The Northern View, November 20, 2013

Page 1

PRINCE RUPERT VOL. 8 NO. 48

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

FREE

Cunningham wins byelection

MAKING A STATEMENT Feature Three die crossing the Skeena River Page A3

Randhawa finishes second BY TODD HAMILTON PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View

Business Teaching future engineers Page A11

Martina Perry / The Northern View

Murray Smith speaks at the Save Our Seafood Chowder - Defend Our Coast rally at Atlin Terminal on Saturday. For more on this story, see Page A9.

Sports

Inside Passage, Haida Gwaii runs see double-digit cuts

PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View

Masset airport improvements Page B2

See BYELECTION on Page A2

Government slashes North Coast ferry service

Seawolves face off with Terrace Page A13 BY SHAUN THOMAS

Haida Gwaii

Barry Cunningham is the new councillor for the City of Prince Rupert. Cunningham d e f e a t e d Barry Cunningham 943 five other candidates in Gurvinder Randhawa 746 a byelection on Saturday to Wade Niesh 417 fill the Prince Rupert council James Kirk 109 seat vacated by now North Larry Golden 88 Coast MLA Jennifer Rice. Len Lovering 69 Cunningham unofficially -Unofficial results picked up 39.8 per cent of the ballots with 943 votes out of the 2,372 cast, Gurvinder Randhawa was second with 746 (31.5 per cent) and Wade Niesh was third with 417 votes (17.6 per cent).

Sailing cuts are coming in April to most of BC Ferries’ minor and northern routes as the corporation looks to save $18.9 million in the next two years. Transportation Minister Todd Stone and BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan announced the reductions Monday as part of a larger plan to cut cost in the years ahead. The announcement outlined a number of routes that will be impacted, but the North Coast was hit with the highest level of reduction. The Prince Rupert to Port Hardy Inside Passage will see 39 fewer sailings in 2014,

“Eliminating one vessel per week is like closing the Coquihalla on a Wednesday.” - Scott Farwell a reduction of 32 per cent, while there will be one less sailing per week between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii, a reduction of 27.2 per cent. Between the two routes, BC Ferries expects to save a combined $5.72 million per year. “The B.C. coastal ferry service has been

wrestling with cost pressures for more than 20 years. We are making tough decisions today to ensure that our coastal ferry service is sustainable for future generations,” said Stone. “These changes protect basic service levels and are in keeping with the fiscal realities facing provincial taxpayers.” However, the reductions have been met with opposition and worry from those on Haida Gwaii (see Page B1) and in Prince Rupert. “Obviously BC Ferries had to make changes, but we do have concerns ... changes to service will obviously affect communities.” said Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem. See FERRIES on Page A2

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