Inside
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POLICE, FIRE REPORTS P. 3 EDITORIAL P. 6
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MUNICIPAL SPENDING P. 5 REMEMBRANCE DAY P. 8-9
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015
New CNC campus in Vanderhoof now 4th
Lest we forget: Remembrance Day in Vanderhoof
Vivian Chui Omineca Express
After the annual Remembrance Day service in Vanderhoof’s Ferland Park, Shawn Burtenshaw led the parade procession to the Nechako Senior Friendship Centre for the post-ceremony luncheon reception provided by the 899 Vanderhoof Air Cadet Squadron on Nov. 11.
Previously a number-one priority for the College of New Caledonia, a new and expanded building for CNC’s Vanderhoof campus is now fourth place on its list due to missing learner demand, the president says. In a community meeting attended by close to 50 Vanderhoof community members, CNC’s president Henry Reiser, along with five other senior executives, provided an update on the college’s restructuring process in the face of a $2.8 million budget shortfall at Nechako Valley Secondary’s Integris Community Theatre on Nov. 10 evening. Reiser said the change in priorities was decided by CNC’s executives and board, and though the Vanderhoof project was number one for several years, the government had denied it. “We, as an institution, do not have the funds,” he said. “Bottom line is that the government will not invest where the numbers do not warrant.” Reiser added, “That message has been made clear by the minister and the premier.” In place of a new complex, CNC is open to leasing currently available space in town for its programs, as suggested by Vanderhoof’s mayor, but the college cannot commit until approval by the government — a decision based on demand, Reiser said. For several of the meeting’s attendees however, including Vanderhoof Mayor Gerry Thiessen and staff from CNC’s Vanderhoof campus, the measured learner demand is a chicken-and-egg concept — the existing supply of courses limited the number of students in Vanderhoof. “We as a community are receiving much less course offerings than other communities around us, and we’re substantially larger than Mackenzie, Fort St. James, and Burns Lake,” Thiessen said. “At some point, there has to be an offering of consistent education in our area.” Vanderhoof’s high school students currently interested in trades would not look to CNC in Vanderhoof as a local college that could meet their needs, he added. “It is extremely unfair to the residents of Vanderhoof and to the communities around us, First Nation and non-First Nation, who rely on the courses,” Thiessen said. Prepared for CNC in 2012 and commissioned by the Nechako Valley Post-Secondary Education Committee led by Thiessen, a report on Vanderhoof’s post-secondary needs had shown a need for larger postsecondary presence, as enrolment is expected to double these years with the growth of the mining sector, as well as the development of major transportation and energy projects in northern B.C. For its Blackwater Project located 110 km southwest of Vanderhoof, mining company New Gold recently announced an estimated construction start in early 2018, hiring 1,200 to 1,500 workers over a two-and-ahalf-year period and 500 during the mine’s operation.
VIVIAN CHUI photo
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