what their funding is mainly for, but people staying because of housing issues get a maximum of 14 days, although that has been extended for people in the past. Slanina said the home is currently at it’s maximum capacity — eight people — and they’ve had people in the recent past who had trouble moving out to their own place because rents have just gotten too high. Continued on page 3
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
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Nechako Grade 2/3 class teacher Pat Mouland with four of her students, all of who pitched a grant request to council for a specialized outdoor wheelchair. More on page 6. Cameron Orr
An update on modernization At $3.1 million spent per day on modernization, the director of operations for the project says the construction from here will be far more noticeable. That’s due to earthworks being mostly done, leaving the rise of actual buildings the next step. Kerry Moran, along with other members of Kitimat Modernization Project (KMP) and Rio Tinto Alcan updated the business community at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week. Moving towards a 420,000 tonnes/ year production has brought out 1,300 people currently working on the project, with 2,000 expected for its peak in the third quarter of 2014. He also added that all of the firm power generated from Kemano will be used to produce aluminum. The company is in the aluminum business with this new smelter, not the aluminum and power business, he emphasized to the crowd.
Likely the most substantial item of note from his presentation was the heads-up that Rio Tinto Alcan is seeking an amendment to its P2 Multi Media environment permit from the Ministry of Environment. Across the board emissions will be going down with the more advanced AP40 technology, but in one instance, sulphur dioxide (SO2), will go up 56 per cent, from 27 tonnes a year to 42. That goes with an overall 50 per cent reduction in the number of emissions. Patriculates and greenhouse gases, among other emissions, will be going down — Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, for instance, will go from 212 tonnes a year to just three. The increase in SO2 emissions is entirely a product of their increased production and the quality of their raw material, said Moran. Moran added that SO2 is generally
safer than the other emissions at the smelter which are going down. “If any of those [others] were increasing, you wouldn’t have a project,” he said. The company will be holding an information session about their emissions, part of the requirements of receiving their environmental amendment. That meeting was expected to take place sometime this week. The meeting will share the results of 18 months of scientific study of the new smelter’s emissions. Meanwhile, labour also continues to be an issue as Moran said demand for skilled trades will exceed local supply. “We try very hard to get everyone we can in Canada first,” he said. “We’re just anticipating exhausting all of that.” But the project is managing the supply and progress has not slowed as a result.
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Haisla Pride win big at tournament ... page 9